Monday Night TV, and a book I cared nothing about.

Let's review. I'm Jennifer, and I watch a ton of TV. Moving on...

Hell's Kitchen

I love Hell's Kitchen. It's like Top Chef (which I love, too) on meth. People are cooking, Gordon Ramsay is screaming and flinging food, and I am delighted. Last night was the biggest night yet. That's what they say before every single episode. Anywho, last night was a big night because the remaining people got the black jacket. And they become one team. Elizabeth and Elise were the last two. I despise Elise. I really do. And I really wanted her to go home. But, she didn't. In all honesty, I see where Ramsay is coming from, because Elizabeth was so spastic and frazzled the whole time. It was like watching a car crash, while that car crash was trying to sear scallops.

Kate Plus 8

I have not been keeping up with this show at all. I watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 all the time, then I stopped once they moved to their big house, and then all hell broke loose with their marriage and I boycotted it. Now that Kate Plus 8 is going to end, and Kate Gosselin has lost all ties with the media, I decided to tune in for the last episodes.

I'm so glad she is not my mother. They are all on an RV trip, along with 2 friends and their 3 kids or something. I'm not quite sure of the relation. So it's a full load! Kate really just whines the whole time, before they've even left the house! My mom has fussed at me many times in my childhood, but she never acted miserable to be around me. The highlight of the episode, to me, was when Kate was correcting her children at Mt Rushmore, saying that it's FDR on the mountain, not Teddy. Because FDR was the one with the moustache. Wow. Poor kids have no chance.

I was also planning on using this time to talk about a book I just finished, called Distance from the Heart of Things by Ashley Warlick. But, this book is boring, and I don't think anything happened. A girl graduates from App State in Boone, then moves back home to Edisto, SC to work on the books for her grandfather's vineyard. I kept thinking that this took place in the thirties, but it was in modern time. I had to keep reminding myself of that. And then she has this weird infatuation with her uncle, who is only 6 years older than her. It was weird and boring. At least it was a way to pass the time...

TV Time!

Everyone that knows me knows that I love love love TV! So, I will give you a debriefing of the shows I watched last night. I have my certain shows any given night. So let's proceed.

Big Brother

My mom got me hooked on reality shows. So those of you reading this who think I'm vapid and shallow to devote posts to TV, blame her. I love Big Brother, and I've especially loved this season because they brought back Jeff and Jordan. And then, last week, it was a double elimination, and Jeff got voted out right after Danielle got booted. I was very forlorn. So, I watched last night's episode (Sunday is always when the Head of Household names the two players up for eviction, but last night they did not do that because it's obvious that Jordan and Rachel would be on the block.) I was watching said episode with despair, because I knew that it's a lost cause for fair Jordan. Porsche won the Head of Household, so she, traitor Shelley, and pig-nosed Kahlia were safe another week. At the very end, Porsche got the option to open Pandora's Box, where she could get $5,000, but something would be "unleashed in the house." It's so cheesy. Porsche opened it, and the duo twist is back! So, if Jordan OR Rachel wins the power of veto, they BOTH get taken off the block. I'm just praying I can hear Jordan mispronouncing words for one more week.

Jersey Shore

I was one of the few that didn't watch the VMA's, but I did catch the new episode of Jersey Shore. Please, please, please, don't hate me for loving this show. You get hooked through the marathons. Believe me. Anywho, the big thing was that Mike "The Situation" got into a fight with Ronnie. At least, that's what the commercials made you think. It turned out that Mike hit his head on the wall, like an idiot, prior to their tiny little scuffle. Ronnie didn't hurt him, the wall did. Captivating television. That's all I have to say about that.

Food Truck Road Race 2

This show just makes me really hungry. In a nutshell, this is a really close season. I didn't like last season because one truck, the Nom Nom truck, won literally all of the challenges. Now, there's not really a clear winner or loser. The trucks were in Denver, Colorado, and they all did pretty well, especially considering that they had no money to buy ingredients in the first place, and they had to rely on the charity of other restaurants. They had a challenge where they had to forage for mushrooms, make a dish, and the winner got an exclusive interview for publicity. So, it was funny watching them forage. Anyway, they made food, sold it, and I got hungy. Then they had a speed bump, and one person had to run the truck all by themselves. That was funny, too. But I was still hungry. At the end, Cafe con Leche, the Cuban Truck, didn't sell enough. In fact, only $87 separated them and the other team. I was sad to see them go, but I was still really hungry.


Real Housewives of New Jersey

Darn those marathons! I always said that I would stay away from the Real Housewives series, and I have stayed true to that promise. Until I caught a marathon of the New Jersey one. Holy cow. I love this show. The whole thing now is that Melissa, Theresa's sister-in-law, is now on the show. Theresa and her husband, Joe, don't get along with Melissa and her husband, Joe. Apparently Italian people aren't very creative when they name their children. I was always on team Theresa, but this season, I can see why her brother and Melissa find her unlikeable. And Theresa's husband, Joe, is so weird. He's a squinty little troll who threatens to beat up Theresa's brother. If Josh EVER did anything like that to anyone in my family, I would have a coming to Jesus with him. But, here's the thing: he would never do that, because he's a grown man. And I watch this show because people act like I would never act. It's cathartic, I think.

Phew! I hope you enjoyed this trip through TV Land.

Porkchops and Applesauce....and ruined pudding

For those of you who don't know, Josh and I attend church at the night service. Our church is massive, so it's nice to be able to worship in an intimate (well, as intimate as you can get for a mega church) setting. That being said, I always have this need to cook after church, and I like to cook meals that take forever. We normally end up eating around 10 PM. I understand the folly in this, but when I have a bag of grits calling my name, I will cook them. Even if it takes an hour and a half.

Oh, the Humanity! Grits simmered for a few hours with bacon and onions, and then a pile of cheese dunked in! And the picture is blurry because of the steam. It was oh so tasty!

Then, I made pork chops (because I knew that they are one of Josh's favorites) with an apple concoction. I cooked the apples in apple cider vinegar and white wine until it reduced, then I poured in maple syrup, then threw the pork chops back in with the apples and let it simmer for 20 minutes. The pork didn't need a knife! I got both of these recipes from thepioneerwoman.com, and I honestly haven't had a bad dish yet from her. And now that she has a Food Network Show, I am ecstatic!

This is my plate halfway through the meal. Now normally I hate hate hate my food touching, but I actually kept dunking my grits in that maple/apple sauce! Josh thought I was being a dork, but talk about a mixture of sweet and savory! Plus, I put a ton of tabasco in the cheese grits.... and Josh never said a word....

Now comes to the part of the tale that is sad. I also attempted a banana pudding dish that I saw on the diet section of the Kraft recipe website. Since I ate my weight in cheese grits, I thought I should at least top it with fat free Cool Whip. I sacrifice so much. I followed that darn recipe to a tee, and it turned out awful. Well, not awful, necessarily. The top pudding layer never became pudding. It remained a liquid. I put it in the fridge for 3 hours. And then I gave up and left it in there overnight, thinking it could be breakfast! (don't judge. I love pudding.)

Here is what I woke up to this morning:

(sob!) It is still liquid. Still. And now the bananas are floating in the sad pudding liquid. But, if you turn your attention to the bottom right corner. I still have leftover grits! Yippee!

One Day

Since my friend DiAnna and I are both golf widows (Josh and Jason played in the same tournament yesterday) we went to go see the movie One Day. I have the book on my reading list, and I think I have a hold on it at the library, so I will read it! Normally I don't see a movie without reading the book first, because I'm a nerd. But DiAnna summed it up perfectly when she said that by seeing the movie first, we wouldn't be disappointed with how bad they butchered the movie. Which is true.

For those of you who don't know, One Day is the movie with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, and it shows them one day a year for like, 20 years. It moves really fast and can get confusing, and sometimes you just don't know what happened in between! But the real kicker is Anne's accent. Holy cow. She keeps going from Standard British to Cockney; sometimes she throws in some Irish phrases, and at one point, she dropped an accent altogether and became American.

If you are in the mood for a cheesy romantic movie, like we were, it's a good way to spend an afternoon. However, the characters aren't really that likeable, especially Dexter (Sturgess's character) so I ended up not really caring if they got together or not. The ending, looking back, is predictable, but I was so busy being distracted by Hathaway's accent that I didn't see it coming.

The Adventure Begins!

Ok, people, you can smirk all you want, saying...she has a new blog...why? She barely kept up the last one. Yes, this is true. However, in my defense, I was planning a wedding at the time. A little time consuming. But, now I'm all settled in a new home in a new city, and I'm chock full of new info and thoughts!

This blog is to basically tell you about my mundane life: I will talk about movies, TV, books, as well as entertain you with stories of working in a hotel as well as mortifying you with my cooking ventures. I am, after all, a wife now! Let's get started...

Tonight I was browsing The Pioneer Woman, and I decided what to make for dinner! Pork chops with sauteed apples and cheese grits! Yummy! We were prepping for Hurricane Irene this week, so I didn't get any meat or produce; I was planning on staying holed up in our apartment without power all weekend. It turns out, nothing happened. Josh even played in a golf tournament yesterday. Yes, I am a golf widow now. And we've been married almost 5 months. Feel sorry for me.

Anyway, I'm tired of frozen food, pizza, and chips. Blech. It's time for a home cooked meal! Stay tuned, and I'll tell you if it turns out to be a bust...