Latest Movie Reviews

Now that our move is nearly complete, I can get caught up on all the movies I've been watching. 

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:  This was one we watched as a family in our old house.  I had no desire to see this movie, but my wife and kids wanted to see it.  As it turned out, I liked it, as did my kids, but my wife thought it was sad.  I thought it was a 3-3.5 star movie.

Natalie Portman stars as Mahoney, the manager at Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, a toy store.  Her boss, Mr. Magorium, is played by Dustin Hoffman.  Mahoney is disappointed with her lot in life, and her situation doesn't improve when the 243 year old Mr. Magorium tells Mahoney that he is about to die and he leaves the store to her.  Can Mahoney discover her inner magic in time to save the Wonder Emporium?  Well, I know because I've seen the movie, but if you want to find out you'll have to watch Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Bulletproof Monk:  I saw the start of this movie on TV a few months back and it looked like a cool Kung Fu action flick, so I added Bulletproof Monk to my queue without really checking on the premise of the movie.  As it turns out, the opening 15 minutes are the best 15 minutes of the movie.  I lost interest quickly, and while I did finish it, I also found the need to multi-task to stay awake.  This is 2 stars, at best.

The problem is Seann William Scott shows up, and I just can't take him serious as an actor.  Just skip this one.

Another Trip, More Books to Review

So, earlier this month, I was forced by my job to go to Florida.  I know...leaving Iowa in the middle of winter to go to Florida...it was tough, but somebody had to do it.  And you know what, I was forced to eat BBQ and Seafood when I was there.  It's a tough life!

While on this trip, I read 2 new books.  The first was recommended by my friend Joe and the other was recommended by my loving wife.

The Endurance:  Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition:  This is the book recommended, and loaned to me, by my friend Joe.  Author Caroline Alexander chronicles the near 27 month expedition of British Explorer Ernest Shackleton.  For those unfamiliar with Shackleton's story, he led a team of explorers to Antarctica, hoping to be the first man to cross the continent on foot.  However, due to heavy ice flows in 1914, Shackleton's ship, "'Endurance" was locked in the ice.  Shackleton and his men lived for many months in the ship, then on the ice.  As time wore on, Shackleton and his men made 2 daring boat trips to safety.  During the entire ordeal, Shackleton never lost a man, and despite the failure of his original quest, Shackleton is remembered as one of the great leaders due to getting himself and all his men through this.

I really enjoyed this book, and I learned a lot about leadership.  A lot of what is written is taken from diaries of the men on the trip.  Additionally, there are many photos taken by the ship's photographer included in the book.  The pictures were probably my favorite part.  While they paint a stark picture, they also show men, who despite their circumstances seemed somewhat content.  This is due, in no small part, to Shackleton's leadership.  He paired the men off by groups that would work well together for sleeping and living arrangements.  He always kept the most difficult men with him.  Most importantly, he was always optimistic and he was willing to adapt his plans to fit the situation.  A good read for any aspiring leader.

The Maze Runner:  Alright, now for a fun book.  The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, can best be described as The Hunger Games meet Ender's  Game (before Ender's Game got weird).  I'm not ruling out that The Maze Runner will get weird in future books, but so far, it's a solid read packed with lots of actions and good characters.

The main character is Thomas, who emerges from "the box" to find himself surrounded by 50 or so boys between the ages of 12 and 17.  Thomas doesn't remember anything about who he is, other than his name.  He learns from the other boys that he is in the Glade.  The Glade is surrounded by a maze that changes every day.  The walls into the maze close every night to keep out the bad things that lurk in the maze.  None of the other boys know how they got to the Glade or why they are there, but they believe they need to escape.  Every day, Maze Runners go out into the maze to try to find the way out.  Thomas doesn't know why, but he has a strong belief that he should be a Maze Runner.  The next day, life in the Glade changes forever when a girl (the first one) shows up in "the box" with word that she will be the last person sent into the Glade.

A very exciting book.  Anybody who has read The Hunger Games or Ender's Game will hopefully see the same parallels I did.  This book kept me reading from takeoff in Orlando to landing back home.  I'm so glad my wife recommended it to me, and I can't wait to read the other 2 books in the trilogy.

Fajita Pizza - My New Favorite

It's been a busy week of unpacking, cleaning, working, painting and cooking.  Tonight, we finally had a little break, so I made pizza.  A favorite of ours comes from one of the Pampered Chef Cookbooks, but we've adapted it just a bit for our liking.  It's called Fajita Pizza, and here's how you make it (Note the recipe below ends up making enough Fajita topping for 1 and 1/2, 12 inch pizzas.  My youngest son doesn't like anything except pepperoni pizza so I make one pizza half pepperoni/half fajita):

For the pizza dough, I like to use this recipe I found online.  It's pretty easy and doesn't have to sit all day.  It turns out to be thin and crispy, yet still chewy.  For one stop cooking, I'll duplicate:

Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water
1 package (3/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cornmeal for sprinkling
Sugar to activate yeast

Directions:
1 - Mix sugar with water.  Sprinkle yeast into water and let stand for 5 minutes (until foamy)
2 - Add flour, salt and olive oil to the water/yeast mixture.  Knead with a stand-mixer for 6 minutes.
3 - Let stand, covered, for 25 minutes
4 - Divide in half and roll out 2, 12 inch crusts (use flour to prevent sticking)
5 - Sprinkle pizza peel with cornmeal so that crust will slide off peel

While the dough is standing/rising, I make the Fajita topping;

Fajita Topping Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, diced (approximately 8 oz.)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2-4 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Southwest Seasoning (Emeril's is good)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup salsa

Directions:
1 - Add olive oil and chicken to a pan and cook until chicken is no longer pink
2 - Add red and green bell peppers, onions and garlic to the pan and cook until tender
3 - Add Southwest Seasoning and Salt to the chicken/vegetable mix and cook for 2 minutes
4 - Add Salsa, stir and remove from heat

Making the Pizza:
Ingredients:
Pizza Dough (see above)
Fajita topping (see above)
8 oz. Shredded Colby Jack Cheese

Directions:
1 - Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2 - Place pizza stone in preheated oven for at least 20 minutes (I just put it in when I turn the oven on to preheat, which I do when I start making the dough)
3 - Roll out pizza crust (prepared above) on a pizza peel that has been sprinkled with cornmeal
4 - Put approximately half the cheese on the crust
5 - Add the Fajita mixture until the pizza is covered
6 - Top with remaining cheese
7 - Slide pizza onto stone and bake for 20-22 minutes

If you do this right, you should get a crisp crust that still has some chew to it, and a really good pizza with some good, bubbly cheese.  Making the crust from scratch is key...we used to use a store bough crust and it was ok, but the homemade crust is so much better.