Trailer: I Am Love starring Tilda Swinton

Trailer: An Education starring Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan

Don’t miss the soundtrack to this movie… so romantic.

Listen to a sample of each song here

~Melissa

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Gracie has been a long time fan of the animated series, Avatar, and was so excited to see Shyamalan’s version of one of her favorite shows. It was very entertaining. I’m glad we went to see it on the big screen. I must admit, I had a difficult time thinking of Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, as I am so use to him in the role of Jasper in the Twilight series.

After the movie we had a little fireworks display in our own back yard

and while Jeff grilled chicken and portobellos for dinner…

and we drank some vino…

I took pictures of flowers in our yard

and Gracie’s watermelon plant…

and a giant hosta

Then it started to rain, so we had dinner on the front porch instead of the deck.

What did you do today?

~Melissa

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It was so amazing. I love how these movies are staying so true to the characters and the books. Beautifully done.

Now we’re hanging out making Luna Salad, a recipe given to me by my Robin, and listening to some  Vampire Weekend because I’m hopelessly addicted.

Also, check out one of my favorite blogs written by my friend Jody, The Mean Mom, when you get a chance. I love her honesty and her crazy awesome sense of humor. If you’re not familiar with her blog, you’re in for hours of entertainment.

~Melissa

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After the movie we went home to change our clothes for an evening out at Vino in the Valley in Maiden Rock Wisconsin. Without getting into too much detail about the experience, I’ll just say it was much like our last visit.

We ended the evening at Dairy Queen for dipped cones and Peanut Buster Parfaits

How did you spend date night this week?

~Melissa

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We’re just wrapping up another five day staycation, and it was so incredibly relaxing. Lots of delectable meals out, hammock naps, and morning walks when the sun and mist are rising over the bluff…

It started on Saturday when we went to our friends’ wedding for date night. We returned home and watched Whip It, a fun new film directed by Drew Barrymore. It’s about roller derby girls, which I found fascinating. Great soundtrack, and lots of incredible actresses. Can’t wait to buy it on dvd and watch it again, and can’t wait to see what Drew is working on next.

On Sunday we took a little road trip to Stillwater to see my father in law and had a nice visit. We returned home and made an appetizing, healthy meal…

Veggie Lentil Rice with Sausage

Grill Italian sausage, Polish kielbasa, or bratwurst.

Cook basmati, jasmine, or brown rice according to package directions, using organic chicken stock in place of water. (To equal about 2 cups cooked rice.)

Cook a bag of brown or green lentils according to package directions, adding a cup of your favorite fresh, chopped veggies during the last 10 minutes of cooking time. Season with a little curry, cinnamon, parsley, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (to taste.)

Toss lentil-veggie mixture with the rice and a couple Tablespoons real butter.

Top with the sausage of your choice and some chopped tomatoes.

Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top.

mmmmmmm……

On Monday we had our friend TJ down and grilled Mona Lisa Burgers (again.) So good! We can’t get enough of The Cheese & Burger Society So many yummy new cheeseburger recipes to try!

On Tuesday morning I got up before everyone else in the house and did some reading and writing. Made a big jar or mango sun tea, sat out on the deck and watched the sun rise over Sorin’s Bluff. We recently found out a really cool fact about the bluff we live by, and the street we live on. Ever since we became Red Wing residents we’ve known we’re surrounded by some awesome history. We’ve also known for quite a few years that Red Wing is the birthplace of ski jumping in the United States. What we didn’t know is that Sorin’s Bluff is the bluff where it all started, and the street where we live, McSorley, is the site of the very first ski jump in the nation! Holla!

McSorley Hill

This is McSorley Hill in the late 1800′s! It’s hard to say exactly where our house would be in this picture (once it was built, back in 1901) but I would guess it would be right about where the row of three people (on the right hand side of the picture) are standing.

Anyhoo… the hubby and I went to breakfast at the divine St. James Hotel’s Veranda restaurant. We sat at a little umbrella table on their outdoor patio and had a nice view of the Mississippi river. The food was exquisite, as usual!

On Wednesday we went for an early morning walk. The weather was perfect! We went on a grocery shopping date, came home and shared Ploughman’s lunch on the front porch while it rained. A light breeze blew through the trees and our nearby rose bush, scenting the air with roses and rain while we ate. So romantic

We spent Wednesday evening on the front porch. We relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful weather. I wrapped up the evening with a candlelit bubble bath, and a glass of vino.

How do you spend your staycations?

~Melissa

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A new Cohen brother’s favorite. Bound to become a classic. Dark, religious humor. The main character, Larry Gopnik, a physics professor from Minnesota seems to be asking “What does God want from me?” throughout the entire film. I love this review.

Starring two of my favorite actresses…love this film!

Rose (Amy Adams) was the cheerleading captain when she was in high school. Now she’s a single mother who cleans houses for a living. When her ‘spirited’ son gets in trouble at school, she decides to send him to private school, and has to go into a more lucrative line of work to pay his tuition. She teams up with her underachieving sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), and they start a crime scene clean-up business. They learn some hard, life lessons as they strive to make better lives for themselves.

Watch the trailer.

This beautiful movie completely took me by surprise. The tagline, “One moment can change your life forever,” says it all without saying too much. Watch the trailer, and read a full synopsis here.

~Melissa

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Saturday was date night so we thought it might be fun to go see the movie “Date Night” starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. It turned out to be very romantic and funny, lots of great one liners, and included a hilarious scene with James Franco. Just enough corn sprinkled throughout to make it cute.

We decided to go home after the movie and make dinner. This turned out so good! We listened to Vampire Weekend while we cooked…

Creamy Tomato Sherry Rigatoni with Grilled Shrimp

1 lb large shrimp, grilled

16 oz. rigatoni

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 Tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14 oz) cans Muir Glenn fire roasted, diced tomatoes in juice

2 teaspoons dry oregano

2 teaspoons dry basil

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 and 1/2 cups cream sherry

1/2 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Grill shrimp on skewers. Cook rigatoni according to package directions. When the pasta is done, drain well and transfer to a large pasta serving bowl. Toss with the 2 Tablespoons of olive oil.

In a large skillet, heat the 4 Tablespoons of butter. Saute the minced garlic in the butter just until golden brown. Add both cans of tomatoes in juice, spices, cream sherry, and heavy cream. Cook over medium-high heat so the sauce gently bubbles and reduces to about half. Stir frequently. Add the Parmesan cheese and grilled shrimp. Gently combine the sauce with the cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with parsley.

Sherry Ice Cream

We made this dessert by simply topping vanilla ice cream with a pinch of cinnamon and a little cream sherry. There is something perfect about having a little ice cream for dessert after eating pasta. MMMMM….

What did you do over the weekend?

~Melissa

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This time of year I usually head to the kitchen to make my coffee first thing in the morning, and while I wait for the water to boil I make a new batch of sun tea. We go through about a gallon of the stuff a day. If I’m busy I just throw 5 or 6 Twinings English Breakfast tea bags in my sun tea jar, fill it with water and set it out on the deck. When I have more time, I like to make this:

Tropical Fruit Sun Tea

(from Art Smith’s cookbook Back to the Table)

1 cup loose, fruit flavored, black tea (I like Mrs. Kelly’s Minneapple, Mindy Kelly was the tea blender for both of the tearooms I worked for. The BEST tea in the twin cities!)

zest of 1/2 lemon

zest of 1/2 orange

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 cup sliced, crystallized ginger

10 cups bottled spring water

orange and lemon slices for garnish

Place the tea leaves, lemon and orange zests, cinnamon stick, and ginger in a large square or rinsed cheesecloth. Tie into a bundle to create a tea bag. Pour water into a clear glass jar. Add the tea bag to the jar, cover tightly, and place the jar in a sunny place outside. Let it steep for 4 hours. Remove the tea bag. Refrigerate tea until ready to serve. Serve in ice filled glasses and garnish with the citrus slices.

This weekend has been perfect for sipping sun tea out on the deck. I brought a beach towel out there yesterday, rubbed down with Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil and read a few chapters of The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde.

I am thoroughly enjoying this book and it’s subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) commentary on social class, beauty, and mortality. It’s undertones of homoeroticism must have caused quite a stir in the 1800′s. While reading it I’ve been reminded of other books that I’ve read in the same genre (Gothic Horror Fiction) such as Faust and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s great.

Yesterday evening we had the brilliant idea of grilling up some gourmet burgers using a recipe from our favorite burger recipe website. We made #20, The Mona Lisa… and it was so wonderful it brought a tear to my eye We had Bombay Sapphire gin martinis with the burgers. Mmmmmm….

To make the Mona Lisa Burger…

Spread about a tablespoon of garlic mayonnaise on the bottom half of a buttered, grilled Cibatta roll. Top mayo with sliced Sicilian olives, sundried tomatoes that have been soaking in extra virgin olive oil, a slice of purple onion, a 1/3 lb. grilled beef or bison burger, gorgonzola crumbles, 2 slices of crisp bacon, a few arugula leaves. Slather the top of the grilled Cibatta roll with more garlic mayo and place on top of the burger.

We topped off the day with a Netflix movie. Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams. It was hilarious, suspenseful, and beautifully done. I loved the overall “steam punk” feel of this flick.

How are you spending this beautiful weekend?

~Melissa

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On Friday, Nancy and I had plans to make mud pies in her back yard (commonly known as gardening to most adults…) but since it was about 40 degrees and raining we decided to stay in and watch a double feature while we ate yummy sandwiches instead. 500 Days of Summer (which I’ve now seen 5 times…can’t seem to get enough of it! Zooey Deschanel is so absolutely gorgeous in this film! And her outfits…I could go on and on…) and What Happens in Vegas which makes me laugh so hard my sides hurt.

On Friday night we drove to the Apple Valley Ruby Tuesday’s (I had the little appetizer fish tacos which were wonderful…) to celebrate my best friend Jana’s graduation from college (this was for her Master’s Degree! I’m so proud of her!) Her husband orchestrated a surprise party which is always fun, except I almost told her 200 times before the actual event because we talk on the phone almost every day. I shouldn’t be allowed to talk on the phone before such an event

On Saturday we drove to White Bear Lake to see our dear friends Heather and Tom and their boys. The hours flew by! Great conversation and a lovely dinner at Jake’s City Grille in Maplewood. I had the crispy coconut chicken salad….mmmmmm…. Thanks guys!

Sunday-Mother’s Day- I believe the ingredients for a beautiful Mother’s Day are:

Receiving a dozen of my favorite roses…

Waking up to breakfast in bed~ raspberry French toast, scrambled eggs and English Breakfast tea in a real tea cup. I spent a leisurely morning writing, reading my favorite blogs, finishing a vintage romance novel

by Rumer Godden called The Peacock Spring. It was full of beautiful imagery, and I loved that I could tell it was written in 1975. Reading it felt a bit like time travel.

and listening to Good Charlotte

We went to see Iron Man 2 which was every bit as good as the first one. Robert Downy Jr. was amazing and funny, and the scenes with Scarlett Johansson were smokin’ hot! The movie also had a pretty awesome soundtrack, ACDC fans will approve.

How to spend the rest of the evening? I think we’ll sit on the deck and soak in some of the gorgeous sunshine, grill steaks, and sip a crisp, cool galss of

Man Vintners Sauvignon Blanc

Description: Blast of fruit and bit of zing. This is a take-me-along-to-the-picnic wine. Serve chilled.

How did you spend your Mother’s Day weekend?

~Melissa

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I love rainy days every once in awhile. I get up and make a big pot of French press coffee, or a pot of China rose petal tea,  turn on some wonderful music like Ingrid Michaelson, Regina Spektor, or Norah Jones and light candles all over the house. When it’s not cold and windy I open the front and back doors and let the scent of rain and green things growing serve as a type of natural aromatherapy…but yesterday was chilly and damp, so I lit a fire in the fireplace instead. Sometimes it’s nice to settle in on the couch with the cats and a big mushy quilt and a good book and just listen to the thunder and the rain pouring down.

Rainy days call for comfort food, so I made a ham and cheese casserole for dinner and raspberry shortbread for dessert. The ham and cheese casserole is another great way to use up that Easter ham, for those of you who have expressed an interest

Ham & Cheese Casserole

1/2 lb. large pasta rings, cooked ‘al dente’

3/4 cup onion, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil

2 cups cooked ham, cubed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 (8 oz.) container real sour cream or whole milk plain yogurt

2  and 1/2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

3 Tablespoons Dijon or spicy brown mustard

1 (2.8 oz) can French fried onions

Cook pasta rings according to package directions. Drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a skillet, saute onion in the butter or olive oil until tender. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except the French fried onions. Mix well. spread in a 9×13 cake pan. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Uncover and top with the French fried onions. Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. Serves 8.

Raspberry Jam Shortbread Sandwiches

Adapted from the cook book “Apples for Jam” by Tessa Kiros

7 Tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

about 2/3 cup of your favorite jam (I used raspberry)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray a small cookie sheet with Baker’s Joy, or line with cooking parchment. Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and work them together with your hands until well combined. Add the flour and baking powder and work them in. Add the egg and vanilla and knead until smooth and evenly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.

Divide the dough in half. Roll one half on a floured surface so that it will fit your baking sheet, about 1/8 inch thick. fit it into your baking pan. Spread jam over top. Roll out other half of dough and fit over the bottom one.

Bake about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before cutting into squares or cutting out with a biscuit or cookie cutter. Will keep in a sealed container for 5-6 days.

Today I think we’ll settle in and watch a couple of our favorite movies from our “classic movie library” like Love With The Proper Stranger, starring Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen, and maybe an Audrey Hepburn flick like Roman Holiday. After that, who knows? Maybe a sporting game of Boggle or Scrabble?

What are your rainy day rituals?

~Melissa

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