Minor Disappointments – & – My (Spoiler Alert) “Renfield” Movie Review

Yesterday I tried a new recipe that seemed so promising and well… was not. A sauce containing honey, raisins, pine nuts, and smoked Spanish paprika took a fastidious effort as I carefully measured out each ingredient. Sad to say, my husband and I found it lacking, perhaps acidity from citrus or tomato. Nothing stood out except what I considered an overly smoky flavor.

However good or bad this looks to you,
my guy praised my presentation...

And while he thought his lightly fried cod fillet was fine, mine seemed half raw. I hate to admit that I tossed out the last few bites. At least the fish, if indeed undercooked, didn’t make me ill.

Oh, well. We like to remember that never having a failure would make the successes less celebratory.

Moving on, I was excited to watch the movie “Renfield” on Amazon Prime. The only high point was Nicolas Cage nailing his Dracula role. For him alone I am glad we watched but the remaining so-called humor fell flat, the comedic plot points forced.

The characterizations were fine. Renfield himself was rather endearing. And Iranian/American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo is always a joy; I adore her husky voice and powerful feminine presence. But while I don’t blame actress Nora Lum, Officer Rebecca grated on our nerves.

Its thin plot would have benefitted from better cohesion. More Nic Cage scenes would have definitely helped. On a final note, Renfield’s enjoyable exposition struck me as random. It’s as if the writers were being lazy.

Are you familiar with Ms. Lum’s musical and/or film performances? Doesn’t her stage name Awkwafina sound like bottled water marketed to gawky teenagers?

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Blue Skies

I saw the most astonishing cloud formation out my window yesterday. These shapes mimicked our neighbor’s tree aka the squirrel highway.

Its beauty distracted me from recognizing
the window screen marred this image.
~sigh~

It reminded me of the a cappella group Voiceplay covering an ELO song. They amaze me.

Are you familiar with Electric Light Orchestra’s music? If so, isn’t their range from upbeat (as above) to melancholy (video below) amazing?

My Latest Shopping Spree (Not)

Today I went shopping for pine nuts to make a Spanish glazed cod recipe. My husband asked me to also pick up some Bugle corn snacks. For some reason, that brand is never easy to find. This store stashed Bugles on a high shelf near bagged popcorn instead of in the chip aisle.

Photo from Walgreens convenience store/pharmacy website...

And it was a struggle for my short self to reach one of the two remaining bags. But I managed, and jokingly told my man that I knew he would have tossed me to the curb if I’d given up. I don’t understand why this General Mills product is so difficult to find here in the United States and no longer sold in Canada (something I just learned).

The whopping two other items in my cart were an unexpected discovery, chocolate covered cherries at fifty percent off. My husband looked at a box before Christmas and decided they weren’t worth the cost. Other folks must have felt the same because there must have been hundreds of the milk chocolate variety available.

The cherry cola flavor caught my interest...

In fact these proved a better deal than expected, the regular price being almost $4 (USD) while I paid under $1 (!) for each box of ten candies. I suppose the extraordinary excess inventory explains this. Maybe, if he likes these as much as his preferred dark chocolate cordials I should buy more. Why they were not advertised as such is another mystery.

Did you know Bugles were introduced in 1966 alongside two counterparts called Whistles and Daisy*s? Wouldn’t the flower shaped ones be fun, and even better than cones for dipping?

I found this on a fun website...

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More Food Fun

The last thing we need around here are desserts. Yet since the apple strudel is gone (ahem…) I couldn’t resist baking one of the boxed cakes my husband bought. ~shakes head~ Again, I enjoyed experimenting.

Do you see what looks like an angry doggie face?

This time I decided to make an orange flavored cream cheese frosting. Instead of following a direct recipe I used less than half the recommended sugar while doubling the fresh squeezed mandarin orange juice and zest. About a tablespoon of orange blossom water kept the thin concoction, more a glaze than frosting, still a bit sweeter than I like. But I had an idea.

Woof woof!

Since discovering how well a bit of peppery heat works in sweets, I added the last few tablespoonfuls of my peach Carolina reaper wing sauce. That sweet and spicy fruitiness really made the chocolate fudge confection shine.

Would you try a sweet baked good with a little zesty kick? Do you know that Bundt pans have a registered trademark?

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Concessions

Well, I’ve conceded to technical blogging issues and started signing off as “- Darla”. Fighting the comment failure rate has proven a ridiculous time waster. I’ve even begun this practice on my own blog.

At least most bloggers know I often use tildes. So far, bots and/or scammers do not.

~fingers crossed I didn’t give out ideas~

Then I wondered about the definition of concession stands. Here is the derivation: from the tiniest community sites to giant stadiums, owners grant vendors permission rights. In other words, these larger institutions concede.

Isn’t modern technology both a boon and burden? Have you ever or would you like to start up a small business?



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Holiday Cheer – & – Fun Experiments with Food

A block away from my usual turn toward the main road I kept noticing an adorable holiday display and finally drove past for a photo. The tiny gingerbread house (far left) in particular caught my attention.

As usual, my image does not do this justice...

Meanwhile, we continue shopping bargains and a huge bag of potatoes inspired me to try cooking potato pancakes. Well, it didn’t work as planned yesterday; the patties wouldn’t retain their shape despite my best efforts and strict adherence to ingredients/directions. That’s okay. The tasty potato shreds fried with mushrooms and scrambled eggs won’t go to waste.

Today’s test came from my husband discovering store bought apple pie on sale. I’d rather bake something myself. We already had canned fried apples bought on sale many months ago and newer frozen pastry sheets. A quick search fitted the two perfectly. You can find the easy recipe here including an amusing story.

To my surprise, mine turned out as pretty...

Do you enjoy fruity confections? Are you familiar with turbinado sugar and its difference from other varieties?

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Shameless

Pet shaming photos always make us laugh. Upon finding bits of Terra’s chenille worm toys downstairs I decided to try my hand at it.

She makes us laugh daily...

I bought a bagful but numbers are dwindling. lol They are designed for a string wand toy. For whatever reason, she prefers that I toss them for her to chase and carry around.

Is it a surprise I followed her all over the house in my attempts? Isn’t it awesome that our kitties don’t ingest things like these googly toy eyes?

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Missed & Matched

Today my husband treated me to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant. After the delicious meal we received complimentary fortune cookies with our (very reasonable) bill.

His is the top slip and I couldn’t resist sharing because he is less athletic than I am; which is not saying much. Not that I believe in these little notes but it would fit if he betted on sporting events and won.

Mine, as you can guess, fits. Current events bring me down and nothing lifts my spirit more than art (and animals). On that note, my guy shared this story of a woman finding an opossum in her Christmas tree. The attached video is unrelated, by the way. Meanwhile, I found the following on Youtube.

What would you have done in her situation? Do you know the difference between possums and opossums?

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