• Home
  • MUSIC
  • RECIPES
  • TV / POP CULTURE
  • TRAVEL
  • THE SPORTING LIFE
  • About

All Small Things Considered.com

~ Because it's the little things that make your day

All Small Things Considered.com

Category Archives: TV / POP CULTURE

That Luther/Alice thang

16 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by Leah in TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Idris Elba, Luther, Ruth Wilson, The Affair, The Wire

Luther-Season-3_1363720262

Luther

BBC America, Netflix, iTunes

Oh Idris.  I love saying that … Idris.  Good morning, Idris.  More coffee, Idris?  Oh, er, sorry ’bout that, but every time I try to write about the fantastic British drama “Luther,” I start drooling over my keyboard thinking about its sexy star, Idris Elba.  But now I must write about it, because his equally charismatic co-star, Ruth Wilson, aka Alice, is starring in a new series on Showtime (“The Affair”*), and there I go dreaming about that Luther/Alice thang all over again.

In “Luther,” Wilson plays Alice, a scheming, sociopath-turned-advisor of sorts to Chief Inspector Luther (Elba), and their dynamic is utterly fascinating.  She’s dangerous, he’s the law, yet they’re captivated by each other’s minds and begin to rely on one another in wholly unexpected ways.  Thankfully, their strange, can’t-look-away connection is an ongoing thread throughout this tough and taut three-season series, as all of their scenes together crackle with an undeniable spark and almost sexual charge. In true TV detective fashion, Luther’s mind is brilliant and his soul is tortured, and oh yeah, did I mention sex-on-a-stick Idris Elba?!  But it’s the Luther/Alice relationship that will keep you on your couch for hours.  See below, go forth and binge.

 

*For you fellow Idris Elba devotees out there, it’s cool to note that Wilson’s co-star in “The Affair” is none other than Dominic West, Elba’s co-star a decade ago in “The Wire.”   Jimmy McNulty, meet Alice!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Best Tomato Sauce Ever (Vol. III)

25 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by Leah in RECIPES, TRAVEL, TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, J-Date, Match.com, Nick & Toni's, Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola, Rachael Ray, Vodka Sauce

 

IMG_9258

Why am I still single if I can make this sumptuous, irresistible tomato sauce?  Let me explain. Years ago, a friend gave me the recipe for Rachael Ray’s “You Won’t Be Single For Long Vodka Sauce,” which promises that if you make her sauce for a guy, he’s sure to pop the question.  Um, still waiting. Then I went to Nick & Toni’s in NYC and had their version, called Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola, and after discovering the recipe online, I am now convinced I will land a prince.  A gorgeous, food-loving, Jewish prince at that!  It’s that good, and the best vodka sauce I’ve ever had, hands down.

If you can’t get to Nick & Toni’s, make it at home. (Thank you, Barefoot Contessa!) While it needs to bake in the oven for an hour and a half and yes, there’s a heck of a lot of cream, its comforting aromas and super-concentrated spicy/sweet flavor will more than make up for the extra calories and cooking time.  This is the third of my three-part “Best Tomato Sauce Ever” posts, yet it might be the first thing I’ll note if I ever join Match.com. (“Or J-Date!” my mother just screamed.)

Nick & Toni’s Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola

Adapted from Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa

  • 1/4 cup good olive oil
  • 1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, diced
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 cup vodka
  • 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled plum tomatoes (San Marzano are best)
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 3/4 pound penne pasta
  • 4 tablespoons fresh oregano
  • 3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream (Feel free to use half ‘n half for a slightly less rich taste)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little more for presentation

Unknown-1                    Unknown

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven-proof saute pan over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and dried oregano and cook for 1 minute more. Add the vodka and continue cooking until the mixture is reduced by half.  Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes through a sieve and crush them into the pan with your hands. Add 2 teaspoons salt and a pinch of black pepper. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and place it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente. Drain and set aside.

Place the tomato mixture in a blender and puree in batches until the sauce is a smooth consistency. Return to the pan.  Reheat the sauce, add 2 tablespoons fresh oregano and enough cream to make the sauce a creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and simmer for 10 minutes. Toss the pasta into the sauce and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Serve with an additional sprinkle of Parmesan and a sprinkle of fresh oregano on each plate.  Good luck!

Serves 4-5

(small photos courtesy of Alexandracooks.com – a great foodie website)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Travel + Food + Balls = Anthony Bourdain

21 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by Leah in TRAVEL, TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Anthony Bourdain, CNN, Kitchen Confidential, Parts Unknown

595e5a2f-c809-48bc-9441-bf1680134724_800

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown

Sundays on CNN

Remember when Anthony Bourdain wrote the restaurant exposé “Kitchen Confidential,” cementing his stature as culinary bad boy for the ages?  Turns out, he brings the same sort of bad-ass intrigue he brought to the literary world to CNN, where his travel/food show “Parts Unknown” begins its fourth season next week. “Holy mother of Santa Muerte, please protect my stash of cocaine,” he begins in Mexico, where he dives head first into the world of drug cartels and government corruption, stopping along the way, of course, at the hottest table in Mexico City and the hippest mescal bar in Oaxaca.  In Jerusalem, he re-examines the Arab/Israeli dynamic with aplomb, or rather, over plums, apricots and zucchini from a restaurant’s garden in the West Bank and a watermelon field ablaze with gunfire in Gaza.  And in Detroit, though he likens the abandoned and decaying streets of the once-fabled Motor City to Chernobyl (!), he flaunts its irrepressible entrepreneurship and ends the episode defiantly believing in its comeback. (And its ribs.).

Unlike the dearth of predictable travel and food shows littering cable, “Parts Unknown”  takes you to places, and kitchens, really unknown, and all with Bourdain’s keen eye and voracious appetite.  Think you know Tokyo?  Think again.  Been to Vegas?  Not this Vegas, I assure you.  Bourdain may still be an arrogant celebrity chef with a penchant for eating the balls of a bull, but word has it he goes to Iran and The Bronx in the coming weeks!  I’m going too.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Hola….. George.

26 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by Leah in TRAVEL, TV / POP CULTURE

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Barcelona, El Xampanyet, George Costanza, Gothic Quarter, Jason Alexander, Picasso Museum, Seinfeld

el-xampanyet-1-c-jul

El Xampanyet

Hello… Newman.  Hola … George?  What would you do if one of the most iconic of TV characters worked at a bar near you?  Go there almost every night, like I did?!  I truly think that when I lived in Barcelona for a year, I chose an apartment in the Barrio Gotico, or Gothic Quarter, to be near the bar Xampanyet, where the spitting image of George Costanza, the curmudgeon from the TV classic “Seinfeld,” worked.  El Xampanyet (pronounced sham-pan-YET) is a small, traditional tapas bar across the street from Barcelona’s famed Picasso Museum, and two things make it a local favorite: the homemade cava they serve, and its decidedly unhip vibe in a neighborhood bursting with trendy, modern hot spots. But what made me return to it night after night was the owner’s uncanny resemblance to grumpy, jumpy George, aka Jason Alexander, Jerry Seinfeld’s not-so-loveable sidekick.  Same smile, same stature, same bald head. The cava-serving Signor doesn’t speak English, but in my barely there Spanish I’m pretty sure he told me that he heard that a lot. Not from the locals, of course, but from the tourists visiting the museum and then taking his picture afterwards. So why not stop in, try the bubbly cava and some delicious Catalan anchovies or Pa amb tomàquet (tomato bread) and do your best Elaine dance outside, just like I did!

El Xampanyet
Calle Montcada
Barcelona, Spain
 
Bar Xampanyet . Tapas . Barcelona

George Costanza doppelgänger?

Seinfeld-Cast-Jason-Alexander-16x9-1

Jason Alexander as George Costanza

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Lady Macbeth

13 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by Leah in TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Claire Underwood, Frank Underwood, House of Cards, Kevin Spacey, Lady Macbeth, Narciso Rodriguez, Netflix, Prada, Robin Wright, The Princess Bride, The Row, Zac Posen

6CLAIRE-UNDERWOOD

As “Orange is the New Black” launches anew on Netflix, I still can’t stop thinking about the network’s other, and original, binging stalwart, “House of Cards.”  With all due respect to Kevin Spacey, it’s Girl Power on Netflix as the ladies, or in this case, the lady, shines. Not since Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano has an actress’s look so perfectly embodied a character, but Robin Wright as Claire Underwood is P E R F E C T I O N.  Her portrayal, her character, her look is the thing that stands out the most this season, as the former Princess Bride transforms into an Ice Queen for the ages. Machiavellian to the core, with a long, lean runner’s body and a short and sleek hairstyle, her androgynous yet sexy Claire is Lady Macbeth in couture.  Whether it’s a Zac Posen shift dress and Louboutins during the day or a strapless evening gown by Armani or The Row at night, this powerful political wife is calculating in what she wears — fittingly in only black, navy or neutrals — and careful in how she wears them.  The subtlety of her palette lures you in; the boldness of her pieces spit you out.  Her look is her character – striking, sophisticated, severe and ice cold – and Robin Wright, with her acting chops honed and her enviable physique toned, pulls it off with aplomb.  Frank Underwood sure commands attention, but when the missus walks into a room, full of purpose and Prada, attention is served.

HOC-Netflix3

And for heaven’s sake, will someone please tell me how I can get my hands on this absolutely fabulous white suit she wears in Season 2 (chapter 25), which made me gasp when I saw it?  Narciso Rodriquez, maybe??  Alas, I have no power lunches to attend, but at least I can go as Claire Underwood on Halloween, natch!

Image

Whose gorgeous suit am I wearing?!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Go Charlestown Chiefs!

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by Leah in THE SPORTING LIFE, TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Charlestown Chiefs, hockey, NHL, Paul Newman, Slap Shot, SportsCenter, Stanley Cup

slapshot

What is icing?  How about high sticking?  If you don’t know, then you probably won’t be tuning in to the Stanley Cup Finals, which start tonight.  What’s the Stanley Cup?  Oh dear…. you might want to check out my recipes (see: cakes, icing).

The Stanley Cup, of course, is the championship playoffs of the NHL (National Hockey League).   As an avid sports fan who follows baseball, football, basketball and SportsCenter pretty religiously, I’ve always wondered why I never got in to hockey.  My father loved the Detroit Red Wings, my brother lovingly taught me and my sisters what a hip-check was, and I was fascinated by the players’ gorgeous skating during the one game I saw live.  But watching on TV?  Zzzzzzzzzz.

The one thing I do love about hockey, however, is the movie “Slap Shot.”  A raw and raunchy comedy from the late ’70’s, it stars Paul Newman in his oh-so-sexy prime, as the veteran coach/player of a downtrodden minor league hockey team (the Chiefs) who realizes that dirty play and fighting is what brings in the fans.  The roster of characters is priceless, especially the completely clueless Hanson brothers, three bespectacled goons who are so outlandish that if the movie came out today, they’d get their own spin-off. Having just seen it for the first time in years, I was struck by a) how Connie Britton/Tammy Taylor-ish Paul Newman’s wife is, b) they didn’t wear helmets in the ’70’s?!? and c) only Paul Newman could look manly in a long leather coat with fur trim. Oh, and for the umpteenth time, I pee’d my pants during the final (hockey) scene.  Don’t believe me?  Forget ESPN and the Yankees and the French Open tonight and check out this hilarious sports gem of a movie, eh?

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Mozart, baby.

06 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Leah in MUSIC, TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

birth coach, Bose SoundDock, Meryl Streep, Mozart, Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Out of Africa, Robert Redford

Out of Africa11

Remember that scene in “Out of Africa” where Robert Redford takes Meryl Streep flying in his little yellow plane, soaring over the lush plains of Kenya, an equally lush soundtrack soaring overhead?  Now, do you like babies?  Read on…

A good friend of mine, successful and single, recently had a baby, and one night six months ago, she rocked my world when she asked me if I would be her “birth coach.”  Say what?!  Birth what?!  Me?!  I could go on and on about that night and all that followed, but let’s just say I accepted and it was indeed one of the most heart-stirring and memorable experiences of my life. One of the things I’ll never forget?  The music! Despite my desire to  put together some dramatic, eclectic playlists for the big day, my friend only wanted to hear Mr. Baby Music himself, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Me, I’d want to hear some soothing Chopin followed by a Jay Z opus or two, but I wasn’t the one popping this baby out.  So a Mozart playlist it was, and when the day arrived and I got THE CALL, I stuffed my Bose SoundDock into my bag-in-waiting, and nervously headed uptown to start my “coaching.”

IMG_8373

About 8 hours and 2 epidurals later, it was time for the final push.  I got on one side, the nurse got on the other, and Mozart played on.  I tried to remember all the breathing instructions I was supposed to impart on to my slightly-drugged yet valiant friend, but all I could think of was, Oh my god, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto just came on!  This baby’s got to be born during the 2nd movement!  And me being me, that’s exactly what I said.  “One, two, three …. the Adagio is almost here, the music they used in that great scene from “Out of Africa,”  PUUUSH! … six, seven, eight …. “  And guess what?  Beautiful little Claire Luna, all 8 lbs. 2 oz. of her, was indeed born to this beautiful music, below.  And let me tell you, Robert Redford’s got nothing on baby Claire.

IMG_8473

Baby Claire, minutes after birth

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, 2nd movement (Adagio)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

This is CNN.

01 Thursday May 2014

Posted by Leah in TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

CNN, Don Draper, Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, Jon Hamm, TV commercials, voice-overs

ctw.connector.james.earl.jones.cnn.640x360

It’s easy to recognize James Earl Jones’ signature voice as he reminds us what news channel we’re watching, but have you noticed how many movie stars are now lending their voices to TV commercials? It wasn’t too long ago that voice-overs were considered taboo for a serious actor, with those unable to resist the easy pay day secretly sneaking off to Japan, because, well, I guess Harrison Ford just couldn’t find a beer in the U.S. that he liked. But now they’re doing it out in the open in droves, and some are even double-timing (I’m talkin’ to you, Don Draper!).

new-ford-trucks-1 tumblr_lzr5gmB1E31qhew1ho1_500

Can you match the celebrity actor with his/her commercial?

  1. George Clooney
  2. John Krasinkski
  3. Kevin Spacey
  4. Lisa Kudrow
  5. Kiefer Sutherland
  6. Jeff Bridges
  7. Julia Roberts
  8. Jon Hamm
  9. Gene Hackman
  10. David Duchovny
  11. John Corbett
  12. Willem Dafoe
  13. Morgan Freeman
  14. Donald Sutherland
  1. Honda
  2. Pedigree
  3. E-surance
  4. Nationwide Insurance
  5. American Airlines
  6. Visa
  7. Yoplait
  8. Budweiser
  9. Mercedes
  10. Volvo
  11. Bank of America
  12. Hyundai
  13. Lowe’s
  14. Walgreens
  15. Ford
  16. Face Yogurt
  17. Applebee’s
  18. Ford Trucks

Answers: 1-H & R, 2-C, 3-A, 4-G, 5-K, 6-L, 7-D, 8-E & I, 9-M, 10-B, 11-N & Q, 12-P, 13-F, 14-J

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Have a nice day!

03 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Leah in TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alan Cumming, Damien Lewis, Eddie Izzard, Homeland, Hugh Dancy, Hugh Laurie, Idris Elba, Joshua Bowman, Kate Winslet, Kevin McKidd, Mildred Pierce, Minnie Driver, Natasha McElhone, Nick Brody, Simon Baker, Stephen Moyer, The Forsythe Saga, The Good Wife, The Riches

j1511

“Aye, that’s right…” I heard Alan Cumming say on NPR the other day, and I did a double take – Eli Gold is Scottish! Cumming has been so convincing as a slick Chicago politico on “The Good Wife” that I had completely forgotten his nationality. Ditto Damien Lewis. Can you even remember how frightfully British he was in the BBC’s “The Forsythe Saga” when you watch him as the plain old frightful Nick Brody on “Homeland”? Here are some other Brits on TV with bloody good American accents that might surprise you…

20110710_223_alan-cumming

Alan Cumming in “The Good Wife”

Hugh Laurie – “House.” You mean he’s not a slightly strange doc in Princeton?
Josh Bowman – Daniel on “Revenge.” What a dopey character, but at least he nails the accent.
Simon Baker – as “The Mentalist” (My mother says he’s quite good.)
Natasha McElhone – David Duchovny’s ex-wife on “Californication”
Hugh Dancy – as an FBI guy on “Hannibal”
Kevin McKidd – Owen on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Again, he’s a Scot!
Stephen Moyer – in “True Blood” ….. that is, if those vampires are actually American!
Idris Elba –Second-in-command Stringer Bell in “The Wire” AND corporate guy Charles Miner on “The Office”
Kate Winslet – as “Mildred Pierce.” A mini-series long over, but come on, how good was she?!
Minnie Driver & Eddie Izzard – “The Riches.” And how good were they, both of them!  (for the 20 or so people who watched…. )

The-Riches-the-riches-976960_500_485

Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard in “The Riches”

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Madonna ♥ Estonia

13 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Leah in MUSIC, TV / POP CULTURE

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

After the Rain, Arvo Part, Estonia, Gravity, Guy Ritchie, Madonna, Mike Nichols, Spiegel im Spiegel, Swept Away, Wit

madonna_adriano_giannini-1

Remember Swept Away, that laugh-inducing movie from 2002 that starred Madonna and her spray tan?  Well for those of you who ran for the exits after its first excruciating minutes, you missed its one redeeming moment – the inspired choice of using Arvo Part’s hauntingly beautiful “Spiegel im Spiegel” during a particularly heart-wrenching scene. Scratch that, I’m sure it was supposed to be heart-wrenching, but who could do anything but roll their eyes throughout that entire Madonna vanity project, directed by her then-husband Guy Ritchie.

The guy sure did one thing right, though.  He or his peeps knew about contemporary classical music from Estonia (who knew?) and introduced anyone not too distracted by Miss M’s inability to act to a sublime piece of music.

Arvo Part:  Spiegel im Spiegel

And I guess I’m not the only one who thought so, because since then it’s been used in the trailer for Gravity, the New York City Ballet’s After the Rain,  Mike Nichols’ Wit on HBO, and countless others.  Swept Away, indeed!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

Categories

  • MUSIC
  • RECIPES
  • THE SPORTING LIFE
  • TRAVEL
  • TV / POP CULTURE

Archives

  • February 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014

Blogs I Follow

  • Around the Block
  • All Small Things Considered.com
  • DuJour
  • Surviving Grady
  • A Year to Think
  • Roar of the Tigers
  • Vulture
  • i am a food blog

Blog at WordPress.com.

Around the Block

All Small Things Considered.com

Because it's the little things that make your day

DuJour

Because it's the little things that make your day

Surviving Grady

Because it's the little things that make your day

A Year to Think

Because it's the little things that make your day

Roar of the Tigers

Detroit baseball for strange people.

Vulture

Because it's the little things that make your day

i am a food blog

Because it's the little things that make your day

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • All Small Things Considered.com
    • Join 47 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • All Small Things Considered.com
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: