2007 Best in Fiction and Non-Fiction Books, Movies, And Music

Most came out in 2007, a few in the 90s and 80s.

Books
Fiction
ANGELICA Arthur Phillips
THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION Michael Chabon
AFTER DARK Haruki Murakami
THE WATER'S LOVELY Ruth Rendell
MAKING MONEY Terry Pratchett
THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU Salley Vickers
LOVING FRANK Nancy Horan
BANGKOK HAUNTS John Burdett
THE PRESTIGE Christopher Priest

Non-Fiction
THE WILD TREES Richard Preston
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE Barbara Kingsolver
TRAIL OF FEATHERS Tahir Shah
THE PERFECT SCOOP David Lebovitz
THE ELEMENTS OF COOKING Michael Ruhlman


Movies
THE FOUNTAIN
THE PRESTIGE
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED
DIVA
FULLTIME KILLER
STRANGER THAN FICTION
KNOCKED UP
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS

Music
PROG (jazz) The Bad Plus
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (jazz) Jason Moran
THE DEAFENING TWILIGHT (metal) Zebulon Pike
OCEANA (classical) Osvaldo Golijov -composer
THE FOUNTAIN FILM SOUNDTRACK Clint Mansell - composer
TALK TO LA BOMB (electronica) Brazilian Girls
ONE MORE DRIFTER IN THE SNOW (Christmas songs) Aimee Mann

Christmas Movies on DVDs

3 must-see Christmas movies on DVDs:

• Raymond Brigg's THE SNOWMAN, a 1982 half hour no dialog animation from the UK about a boy who built a snowman who comes to life. The boy, James, invites the snowman inside the house, shows him around. They go back outside on the yard, ride a motorbike, then they go flying up in the air while the beautiful song WALKING IN THE AIR plays, and join other snowmen at Father Christmas' party. Play the You Tube video of Walking In The Air and you'll fall in love too.

• A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

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• A CHRISTMAS STORY

The Top 10 Hilarious Lines and Scenes

1. You'll shoot your eye out, kid!
2. Flick's tongue stuck on the frozen flagpole
3. Ralphie uttering Oh, fuuuuu** in front of his Dad
4. I triple-dog dare you!
5. Randy paralyzed by his snowsuit: aurnnm aurnnm (I can't put my arms down)
6. The yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair
7. You used up all the glue on purpose
8. Be sure to drink your Ovaltine
9. Ralphie in the pink bunny suit
10. Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra

Fruitcakes

Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake sans nuts
David Lebovitz is always and inspiration to bake something including the most ridiculed and reviled (at least here in the US) of all Christmas season staples: the fruitcake. The on-going joke that somewhere there's a fruitcake being endlessly passed on from one person to another from generation to generation since the first fruitcake was baked could be true because people don't want to throw food away and "re-gift" the dreaded fruitcake. I remember getting one such cake many years ago, it came in a Christmas gift basket with all those beer sausages and cheeses. I felt so guilty when I threw the fruitcake away. Every year there is a fruitcake tossing contest because these people either really hate fruitcakes, have nothing better to do, or just love using their catapults. I can understand why they don't like fruitcake. The first US-made fruitcake we had was in my parents-in-law's house in Texas (the cake was probably a gift). We all hated it. It was bone dry, studded with tasteless hard fruits and nuts, with no cake (flour) visible, cloyingly sweet, and no hint of liquor either. My MIL used to make the darkest, moistest, most delicious will-make-you-tipsy fruitcakes in Manila and the US fruitcakes were a big disappointment.

Anyway, I made the traditional fruitcakes which I will inject regularly with brandy for the next 3 weeks and half a recipe of David's Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake which was a semi-disaster because I did not add the nuts. I had the recipe in front of me but forgot the nuts were still in the toaster oven when I started mixing and spooned the batter into the pans without realizing the nuts were missing. Oh well, the cake is still very good and will bake another batch a week before Christmas. I sprinkled some of the toasted nuts on top of the sliced cake for the crunch and flavor.

Fruitcake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ tsp allspice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups snipped whole dates
1 cup dried currants or sultanas
½ cup chopped red candied cherries
½ cup chopped green candied cherries
½ cup candied pineapple
¾ cup candied citron
¼ cup candied lemon peels
¼ cup candied orange peels
¼ cup chopped candied ginger
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1 cup soft butter
1½ cups dark brown sugar
4 eggs
¾ cup orange juice
¼ cup brandy plus more for brushing
zest of 1 large orange

• Pre-heat oven to 300°F.
• Grease three 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pans, line with parchment paper, grease paper, set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix fruits and nuts with ¼ cup flour, set aside. Sift the rest of the flour with the spices, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, eggs, juice, brandy and zest. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes. With a large spatula mix in the fruits and nuts. Spoon into the prepared pans, smooth top. Bake for 2 hours or until cake test done (I use a small wooden skewer). Place on wire racks and let cool in pans thoroughly. Remove from pans and peel off paper. Brush all over with brandy and wrap in plastic film. Keep in a freezer gallon bag in the refrigerator. Moisten loaves with brandy every 4 days for 3 weeks before serving.

Tortellini And Grapes Salad

We have tons of leftover roast turkey because we eat like birds and it takes a looong time for us to finish a whole turkey. I kept about a quarter in the freezer and made some into quesadillas the day after Thanksgiving but there is still plenty of white meat in the fridge. The leftover seems to be growing instead of getting smaller. Of course we can't have turkey everyday but today I am forcing everyone to eat at least a slice with the salad I made today, Tortellini and Grapes. This salad reminds me of the Waldorf Astoria salad that has apples and walnuts and usually served with roasted chicken breast, the difference is the addition of pasta with cheese filling. I changed the dressing a little by adding 2 tablespoons of honey mustard and used roasted pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts. At first I thought it would be unusual to combine cheese and sweetish dressing but to my surprise I liked it a lot. It's very good with the roast turkey or just by itself as a vegetarian fare.

Tortellini And Grapes Salad
8 ounces tortellini with cheese or spinach, prepared according to package directions and chilled
2 cups red seedless grapes
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoonss honey mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup toasted walnuts
1 teaspoon minced shallot, optional

• Mix mayonnaise, honey, honey mustard, salt, and shallot. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.