Typical Food Blog

Well this rainy cold weather makes me want to curl up and snuggle under the covers, watching Dexter (which is now on Netflix! Go get yourself addicted NOW!) while eating some comfort food. One of my favorite things to eat is mac and cheese and I happen to have a really awesome recipe that I would like to share with you all (plus another recipe for pigs in a blanket).

What makes this mac and cheese recipe so amazing is because you don't need to deal with making a rue or have to use the oven (although you will need the oven for the piggies), and only has five ingredients (butter is missing from this picture because it is camera shy).

For the mac and cheese you need:
Whatever macaroni you prefer, I am using elbow macaroni
1 can of Campbells cheese soup (great for cooking!)
1 can of evaporated milk
and about 2 cups of shredded cheese, I am using a Cheddar Jack mix
Butter (not pictured -- again camera shy)

This recipe is just stupid easy so follow these directions:
1) Bring water to boil
2) Add some salt to season the water
3) Dump in the macaroni and cook (around 7 minutes or follow box directions)
4) Drain water
5) Open and pour in the can of cheese soup and add the butter, about half a stick or so
6) Stir in add in about half a can of the evaporated milk
7) Add in the shredded cheese and continue to stir until everything combines into one big pot of yummy goodness.
You can add in more evaporated milk if you want the mac to be thinned out.

Pigs in a blanket

For the piggies you will need:
American cheese singles
Hot dogs
Can of biscuits

Preheat the oven per the biscuits instructions, mine says 375*F
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, it will make clean up a lot easier.
Pop open your can of biscuits and start flattening them out. I
Cut your cheese slice in half and lay one half down and then top it with a hot dog.
Roll them up and pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes

Once everything is said and done you will have a nostalgic comfort food feast!

Now I am going to sit and finish watching some Dexter while ohm nom on some awesome food!

Until next time,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite! (Unless it's this amazing food...you can let them do that)

-JD

Random ramblings

Good evening gentle reader,

I hope that the start of November has found you well. I have been hemming and hawing about what I should write next, and honestly friends I think it will just be a sporadic rambling perhaps once or twice a week. (Or whenever the mood strikes me).

There are two things that I would like to touch on tonight:

1) As some of you may know, my very good derby friend Anita Bandaid and I both got matching mustache tattoos on our fingers.

Well it has been a little over a week and my tattoo is in that awkward teen phase where it's starting to peel and get really itchy. I am trying oh-so-hard NOT to pick at it, and damnit I am getting pissed at what is happening.

See the cracking? See where it has peeled off and that it looks like it was done with a freaking Sharpie?! Yeah I am not very happy with this. Now this isn't my first tattoo rodeo, this little beaut is my 'lucky' number 13 so I know how to take care of a tat. And I also know that hand/finger tats are known for fading quickly, but good Lord this is ridiculous. Needless to say I will be going in for a touch up as soon as this weird peeling/healing phase is over.

Now that, that rant is over on to my next topic.  Which is the WFTDA Championship this weekend!

Oh yes my friends, those are the glorious tickets to this year's Womens Flat Track Derby Association Championship this weekend in Milwaukee! I have never been so excited to see so much derby because I really haven't had much of an opportunity to actually WATCH roller derby, I typically am stuck working the event as an NSO (Non-Skating Official).

So come Friday, when Anita and I are both done with work, we will be road tripping our way down to Milwaukee to meet up with some old friends and hopefully making new and to experience some of the best Women's flat track roller derby this world has to offer.

There will be a follow up blog either after or during the event, perhaps there will even be a blog on our shenanigans down to MKE. Stay tuned gentle readers because there is more to come!

Until next time,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

- JD

Happy Halloween!

This is Halloween this is Halloween, pumpkins scream in the dead of night! This is Halloween everybody make a scene trick-or-treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright!

One of my favorite days of the year!

In honor of this wonderful holiday and for my last blog in this 31 Days of Halloween series, I am going to review John Carpenters Halloween (of course).

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid because it always creeped me out so much. There is just something about not seeing the eyes of someone that really freak me out.

Plus this movie has such an iconic theme song to it.

Now for any Star Trek fans out there if the mask of Michael Meyers looks vaguely familiar it is because the props department used a Captain Kirk mask. They painted it white, teased out the hair, and enlarged the eye holes.

Apparently there is a very rare novelization of this movie that delves deeper into Michael's background. Click Here to see it listed on Amazon for $300. If you want to get me something for Christmas, this will do nicely.

I remember seeing the sequel; Halloween II when I was younger and the opening song Mr Sandman creeped me out immensely. There is just something about pairing old time music to a horror movie that is just perfectly creepy.

Oh and look what popped up on my Facebook page courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting.com An alternate opening to the movie! If you'd like to read the full article and see the video (there is no sound on it FYI) click here.

IMDB rates this a 7.9 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 94% with an audience approval rating of 85%. I am giving this 4 out of 5 skulls, really great movie, scary and creepy, but could use just a touch more blood.

Well I hope you all enjoyed reading my reviews and that some of them may have piqued your interest to see a new movie or re-watch and old favorite.
Have a fantastic Halloween everyone!

Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!
-JD

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Happy Hump Day fellow creepsters,

One more day until Halloween!

So for today's blog I am going to review I Know What You Did Last Summer because I am watching it on ABC Family. Crazy right? Since when did ABC Family start playing horror movies...before this, The Craft was on.

Wow, what a horrible trailer. I would like to say that the movie is better but then I'd be called a liar.

Released in 1997 this movie was directed by Jim Gilliespie and stars the typical brat pack of the 90's: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddy Prinze Jr. and Ryan Pillippe.

It is your typical teen slasher flick where they go out an party then something bad happens they try to hide it and it comes to bite them on the ass.

What a lot of people do not know is that this movie was actually based on Lois Duncan's book called "Who Killed My Daughter" which is about the real life death of her daughter. Duncan has stated that she hates this movie because the film-makers had transformed her book into a slasher film.

Honestly the only tragic death in this movie is when Max, played by the wonderful Johnny Galecki, gets hacked up. Other than that this movie is predictable and repetitive. The music through is great, Type O Negative does a cover of Summer Breeze which is great.

There are two sequels to this movie, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, (Brandy and Jack Black are in that one) and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (Direct to DVD sequel and doesn't star any of the original cast but still follows the continuing story arc)

IMDB rates this a 5.5 out of 10 stars Rotten Tomatoes rates it 36% and has a 47% audience approval rating. I am giving it two out of five skulls. Nothing impressive, a bit nostalgic for those of us who grew up in the 90's.

One more day! Until then,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Well it's Tuesday...only two days until Halloween, can you freaking believe it?  Working in retail kills the holidays because we already have so many Christmas trees out right now that Halloween has fallen to the wayside.

This makes me a very sad panda.

See, told you so.

I honestly didn't know what to review today until I remembered that there was a Friday the 13th marathon going on, on AMC and I had got to watch a little bit of it on my break at work. Then I realized that I have yet to do a review on one of the movies so today I am remedying that. However I am not starting with part one, oh no, I am starting with the movie that started my love affair for not only Jason Voorheese, but for horror movies in general; and that is Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.

Great trailer right? They just don't make them like they use to.

Released in 1989 and directed by Rob Hedden this movie stars Kane Hodder as Jason (really the only Jason that matters)

"The graduating class of the local high school is going on a luxury cruise with Jason Voorhees as a stowaway. The heroine Rennie Wickham believes she was almost drowned by Jason as a child. Jason eventually sinks the boat and kills many of the students on it, but many of them escape to Manhattan. A long battle with Jason ensues until Jason is washed away in the New York sewers by a midnight flooding of toxic waste." Written by Jason Ihle, taken from IMDB

I remember seeing this movie when I was younger, around 10 I'd say. It was on TV during Halloween and it was the first Friday movie that I had seen. I clearly remember the ending of the movie with Jason in the sewer and became fascinated with the series and wanted to learn more about the movies and his character.

Neat little factoid is that during the diner scene, the guy that Jason throws into the mirror is actually Ken Kirzinger who ended up playing Jason in Freddy Vs. Jason. And according to an interview in Fangoria Magazine (August 1989), Hodder actually threw up on cue by drinking lots of water. Gross.

Unfortunately because this movie performed poorly in the box office, Paramount sold the franchise to New Line Cinema, until the remake. Only two movies were made in between (Jason X and Freddy Vs Jason).

IMDB rates this a 4.2 out of 10 stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 10% with a 42% audience approval rating. I am giving this two skulls and a hand full of teeth for a 2.5 out of 5. There are some great kills and just a touch of humor but it lacks a sensible plot. (Which after it being the 8th movie in the franchise, go figure!)

Two more days you guys! Two more days! If you have any suggestions on what I should write on during November please let me know in a comment!

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite,

-JD

I Am Legend

Hello creepsters,

It's Monday...and I am already exhausted. Work was a bit frustrating since I had to stay late and I am currently working on a really bad headache. So today's blog with be blissfully short.

I am going to review I Am Legend, I caught this movie last night on AMC's Fear Fest (sadly this one is not currently on Netflix)

Released in 2007 and directed by Francis Lawrence this movie stars Will Smith who is the sole survivor in Manhattan after a horrific outbreak occurs.

Now they don't refer to the infected people as zombies, but as Darkseekers (because they have a reaction to UV light and only come out at night...a lot like vampires)

This movie is great in the way that it captures your emotional heart strings and rips them out once you realize what is going on...and if you get upset when animals die bring some Kleenex or a pillow to sob into.

Will Smith gives such a fantastic performance in this movie, he really is a talented actor -- it's amazing that he use to play the Fresh Prince.

Yeah you're welcome!

IMDB rates this a 7.1 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 70% with a 69% audience approval rating. I am giving it three skulls and a hand full of teeth for a 3.5 out of 5 skulls. It is a great movie if you haven't seen it, but I wish that the ending would have been a bit fuller and that we would have gotten more background information about how everything started.

Can't believe it's the 28th! Only three more days in October. If anyone has any suggestions on what I should blog on throughout the month of November please let me know!

Until tomorrow,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite,

-JD

Young Frankenstein

Happy Sunday fellow creepsters!

I must be honest with you all...yesterday I lied. I never made it out to the corn maze, and never got to use 'Malachi' or 'Outlander'...instead my roller derby BFF and I made pies and got some awesome tattoos...

Yes ladies and germs those are mustache tattoos, and yes they are real. No one seemed to believe that last night at the Halloween derby party. Ainta Bandaid is one of my best friends ever and roller derby is what brought us together and if you follow derby you might have noticed that we're all pretty obsessed with bacon and mustaches. This is just such a beautiful bromance.

Alright, bromancing aside today I am reviewing one of my all time favorite Mel Brooks movies, Young Frankenstein. And ironically enough the Central Wisconsin Area Community Theater is putting on the musical version of Young Frankenstein this weekend!

I remember being about 8 or 9 and asking my mom to buy this movie for me because it was about Frankenstein. I didn't know that it was a Mel Brooks parody, I seriously thought that it was a sequel to Frankenstein and that it was about his younger brother or something. I watched this movie so much that I wore out the VHS which was also the special edition with 10 minutes of outtakes after the movie.

Released in 1974 this movie was directed by Mel Brooks (duh) and stars a lot of amazing people who were mentioned in the trailer...go and watch the trailer...do it...

One of the things that makes this movie great, besides the comedy and shtick is that a lot of the props used were the same props used in the movie Frankenstein.

Blucher!

This movie will appeal to a wide audience, if you like Frankenstein you will like this movie. If you love Mel Brooks you will love this movie. If you're a fan of shtick you will be a fan of this movie. Go ahead, watch this movie and then call me a liar. (Unfortunately this one is not currently on Netflix)

IMDB rates this a solid 8 out of 10 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 94% with a 90% audience approval rating. I am giving this 5 out of 5 skulls because this movie is just so nostalgic for me and it's just so damn funny.

Until tomorrow fellow creepsters,
Sleep tight and don't let the zombies bite!

-JD