Impromptu Duck Dinner
Caramel pecans, various dried fruit "tapenade" with madeira and wine, over duck breast (prepared thusly), served with greens. This was a lovely dish, though ideally I would chop and truly candy the pecans into praline and perhaps use fresh rather than dry fruit for what was supposed to be a sauce. Not bad for kitchen scraps on the fly.



Into the Woods
Chris Pine is the confirmed audience favorite for his hammy, show stopping performance in "Agony". But it is Emily Blunt who scene steals her way through the film, vocally and emotionally. The directorial decision to punctuate Sondheim's repetitive score through quick editing, allows the actors to tease out the pace of the lyrics. While the second half could have used a an extra dose of darkness to send harsh the message home, the film was mostly enjoyable rather than just bearable. Not often one hears that said about a 2 hour plus musical to movie adaptation.