Mad As A Hatter

Must see movies for 2010!
stillteasers.

alice in wonderland
5 March 2010


iron man 2
7 May 2010


the twilight saga: eclipse
30 June 2010

the last airbender
2 July 2010


the chronicles of narnia: the voyage of the dawn treader
10 December 2010

Thanksgiving and "FRIENDS"

It's that time again for family and friends.. your other "FRIENDS".
happythanksgiving.

500 Reps of Winter

500 reps, 10 exercises.
inspired by bodyrock.tv

Just what I needed right before the holidays, but who was I kidding?! You'd have to be an avid workout junky to take on this challenge and fitness aficionado I certainly am not. But it is with self motivation and time, say by New Years, that I can be one (or at least come close). It's important that whilst on unemployment, I do not crumble and succumb to the inevitable mind numbing, monotonous couch potato routine. For the last 6 months, I did exactly that and managed to maintain an unwelcoming steady weight gain of 2lbs a month. That was 6 months ago.. you do the math. The goal is not to lose the weight (I consider this to be at my healthiest), but rather, redistribute them to the right areas and ultimately continue a healthy and active lifestyle.

I made it through half but not without great efforts and many breaks in between. Here are some of my favorites and, of course, my newly modified regiment to lighten the workload.

Zuzana's Killer Reps:
1. Backward Lunge Kick Up (25 reps on each leg)
2. Walk Over Push Ups (50 reps)
3. Mountain Climber (50 reps)
4. Sumo Squats Knee Up (50 reps)
5. One Leg Wall Lift (25 reps on each leg)

My Awesome Abs, Arms and A**:
6. Holding Planks (2 sets of 25 seconds-- as good as reps to me)
7. Regular Crunches (50 reps)
8. Side to Side Leg Lift (2 sets of 25 reps)
9. Arm Push Up with 5lbs Weights (2 sets of 25 reps)
10. Arm Lift with 5lbs Weights (25 reps on each arm)

Right now, I'm doing about half the amount of reps; about 250 reps of the 500 goal.

Here's to a better, fitter you (me)!

2011.. The New 2012

it might as well be so.



on the other hand, Ellen gets all her money!

I Scream For Pizookie!

indulge.

I am all for the semi homemade and low- effort cooking when it comes to a sweet tooth quick fix. After all, who has time, nay, patience to wait for dessert? Fortunately, my fridge is always loaded with Dreyer's vanilla bean ice cream and Pillsbury cookie dough. Now all that's left is a quick transfer to a baking dish and 10- minutes later.. voila! Dessert any day of the week in the comfort of my own bed? Sweet.

On a completely unrelated note, Happy Birthday Mommy!

Brining Basics

therecipe.
Anne Burrell's Brined Herb- Crusted Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy

I thought I'd give it a test drive so as to not ruin Thanksgiving this year on a new recipe. Since I bought a 3lb chicken rather than the 14lb turkey, the recipe calls for a few modifications. I'll admit there was no rhyme or reason to my measuring methods on this one; just the good old eyeball technique and mostly pure gut instinct. But if you want exact science, just remember, 1 quart = 4 cups.

In addition, you will need:
1 large ziplock bag or 1 medium size trash bag for turkey
1 pot or pan (to prevent any leakage from the brine in the refrigerator) -- I actually used an old rice cooker pot for the chicken and the actual roaster for the turkey.

Brine time: 2 days
Dry time: 1 day
Cook time (for chicken): 20min at 425* or until golden brown; then 1hr at 350* or until thermometer reads 160*
Cook time (for turkey): 30 minutes at 425* or until golden brown; 4.5hrs at 350* or until thermometer reads 160* (cover turkey with aluminum foil to avoid burning during the remainder of cooking time)

The chicken came out perfectly-- crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. I may have been a bit heavy handed on the salt in the brining process or perhaps over brined it by a day because it came out just a tad salty.

The stock made the most delicious and flavorful gravy. My gravy came out on the thick side, so I used some chicken stock to thinned it out. The cider and apples addition really add that something something to the stock. A perfect balance of sweet and savory.

For the turkey, I went by the books-- following Anne Burrell's recipe with exact measurements and I could not have ask for a better outcome. Why haven't I discovered brining sooner? Here's to a never again, dry turkey!

For Ina Garten's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits as seen above, click here.

Wishing all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

TS Rocked SNL

musicalmonologue.

Taylor Swift absolutely knocked it out of the park on SNL! Check out her spoof of Twilight below.

thefranks.

You've Got Mail

119.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Fox: So what's his handle?
Kathleen Kelly: Uh..
Joe Fox: I'm not going to write him, if that's what you're worried about. You think I'm going to e-mail him?
Kathleen Kelly: All right.. NY152.
Joe Fox: N-Y-one-five-two. One hundred and fifty-two. He's.. one hundred and fifty-two years old. He's had one hundred and fifty-two moles removed, so now he's got one hundred and fifty-two pock marks on his face.
Kathleen Kelly: The number of people who think he looks like Clark Gable.
Joe Fox: One hundred and fifty-two people who think he looks like a Clark Bar.
Kathleen Kelly: [laughing] Why did I ever tell you this?
Joe Fox: One hundred and fifty-two stitches from his nose job. The number of souvenir shot glasses that he's collected in his travels.
Kathleen Kelly: No! The number.. his address? No, no, he would never do anything that prosaic.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm nostalgic for You've Got Mail. So maybe it wasn't Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks who inspired this habitual need to collect shot glasses. Then again, I can't remember where exactly it all began, so Meg and Tom will just have to do. A minor plot in the movie for most, this was the beginning of my so called collecting craze. It gave me one thing to look forward to when I travel-- a way to capture the memories of a time and place. It also gave me an imaginary number to work towards, one that I never imagine I'd ever reach. But now, with 10 new additions to the family, proudly standing at 119 (and counting), I can say I'm well on my way to 152. And with great hopes, one day, the opportunity to surpass it.

myfavorites.
Hard Rock Cafe family of 26 - If there is a Hard Rock, I'm so there. It's become an obsession I can't quite explain.
Paris - My home for a semester while I was studying abroad.
Norwegian Jade - First cruise.
Vietnam - A home away from home.
Orlando - It's cliche, but the first "I Heart You's" were exchange right in front of Cinderella's Castle beneath the fireworks.
Munich - First World Cups experience.
New York - Christmas in New York. Is there a better state of mind?!

Just Another Day at 4pm

one of the many reasons why I love Ellen.