New movie

The trailer for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is online here. (Stupid moviefone exclusive with its teeny tiny screen and noncompatability with firefox).

I'm excited for it. Yes, we all hate Kirsten Dunst. But hey, Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI? Rock on!

The Garlic Card

The Garlic Card

How can you NOT want one after this instructional film?

Whew!

Wow, huge picture dump. I think I'm all caught up.

If you loved the Shining trailer, you must see the new A Christmas Gory trailer.

This morning I couldn't find my cat. After two hours I heard her tags clinking, but muffled. I called and she mewed back - from inside Ben's dresser. She had been trapped inside his shirt drawer all morning!

Holiday Cooking!

The most incredible cookie! Big Soft Ginger cookies with molasses and sugar crystal crust.


Somosas (baked, not fried). Filling from here, with a crust from Mark Bittman's book.



Butternut Squash soup with parmesan croutons and brussel sprouts. Combine 1 onion, 1 peeled and seeded squash with vegetable broth and salt/pepper in a slow cooker. Cook on low 5 hours. Puree, add cream cheese, parmesan, and nutmeg, and cook for 30 minutes or until you are ready to eat.



Baked Sandwich using Rhodes dough, with pulled chicken breast, provolone, and pesto filling.


Pumpkin Spice cake with honey frosting. From Martha's Everyday Food magazine (recipe).

Thanksgiving

When're you gonna see the bay bee?

San Diego, another beautiful city! Sadie's a real cutie.


Doting family.


Mmm, lamb fries!


The "Pan"tastic new 8 in One SuperPan from Globochem.
Bakes! Boils! Fries! Broasts! Briggs! Froils! Bribbles!


The car was a little cramped.


whatever you do, DO NOT PICK THE FERN!!!!

Chicago

I had a meeting in Chicago at the Sofitel at the beginning of November. Gorgeous hotel, fun town, and the meeting went well!


My room.


The watertower, which was 2 blocks from my hotel.


I had to get a hot dog. Somewhat disappointing. Isn't pickles and relish a bit redundant?


This wavy yard was along the waterfront.


Jogger going to Navy Pier.


The Lake.


Went to the House of Blues my last night. The band was great and I got to boogie down.


My boss gave us Vosges chocolates as a thank you gift for our work on the meeting. Very expensive and exotic truffles. The flavors I picked include absinthe, curry, wasabi and sesame, paprika, chile, and black pepper. Yum!

Costumes!

Long overdue post on Halloween Costumes:


Me: Cat
Brian: "the spirit of halloween"


Ben and Jeff: Scorpion and Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat
(compare with:)


Ben constructed a great spear on a chain for Scorpion, and I helped Jeff come up with these awesome ice effects:


Jeff also made a Reptile head and spine (sorry Ben, the only pic of this I could find has him killing Scorpion):



And Molly was a cat. She's found a new favorite spot. I don't think I can put fine sweaters on that shelf anymore.

Halloween is coming!

With Brian around, Halloween is a month long celebration. It's been fun getting in the spirit with him. He really decked the halls this year.


The zombie on his end table lifts his head and screams when you walk by. The "Thing" hand actually runs about. The skull candles drip blood when lit.



Another zombie (on the table), but this one holds chips and dip. Ben's the fastest pumpkin carver. He's playing an Evil Dead game (Brian gave him permission, since there are zombies in it.)


I'm happy with how my pumpkin looks. Brian lectured us for 5 minutes about not carving cute pumpkins. It's a crime. And then his turned out to be super cute! He was disappointed.
(by the way, this is the last picture of me with purple hair. It was getting too icky with all the touch-ups, so now I'm a plain brunette. I might redo the purple streaks, if I get the time)


Brian, Luke, Rose, and Ben. Pumpkins: Mine's on the left, Ben's on the right.


And now for something really special: Eyes and Ears in Blood!



I found this recipe online. It's basically spaghetti and meatballs. It tastes fairly bland, but it looks spectacular!


The ears took a long time to make. I didn't plan on how hard it would be to sculpt ears. The chicken meatballs are steamed, so there's no browning (adding to the blandness).



Coming soon! Check out Ben's blog for an entry on the most vicious of all sodas: Jones' Thanksgiving Dinner.