Delicious!
No, it’s not what you think – not Italian white Alba Truffles that cost $188 for an 8 ounces! It’s not Beluga Caviar which costs $200-$300 per ounce, no, it’s something you can’t buy, you can’t return and you can only have it ONCE.
It’s your time! When you make make something or bake something for a someone and give it as a gift, they are receiving TWO gifts. You have made a soup, baked a cake or whipped up a souffle, surely something you know your friend will appreciate and enjoy; But you had also given a gift of your time, your life, an hour or hours you can never get back. A real Foodie knows what goes into creating culinary masterpieces, knows that the shopping for ingredients, the prepping, and the making all take time!
Today I’m suggesting you bake some DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BREAD; The recipe makes one loaf and takes about 1 1/2 hours.
INGREDIENTS
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dark-chocolate chips
Confectioners’ sugar, as garnish
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla, then mix with a whisk until well combined.
3. Gently fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It should fill the pan a little more than halfway.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then remove it from the pan while it is still warm by inverting it onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing and serving. If desired, finish the loaf with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Wrap in cellophane or Saran Wrap and tie a ribbon around it. Or you can present it à la Martha Stewart and wrap it up in brown craft paper and tie with the classic red and white bakery twine.
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
Pbenjay's Blog 
The Wolf Of Wall Street-The 3 Shortest Hours I’ve Ever Spent
Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, tagged Belfort, DiCaprio, Film, Jonah Hill, Jordan Belfort, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, NC-17, Rob Reiner, Spike Jones, Wolf of Wall Street on December 4, 2013| 3 Comments »
Leonardo DiCaprio (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
WOW – 2 hours and 55 minutes and it just flew by! This movie is so fast-paced and never lags is clearly one of the reasons you don’t realize just how long it is. Fact: It took 7 years to make!
Based on a true story, it sheds some light on why the economy tanked. DiCaprio spent months working with Belfort in an effort to bring the author’s experiences which led him from “pond scum” to the Wolf of Wall Street, to life on the screen. The film is all about sex, drugs and greed and barely missed receiving a NC-17 rating. Scorcese frantically cut some of the more salacious scenes and just squeaked by not having the movie rated NC-17. One might wonder why such a fuss might be made about sex and naked people when these very people committed despicable acts and ruined other people’s lives, like that wasn’t offensive enough?
The Wolf of Wall Street is a funny movie, the audience at the SAG screening I attended laughed all the way though it. Yes, it was funny, because the dialogue is witty, clever and oh so natural, enhanced by superlative performances by all especially DiCaprio and Hill. However, now a couple of hours later as I mull over this post, I think the movie probably glamorizes extra-marital and unsafe sex, STDs, excessive substance abuse as well as dishonesty and greed. Yes, there is a comeuppance at the end of the film, but perhaps not as much in comparison to havoc the players wrecked on the lives of others during that 5 year run.
Scorcese, at age 71, is at the top of his directorial powers, seemingly invigorated by the energy of the material and the fact that his ultimate financiers, Red Granite, gave him the green light to go all out and push the envelope with no holds barred. And that’s exactly what he and his actors did which just might be why given the freedom to go all out, the acting and dialogue is absolutely believable. And as I type that line, I want to add in parenthesis, disgusting and despicable as it was!
I have never been a huge DiCaprio fan, however, I’m happy to say he was AMAZING! What an exhausting and physical role! His looks are maturing and again let me say, his role as Jordan Belfort is surely going to put him in the final 5 for Best Actor.
As a final observation, I thought his wardrobe was impeccable, particularly loved his ties and definitely did not like the dye job on his hair, a very unnatural black.
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