Girl Detective

Has Project Runway jumped the shark? I am excited to watch the new episode each week, then feel “meh” once it’s done. It’s gotten easier to tell who will be at the top and bottom simply based on the talking heads. For whatever reason, though, season 4 isn’t working for me.

This week’s challenge was for each designer to take an outdated trend, then group together into threes and update the trends to form a cohesive trio. The challenge was both difficult and complex, and made we wonder if PR has already peaked; it feels like they’re working awfully hard to come up with something “new”.

Since there are still so many designers, it feels more like a whirl of personalities. Christian had a pissy, immature expression when Jillian’s team was named the winner. Jack’s features are ostensibly handsome, but strangely off-putting; I sense some plastic surgery. Ricky is right; Victoria _is_ passive agressive. Is Ricky talented? It will be interesting to see. Steven’s snark is sharper than are his designs. I felt joy for Sweet P when Donna Karan singled her out for praise. And Chris’s jacket was ugly and costume-y, in spite of his delusional love for it.

Jillian, Rami, and Kevin turned out to be the dream team, though Kevin was only able to pull off those shorts at the last minute. I liked the “agree to disagree” discussion between Rami and Jillian about Kevin, and appreciated that they came across as quietly talented. Team Christian, on the other hand, was a lot of sound and fury that signified little.

I’ll keep watching of course, but I’m more compelled by the reruns of Season 2 on my Tivo than the brand new episodes.

OMG! Jack and my favorite Big Gay Chef Dale are dating! I may have to be nicer about Jack.

Remember to check out what others are saying: Project Rungay, Blogging Project Runway.

One of the most disturbing things I learned from Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma is how dependent as a species we’ve become on corn, and how its production, subsidies, and byproducts have become such facts of life that we barely notice them.

I highly recommend the book. For more on how much corn is in our diets, check out the documentary “King Corn” at the Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis this week. There will also be a discussion at the Wedge food coop on Friday.

I watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with my 4yo son Drake yesterday. I’ll stop sometimes and ask him what’s happening. “I don’t know!” he says happily.

The story of how a band of misfits come together and find strength in their unique selves is a timeless one. But a few snarky comments floated through my head, as I watched through adult eyes:

Hermie the dentist: if you substitute “gay” for dentistry, it still holds together. I’ve recently watched Season One of Project Runway. Hermie reminded me a lot of Austin Scarlett.

What women are up for, part I: When Rudolph runs away, his dad, Donner, says he’s going to look for him. Mom offers to go, too, but Donner declares, “This is MAN’s work!” Then Rudolph’s mother and girlfriend go off to look for him anyway.

Curious timing: Over a year, Rudolph leisurely grows up on his own, then returns home to find everyone is still gone, looking for him. He proceeds directly to the lair of the Abominable Snowman, who is just about to eat his parents and girlfriend. Why don’t the kids see how contrived this is?

Dental work without consent: Hermie and Yukon’s plan is to pull all the Bumble’s teeth while he’s unconscious? Animal cruelty!

What women need, part II: After they escape the Bumble’s lair, the deer return to Christmastown immediately; the males decide “that’s what would be best for the ladies.”

I am avalanched with many mundanities of life: sick kids, cold weather, household mishaps, etc. My entries and my replies are delayed, and I will get back to the blog as I can. I read all, and appreciate all your comments, even if I’m slow to reply!

Knuffle Bunny Too is a worthy sequel to Mo Willems’s Knuffle Bunny, and a welcome addition to his impressive oeuvre. While I don’t consistently love all his books (such as Leonardo and Edwina) my kids, 4yo Drake and 21mo Guppy, are gaga over Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, Elephant, and Piggie.

As in its predecessor, KB2 meshes photos with Willems’s illustrations to great effect. Trixie is back, and she’s gone on to great conversational lengths (if not heights) from the conclusion of KB1. She is disturbed to learn that her beloved Knuffle Bunny (pronounced Kuh-nuffle, as it is in German) is not unique. Rivalry and hijinks ensue. Dad gets bossed about; happiness is restored in the end.

Careful observers can detect the slight differences in the bunnies, as well as three appearances of Pigeon. Like Hitchcock, the Pigeon appears somewhere in all of Willems’s books.

Looking for toys that will bring joy? Both The Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny now are in plush form!

From the Manolo, who cried foul on the challenge:

Menswear does not fall under the purview of the fashion designer. It belongs properly and only to the tailor, to men who have devoted their lives to the arcana of button holes and pick-stitched lapels and French facings, and who know that what matters most in menswear is material, cut, fit and detail.

But had a hilarious analysis of why Tiki Barber is fashionable:

Left to his own devices, [Barber's] ebullient personality would riot in color and flash, but restrain and encase that magnificent athlete’s body in traditional English-cut suiting, and then allow him to pick the colors and the accessories, and he becomes the epitome of style. Undoubtedly it is his beautiful but stern-seeming wife who is the genius behind the suits, and it is this tension between exuberance and restraint that makes Tiki what he is fashion-wise.

Project Rungay agrees with my LCD complaint:

By its very nature, the Today Show is meant to appeal to the broadest possible demographic, which means the people who populate these shows tend toward bland personalities in bland clothing. To ask the designers to design something to be worn by such a person is basically handing them an assignment that says “Boil it down to the lowest common denominator you can.”

Maureen Ryan wondered:

Where was the love for Steven’s outfit? I thought it was very polished and smart, especially given the time constraints. He’s one to watch, and I’m not just saying that because he’s a Chicago guy.

Steven also received a lot of love in the comments on the PR4.3 post at ALoTT5MA.

My friend Thalia posted this meme. I normally avoid these, but the list was so bizarre and since she’s one of my favorite bookish friends, I wanted to post about it as conversation.

Bold means I’ve read it. Italics means I started it but didn’t finish. Crossed out means I hated it. TBR means I want to read, or re-read it.

Why I find this list bizarre and stupid: who picked the classics–Austen and Bronte but not Hemingway or Fitzgerald? And why multiples from Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson, but only two more recent ones by Atwood? There’s a smattering of “it” books up to a few years ago, but without rhyme or reason. Some I won’t bother reading. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is supposed to be boring and superficial. I very much enjoyed Zen and the Art of Archery instead.

What I’m proudest of having read: the completed novels of Austen, Don Quixote, Gulliver’s Travels, all just because I wanted to.

1984
The Aeneid
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
American Gods
Anansi Boys-TBR
Angela’s Ashes : A Memoir
Angels & Demons
Anna Karenina-TBR
Atlas Shrugged
Beloved
The Blind Assassin-TBR
Brave New World
The Brothers Karamazov
The Canterbury Tales
Catch-22
The Catcher in the Rye
A Clockwork Orange
Cloud Atlas
Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Confusion-TBR
The Corrections
The Count of Monte Cristo
Crime and Punishment
Cryptonomicon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
David Copperfield
Don Quixote
Dracula
Dubliners-TBR
Dune-TBR
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Emma
Foucault’s Pendulum
The Fountainhead
Frankenstein
Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
The God of Small Things
The Grapes of Wrath
Gravity’s Rainbow
Great Expectations
Gulliver’s Travels
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
The Historian : A Novel
The Hobbit
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Iliad
In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences
The Inferno
Jane Eyre
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
The Kite Runner
Les Misérables
Life of Pi : A Novel
Lolita-TBR
Love in the Time of Cholera-TBR
Madame Bovary-TBR
Mansfield Park
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlemarch-TBR
Middlesex
The Mists of Avalon
Moby Dick
Mrs. Dalloway
The Name of the Rose
Neverwhere
Northanger Abbey
The Odyssey
Oliver Twist
On the Road
The Once and Future King
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Oryx and Crake : A Novel
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Persuasion
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Poisonwood Bible : A Novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Pride and Prejudice
The Prince
Quicksilver-TBR
Reading Lolita in Tehran : A Memoir in Books
The Satanic Verses
The Scarlet Letter
Sense and Sensibility
A Short History of Nearly Everything
The Silmarillion
Slaughterhouse-five
The Sound and the Fury
The Tale of Two Cities
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
The Three Musketeers
The Time Traveler’s Wife
To the Lighthouse
Treasure Island
Ulysses
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Vanity Fair
War and Peace-TBR
Watership Down
White Teeth
Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wuthering Heights
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : An Inquiry Into Values

Both episodes 2 and 3 had special guests, but only ep 2’s caused the designers to weep with joy and quake with fear. Christian and Carmen’s 80’s flashback was horrible, and Christian’s love of it was quite bizarre. Listen to Tim, little boy. I could hardly believe that not only did bizarre and wifty puppet-mistress Elisa stay in, but she nearly won. Victorya’s dress was good, but I didn’t see it being as universal as the judges claimed. It’s a tough challenge to design something for a low-priced everywoman line, but yet still push the fashion envelope. While I liked the pretty dress by Jack, it wasn’t astonishing.

In episode 3, most people bite off more than they can chew, and Carmen and Ricky have meltdowns when confronted with their shoddy work. Jack’s conservative two-piece wins over Kit’s more ambitious ensemble. The trouble with having a guest judge, especially one who will wear the outfit, is they’re usually not as fashion-forward as they think they are–think back to Wendy Pepper’s critical win, and Austin’s auf, in the penultimate Grammy challenge from Season 1. Jack’s outfit looked very Thomas Pink to me. Nice, but not surprising, as Kit’s fleece blazer was.

There is an element of unreality to season 3 to me; it doesn’t feel like it’s really starting. Perhaps it’s because there are still SO many designers.

Also, Kevin? You doth protest your straightness too much. Get over yourself.

Go get more PR love at Blogging Project Runway.

Want to feel loved by a child? Wear velvet pants. They are hug magnets.

It’s been rather chilly in MN lately, and the feel of winter has set in. Do I mean snowflakes that cling to my nose and eyelashes? No. Remember back when you were a kid, and it was the feel of the insides of your nose sticking together, and you thought your boogers were freezing? It’s not that, either. I mean that awful feeling as my dry, cracked skin scrapes against fleece. I can almost hear the “KRRRRRCK” sound it must make. Or the burning sensation in my hands that no amount of hand lotion can quell after I’ve done the dishes and not used rubber gloves.

I brought the Sound of Music soundtrack home from the library for 4yo Drake. He plays it over and over, start to finish, morning till night.

I think I’m going to have to have it surgically removed from my brain.

Ergh.

For them to think about while they’re on strike (go writers!):

Please, please, please don’t make Sweets be Gormogon. He’s a great, funny, recurring character, and it would be a shame to lose him.

Bones is on hiatus till the new year, but if you haven’t been watching, catch a rerun or two. The banter, chemistry, and writing have fairly crackled this fall.

For those who have been watching, did anyone else wonder if David Boreanaz had Buffy flashbacks during last week’s graveyard scene?

#77 in my 2007 movie challenge was Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg’s parody of bad buddy-cop movies. It’s silly, goofy fun, though the blood, gore and violence make it not for the squeamish. While it runs a little long at two hours, it’s really quite good, which is an impressive feat, given the less-than-high-art source material, like Bad Boys II and Point Break. What’s more interesting to contemplate, though, is how studios keep churning out bad buddy-cop movies, whether drama or comedy, that don’t hold a candle to this spoof.

When I brought the DVD home from the library, 4yo Drake asked what it was called. Once I told him Hot Fuzz, he pestered me to watch it constantly, and was crestfallen when I said I’d returned it. It has a very catchy title.

Twin Citians, do you appreciate local treasure, Tea Source? I finally drank my way down to only one black tea in the pantry; I had either ten or twelve as of last mother’s day, when I hosted a tea. We had Thanksgiving at our friend Haddayr’s house, and she extolled the virtues of Tea Source’s Popped Rooibos. It smelled rich like pipe smoke, and tasted toasty and of the popped corn that’s in it. Unable to resist restocking the pantry, I hied myself to Tea Source where 4yo Drake and I sniffed all the tea samples, and got four lovely winter teas:

Popped Rooibos: This delicious and unique blend is very full-bodied and is slightly sweet (almost caramel-like), slightly toasty, and slightly popcorny. Contains rooibos, green tea, almond brittle, roasted rice, flavor.

Genmaicha: A refreshing blend of a high grade Sencha green tea, toasted brown rice, and puffed rice, producing a more full bodied green tea with slightly toasty undertones. Delicious.

Evening in Missoula: Chamomile, rosehips, raspberry, papaya, peppermint, spearmint, strawberry leaf, vanilla, passion flower, red clover, star anise, and wild cherry bark. Absolutely fabulous.

Tea Source ships, and it really is a lovely little shop, if you’re looking for gifts for the tea lover in your life. (I get nothing for this gush; I just want to spread the joy.)

Top Chef info, from Maureen Ryan’s The Watcher:

A “Top Chef” cooking special, which will reunite competitors from various seasons, will air Dec. 6 on Bravo. For all you “Chef”-heads, here’s the lineup, direct from Bravo’s Tuesday press release: “Season 1’s Stephen Asprinio and Tiffani Faison, Season 2’s Betty Fraser, Marcel Vigneron and Josie Smith-Malave and Season 3’s Chris ‘C.J.’ Jacobson, ‘Tre’ Wilcox and Sandee Birdsong.”

Also launching December 6 is Bravo’s new mobile game “Top Chef Challenge.” Designed and developed by leading mobile publisher LimeLife, Inc., the game is set behind-the-scenes of a Tom Colicchio fictional restaurant. Players customize their character and enter the game’s virtual kitchen as an entry-level dishwasher and can advance to “Top Chef,” gain 5-star status and fame along the way with commentary and advice from show host, Padma Lakshmi. A series of mini-games and culinary challenges test reflexes, memory and patience to prove you have what it takes to be the next “Top Chef.” As an added bonus, the Trivia Challenge mini-game lets players demonstrate their culinary knowledge to earn extra points. Top Chef Challenge will be available for a one-time download charge of $6.99 or $2.99 monthly subscription fee (where available) at major U.S. carriers. Consumers should check with their carrier for handset compatibility.

I am sad that my big, gay, chef Dale from Season 3 isn’t participating. I hope he’s off being wildly successful somewhere.

My husband and I hope to make the upcoming holidays about joy and wonder for our 4yo and almost 2yo sons. An article I received in one of my parenting classes has some good ideas.

Star Tribune 12/24/89 - Pat Gardner “Tender Years”

The weeks of hectic preparation are coming to a close. Within days, the magic will begin to unfold for our children and, vicariously through them, for us. Just as we remember those wonderful Christmas Eves and mornings long ago, our children will one day look back on these days. How will they remember them? What are you giving your children this year?

I know one family of modest means that makes a great effort to celebrate Christmas in the best way possible. Their children always find five gifts under the tree. And more than that, the gifts are always accompanied by a parent. Here’s how they do it.

The children always receive a gift to hug and love. Sometimes it’s a doll or maybe a stuffed animal. Every Christmas each child has something to care for, to carry along and finally at night to share a bed, secrets and dreams.

The wise parents know that the children will themselves learn to care for others by practicing on dolls and stuffed animals. Mom and Dad demonstrate rocking the stuffed bear and wiping the doll’s face. They talk about being gentle and giving care.

More important, they treat their children tenderly. They make a special effort at this busy time of year for a little more lap time, more frequent hugs and all the physical care and attention their young children need.

The children in this family always receive something to read. The parents know that to give them books is to give them wings. The little ones get books, and the big ones get books. Books aren’t foreign to any member of this family. Books are treasures. And more than that, they become a daily connection between parent and child.

The wise parents know that the best way to raise a reader is to read to a child….They share curiosity. They take the time to listen patiently to their beginning reader. They share discoveries. Through books, these parents explore worlds within their home and beyond their front door with all of their children.

The children receive toys and games. These parents are concerned about each child’s skills and find fun ways to enhance their present capabilities and encourage further development. For a grasping baby, a crib gym; for a beginning walker, a push toy; for a pre-schooler, a shape and color sorter; for a beginning reader, a game of sequence and strategy.

The parents know that play is the work of childhood. They understand that to meet a child at her level of accomplishment is to encourage success in play. Success stimulates motivation and interest in a challenge. So the parents judge their toy and game choices carefully. Not too easy, but not too hard.

They they do the most important thing. They play with their children. The children see that learning is a toy, that it’s fun to challenge oneself, that play can be a very social activity, that it’s OK to win and also to lose and that Mom and Dad wholeheartedly approve of play.

The children in this family always receive a gift of activity. From a simple ball or jump rope to a basketball hoop or a pair of ice skates, they always have one gift that encourages action.

The parents know that those children who, by nature, are very active may need to be channeled into acceptable and appropriate activities. And they know that those children who, by nature, are very passive may need to be encouraged to move with purpose. But their message to their children is that physical activity is important and good.

These parents make their message clear by joining their children in physical play. They skate and play catch. They’re on the floor with their crawlers and walk hand in hand with their toddlers. They get bumped and bruised and laugh and shout. They sled and they bowl. And many times in the next few weeks when resting on the couch sounds much more inviting, these parents will give their kids one more gift. They’ll get up and play with them.

The children always receive a gift of artistic expression. They might find crayons, paints or markers in their stockings. It might be a gift of clay this year or rubber stamps or scissors and glue. The materials change, but the object remains the same: create with joy.

These wise parents aren’t terribly concerned about the mess of finger paints. They’re more concerned about the exposure to unique sensations. They want their children to use their imaginations. They want their children to approach life in a hands-on fashion. And they want them to express themselves through their artistic activities in ways that exceed their vocabularies.

For my sister Ruthie: Thanksgiving deserves a repeat of one of my favorite easy recipes. It turns out perfectly for me every time. Blend, pour, bake, cool, ta-da!

1 15-oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 c. milk, or 1 13-oz. can evaporated milk
1/2 c. biscuit/pancake mix or 1/2 c. flour plus 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sugar
2 Tbl. butter, melted then cooled
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch glass or Pyrex pie plate.

Place all ingredients in blender; blend for 2 minutes. Pour mixture into pie plate and bake for about an hour, or till center is set and tester comes out clean. Cool. Serve with vanilla or ginger ice cream, or vanilla or maple whipped cream.

For my dad, who didn’t ask for this. I can’t help offering my opinion though. His twice baked potatoes have a glue-y mouth feel to me, since he uses either a blender or a food processor rather than mashing them, and this destroys some science-y molecule that makes them fluffy.

And my dad is used to me telling how to do things he’s been doing for years. He just nods politely, then does his own thing anyway, so we both end up happy.

From Cook’s Illustrated:

Quicker Twice-Baked Stuffed Potatoes with Ham, Peas, and Gruyere 9/2004
Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side

4 russet potatoes , scrubbed and dried
vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (melt 2 tablespoons)
3/4 pound deli-style baked ham , sliced 1/4-inch thick and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 cup frozen peas
6 ounces Gruyère cheese , shredded (2 cups)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees.

1a. Place four potatoes in a shallow baking dish, puncture the skin with a fork, and microwave the spuds, rotating them every three minutes, until a skewer can be inserted and removed with little resistance, nine to 12 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

2. While potatoes are baking, heat 1 tablespoon butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming; add ham in even layer and cook, without stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir and cook 30 seconds longer. Off heat, stir in peas; transfer mixture to large plate.

3. Halve each potato lengthwise. Using soup spoon, scoop flesh from each half into bowl, leaving about 3/8-inch thickness of flesh. Place shells cut-sides up on baking sheet and return to oven until dry and slightly crisp, about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mash potato flesh with fork until smooth; stir in melted butter, ham mixture, 1 cup cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Remove shells from oven; heat broiler. Mound filling into shells; sprinkle with remaining cheese and broil until spotty brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; serve.

My sister Sydney avoids carbs, but is helpless in the face of these muffins. She also seems unable to hang onto the recipe, which is from Cook’s Illustrated (9/02):

Corn Muffins

Whole-grain cornmeal has a fuller flavor than regular cornmeal milled from degerminated corn. To determine what kind of cornmeal a package contains, look closely at the label.

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1 cup fine-ground, whole-grain yellow cornmeal (4 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to combine; set aside. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl until well combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar to eggs; whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds; add melted butter in 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition. Add half the sour cream and half the milk and whisk to combine; whisk in remaining sour cream and milk until combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; mix gently with rubber spatula until batter is just combined and evenly moistened. Do not over-mix. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among muffin cups, dropping it to form mound. Do not level or flatten surface of mounds.

3. Bake until muffins are light golden brown and skewer inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 18 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in tin 5 minutes; invert muffins onto wire rack, stand muffins upright, cool 5 minutes longer, and serve warm.

I am helpless to resist the powerful tractor beam of Tim Gunn’s charm and fashion sense. I don’t even really like his show, and at the end I feel guilty for having watched it, but there’s something about Gunn that manages to transcend my gripes.

Some of the fashion advice is useful, some of it’s not so. One of the moments in their makeovers that’s meant to shock is when sidekick Veronica Webb insists on going through the makeover-ee’s underwear drawer. This is played for awkwardness, but there’s sound reasoning behind it. In this week’s episode, Webb surprised contestant Elena when she announced that bras were only meant to last six months.

I got some flak when I wrote about this once, but a former bra-fitter assured me it’s true. If you machine wash them, hooked and in a lingerie bag, they will stay supportive and fitting for about 6 months. Hand washing will extend this to about a year. Wearing old, stretched-out bras isn’t comfortable, and isn’t flattering. They’re not called foundations for nothing.

Now, don’t let this imply that I take my own advice. Most of what’s in my drawer is way older than six months, and those that aren’t don’t fit really well–I fall between band sizes, and my size is tough to find. I’m not sure I can really condone going bra shopping (and spending) every six months. Or the mock seriousness of Tim and Veronica Webb when they insist on examining the unmentionables. But I can’t argue that it’s a good ideal.