Mark here... we have just watched the next episode of Friday Night Lights, called, "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes" (boy that's a pain in the ass to type!)...Laurel has made us meatball subs with a kale salad, perfect for the heat we're experiencing right now! This episode is more a continuation of the last few episodes, in a good way. Tami has followed through with her desire to help Tyra succeed with school and move on to better things. Unfortunately this involves reaching out to Tyra's mom, who is so self absorbed she can't deal with the revelation that her daughter may be destined for better things. She immediately freaks out. For one she doesn't think they can afford college for Tyra, but the subtext is that she's afraid Tyra will leave her Tyra who has been her rock to depend on. She finally comes around at the end of the episode but even this is all about the mom. She chooses to bring Tyra to a father-daughter dance as a way of supporting her. Meanwhile, Tyra isn't missing a dad, the mom is!
Separately, we see Lyla's family is breaking down. Buddy attempts to bond with Lyla to bring the family back together, claiming he screwed up once. Lyla, reflecting on her own one time screw up with Jason, naturally supports her dad. So when he shows up at her moms door she defends him, leading the mom to bring up past indiscretions by Buddy. Lyla loses it at this point, telling her dad to go. She put her faith in him and saw it to be a lie. Next we see her crashing cars at Buddy's dealership!
The only bad storyline is the continuation of Tim Riggins with the next door neighbor. I have to say this is the first storyline where the writers of the show have let me down! The neighbor is of course this sexy 30-something who looks 20-something. Of course Tim wants to hook up with her, but their interactions are ridiculous. He's clearly the adult and the writing of their interactions is not realistic, given that he's a teenager.
One good thing about the episode is Smash, Tim, Jason, and Matt getting drunk one night on the field. I think this is the first time we've seen the 4 of them interacting just with each other and it's a nice scene.
Hi Laurel here...again I agree with Mark on all counts. The one other story line of this episode is that Coach Taylor gets a job offer from a college in Austin. It has always been his goal to coach a college team, so of course him and Tami are both on board with moving, but Juli has established roots in Dillon so for her it's a different story. She has built a life for herself in Dillon including an awesome boyfriend so of course she doesn't want to leave. At first neither coach or Tami anticipated her objections but by the end of the episode they both get it and it seems they are trying to include her input in the decision whether to stay or go.
The other revelation of this episode is that Jason gets rejected from the Paralympic murderball team, and is devastated. The girl in Austin who has a crush on him is of course there to comfort him. She offers him a ride back to Dillon because she has to drop off a fridge for an aunt or whatever near there, and they end up kissing at "stone henge 2" some kind of stone henge roadside attraction. He insists to Lyla that "nothing happened", but clearly something in brewing here...
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Extended Families
Mark here... Laurel and I have just watched the next episode of Friday Night Lights, "Extended Families". This was a really good episode. First of all we deal with the fall out from last episode. Buddy Garrity fights with his wife and ends up being kicked out. Where does he end up? The Taylors! Tami is none too pleased with Buddy on the couch and neither is Julie. Next thing we see Tami making Buddy pork chops. She is pissed about this and Coach Taylor is a bit dumbfounded as to what to do. At the same time, Coach receives a dinner offer from TMU, a college. Thinking this may mean a job offer the Taylors take them up on the offer. This leaves Buddy home alone with Julie, who is not happy about it. Tami tells her to get over it in a funny moment. Julie ends up at a party at Tyra's... Buddy discovers where the Taylors are and, having no boundaries, sees no problem giving the Coach hell about it later. Coach tells him he should be thinking about his family, not football. What we see though is that Buddy can't stop thinking about football, it's really the only constant in his life. He's also oblivious to what's going on in his family, or to the fact that he's imposing on the Taylors.
Meanwhile, at Tyra's, her mom is not handling the break up with Buddy well. We're see she's taking too many pills. In the middle of the party she emerges from her room to collapse on a glass table, leading to an ambulance. Julie of course has to call her parents at their dinner. Tami rushes to the hospital and takes Tyra and her mom home. This lead to a bit of a revelation. Tami has banned Julie from hanging out with Tyra because she's supposedly a "Bad girl". Seeing Tyra's home life makes Tami realize Tyra is actually the sane one barely holding her fractured home life together. There's a tender moment between Tami and Tyra where Tami apologizes for not wanting Julie to hang out with her and helps Tyra clean up her house.
There's also a plot line where Lyla runs away to visit Jason and realizes they are growing apart... And Smash realizes his girlfriend is behaving weirdly. As the episode progress she shows signs of manic behavior, which seems ok to Smash until the end, when we realize its bipolar behavior and the depression sets in....
Hey Laurel here and again I agree with Mark on all counts. The only thing I would add is that we see Lyla go through some tough times for a change when she realizes her and Jason are growing apart. It's obvious that she has lead a charmed life up until the point that Jason hurt his back, but now she is really getting it from all sides. Her fiance is permanently paralized and is finding a new life without her within the disabled spots community, and now her parents are getting a divorce. She has 2 younger siblings that she has to take care of while her parents are super vocally fighting in front of all of them. Tough pill to swallow. Lyla has had it easy her whole life and now things are finally catching up with her. poor girl.
Meanwhile, at Tyra's, her mom is not handling the break up with Buddy well. We're see she's taking too many pills. In the middle of the party she emerges from her room to collapse on a glass table, leading to an ambulance. Julie of course has to call her parents at their dinner. Tami rushes to the hospital and takes Tyra and her mom home. This lead to a bit of a revelation. Tami has banned Julie from hanging out with Tyra because she's supposedly a "Bad girl". Seeing Tyra's home life makes Tami realize Tyra is actually the sane one barely holding her fractured home life together. There's a tender moment between Tami and Tyra where Tami apologizes for not wanting Julie to hang out with her and helps Tyra clean up her house.
There's also a plot line where Lyla runs away to visit Jason and realizes they are growing apart... And Smash realizes his girlfriend is behaving weirdly. As the episode progress she shows signs of manic behavior, which seems ok to Smash until the end, when we realize its bipolar behavior and the depression sets in....
Hey Laurel here and again I agree with Mark on all counts. The only thing I would add is that we see Lyla go through some tough times for a change when she realizes her and Jason are growing apart. It's obvious that she has lead a charmed life up until the point that Jason hurt his back, but now she is really getting it from all sides. Her fiance is permanently paralized and is finding a new life without her within the disabled spots community, and now her parents are getting a divorce. She has 2 younger siblings that she has to take care of while her parents are super vocally fighting in front of all of them. Tough pill to swallow. Lyla has had it easy her whole life and now things are finally catching up with her. poor girl.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna
This recipe originally came from Cooks Illustrated, though I tweaked it a bit.
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb spinach leaves
lasagna
salt
5 tablespoons of butter
4 shallots
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup flour
3 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Prosciutto
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
fontina
First start by blanching about 1 1/2 lb of spinach for a minute in salted boiling water. Put in ice water then drain and let it cool. At the same time, fill a bowl with the hottest tap water and add some lasagna noddles, enough for several layers in whatever lasagna pan you will be using.
In a medium sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat. Finely chop the shallots and garlic and add. Stir and let the shallots soften then add 1/4 cup of flour. Stir about a minute and then slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil and add bay leaves, nutmeg, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to low and whisk for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and add parmesan. Reserve half a cup of sauce in a bowl covered in plastic wrap. Press the plastic wrap to the surface of the sauce to prevent it forming a skin. Chop the spinach and add it to the main sauce.
I forgot to add prosciutto earlier, so at this point I chopped some prosciutto, fried it til crispy in some butter and added it to the main sauce.
In a food processor mix cottage cheese, egg and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Spread the reserved sauce on the bottom of the lasagna dish, then layer noodles on top add spinach mixture, sliced fontina then noodles, cheese mixture, some grated parmesan, noodles, basically you get the idea. To be honest I can't exactly remember how I layered it, but the point is to top it with sauce and cheese (the noodles will burn if on top alone.)
I also didn't cover my lasagna, though the Cooks Illustrated version say to cover with foil. I like a little browned cheese on top. Cook at 425 for 20 minutes.
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb spinach leaves
lasagna
salt
5 tablespoons of butter
4 shallots
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup flour
3 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Prosciutto
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
fontina
First start by blanching about 1 1/2 lb of spinach for a minute in salted boiling water. Put in ice water then drain and let it cool. At the same time, fill a bowl with the hottest tap water and add some lasagna noddles, enough for several layers in whatever lasagna pan you will be using.
In a medium sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat. Finely chop the shallots and garlic and add. Stir and let the shallots soften then add 1/4 cup of flour. Stir about a minute and then slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil and add bay leaves, nutmeg, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to low and whisk for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and add parmesan. Reserve half a cup of sauce in a bowl covered in plastic wrap. Press the plastic wrap to the surface of the sauce to prevent it forming a skin. Chop the spinach and add it to the main sauce.
I forgot to add prosciutto earlier, so at this point I chopped some prosciutto, fried it til crispy in some butter and added it to the main sauce.
In a food processor mix cottage cheese, egg and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Spread the reserved sauce on the bottom of the lasagna dish, then layer noodles on top add spinach mixture, sliced fontina then noodles, cheese mixture, some grated parmesan, noodles, basically you get the idea. To be honest I can't exactly remember how I layered it, but the point is to top it with sauce and cheese (the noodles will burn if on top alone.)
I also didn't cover my lasagna, though the Cooks Illustrated version say to cover with foil. I like a little browned cheese on top. Cook at 425 for 20 minutes.
Friday, August 9, 2013
I Think We Should Have Sex
Mark here...we've just watched the next episode of Friday Night Lights, called "I Think We Should Have Sex". Well, the title says it all...Julie and Matt are thinking of having sex. Julie is very matter of fact about it, assuming this is the next step of their relationship, without giving it much thought. Unfortunately, Tami accidentally sees Matt buying condoms at the local drug store. This leads to an awkward conversation with Julie. Tami is great, in that she sort of says all the wrong things but conveys an honest parent who's genuinely worried. In the end Julie and Matt don't go through with it, but end up staying out too late one night, freaking Julie's parents out. But it's a tender moment as Julie and Matt have both said "I love you" and Julie thanks her mom for their talk. At the same time, prior to this Coach and Tami at least start to come to terms with the fact that their daughter is growing up, and it's not either of their fault that she wants to have sex.
Separately, Tim is realizing that his absentee dad who has popped up again is not really healthy to be around. Dad steals video equipment from the team and then lies about it. Tyra sees what's going on and in the end has to come to the rescue with Tim's brother when Tim picks a fight with a guy Tim and Dad have wronged. Tim picked a fight in a bar because he couldn't pick a fight with his dad.
Another plot line shows us that Buddy and Tyra's mom have indeed had an affair. Buddy tries to push it under the rug and pay off Tyra's mom. Of course she can't handle it, we've already seen she's unstable and dependent on having a man. She ends up confronting Buddy after mass at the church, much to Tyra's embarrassment. We see that Lyla has clued in to what's going on though...
Hi laurel here...I agree with Mark on all points. Can I talk about how good this show is again? I'm just remembering when we did 90210 and there were all these filler episodes during season one that had nothing to do with anything, and were terrible! All of the episodes we've seen so far of FNL have been good and relevant and important.
Also I wanted to point out that Julie fully intended to have sex the night her and Matt stayed out to late..but she wanted to because she felt like she was supposed to. Matt saw through her fake enthusiasm and to his credit called it off even though he really wanted to go through with it. I was thinking that Coach Taylor must clearly realize at this point that his daughter is dating an awesome stand-up guy, but Mark was like "well he still wants to kill him" which of course is totally true. I'm interested to see what happens next.
I also feel sad for poor Tim Riggins. He's almost a grown up and needs to take responsibility for his own actions but at the same time he's really still a kid and no one is looking out for him, except Billy who is pretty immature himself. The dad is so awful I hope he ends up leaving again.
Separately, Tim is realizing that his absentee dad who has popped up again is not really healthy to be around. Dad steals video equipment from the team and then lies about it. Tyra sees what's going on and in the end has to come to the rescue with Tim's brother when Tim picks a fight with a guy Tim and Dad have wronged. Tim picked a fight in a bar because he couldn't pick a fight with his dad.
Another plot line shows us that Buddy and Tyra's mom have indeed had an affair. Buddy tries to push it under the rug and pay off Tyra's mom. Of course she can't handle it, we've already seen she's unstable and dependent on having a man. She ends up confronting Buddy after mass at the church, much to Tyra's embarrassment. We see that Lyla has clued in to what's going on though...
Hi laurel here...I agree with Mark on all points. Can I talk about how good this show is again? I'm just remembering when we did 90210 and there were all these filler episodes during season one that had nothing to do with anything, and were terrible! All of the episodes we've seen so far of FNL have been good and relevant and important.
Also I wanted to point out that Julie fully intended to have sex the night her and Matt stayed out to late..but she wanted to because she felt like she was supposed to. Matt saw through her fake enthusiasm and to his credit called it off even though he really wanted to go through with it. I was thinking that Coach Taylor must clearly realize at this point that his daughter is dating an awesome stand-up guy, but Mark was like "well he still wants to kill him" which of course is totally true. I'm interested to see what happens next.
I also feel sad for poor Tim Riggins. He's almost a grown up and needs to take responsibility for his own actions but at the same time he's really still a kid and no one is looking out for him, except Billy who is pretty immature himself. The dad is so awful I hope he ends up leaving again.
Black Eyes and Broken Hearts
Mark here... Laurel has made us chili along with a delicious queso and guacamole with chips. We're on to the next episode of Friday NIght Lights, "Black Eyes and Broken Hearts". Laurel here...Tex Mex!
This episode deals with the fallout from Coach Mac's racist comments last episode, as well as the growing friendship between Julie Taylor and Tyra. The first plot line is the major force of the episode as its clear in the beginning that although Mac issued an apology, he never really believes it. Buddy Garrity has stepped in to tell Coach Taylor to fire Mac, given that all the black players have walked off the team. He just wants the whole thing to go away and for the team to still have a chance at the playoffs. Coach Taylor is reluctant, even though he knows what Mac said was wrong. Tami gives him advice he doesn't want to hear, essentially saying that if Mac were a teacher, he'd be fired. At this point the show has given us Mac as solely a villain. Midway through the episode though, the show switches gears and shows us Mac as a human being, albeit a flawed and ignorant one. When the black players choose to rejoin the team before the next game (prompted by Smash's mom, who's unwilling to let an issue with a small town coach derail her son's future), he starts to see the full ramifications of the publicity surrounding his comments. The opposing team acts insanely racist, as does their coaches and referees. A fight breaks out on the field when Tim Riggins overhears a player insulting Smash (showing the awesome side of Riggs...he may have issues with Smash but he won't put up with this). Dillon ends up winning the game because of the fight, but 2 local cops attempt to arrest Smash from the school bus on the way out of town. Mac steps up and tells them to go get a warrant. It a poignant moment because we get that he's learned his lesson. Unlike his previous forced apology, he really gets it now, and says as much to Smash later.
The secondary plot shows the growing friendship between Tyra and Julia, much to the Taylor's dismay. Tami is so right when dealing with the Mac situation but completely irrational when it comes to Julie hanging out with Tyra. Julie accompanies Tyra to meet Tyra's sister at the strip club her sister works at, Matt and Landry end up showing up, one thing leads to another and all end up in jail. Tami is furious, seeing this as the first step of Tyra (the girl from the wrong side of the tracks) leading her daughter down the wrong path...
Hi! Laurel here, I agree with Mark on all counts. I feel like it's super awesome for a show like this to deal with Racism in such a subtle and realistic way. Mark and me were talking and comparing it to the Paula Deen situation which I feel like is a perfect parallel. Even though this episode was from 2006 I feel like there are a lot of similarities. Both Paula Deen and Mac are racist without realizing that is the case, even though they are public figures. They say things in public on camera that you would think anyone in the 2000s who is a public figure (to say the least educator) are not supposed to say. I feel like these people who come from a culture of severe racism, think the fact that they work with black people and talk to black people makes them by definition not racist, without realizing the more subltle racist ideals they may be harboring (or in Deen's case not so subtle). For example if you think it's appropriate to call black football players "junk yard dogs" or in Deen's case if you think it's appropriate to plan a "plantation wedding" where all of the servers are black. I feel like it's easy for us city folk to see how racist this stuff is but if you come from a culture where the definition of racism is slavery, and you've never known any different it's pretty easy to be super racist and not even realize it. Anyway in this case the black player's walk off actually teaches Mac something, and in the end we get to see that this controversy has changed the way he sees things. Mac was being ignorant, and by the end of this episode I think he really sees it and realizes his mistake. Not bad for an old dog.
In regards to Tyra and Julie, Tyra is so awesome she's just from the wrong side of the tracks so she has different standards of what is appropriate. I'm interested to see how this situation of Tami making a rule that Julie can't hang out with Tyra unfolds...
This episode deals with the fallout from Coach Mac's racist comments last episode, as well as the growing friendship between Julie Taylor and Tyra. The first plot line is the major force of the episode as its clear in the beginning that although Mac issued an apology, he never really believes it. Buddy Garrity has stepped in to tell Coach Taylor to fire Mac, given that all the black players have walked off the team. He just wants the whole thing to go away and for the team to still have a chance at the playoffs. Coach Taylor is reluctant, even though he knows what Mac said was wrong. Tami gives him advice he doesn't want to hear, essentially saying that if Mac were a teacher, he'd be fired. At this point the show has given us Mac as solely a villain. Midway through the episode though, the show switches gears and shows us Mac as a human being, albeit a flawed and ignorant one. When the black players choose to rejoin the team before the next game (prompted by Smash's mom, who's unwilling to let an issue with a small town coach derail her son's future), he starts to see the full ramifications of the publicity surrounding his comments. The opposing team acts insanely racist, as does their coaches and referees. A fight breaks out on the field when Tim Riggins overhears a player insulting Smash (showing the awesome side of Riggs...he may have issues with Smash but he won't put up with this). Dillon ends up winning the game because of the fight, but 2 local cops attempt to arrest Smash from the school bus on the way out of town. Mac steps up and tells them to go get a warrant. It a poignant moment because we get that he's learned his lesson. Unlike his previous forced apology, he really gets it now, and says as much to Smash later.
The secondary plot shows the growing friendship between Tyra and Julia, much to the Taylor's dismay. Tami is so right when dealing with the Mac situation but completely irrational when it comes to Julie hanging out with Tyra. Julie accompanies Tyra to meet Tyra's sister at the strip club her sister works at, Matt and Landry end up showing up, one thing leads to another and all end up in jail. Tami is furious, seeing this as the first step of Tyra (the girl from the wrong side of the tracks) leading her daughter down the wrong path...
Hi! Laurel here, I agree with Mark on all counts. I feel like it's super awesome for a show like this to deal with Racism in such a subtle and realistic way. Mark and me were talking and comparing it to the Paula Deen situation which I feel like is a perfect parallel. Even though this episode was from 2006 I feel like there are a lot of similarities. Both Paula Deen and Mac are racist without realizing that is the case, even though they are public figures. They say things in public on camera that you would think anyone in the 2000s who is a public figure (to say the least educator) are not supposed to say. I feel like these people who come from a culture of severe racism, think the fact that they work with black people and talk to black people makes them by definition not racist, without realizing the more subltle racist ideals they may be harboring (or in Deen's case not so subtle). For example if you think it's appropriate to call black football players "junk yard dogs" or in Deen's case if you think it's appropriate to plan a "plantation wedding" where all of the servers are black. I feel like it's easy for us city folk to see how racist this stuff is but if you come from a culture where the definition of racism is slavery, and you've never known any different it's pretty easy to be super racist and not even realize it. Anyway in this case the black player's walk off actually teaches Mac something, and in the end we get to see that this controversy has changed the way he sees things. Mac was being ignorant, and by the end of this episode I think he really sees it and realizes his mistake. Not bad for an old dog.
In regards to Tyra and Julie, Tyra is so awesome she's just from the wrong side of the tracks so she has different standards of what is appropriate. I'm interested to see how this situation of Tami making a rule that Julie can't hang out with Tyra unfolds...
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