weather.bleeccch

In case you were wondering why you haven't heard from me, it's because there's been nothing TO hear. This stupid weather has got me locked in the house and has fogged my brain to the extent that I can't think about ANYTHING.

However, I did actually get out twice last week...and one of those times was for actual work! I got a day on Friends With Benefits, the new Justin Timberlake movie. And the shoot was actually in Manhattan! (The other time was to go see my kid where she's bartending.)

What a strange day...for me, at any rate. Remember, I'm used to shooting on the closed Boardwalk set out in Brooklyn...closed in the sense that it's self-contained. And the couple of times I've shot in Manhattan have been indoor shoots, so still pretty much self-contained. Well, this one was right out there on the edge of Central Park, on Fifth Avenue and 61st, and sheesh. Talk about tourists, and paparazzi, and fire engines and police cars. And holding was in the Plaza Hotel, which is not as chic as it sounds. We were crammed into a too-small function room on the 4th floor with no craft services because the hotel catering union won't allow any food in the hotel that's not under their jurisdiction. Nor can you bring anything into the hotel. This meant we had to hike over to crafty on 61st for breakfast, and that we got stuck with a walkaway lunch...i.e., go find some lunch, pay for it yourself, and be back in an hour. Let me be the first to tell you that there isn't any affordable food, or very little, in that area...unless you want a hot dog. I found an overpriced egg salad sandwich, but...growl.

The shoot itself was fine, but dull, of course...I mean, face it, how interesting can walking back and forth be? Unless you are thrilled by the sight of Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, which I'm not. However, it was a nice almost 12 hour day, so a decent check is in the mail. Yay!

Meanwhile (since until this weather breaks, I'm still locked up in here), I ran across another one of those wonderful recipes in my old Gourmet cookbook, which has instructions that sound just strange:

It tells you to marinate 1-1/2 lbs. of calf liver and 3/4 lb. of veal in milk for 24 hours. then you put them "through the finest blade of a food chopper" and mix them with some butter, and bake them in a loaf pan for 3 hours at 300 degrees. Then you take them out, let them cool, and then "put them through a fine sieve," mix in 1/4 cup bourbon. Then you fill a terrine with alternating layers of the pate and whole truffles.

Well, WHAT? Why on earth, and HOW on earth, are you supposed to put something through a fine sieve when it's already cooked for 3 solid hours? And it's meat? And could we discuss those whole truffles? That would be the alternating layers of the pate and whole truffles. How big is this terrine dish? How MANY truffles? And remember, there's more than one layer of the things. Have you priced whole truffles lately?

I think I'll make a nice meatloaf.

Love, Wendy