Saturday, January 28, 2012

2012 Film Excitement (Complete with a butterbeer recipe!)

Because the world is ending this year, Hollywood has to pack in all the good movies. Really, I think I'm going to go broke seeing all the movies that I want to see. 
Movies I'm excited for:


1. The Vow - February 10


2. Hunger Games - March 23


3. The Avengers - May 4


4. Dark Knight Rises


5. Les Miserables - December 7 (This one's kind of iffy. T. Swift as Eponine, really?)


And, last but definitely not least 6. The Hobbit - December 14



This is going to be a really good year, I can feel it. The only downside is that there's no Harry Potter movie to look forward to. Ever again. I watched a bunch of old interviews today and I could just feel my childhood slipping away. The only cure for this is a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and a few glasses of butterbeer. I guess I'll just have to make my own. Speaking of which, here's an amazing recipe for butterbeer. It's very very close to the real deal. So go make some, watch a Harry Potter movie (or read a Harry Potter book if you're feeling particularly ambitious), and reminisce.



Butterbeer (http://wizardingworldpark.com/top-5-butterbeer-recipes/2010/08/20/ )

1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda.

In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.
Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract. In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.
To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each. Enjoy!


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

It may not be historically accurate...

...but I love Disney's Pocahontas. I mean, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie, but in the Emma Awards (kind of like the Emmys, but cooler, because it's all my favorite things), Pocahontas gets two very important accolades.
1. Best Disney soundtrack. Seriously, Colors of the Wind? Just Around the Riverbend? Not to mention the wonderful instrumental score.
2. Best Disney movie to watch in French. I don't even know why. But I love watching Pocahontas en français.

So, you combine those two things together and get the title of this blog. Au Détour de la Rivière is the French version of Just Around the Riverbend. Listen to it. Now. Right here: 

And I just love the idea of this song. It's all about this feeling that there's something greater waiting right around the corner and haven't we all felt that way before? I know it's particularly true for me, as a college student because I have no idea where my life is headed or where I'll be in a couple of years. Anything could be just around the riverbend for me.

Anyway, so this is my blog. I've never done this before, but I've wanted to for awhile. Hopefully I'll keep up with it pretty well, because historically, I have been really bad at keeping up with things - like a journal, friends that live more than a 5 minute walk from my front door, my homework...You get the point. So here goes!