Tag: ham

Pizza, Salad, and a Movie: Love and Friendship

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

  • Ham
  • Jalapeños
  • Spinach *

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(I had a wedge salad with chicken.)

We my husband chose jalapeños since I’m not eating pizza right now (and for a while), and I don’t like them.

Movie:

Love and Friendship

All in all, I liked this film, but lots of characters are introduced early in the opening credits, and it was hard for me to keep track of them – almost overwhelming. It was distracting as I tried to follow the plot. However, I love Jane Austen, and if you do, too, I think you will like this movie.

One reason we chose to see it was that it was playing at the right time (7:15). Other films we want to see were playing either too early or too late at our theater of choice: Ghostbusters, The Secret Life of Pets [me], and Star Trek Beyond [him – I just don’t like Star Trek.] Pets was playing at 7:00 so that was doable, but after Finding Dory last time, he requested we not watch an animated movie, and I agreed. Maybe next time, though. Or maybe Ghostbusters at a different cinema.

I ain’t afraid of no ghost.

*He asked for Sliced Tomatoes, but he got Spinach instead, and said it was tasty.

 

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Pizza and… the SUPER BOWL!

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

  • Chicken
  • Bacon
  • Ham

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That’s right – no movie this weekend! 😦

We planned to go see The Revenant, and we still do. But since the showtime at our favorite theater was a bit early, we decided to relax and enjoy our “meat-lovers” pizza instead.*  We won’t be eating pizza this evening while watching the Panthers and the Broncos (Carolina vs. Denver, in Super Bowl L – “50”). But since tomorrow is my husband’s birthday, we’ll have sandwiches, chips, and cake.

I can’t wait to watch the game (and the commercials!), and no matter who wins, I hope it’s a good one. In honor of it, here’s an (amusing) short excerpt of an article about it that we discussed in my French conversation class this week. I’ll quote this (simple) explanation of the game in French, and then give you the English translation, even though you can probably figure it out, with so many vrais amis (similar words). Words in parentheses are included for extra clarification:

“Sur un terrain de près de 91 mètres sur 49, deux équipes de 11 joueurs se disputent et galopent derrière un ballon ovale. Celui-ci est flanqué d’un lacet de fermeture, qui permet aux joueurs de lui donner un mouvement rotatif indispensable pour stabiliser sa trajectoire…”

“On a field of about 91 by 49 meters [100 by 53 yards], 2 teams of 11 players battle (contend, argue, dispute) and gallop (dash) behind an oval ball. The ball is locked/held together by a (shoe)lace, which permits the players to give it an indispensable rotating (rotary) movement, to stabilize its flight path (trajectory)…”

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*Meat-lover’s, since Lent begins on Wednesday. So, for the next 6 weeks, we’ll be eating vegetarian pizzas on Fridays.

 

 

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Pizza and a Movie: Star Wars, Episode VII – the Force Awakens, in FRANCE!

Our Pizza Toppings at La Piazza Papa in Montpellier, France!

  • Black Olives
  • Ham
  • Mushrooms
  • Red Onions

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Movie:

Star Wars: Le Reveil de la Force

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Our final “Pizza and a Movie” for 2015 occurred during our vacation in the south of France for the Christmas holidays. Our first (and last) stop in France was in Montpellier, and on a rainy Sunday afternoon (and evening), we decided to go see Star Wars (in English, but with French subtitles, or the “Version Originale ST”). There were long queues for the Version Française (French dubbed version), but not for the Originale, so we were able to get tickets just before showtime.

What a great movie! I absolutely loved it, and if you saw the first and second movies (episodes IV and V) when they came out in theaters like I did in the 1970s, I believe you will, too. If not, I still think you’ll enjoy it. They seemed to take everything that worked really well in those two movies and do them again in this film.

Le résultat? My favorite movie of 2015.

In my French conversation class, we often talk about movies, and also about how an American film title is sometimes completely changed instead of just translated. This time, I like the translation better than the English title. “Le Reveil de la Force” does mean “The Force Awakens,” but, more literally, it means “The Awakening of the Force.”

That may seem like a small thing, but it’s significant to me, as an author who often agonizes over the exact wording of titles.

Another note: one scene in particular reminded me of the famous line in Episode IV: “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” which has become a family saying chez nous. When you see this movie, you’ll know which scene I’m talking about.

The Pizza:

We had a drink first at a café on Place de la Comédie, then walked over to La Piazza Papa and asked to share (partager) this pizza. When the serveur brought it, the pizza had already been divided in two. It seemed fitting for a country that values l’égalité!

Vive la France! et Bonne Année 2016!

 

 

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Pizza and a Movie: Best of Enemies

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

  • Arugula
  • Ham
  • Sliced Tomatoes

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Movie:

Best of Enemies

This was kind of like a ham and tomato and arugula sandwich, on a pizza – except that it was light on the ham, which was fine. My husband chose all the toppings, and they suited me. He also chose the film, which didn’t completely suit me.

I didn’t dislike it – I found it enlightening, witty, and entertaining. Later, I asked him if he thought people ate arugula back in 1968 (the year the events in the film, a documentary, took place).

“I’m sure they had it, but it probably wasn’t on anyone’s table in America,” he said.

We were children during the 1960s, and as the oldest of nine kids*, when his mother served a “salad” at dinner, it was sliced iceberg lettuce (only), with homemade “French” dressing (ketchup mixed with water, or, if mixed with mayonnaise, “Thousand Island”).

Salads at my house were a close cousin: either torn iceberg lettuce, or green leaf lettuce I was assigned to pick from our garden. Our dressing was oil and vinegar – I remember thinking you had to eat at a restaurant to have other options.

We did have tomatoes in our salads, if we had some in the garden. My dad used to pick them early and put them on a window sill to ripen. Other garden ingredients I recall are green onions and radishes.**

As for ham, I like it well enough, but my husband isn’t too fond of it, so I was surprised he chose it as a pizza topping. But I know, over time, he wants to order every conceivable topping combination (see PIZZA AND A MOVIE tab above), so I assumed that had something to do with it.

Back to the movie. If you like politics, culture, and (especially), debates, you should see it. The footage from 1968 alone was great, and I found myself marveling that it happened the year Nixon was elected, and just a few short years before he resigned and the Viet Nam war ended. Watching the two “enemies,” William F. Buckley, Jr. and Gore Vidal, go at each other was amazing; there were more than a few unexpected and unscripted moments.

And I bet each of them grew up in homes where arugula was served, occasionally.

* For more about my husband’s large family, read my latest book ALL THE ABOVE. Several people in the family (including his mother) appear in it.

** What ingredients were in your salads when you were growing up?

 

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Pizza and a Movie: Aloha

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

  • Ham
  • Pineapple
  • Portobellos

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Movie:

Aloha

I’m not fond of cold pineapple (unless I’m eating it in Hawaii), but there’s something about warm pineapple…

This week, my husband selected all the toppings, one of them possibly inspired by the movie we had chosen to go see. My first choice was Mad Max: Fury Road, but the start time of Aloha was preferable to both of us, and we like the film’s actors.

Bad decision.

Because, even though we agreed we were more in the mood for something light (and I’ve always been more of a Mad Max -er than my husband), well, we didn’t really like Aloha.

The story was scattered, haphazard, and even somewhat boring. If you’re looking for a beach resort in it, you won’t find it. There was a great dancing scene (too short) and my favorite scene in the film was towards the end: a pantomime between Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski (sort of like the movie The Artist, but very funny – and I love John Krasinski!). I laughed out loud during that scene, and so did most of the other people in the theater.

But it didn’t make up for the rest of the film.

Oh, well. Good friends of ours are currently vacationing in Hawaii, so it just seemed to fit. I suspect they aren’t eating pizza, but I hope they’re enjoying the sweet, juicy pineapple!

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