From Movies to the Great Panini Lament

I've done a foolish thing and started a good movie too close to midnight and now I have to call it a night and save the rest for morning. I'm going to work two half days this weekend, and then I'll be back in Wednesday. The Christmas break is going by too quickly, but working two days in it isn't helping. Must start accruing my vacation pay for just such instances in the future. Tsk.

The movie is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I've been meaning to see for over a year now. It goes on the list of not-Christmas Christmas movies to watch on Christmas eve. (They occur at Christmas but are not about Christmas. IE: Gremlins was this year's show. Die Hard, Bridget Jones' Diary. And now KKBB and Go are also candidates. Cool.) Fucking funny so far.

Val Kilmer's always been a huge disappointment. I always expected so much from him and he's my kind of rugged guy, but it's nice to see him live up to potential for a change. He's really someone Tarantino needs to rescue. When he's not doing sappy roles like The Saint, he actually can turn on some edge. Just keep him away from accents, please. I mean, come on, he's Icepick from Top Gun!

In other news, found a new book that I can't remember the title of, written by three fancy Euro chefs with all nicely organized facts and tricks for cooking. You know, how adding raw potato to an overly salted sauce will extract salt from the sauce without changing the flavour of the soup.

Trouble is, turns out I know about 75% of the stuff, but it's a $50 book I got for $5, so that's liveable. Now I'm thinking I'll loan it to my brother or give it to him. He's really keen to learn how to cook and we're now embarking on a bimonthly cooking lesson chez moi where I'll teach him a recipe or two in a night. I think spring rolls, oriental salad, and peanut sauce are next on the horizon.

Speaking of food. The Griddler. I don't know why, but I am so far sucking at using it. Everything's been all right but nothing's been wowzas. This bothers me. I want something wicked cool. My cooking game is off. How dare my cooking game be off? But the French toast on Christmas day was pretty killer. :) Baguette and cinnamon sugar? How could it not be? But nothing since. My paninis are entirely forgettable.

Well, I'll show that Griddler yet, dammit. I know I'm a panini genius deep down inside. I'm thinking basil and roasted peppers and proscuitto or something. Must visit my local deli tomorrow and sweet talk the man for suggestions. Artichoke hearts... I dunno. Need better mayo and I need more of my all-time favourite sandwich mustard, sweet Russian vodka mustard. Oh ho.

And maybe it's time to make tomato soup. Little decadent sandwiches with light (no cream) tomato soup. (Little = small/half sandwiches. Definitely less cheese than I've been doing, too. Less cheese means less squooshing of toppings. Thin line between perfect and messy.)

Hmm... arugula? Caramelized onions. What is the secret ingredient, the recipe for success? Maybe the classic basil, tomato, and mozza sandwich, but it's a pretty boring go... I'm not keen on bland.

I shall sleep on it. Dreaming fitfully of dancing paninis, sing-song mocking me in my inability to get a good basic melty sandwich working. Cheddar, turkey, tomato was a squooshy flop. The basic cheese sandwich seemed boring, too. Mozza with Tuscan ham and hot mustard was a travesty. Mozza is boring. What was I thinking? I need Guiness cheddar and smoked turkey, I bet. Something zippy.

Pfft. Yeah, well. I'll show that Griddler. Dancing paninis with sing-song mocks coming right up. Sigh. I feel so small in my panini pathos. Sigh. (Snicker.)

And let's take a moment to bow our heads at the news that Netscape Navigator is officially on the do-not-resuscitate list. No further support is to be given for the browser, which has a pathetic .6% share of the market (of which the abovementioned bro is one). Most of the workers now deign Firefox as the best browser to use, since most of them are now working there. Yay Firefox. Come over to the light side, followers of the dark IE realm. Use a real browser. Boo, hiss. Sleep tight, Netscape. You'll always have the prettiest logo.