The First Avenger

I'm off to travel the world again this week.  I'll be in a whole other country until Friday.  Before I leave, I wanted to get this review out there for "Captain America: The First Avenger." 

I think Nuke described this best to me when he said that it felt like a prequel to "The Avengers" rather than a super hero movie.  I thought "Captain America" felt more like a war movie than it did a super hero movie.  Overall, it wasn't a bad movie, but it just didn't stand out like "Thor" or "X-Men: First Class". 

From what I know of the original Captain America story, I think this movie follows the story pretty well.  Captain America is played by Chris Evans, and he does a reasonably good job in this role.  The villain is Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving (a.k.a. Smith from "The Matrix", Elrond from LOTR and V from "V for Vendetta").  I really like Hugo, so I did like him as the Red Skull.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" is a 3.5 star movie.  While it's rated PG-13, there is no reason that I can see why an 8-10 year old kid can't watch this one...it's a pretty tame PG-13.  In fact, I'm going to let my son watch it tonight before I mail it back.

I'm Sappy

One of my favorite lines in the Sorcerer's Apprentice is when Dave and Becky are in Dave's lab and Dave goes on this monologue about how listening to Becky's radio show made him stop and see things he'd never seen before.  Then he says "I'm sappy" in a groaning voice.

I have those moments in my life.  I had one of those moments tonight.  Lately I've been on a country music kick, mostly Garth Brooks but some other stuff too.  This brings me to the Garth Brooks song "Standing Outside the Fire" and the following Youtube video:




This video really hit my soft spot.  I don't know if it's because my wife and I have a special needs child and I'm all too familiar with the father's role here (except for the yelling part).  You want your child to succeed and to try the things "normal" kids do, but are afraid of the potential negative consequences.  I'm also familiar with the elation when your child succeeds, like when our son won the spelling bee. 

It could be that...or maybe it's just that I'm a sucker for happy endings.  Whatever the reason, I felt the need to tap into my inner teenage girl and share this video tonight.  I hope you enjoy it.

Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Today I was really excited to watch Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.  Had I known that Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos were going to play terrible and lose 45-10, I would not have been so excited.  But, alas, I was excited so when I made this week's meal plan, I planned a recipe for the crock pot so I could get it going well before the game started.

For the last 2 years, my wife and I have made several attempts at a vegetable beef soup with mixed results.  We made all these soups without recipes.  Some soups have been really good, others have been average at best.  As we all learned from past chili experiences, I'm better off with a recipe.  Today, I think the soup turned out really well, and I actually remember what I did to cook it, so I'm going to document the recipe on this blog so we have it for future reference.  Note that I didn't completely make this up.  I reviewed several recipes online and took themes from them to make this soup, so this is a variation on 5 or 6 different recipes that I looked at.

Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients:
1 - 1.5 lb. stew beef
1 yellow onion, diced
3 large russet potatoes, cubed
32 oz. beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (16 oz.)
1 TBSP Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Heat Olive Oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add stew beef and cook until brown.
2. Add diced yellow onion to the skillet and cook until onions appear translucent. 
3. Combine beef and onions with the remaining ingredients in a crock pot.  Cook on high for 2 hours then on low for approximately 4 hours.  Stir once per hour.

This soup turns out to be very hearty.  It has the typical beef soup flavor with an Italian flair to it due to the tomatoes and Italian seasoning.  The black pepper brings a little heat, but not in an overwhelming way.

I loved this soup, and my oldest son liked it a lot too.  My wife gave it 3 out of 5 stars, but I learned for the first time in our wedded life that she's not a big fan of stewed tomatoes, which would be a problem since that's essentially what happens with the diced tomatoes. 

I will be adding this one to our rotation, especially if the Broncos ever get better.

Adjusted and Expendable Movies

It's been a really long time since I've reviewed any movies.  That's because I haven't been watching many movies lately...ok, any movies.  But, I have watched movies 2 of the last 3 nights, and I'm planning to watch "Captain America" tonight.  I suspect that one will merit it's own movie review.  Here are a couple of other movie reviews.

"The Adjustmet Bureau":  This Matt Damon film is based on the short story The Adjustment Team by Phillip K. Dick.  Damon plays a Congressman, David Norris, who is a rising star in the political scene.  And, or course, he's a Democrat, because politician heroes are always Democrats according to Hollywood. 

Anyway, after losing a bid for the Senate, Norris meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and feels an immediate connection.  Meeting Elise inspires Norris to give a concession speech that sets him up for another Senate run 4 years later.  On his way to work a few days later, Norris meets Elise again on the bus, and again there is the immediate connection.  When he arrives at work, David Norris sees something he should never have seen...the Adjustment Bureau changing the world to meet "the plan".  We learn, along with Norris, that the Adjustment  Bureau is a group of beings that work for "The Chairman" and are responsible for ensuring that the world follows, "the plan".  After explaining all this to David Norris, the Adjustment Bureau agent tells him he can never see Elise again and take steps to ensure that they don't meet.  But, three years later when chance intervenes, David and Elise meet again.  At this point, even the Adjustment Bureau struggles to keep them apart.  Which will win out...David and Elise's free will or the predetermined plan?

"The Adjustment Bureau" is a really good movie.  I rate it 4 stars.  I can't wait to see what Nuke rates it.  I think it poses some interesting questions about free will vs. predesination.  Frankly, this could have been a "deeper thinking" movie, but it does leave you thinking.  In fact, my wife had take aways that I didn't see.  I'm really looking forward to Nuke's review on this one.  Overall, a very good movie.

"The Expendables":  I watched this one last night on Instant Watch.  "The Expendables" is Sylvester Stallone's attempt at a star studded action film starring action heroes from the past and present.  The cast is a who's who of action movies.  We've got Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke and Julia Roberts' brother (a.k.a Eric Roberts). 

Look, this is not a great movie.  It's a 3 star "guy movie".  But if you are looking for a movie filled with senseless violence, explosions, fast paced fist fights and no plot, then this is the movie for you. 

Book Review: The Son of Neptune

I absolutely love Rick Riordan as a writer, and my favorite character is, of course, Percy Jackson.  When The Lost Hero came out last year, I really enjoyed the book, but I did miss Percy.  Well, I miss him no more...with the release of The Son of Neptune, Percy Jackson fans don't have to wait any longer for the return of their favorite hero.

Just like Jason in The Lost Hero, Percy has lost his memory.  All he knows is that he's supposed to head south, and eventually he finds Camp Jupiter...the Roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood.  At Camp Jupiter, Percy meets Frank and Hazel, 2 other demi-gods.  Soon after Percy helps the Fifth Cohort of the Roman Legion regain some respect, Frank, Hazel and Percy are sent off on a quest to free Thanatos, the angel of death, so that people and monsters will start dying again.  Can our heroes succeed?  Will Camp Jupiter be saved?  And what of the new prophecy in which 7 demi-gods must band together to save the world?  Well, I can't give it away...you'll have to read to find out.

The Son of Neptune does a fantastic job of mixing playful banter, pulse pounding action, suspense and the right amount of feel good moments.  Really just another masterful book by Mr. Riordan.  I can't wait for the 3rd book in this series, due to come out next fall.  We already know the third book is called The Mark of Athena so one would have to conclude that it will center around Annabeth.  A year is going to be a really long time to wait.

It's All About Experience

As I mentioned in my last post, my son and I got a smoker and we were planning to smoke some ribs.  Well, we executed that plan on Sunday, and overall, it was successful.

We got an inexpensive Master Forge Charcoal Smoker from Lowe's so in case we didn't like it, we weren't out a lot of money.  This smoker is really easy to use.  You load some charcoal  and wood chips in the bottom of the smoker, then put water or some liquid in the water pan above the charcoal/wood. Above that there are 2 racks for food.  When cooking, the meat gets smoked, of course, but the water also steams the meat to keep it moist.

We followed a cooking method for ribs that I found online, which was supposedly for "competition" ribs.  This involved putting a rub on the ribs 24 hours before cooking, then cooking at 225-250 for 3 hours.  After 3 hours, you wrap the ribs, loosely, in foil with apple juice and return it to the heat.  Then you cook for another hour, then unwrap the ribs, sauce them for 30-60 minutes over the heat and serve.

The ribs turned out very tasty.  I made my own sauce and rub which makes a good combination.  Most importantly, I loved the hickory smoked flavor.  Now, the downfall is that the ribs weren't as tender as I would have liked.  From what I understand, "competition" ribs aren't fall off the bone like you get at Chili's, but should pull off the bone easily.  The key is to be able to get a clean bite mark in the ribs.   These ribs came off the bone, but it was a little work.  We'll have to work on that next time.

Here's what I learned this weekend:

1 - Kids don't have patience for 5 hours of cooking, so my son and I will continue to tackle this little by little.
2 - Next time I make ribs, I'm going to wrap them in foil a lot sooner.  I think most of the smoke flavor was imparted in the first 90 minutes and I think more time being wrapped would make the ribs more tender.
3 - I can get away with using less charcoal.  I didn't realize that having a bunch of food on the top rack would affect the temperature gauge as much as it did.  When I took the ribs off, the temperature shot up 30 degrees.  So, I probably cooked the ribs too hot...you live and learn.
4 - I'm going to try something easier next time, like a pork loin, turkey breast or brisket. 
5 - Smoking is a fun way to cook...I am really looking forward to my next adventure and I hope my son will help a little more each time.

My BBQ Sauce Recipe

My son and I bought a smoker a couple of weeks back. Today we are preparing to smoke some baby back ribs tomorrow. Nothing like picking one of the hardest things for our first venture into smoking.

This summer, I stopped buying barbecue sauce in a jar and starting making my own. I just thought it would be fun to make my own sauce, plus there is a lot of preservatives in store bought sauces that I can do without.  I'm actually cooking some of this sauce right now and it is making the house smell so good that I thought I'd share.

This recipe is a fairly simple barbecue sauce, adapted from the Neely's Recipe on Food Network.  I'm finding more and more that I prefer simple recipes because they are easier to make and they always seem to taste good.  Sometimes a ton of ingredients just muddies the flavor.  If you follow the link to the Food Network, you'll see that I haven't changed this recipe much. 

Ingredients:
2 cups ketchup (I prefer Hunt's)
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 TBSP brown sugar
5 TBSP white sugar
1/2 TBSP black pepper
1/2 TBSP onion powder
1/2 TBSP ground mustard
1/2 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 TBSP liquid smoke

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients.  Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

I've tried a few other barbecue sauce recipes and this one is the best, and it's super easy.  If you like tomato/ketchup based barbecue sauce, you will like this.  It ends up being sweet and tangy with a peppery kick at the back of your throat.  I think this recipe tastes very similar to Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy, just not quite a sweet.