IT WAS A COLD WEEK BUT MY ROOF
WHICH WAS DESTROYED BY IDA
HAS BEEN REPLACED !!!
And I wasn't able to cook very much,
BUT I had a very good Sourdough Grilled Sandwich:
I used more mozzarella than cheddar this time and brushed melted butter with grated gruyere (instead of parmesan) on the bread slices before grilling. I also slathered a little mayo (not too much) on the sandwich which will require a few more minutes on the treadmill. But the sandwich was crispy and crunchy and oozing cheese and delicious on a cold rainy night mid-week.
A Sloppy Jo-Jo was fast comfort food too!
This is the easiest thing in the world, and better than a Manwich. Get some of those already chopped onions at the grocery store. If the chopped onions have celery and bell pepper added, even better. Saute those in a little olive oil over medium high heat, and when they are softened, add ground beef. If you are cooking for one, half a pound to a pound is enough for a few sandwiches and you’ll have enough left-over so that your mother can have a sandwich the next day. When the beef is brown, add some McCormick Sloppy Joe seasoning. I didn’t use the entire packet. Then I splashed a glug of Worcestershire sauce, and squirted some yellow mustard into the saute pan. One generous squirt, that’s all. Add tomato sauce and/or crushed tomatoes (I used half a can of each). Cook, stirring a lot, until the spices are incorporated and the sauce is thick. Turn to low and watch a movie and pour a glass of wine. When you’re ready to eat, heat some hamburger buns, spread a little mayo on them, and pile the sauce on (!) with pickles or peppers or whatever floats your boat.
MOVIE NIGHT ACTUALLY TOOK TWO NIGHTS
I watched A Private War this week with Rosamund Pike and Stanley Tucci. This is a 2019 film produced by Charlize Theron and directed by Matthew Heineman. Without a flinch, it tells the story of Marie Colvin, the celebrated American war correspondent who lost her eye in Sri Lanka and her life in Syria. While not fully explaining whether this woman was possessed by demons or compelled by angels, it shows Colvin’s utterly relentless determination to expose, report and even share the suffering of the innocent casualties of war. Maybe there is no rational explanation for what motivated Colvin, and maybe that’s the point. Her willingness to immerse herself in dangerous situations was fatally irrational and almost ridiculously heroic. At any rate, Rosamund Pike’s performance is stunning, provocative and has a “long finish.” The title song performed by Annie Lennox is noteworthy also. It took me two nights to watch it in part because I kept re-watching certain scenes. LIke the scene where Pike’s character Marie Colvin is in a grungy bathroom and her fellow journalist asks her why she’s wearing a sexy brassiere in a war zone. She says something to the effect of: “This is not a bra. This is a La Perla. And when they pull my dead body out of a ditch… I want them to be impressed.” Then she turns to the sink and spits out a tooth. She’s a fearless, tough broad who smokes too much and drinks waaaay too much and lives by her own code of ethics. And she’s beautiful. Even the smattering of vulnerability we see when she climbs into the tub with Stanley Tucci is eclipsed by the ballsiness she demonstrates by shedding that eye patch and exposing all of herself. Wow, what a woman. At the end of the film, there’s a clip of the real Marie Colvin talking about fear and you realize how Pike absolutely nailed Colvin’s manner of speaking. This was one of those movies that lingers… and now has made Marie Colvin one of my all time favorite people.
Rosamund Pike
The real Marie Colvin. Also very beautiful.
