Since we last talked movies, I’ve seen Slumdog Millionaire (excellent), Defiance (very good), and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (awful). That means I’ve seen two of the five Best Picture nominees for the Oscars next month. (I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button earlier this month.) Doubt if I’ll make it to the other three: The Reader, Milk and Frost/Nixon, although Reader and Frost/Nixon are both playing locally at the moment.

My movie-going time this weekend may be limited, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to see New in Town or Taken (both being released tomorrow), Inkheart, Gran Torino and Frost/Nixon. I may get to one, although I need to catch up on quite a few television shows stored on the DVR and on tape.

So what’s coming out in February? Here are a few that I’m putting on my list (there are slim pickin’s this month, folks).

Coraline : From a book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline tells the tale of a young girl who finds a secret door leading to an alternate version of her life. The animation, in stop-motion, looks great in the trailers. Be warned, it may be rated PG but it has the look of a spooky, scary story; afterall, the story is called a fairy-tale nightmare, and it’s directed by Henry Selick, who brought us Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Features the voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher and Ian McShane. Opens February 6.

Push : In world where psychic abilities are accepted, a secret agency works to create an army of psychic soldiers while eliminating anyone who stands in its way. Enter “mover” Nick Gant, who’s been hiding in Hong Kong for a decade, keeping just ahead of the agency searching for him. Cassie Holmes is clairvoyant and seeks his help in finding Kira, a “pusher” with the ability to implant thoughts in others’ minds. Looks to be a thriller, and I always like the added bonus of the psychic twist. Anything paranormal for this movie goer! Stars Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle and Djimon Hounsou. Rated PG-13 and opens February 6.

Fanboys : Four friends hit the road the visit George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, and steal a print of Star Wars Episode 1 before it hits theaters. The plan: Claim the title of ultimate fanboys. But, of course, there are a few obstacles in their way: bizarre bikers, a deranged group of Trekkies and the quiet intensity of William Shatner. Looks funny, and as I’m a Star Wars fan (more so about Eps 4, 5 and 6, than 1, 2 or 3) and a Trekkie from way back, I might have to make an exception to my dislike of silly comedies. And one thing, I hear there might be a serious reason behind their madcap shenanigans. Stars Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel and Kristen Bell. Rated PG-13, it opens February 6.

The International : Looks like this one will be an action-packed thriller. An Interpol agent and a Manhattan assistant district attorney under illegal activities and follow the money around the globe, with, of course, the bad guys hot on their trail. Stars Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Rated R, The International opens February 13.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li : I mention this one because I enjoy martial arts films with lots of action. However, this one is not getting very good buzz, and we have to remember it’s based on a videogame. Just a warning. Stars Kristin Kreuk, Neil McDonough, Chris Klein, Michael Clarke-Duncan and Moon Bloodgood. Not rated (yet), it opens February 27.

Two other movies for February are remote possibilities: He’s Just Not That Into You stars Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Jennier Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin and Kris Kristofferson. Good cast, I’m just not sure I’ll ever be in the mood for a close examination of dating and married life for these people. Rated PG-13, it opens February 6.

Crossing Over  stars Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd in a multi-character drama about immigrants from different nations struggling in Los Angeles. Deals with a lot of real-world issues. Rated R, it opens February 27.

So there you have it, my February movie picks. Let me know what you think of these and what you’re waiting to see. Love to hear from ya!

See ya at the movies!

Talking food doesn’t take much effort around the GRIT office. Food days and special occasions come fairly frequently in these parts, and, of course, no one protests. We’ve even had cookoffs that encompassed a number of cooks and tasters from every department in the building. Our Great Potato Salad Debate comes to mind.

Guess what? We’re in the process of organizing a mac ‘n’ cheese cookoff to rival the potato salad effort. As you know, we published the winning recipes in GRIT’s January/February issue’s Recipe Box, and we’ll do the same with the mac ‘n’ cheese entries. So be on the lookout.

In one of my previous posts, Recipe Box Secrets, I talked about how we organize Recipe Box. It seems like a good idea to let you in on some of the recipes we receive, too. Enjoy, and let me know what you think of the recipes for vinegar pie and hamburger gravy.

Without further ado, recipes!

 

Winter Pie

Travis Massey, Idabel, Oklahoma, requests a recipe for Vinegar Pie. A popular request among Grit readers, vinegar pie has appeared in Recipe Box before.

Connie Moore, Medway, Ohio, wrote a food column for her hometown newspaper. She talks vinegar pie in a 2004 column and sent a copy to us. “All things have a season,” she wrote. “Vinegar pie is a March pie because the spring rhubarb is not up yet and the winter supply of fruits is gone. … It was an ‘adversity pie,’ there were no freezers, no fridges, no pressure canners or rings and lids to seal autumn’s bounty in Mason jars.”

Shirley Alston, White City, Oregon, added this note: “Rumor has it that Vinegar Pie originated in the Texas Panhandle in imitation of lemon pie, lemons being hard to come by in the old days many miles from nowhere. New Englanders and Southerners counted it a favorite, too, so wherever it came from, it was popular in 19th-century West Texas.” The recipe she sent came from The Wide, Wide World of Texas Cooking by Morton G. Clark.

1889 VINEGAR PIE

 

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups hot water

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon butter

2 eggs, separated

1 8-inch pie shell, baked

1/4 cup sugar, mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

 

In saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, water, vinegar and butter. Bring to boil, stir constantly until thick and clear. Remove from heat.

Stir small amount of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks, return this to saucepan and cook another 2 minutes.

Cool to room temperature and pour into pie shell. Beat egg whites with sugar/cream of tartar mixture until very stiff. Apply meringue over pie, seal meringue to crust edges. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in 325°F oven until lightly brown.

Note: Old pie tins were 8 inches. A 9-inch pie shell makes a thinner pie.

 

Sharon Threatt, Booneville, Arkansas, sent a cobbler recipe I thought you all might be interested to see.

VINEGAR COBBLER

 

3/4 cup cider vinegar

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Biscuit dough

 

Heat oven to 350°F.

In deep casserole dish, mix vinegar, sugar, water and cinnamon. Cut out biscuits and place on top of liquid mixture. Wet top of each biscuit with liquid. Bake 20 to 30 minutes.

This tastes like apple cobbler without the apples. Some people use pie dough sprinkled with sugar, covered with hot liquid and baked in a 350°F oven until pie dough is done. This was a treat only enjoyed during canning season.

 

School-time Favorite

Joyce Woods, Guthrie, Oklahoma, is looking for a recipe for Gravy Train, a recipe that was served at her local school.

A number of readers remembered the same recipe, as do I, and we received a lot of recipes. Alice Knox, Rochester Mills, Pennsylvania, sent one that might have appeared in an old social cookbook.

 

SCRAMBLED STEAK (HAMBURGER) OVER MASHED POTATOES

 

According to the amount of people you want to serve.

Brown hamburger and chopped onion in skillet; salt and pepper to taste. When the meat is brown and the onion soft, add enough water to continue cooking until boiling a few minutes. Thicken as if you were making gravy with either cornstarch or flour. Serve over prepared mashed potatoes. Very good.

 

Terry Ball, Neehan, Wisconsin, sends another recipe for Gravy Train. She writes, “We ate this too, probably at least once a week. Plus, we raised four children on it as well. A great way to stretch a pound or two of hamburger. The six of us ate a good supper that filled everybody up on 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger. With three boys, there were no leftovers.”

 

1 to 2 pounds hamburger

1/2 cup chopped onion

 

In hot skillet (you have to have a black iron skillet, no substitutes, Terry adds with a smile), brown hamburger with onion. Some crumbly pieces in the bottom are a good thing. If you used hamburger that wasn’t too fatty, don’t drain the meat. If you have some real fatty meat, then you will need to drain some, but not all, of the grease.

The next step is the tricky part. Are you going to eat this over mashed potatoes or bread? (We do either/or.) If cooking potatoes, you will use the drained water for the gravy. If eating it on bread or toast, I use milk instead. If there isn’t enough potato water to make enough gravy, add some milk, water or beef broth. Stir a couple rounded tablespoons flour into the hot hamburger, and let it cook for a minute. Then pour in the water or milk and cook until thick. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Betty Maclam, Mikado, Michigan, sends another version.

GROUND BEEF GRAVY

 

1 pound ground beef

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) beef broth, divided

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Hot mashed potatoes or pasta

 

Cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Add 1 1/2 cups beef broth, onion, parsley flakes, basil, garlic powder, season salt and pepper.

Simmer, uncovered, 5 to 10 minutes, or until onion is tender. In small bowl, mix remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Stir into beef mixture. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thickened.

Serve over hot mashed potatoes or pasta.

To prevent lumps when thickening with cornstarch, don’t mix cornstarch with a hot liquid. Combine it with a cold or room temperature liquid and add gradually to hot mixture.

 

Images: Macaroni and cheese, iStockphoto.com/rojoimages; Pie crust, Grit photo library; Hamburger and onions, iStockphoto.com/jpa1999

Finally, my television watching will get back to a semblance of normal. OK, there really isn’t “normal” in today’s TV grid, but I can dream, can’t I?

Earlier this week, Jack Bauer returned to the airwaves of FOX as 24 began its seventh season. Day 7 finds Jack in the United States (the movie Redemption showed us what he’s been doing since Day 6 ended) and sitting before a Senate committee. Not good for our Jack. The FBI takes him away from the Senate, only to land him in the middle of yet another bad day. Well, at least Jack’s back!

Tonight will find me watching new episodes of Bones, Eleventh Hour, Grey’s Anatomy, Supernatural, and the premiere episode of The Beast, starring Patrick Swayze, on A&E. You’re right, I won’t be watching all of them in real time. Isn’t that why the DVR was invented?

Tomorrow night, Battlestar Galactica’s final act begins on the Sci-Fi Channel. While I’m sad to see BSG end, I am more than ready for these last 10 episodes: Who is the final Cylon? What happened to Earth and the 13th Tribe? Will Starbuck go crazy, trying to figure out her ‘destiny’? And what happens next for our dysfunctional BSG family?

Last week, new episodes of the CBS shows Cold Case, NCIS, The Mentalist, Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint and Numb3rs were on my to-see list. I’d given up on Flashpoint after a few shows this summer, thinking it would never return. I didn’t want to get caught up in another show, only to have my heart broken. I was wrong; CBS renewed it, and I’m watching now, although I’m a little lost on what’s going on behind the scenes. You know, I don't know why I watch so much on CBS; they didn't use to air full episodes on-line (I would have liked to catch up on episodes I missed of Eleventh Hour and Flashpoint) and there are no wallpaper downloads available for any of their shows. Anyone listening?

A few other shows (ones I don’t normally watch) have already returned, including House on FOX, Damages and Nip/Tuck on FX, Scrubs and Ugly Betty on ABC, and 30 Rock and ER on NBC, to name just a few.

I’m also enjoying the TNT series Leverage. If you haven’t seen this one, I recommend it. Starring Timothy Hutton, the show follows a team of former bad guys turned good guys still playing at being bad guys. Believe me, it’s good – well written and acted, fast paced, interesting cases, good fight scenes. And it’s funny, too. Always a good sign in my book.

Next week, get ready to return to the island on Lost (I can’t wait!), the new series Lie to Me tries to find a home on FOX, Fringe takes us to the edge again on FOX, and Burn Notice returns to center stage on USA.

For those of you with the premium channels, United States of Tara premieres Sunday on Showtime and Big Love and Flight of the Conchords return to HBO.

The last week of the month, I’m looking forward to the return of Life on Mars (Wednesdays on ABC), and the return of The Closer and the premiere of Trust Me on TNT.

February will find me watching Dollhouse (I’m a major Joss Whedon fan) and the return of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, both on FOX, and the returns of Life, Chuck and Heroes on NBC, while March brings Castle to ABC (starring Nathan Fillion from Firefly and Serenity!) and Kings to NBC. I’m a little conflicted about the new Cupid on ABC; I really enjoyed the short-lived version a few years ago starring Jeremy Piven, so I’ll wait and see on this one. It does have Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) in its favor.

April premieres The Unusuals on ABC, a cop show starring Amber Tamblyn that might be worth a look; Harper’s Island on CBS, a murder mystery set during a wedding (not sure how long that one will last, but it does have Christopher Gorham, Harry Hamlin and Jim Beaver (Bobby on Supernatural), so I’ll check it out.

Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, I totally ignore reality shows. I even dislike writing the words, let along acknowledging such shows exist. Give me a well-written drama any day of the week, and I’m a happy camper.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on the returns of Saving Grace and Eureka, the 2009 special eps of Doctor Who, and when Caprica and Stargate: Universe premiere. Oh, my poor DVR!

Any other new or returning shows that need to be on my radar?

 

Recent trips to the movies garnered a few new trailers to look forward to. I mentioned a few of the last few movies I’ve seen in my last post: Bolt, Australia and Seven Pounds. Since Thanksgiving, I’ve also seen Transporter 3 (good fight scenes and Jason Statham), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (and I forgot to write down the trailers before Button – darn!). Button was excellent, although a mite long. It’s a quiet study of a man living his life as best he can in unusual and stressful circumstances. Brad Pitt is excellent as Benjamin, and Cate Blanchett as his one true love. If nothing else, see it for the special makeup effects; it’s pretty amazing what they can do these days.

Here are a few of the January releases that I’m looking forward to.

Defiance : A World War II tale, based on a true story, of three brothers saving other Jews from the Holocaust. Starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell, this film has my historical side more than a little curious and interested. Opens January 16.

Inkheart : Anything starring Brendan Fraser is worth a look, in my opinion, and Inkheart has the added advantage of being a fantasy about books. Bookworms, unite! Opens January 23.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans : OK, I confess, I liked the first Underworld (Underworld: Evolution, not so much). Rise of the Lycans takes the franchise back to the beginning, to when the war between vampires and werewolves began and the love story of Lucian (Michael Sheen) and Sonja (Rhona Mitra) takes place. Opens January 23.

Taken : Looks interesting and Liam Neeson is always good. I read about this just yesterday, as I was researching the movies on the way in 2009, and then I saw a trailer on television last night. Excellent timing, I’d say. It seems this movie was released quite a while ago in Europe and Asia; so, no spoilers, please! Opens January 30.

New in Town : Hopefully, this romantic comedy will be a win for Renee Zellwegger. It co-stars Harry Connick Jr. and Nathan Fillion as the romantic interests, and features a lot of Minnesota snow (at least in the trailers). Opens January 30.

A few of the interesting trailers I’ve noted include Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson (opens January 16), The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler (opens April 3), The International with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts opens February 13, and, drumroll please, Star Trek! I may barely survive until the J.J. Abrams’ helmed Star Trek arrives in theaters May 8.

By the way, these official movie sites are awesome!

These days, I’ve found an excellent way to keep track of current and upcoming movies: blogs. I visit, daily, The Movie Blog, critic Roger Ebert’s review page and blog and Cinematical. For what’s to be released down the road, I like to visit Internet Movie Database, Yahoo! Movies, Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. Any other suggestions?

So what do you think of these films, folks? And what do you say I make this a regular feature? Every month I’ll list the movies I’m looking forward to in the next few weeks, and then I’ll review one or two of them. I’d love to hear what you think of the movies I didn’t get to see; love those comments!

See ya at the movies!