All that glitters is good.....

All that glitters is good.....

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

An Admission to Admission

Yes, I am aware that may be the most epic-ally horrible blog title ever but my creative juices are out right now. The other weekend I went to see "Admissions," starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. It was a Friday night after a long weekend of work and it seemed like the perfect fluff movie to turn off my brain and go see. I expected  nothing more than your standard rom-com. It was actually much better than I expected and had everyone in the theater laughing on several occasions.

Number one, let me take this moment to express my undying love for Tina Fey. When she and Amy Poeler hosted the Golden Globes this year, I wished we could be real life friends. For women out there who just want to be awesome without playing the game, I thank you. I'll confess I've never watched "30 Rock" but you never ceased to surprise me in films like "Baby Mama," "Mean Girls" and "Date Night."


Number two, let me take this moment to express my undying love for Paul Rudd. I've loved you ever since your busted onto the scene as the lovable brother in "Clueless" and my love deepened when you played Phoebe's boyfriend on "Friends."  I don't know what it is, I just love that man. Definitely Top 5 for sure. I assumed like all men in Hollywood he's freakishly short (I'm looking at you Tom Cruise) but I guess he's 5'10 in real life. I won't live, he's had some misses in his career (think "Year One," "The Oh in Ohio," and "Dinner for Schmucks")). And he's made us laugh (think "Anchorman," "I Love You Man," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and "Knocked Up") but also proven to be versatile ("Diggers").


"Admission" follows ambitious Portia (the reasoning behind the name and the mom who gave her it are pretty hilarious), an admissions aide for Princeton who gets called by John Pressman (Rudd) to come check out his alternative high school. She thinks it's one of her regular visits to present her spiel about what Princeton looks for in a prospective student, but he actually thinks one of his student may be her son. Also, I think my favorite part in the movie was when these kids were reacting to her talk and asking why they would ever consider joining the rat race and attending a bourgeois Ivy league school. I thought it was a charming movie that will make you smile. Worth a matinee, definitely a rental.


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Kale Crazy

I have become obsessed with kale. It happened about a month ago and has taken over my diet. I literally cannot walk into a Whole Foods without leaving with bushels of kale. This is completely unexpected, as I refused to eat anything but iceberg lettuce for all of my teens (despite having no nutritional value I still maintain that its crispy, watery deliciousness). I think I have also adequately prefaced in this blog that I cannot cook (refer to the last cooking class in '10 that resulted in melted plastic, grease burns and food poisoning). Yet last week I made two intricate kale salads with homemade dressings! Perhaps I need to stick with raw foods?  

The first salad I made was the "detox" salad, with dinosaur kale, oranges, avocado and almonds. My second attempt was a passed on recipe of curly kale, pine nuts, cranberries and lemon vinaigrette  I went a little overboard with the lemon (insert pucker face here). But the first salad turned out pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I also made kale chips, which take about 15 minutes to make. Cut up some kale, toss it in olive oil and whatever seasoning you want, then cook on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. Considering kale chips are all the rage right now and sell for an outrageous $4+ per bag, just make your own. If I can do it, you can do it. Promise.


I also went on the hunt for the perfect restaurant kale salad. After some serious searching on Yelp it was clear that the top contender was the salad at Darwin Cafe in SOMA. It's one of those cute, hidden spots on a random side street that you would never even notice if it wasn't for the parklet outside. The cozy restaurant sits maybe 20 people max but allows for takeout. The sad thing is that it's only open weekdays from 8a-8p, so no hanging out there on the weekends. Their menu is seasonal, rotating fairly consistently. The one constant is their kale salad, the most popular dish. It's a pretty amazing mountain of a salad once it's set in front of you. There's a giant pile of kale, mixed with radicchio, lemon, prosciutto and garlic, tossed in balsamic and topped with a ton grated Parmesan cheese. It's definitely one of the most flavorful salads I've had in a while. If you like kale, you definitely need to stop by this place. I plan swinging by for takeout on a regular basis. If you eat-in, they also have a small but local selection of beer and wine.