Ooooh-- Buckaroo Banzai and the Joy of Cooking? Excellent. Haven't made the creme brulee yet, but the flan has been a big hit in my house. And it doesn't need a blowtorch.
Can you believe the boys made creme brulee???
LOVE!!!1!! The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
Its even in my profile as an all-time favorite.
Must. Watch. Again. For. The. Umpteenth. Time.
You're hilar! My movie's 21 Grams, and my dessert's red wine 
It's organic, if that helps -- though I still wouldn't recommend it for PK...
How sweet it is.
21 Grams is a fabulous movie, but I wouldn't quite call it "fun." Nor recommend it for PK....
What in thee hell is "creme brulee"??
Good lord, TD, you can't google it?
Oh, TD. You're missing out on one of the most wonderful joys of life. That first crack of the sugar shell with a spoon...mmmmm.
Maya and I often eat out, doing the girls' night thing (My 20-month-old is better behaved in a restaurant than many 20-year-old girls I've known). Creme brulee is one of our favorite desserts to order.
I baked brownies here -- a recipe from a friend from back in college (early 90s), with some cinnamon and cayenne added for interest.
lol ... it does look pretty good!
Dear Ms. BitchPhD,
I am engaged to a woman who reads your blog regularly (dare I say, religiously). In fact, she read aloud your recent post about last names and women with glee. I am not so familiar with your story or your thoughts, but based on what I hear, it seems like you and my fiancee are kindred spirits.
She is a staunch feminist. And, quite frankly, I am all for feminist values (I am the founder of a group called the Pro-Feminist Men's Group). So, I am writing to ask for some advice on how to deal with sticky situations. Here is an example:
Today we had a latin dance class. During the 2 hour class, I went the washroom and spoke with the instructor's boyfriend (about the options for less advanced classes) and I when I was completely lost in the steps, I watched the others for about 5 minutes. Afterwards, my "partner" tells me that I was an embarrasment, and demands to know "why I acted like that". Her voice grew stronger as we were walking down the street and I couldn't help thinking to myself, "you're criticising me for MY behaviour?"
I listened to her for about 10 minutes and we got on the bus to go home. Instead of sitting next to me, she walked to the back of the bus and sat alone. I confronted her about snubing me on the bus and she denied it. In the elevator, I broached conversation but she just wanted "peace and quiet".
Now, after a few hours of silence, she has gone to bed without a word.
My question is: can you make any suggestions on 1. what is going on in her mind, 2. what would be the ideal way to deal with any part of the above situation, and 3. how can the Oilers win the Stanley Cup?
Thank you for your time.
To guy
1. Wait a few days, use the time to buy ramekins, a blow torch, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract, and learn to make crème brûlée.
2. Share the crème brûlée.
3. They need to more consistently than all other contenders out-score their opponents.
1. She was embarrassed.
2. I find the best way to handle conflict isn't to argue over whether or not the other person's feeling is valid, but to apologize for making them feel bad, and then to say how you feel, e.g., "I feel upset that you're mad at me about getting confused." It's hard to be mad at someone who's being vulnerable, assuming they're being sincere and not passive-aggressive.
3. Don't know, don't care, I'm afraid.
B ... I love you, your taste in film (and please tell my you also love Galaxy Quest), the coolness that is PK, and does Mr. B have a brother? Not that I don't still have a crush on him because he's funny and smart and has the good sense to be married to my fave feminist blogger ... but WTF??? He makes you creme brulee???
Wow.
Haven't seen Galaxy Quest. Mr. B. does have a brother--whose girlfriend just had a baby. So he's a bit out of the running, I'm afraid.
The creme brulee came about, btw, b/c PK decided yesterday he wanted custard (it having been mentioned on some kids' show). So yesterday they made custard. Apparently it's turned into a whole series of custard-based experiments.
Panna cotta is really easy to make, and soooooo good to eat. Custard based desserts are fab - you realise it is the basis for ice cream too?
Verily, who amongst us does not love to watch the sugar melt and carmelize?
Buckaroo! The source of so many wonderful quotations! We've worn out one videotape version and happily converted to DVD. Now if only I could convince my children it's as amazing as I find it!
*looking around perplexedly* Honeeeeeeeeey? Where did you put the Oscillation Overthruster?
You guys should see Galaxy Quest, it's a spoof on Star Trek & all it's conventions. And I think it's mostly appropriate for PK.
To a guy:
Was your feminist girlfriend irritated that you spoke to the instructor's *boyfriend* rather than the instructor herself? (presuming the instructor is female).
This seems a bit far-fetched to me - catching the guy in the loos is hardly a blow to the instructor's authority - but then, you asked the question in a feminist forum, which suggests you feel this may be part of the issue.
Also, if your girlfriend is a regular reader of BPhD, why are you asking this question here in public, rather than privately?
Finally - Ms? Our gracious hostess calls herself Bitch Ph.D, which rather suggests she has another title by which she should be addressed.
To ER -
Indeedy. It's the best bit of making butterscotch sauce too. And may I add that if you do not own a blow-torch, and your grill (broiler) is kind of crappy (like mine) you can make the caramel in a pan and then carefully pour it over the set custards to complete your crème brûlée.
To Mr.B -
I love you.
And if you ever tire of regular créme brulée, one can add a tich of espresso to the mix for a lovely, smooth coffee flavoured custard... and the fantastic crunch of the sugar on top... oh, fabulous.
Have that with a nice, old port and all the worries in the world disappear.
The other great secret in life is that the puff pastry for profiterôles is stupidly easy to make... so pop a bit of heavy custard in there, and melt a hunk of Callebaut for the chocolate sauce... eat on the floor in the middle of the night... it's always a perfect "love in" chez nous.
But I like to watch "Blow" on such nights, and that's no good for PK.
Definitely get a creme brulee blowtorch if you don't already own one. You'll have much more control over the custard crust than you would using the broiler. You're less likely to burn the custard. You can find the blowtorches at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They come in kits with four small ramekins. You'll find larger ramekins on the same shelf. You can also use the blowtorch on meringue and meat. I swear by my blowtorch.
I LOVE baking creme brulee. The Royal Spawn couldn't get enough of it. That and chocolate mousse.
I covet a creme brulee torch. And I can totally believe the dudes would make it: creme brulee is manly, cause it involves fire. (I call it the barbecue principle.)
Re custardy things: do PK and Mr. B make puddings? A good stovetop pudding w/eggs is also delicious (and custardy), and I have a nice recipe for them, if you are pudding-friendly.
Dude, post the pudding recipe!
To be fair, Mr. B. in fact does pretty much all the cooking 'round here, fire or no. Right now he is making pizza from scratch with the neighbor girls from across the street while PK fusses at me about something.
I love creme brulee, and it's so easy to make!
I've impressed many people with it--it looks and sounds complicated I guess 
You know I was being snarky, right, what with the manly fire-foods? Pizza from scratch was for a long time my "too lazy to cook" meal. I do not make my own tomato sauce, though.
pudding recipe
"Why me?"
"Because you're perfect."
"You've got a point there."
I have loved that campy film since I saw it in the theatre. I was young enough and fangirl enough to buy the press kit, which had backstory on all the characters. Yeah, I'm a geek. I was always sorry that it didn't do well enough for them to make the sequel.
I haven't made creme brulee. Have to try that with the boys. My grandma made the best custard pie in the world. If my dad has the recipe, I'll share it, but finding anything in the old farmhouse is a crapshoot, at best.
Dr. B. if you have the old 1960's version of the Joy of Coooking it has the best custard and pudding recipes in it.
Late night chocolate puddings have been a favourite indulgence since boy was just wee. I have pics of him as a toddler withthe chocolate covered wooden spoon and the pot, on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night.
If he was going to insist on being wakeful, there was going to be chocolate pudding by gum!
My blow torch is as much as bed bath and beyond's whole crème brûlée kit. But then, I got it to solder pipes. It does that and a whole lot more.
"Carmelize" is a mispronunciation of "caramelize."
Please tell me PK was not watching Teletubbies.
Should I watch Buckaroo? I adore Bruce Campbell, and I know that movie is the reason many do, so I fear I will find it wanting. I think Serving Sara would've been better if BC had played the Matthew Perry character.
As of Friday night, I am obsessed with The Boondock Saints.
Best
Movie
Ever
You can talk about normal variation all you want, but once you get this far inside the brain it all pretty much looks the same. No, no, no...don't pull on that, you never know what it might be connected to.
Why do I think Buckaroo is Army of Darkness?
I was gonna say... You don't have to buy an expensive blow torch at BB&B; get thee to thy local hardware store!
In fact, chefs use a lot of stuff found at hardware stores. There are a few wood graters that have made their way into the kitchen catalogs as cheese/food graters; and my sis came over a while back to use the band saw for cutting up a length of PVC piping for some cooking project. I think she was using the rings of pipe to mold some kind of curry shrimp salad-y thing. Later saw an article on using hardware store stuff in the Food section of the Washington Post, including the PVC rings.
Yesterday's guilty pleasure for me: went over to the house of a friend who is shortly moving out of the area, and we watched some movies with Gerard Butler and Colin Firth, while eating ice cream, brownies, and chocolate-covered strawberries (I discovered a package microwaveable chocolate fruit dip at the store -- yum!)
Aw hell Moonrose, see Buckaroo.
As for Bruce Campbell, he ain't in it, but, sounds like you could git your Campbell fix watching AoD aka EDIII if my read of your comment is correct and you've not yet done so. By the way, I too am a big Raimi/Cambell fan and love ED, EDII, and AoD. I will say this though, AoD is a very different thing than EDII. That's not to say it is worse, but depending on your tastes, it may indeed be a difference you may not like as well.
Oooh, "Army of Darkness' is such a great movie. Gimme some sugar, baby. The Royal Spawn loves "Army of Darkness". My favorite of that series is "Evil Dead". I still have to see the latest "Evil Dead" movie. Bruce Campbell rules!
We also own "Buckeroo Banzai". That movie is loads of fun. "No matter where you go, there you are!"
Hey, Bitch Ph.D., I have a great chocolate pudding recipe for you. It's nice, thick, and rich. It's from one of The Count's French cookbooks. Call it "pots de creme au chocolat" instead of "chocolate pudding". That'll make you sound all hoity toity.
Here's the recipe:
2 cups heavy cream
6 ounces dark sweet chocolate, cut into bits
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla (I always add a little extra vanilla because I like it.)
Chocolate curls for garnish.
Preheat oven to 350. In a heavy saucepan, combine the cream and chocolate and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the sugar, the yolks, one at a time, and the vanilla. Strain the custard into six 1/2 cup pots de creme, ramekins, or ovenproof ceramic cups, and place in a baking pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is just set. Remove the ramekins from the pan and let cool. Garnish with chocolate curls. Serves 6.
I use ceramic coffee mugs that I bought at a craft fair. They look very nice with the pudding in them.
Enjoy!
Reminds me to get a copy to share with the boys before I hear that penguin on the telly sketch one more time.
Another movie I'd put on a list with Buckaroo Banzai and Galaxy Quest is Mystery Men. It does for superhero flicks what Galaxy Quest did for SF.
I can tell you how *not* to make creme brulee. Do *not* try to substitute "pourable" brown sugar for sugar for the caramelized top. Whatever they do to make it pourable apparently makes it oddly resistant to melting.
Unfortunately, I learned that lesson with a house full of guests one New Year's Eve's (it never occurred to me that I might be out of sugar until sometime after 10 pm).
What is pourable sugar?
Countess, *that* is the single most fabulous chocolate pudding I have ever had in my life, and I'm not even into the pots-de-creme that are still sitting in the oven... so far I've only licked the pot and my son is waiting by the oven for the pots to come out.
mid-night snacking on des petits bons choses. Marveillieux.
Now if only Juliette Binoche would waltz in here to feed it all to me.
use more honey--find out what she knows...
actually we made s'mores last night--a different form of burnt sugar
laugh while you can, monkey boy!
The original creators of Buckaroo Banzai have a comic out right now with a new BB adventure. From moonstone press, I think. They also explain why BB has had such a tangled rights history, or at least they did in the preview...one to watch for, fans...
"You guys should see Galaxy Quest, it's a spoof on Star Trek & all it's conventions. And I think it's mostly appropriate for PK.
Bureinato | 06.10.06 - 2:00 pm |"
One of the reasons that GQ IS possibly appropriate for PK is that there's a place where the Sigourney Weaver character clearly (and loudly) uses the F word -- but the soundtrack doesn't let you hear it; it's been re-dubbed. Here's how IMDB transcribes it:
Gwen DeMarco: What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway. No, I mean we shouldn't have to do this, it makes no logical sense, why is it here?
Jason Nesmith: 'Cause it's on the television show.
Gwen DeMarco: Well forget it, I'm not doing it, this episode was badly written.
For some reason I find that totally hilarious every time. But then I've always been easily amused.
Oh, and Countess? "No matter where you go, there you are" is a Steven Wright line. I always get pissed off that movies (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome too) use it w/o crediting him. TANJ.
Hi,
Just stumbled upon your site for some hopeful advice, which, by the looks of things, you're more than qualified to give.
I am one half of a fairly progressive couple who has been going out for 5.5 years. Over the past year, my partner has been becoming more and more into radical feminism, and is just about to undertake her honours in the topic. Don't get me wrong, i think its great but lately its getting to the point where she is satrting to lump me in with the other 3 billion blokes out there, and i'm pretty sure i've done nothing wrong. I'm pretty sure the more she learns, the more ostracised i become. How do i deal with it? When i bring it up, she becomes very defensive and upset.
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