Yummy Two-Day Sliders

I’m calling these sliders “two-day sliders” because they are seriously more delicious reheated the second day than they are on day one! Thanks to my friend Leigh Ann for the recipe, which was just perfect for my book club meeting. The book was “contemporary” and “American” … and so was the fare. (Themes are more exciting when the book takes place somewhere else, unfortunately!)

Two-Day Sliders

Mix 1 lb. of ground beef or turkey (I used 96% lean beef) with 1 tablespoon of mayo, 1 packet of lipton onion soup mix, and 8 oz of shredded cheddar.  Pat into mini-burgers.

Slice one package of Hawaiian butter rolls in half (making a top and bottom) and put the mini-burgers inside.

Put in a 9×13 baking pan and cover tightly with foil. Cook at 350 for 35 minutes (yep — bun and all).

This makes 12 sliders (one pack of buns). I doubled it for 24 mini-burgers because you really want leftovers.

Enjoy!

 

Jason Aldean “Fly Over States”

I generally like Jason Aldean. So when I was listening to the Highway and saw his name pop up with the title “Fly Over States.” I was excited, I thought it would be a great clever song about why the rest of the country rocks, or a touching heartstrings song about the good people you meet in the heartland. The song that played disappointed me. Maybe I give him too much credit, but with a great title like that, I expected so much more than this trite, “you’ve never been to Oklahoma or Kansas or Indiana” kind of lyric atop a familiar and melodramatic tune. Makes me hope someone writes the song I want to hear — Dierks? Blake? Eric? Someone get on it.

One Tree Hill — from Ludicrous to Boring?

One Tree Hill has been many things. It’s been heartbreaking (Keith’s murder), melodramatic (Peyton’s cyberstalker), ridiculous (Nanny Carrie), sexy (Julian), funny (Chris Keller), thoughtful (CMM and his furrowed brow), action packed (too many crazy storylines to name), love triangle-tacular (Brooke, CMM and Peyton — come on, don’t deny it) and often traumatizing (Dan’s heart being eaten by a dog, for one; Deb and Skillz, for another).

But until now, it has never been boring. Unfortunately, the start of the final season has had me scratching my head wondering if this is the same damn show. A snapshot of the storylines:

• Clay has a major problem — a secret problem! He’s…..sleepwalking!! (dun dun dun!)
• Mouth gets fat. Millie is sad. Seriously, that’s the whole storyline.
• Hailey’s diner needs a cook! And the competition across the street is mean.
• Brooke wants to golf with her dad, is sad to find out she was only invited to lunch.

Sure there are other things lurking in the background — namely, Dan. No really, every time someone is talking, Dan is lurking there in the background. Obviously this is supposed to make us worry about what he’s going to get himself up to. But this is OTH!! We don’t spend four episodes worrying about what Dan might do! We see Dan murder three midgets and then become a tele-evangelist, while his ex-wife passes out in a cocktail of booze and pills, all before the introductory music montage is over. Now we are stuck watching Dan lurk while waiting for Nathan to return from “Europe,” so he can listen to his son ask him to please let Grandpa stay.

OK, we did have a “left a baby in the car” scare with Julian a few weeks ago. Now that is something that really happens and it’s heartbreaking. But when your most interesting/dangerous storyline involves a working parent who’s stressed out and screws up on the way to daycare — well I think you might have left the realm of escapism a little too quickly there.

I am confident that the teddy bear of doom left laying the gutter as Nathan didn’t make it home last week portends bigger, more dramatic and hopefully crazy happenings. If not, OTH is destined to go out with a whimper. In a way this whole strategy– the getting fat, leaving kids in cars, job stress storylines — are reminiscent of the final season of 90210 where they made Steve Sanders trade in the ‘vette for a minivan. As if to say — “Look people, there is nothing left to see here anyway, just go on and be boring old grown ups.” I didn’t buy it with 90210, and I don’t with OTH either.

 

Not Much Wow in Wu: Jason Wu for Target

So I had seen the online lookbook, editorial press and “Today” appearances of the Jason Wu for Target collection and honestly wasn’t that enthralled. There were some cute looks in the line, but they weren’t cute looks for me. Unlike Missoni, of which I wanted any and all, immediately, there was only one dress in this collection I would even consider buying — this one.  Still, I wasn’t POSITIVE that I didn’t love it, so I got up and hauled my cookies to Target at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning. There were plenty of items (though they weren’t carrying the blue dress) and no mob scene — God bless Iowa — but really, in person, the stuff was so underwhelming. The fabrics were not great and the designs a weird mix of old lady and young girl. I left without even seriously considering anything.

I’m glad I checked it out, and I’m equally glad I don’t live somewhere like Miami, where the couple went in and bought everything with plans to sell it for a profit.  Despite the fact that I didn’t love the collection, stories like this are so annoying they give me heart palpitations. Setting limits may not be ideal on Target’s end, but there must be a better answer. If I had waited in line only to watch store personnel escort these people out of there with every single thing available, I would be seriously disenfranchised on the level of never wanting to go back into that store. I’m just thinking Target should be careful walking this line of drawing interest and turning people off.  The quick publicity benefit isn’t going to be worthwhile once people decide they are just. over. it.

Top 25 Most Played: #24 “Worn Me Down”

I remember listening to this a ton a few years ago, so it’s not shocking it’s on this playlist. It’s just an easy listening kind of pop song. Rachel Yamagata is one of those people I really like in theory, but then don’t listen to all that often. But this song was once featured on “The O.C.” so it got itself into heavy rotation for me… That show’s been off the air for years but still permeates my iTunes!!

 

Weighing In on the Commercials

Apparently everyone with an internet connection is required to weigh on in this important national issue: the Super Bowl Commercials.

My five favorites were:

• The Honda Ferris commercial, because even though I saw it last week and yes, there could have been more, I truly love Ferris and thought it was clever.
• The Hyundai Cheetah commercial, because it made me chuckle and I didn’t see it coming.
• The Clint Eastwood Detroit commercial, because it reminds me of last year’s Eminem commercial.
• The naked M&Ms commercial, because naked chocolate is vaguely sexy.
• The Beckham H&M commercial, because nearly naked Beckham is overtly sexy.
• The dog training Volkswagen commercial, because I need to get in shape like that dog did.

These were the ones I liked the least…or didn’t like the most?:

• The end of the dog training Volkswagen commercial, with the Star Wars meta reference to last year’s commercial. Look I have nothing against Star Wars. I don’t like a brand bragging that last year’s commercial was so damn witty. I didn’t really think it was that witty.
• The Polar Bears Coke commercial. First, I don’t believe polar bears drink Coke. Second, why would they drink it out of a glass bottle? That is just not practical. No one drinks Coke out of a glass bottle anymore. (I really wanted the payoff to be that it was a plastic bottle all along. Wouldn’t that have been better?)
• GoDaddy…it’s old. Why is Danica still in on this? There isn’t a joke to be a part of any more?
• The Doritos dog murderer of the cat. I just didn’t think it was that clever.
• The Bridgestone series. Boring, not funny, too much fire power not put to good use.
• Bud Light Platinum. Yawn for the commercial, and the beer.

Movie Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The “extremely loud” part is definitely on target. I wanted to like this movie. I had a pocketful of kleenex and a Sunday afternoon free. I wasn’t excited to think about 9/11 for two hours but I hoped I’d get a meaningful and interesting remembrance. Unfortunately the two hour trip is hosted by, literally, the most annoying child on the face of the earth. The 11-year-old, Oskar, is eccentric. Tests to determine if he had aspergers were “inconclusive.” There are not many scenes in which Oskar is not the primary, if not only, speaker. And after a half hour or so, his voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me. His quest to decipher a key found in his late father’s belongings is hopeless, and extremely lengthy. By the time he finds a cohort you will be so thrilled and excited to get to hear another character. Then…he’s mute! It’s a ridiculous device and only serves for more one-sided screeching by the kid. In the end, there are some touching moments. Things tie together and the crazy hopeless quest of the key feels like it had some meaning after all. Unfortunately all that comes too late. The kid has already been unlikable for too long. Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis and the other adults do a nice job. Unfortunately, they can’t counter balance the kid. (Disclaimer – I am not a kid hater. But I don’t have unlimited tolerance or sympathy for the fictitious ones, either.)

Crock Pot Apple Pie

Just threw together my Super Bowl party crock pot contribution: Crock Pot Apple Pie. It’s my cousin Monica’s recipe, and with four whole ingredients, it’s as easy as it is delish. First prep by spraying some Pam or other nonstick spray in your crock pot. Then layer the four ingredients:

• Pour in two cans of apple pie filling
• Layer a jar of caramel topping over the filling
• Add a package of butter pecan cake mix
• Slice up a stick of butter over the top

Do not stir it up. Just let the layers percolate as you cook on high for about 2 hours, then move to low for another 2 hours. Scoop and top with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Movie Review: Tree of Life

I’d heard the reports that “Tree of Life” was love it or hate it, long and incomprehensible. Potentially pretentious. I wasn’t excited to watch it and let the DVD languish on the table for a couple of weeks. Finally, it was the last best picture nominee I had left so I forced myself to watch it. I was surprised. It was long. It was incomprehensible. And it was potentially pretentious. But there was something really engaging about it. Even the 20 minute diversion into the big bang and dinosaur reckoning was more realistic and interesting to watch than I imagined it would be. The overall theme of theology — who is God and why is He, or isn’t He, watching us — felt organic and not as forced as it should have. The performances were awesome — you never questioned how people were feeling despite very little dialogue and nearly no cohesive, scene-by-scene narrative. Brad Pitt was very good, his keyed up speak first think later father was the exact opposite of his downtrodden, thinking and methodical Moneyball character. And this was the first time I felt like I understood the fuss about Jessica Chastain. All that said, it’s not a movie I’d recommend without reservation. I have a feeling I have more patience that most to sit for two hours without getting what I’m watching. But if you feel like just giving over to some beautiful cinematography and a somewhat coherent coming of age tale somewhere in the middle there, you may enjoy it.

Kevin Bacon Comes to TV

Kevin Bacon Comes to TV

Following in his wife’s lovely footsteps. Can’t wait to see him on a weekly basis