Oscar, Oscar

So some babies are not cute. I have seen many pictures of babies over the past few years, and the husband and I always seem to agree on which ones are cute and which ones look weird. When we see a picture, it usually goes something like this:

-Me (thinking): Huh, that's a weird looking baby... not cute at all.

-Hubs (out loud): That baby is not cute. Not like [insert friend name here]'s baby.

Well, what're you going to do? Some babies just look weird. Of course, I would never tell someone that their baby isn't cute, but it is true that ugly babies do exist.

Anyway, I like JCPenny's commercials that were on during the Oscar's. I think the only movie that I saw that was nominated for an award is The Iron Lady. Some of the other ones looks interesting, though. I definitely want to see Puss in Boots... I've requested it at the library but it'll probably be a month or two before I get it. I can't wait until The Hobbit comes out in theaters.

I finally finished Clash of Kings. I had started it in November or December, but I couldn't get into it and I had to return it to the library. But I hate not finishing books so I requested it again from the library. Like I said before, I like the concept and the characters and the story, but it's just so long and drawn out and oh my goodness I can't imagine how this series could end that could justify all the thousands of pages that I'll have to read to finally get to the end. Seriously, it's just incredible how little happens and how long it takes to get back to what's happening with a certain character... sometimes more than 100 pages. I do want to see the HBO series of it, though.

Full Episodes!

Once again, I feel the need to critique the Food Network hosts. And this is mostly because I have realized that I like Bobby Flay. I used to only know him from Iron Chef America, but I've watched a couple more shows with him (his own and Worst Cooks in America). When I compare him to Robert Irvine from last year's Worst Cooks in America, Irvine looks like a complete jerk. (Two weener dogs are going by my window). Anyway, Rachel Ray's food is weird, but her show entertains me. Guy Fieri's show does not entertain me, and besides a couple recipes for egg rolls, his food also does not entice me. I like Giada De Laurentiis and Ina Garten. AND I've recently discovered Alton Brown and Good Eats... quite entertaining. Paula Deen is ok. Oh, and I used to really like Tyler Florence, but I have not seen one of his shows in forever. Is he still on? Anne Burrell is ok. I still don't like the Neely's. At all.

Libraries are great. I love living near an excellent library.

Yeah, that's all. I just felt like talking about the Food Network.

February!

Time flies. So fast. It's already the middle of February. Pretty soon it will be a year since my computer died and I haven't even gotten the files off of it yet.

Happy Valentine's Day! For the past few years, Valentine's Day has been celebrated by cooking a large meal and trying out new recipes. This year, we had Tunisian-inspired meat pies, salata umuk houria (a Tunisian carrot salad), steamed lamb chops and potatoes, cupcakes, frozen raspberry cheesecake, and assorted fruit. Three of those things were new recipes and all turned out delicious. There was one year though that the food did not get such good reviews. I made a French vegetable thing, a Middle-Eastern lamb dish, and a fennel and blood orange salad. The Hubs was only really impressed with the salad because he loves fennel. Who knows what next year will bring?

You know your day is going to be good when you do not have to wait for even one second at the secretary of state. Yes, it was a good start to the day.