snap out of it!

08/31/2011

snap out of it!

Nothing like a dramatic title to herald a new blog entry! It's a quote from one of my favorite movies, Moonstruck.

Moonstruck is the story of widowed Loretta Castorini, a middle-age book keeper, determined to marry Mr. Right. She believes that due to a cloud of bad luck (she married her husband down at City Hall) her husband was hit by a bus. She lives at home with her mother, father and Italian grandfather with his collection of mutts. The Right Man in question is Johnny Cammareri and after she coaches him through the correct way to propose, they become engaged. Trouble begins when Johnny must go to Sicily to say goodbye to his dying mother. He tasks Loretta with calling his estranged brother, Rohnny, to invite him to the wedding. Johnny alludes to the bad blood between them, but Loretta has no idea what she's in for. Hilarity ensues.

My favorite theme of the movie is summed up by Ronny.

"Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bull****. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!"

I'm not a big romcom fan, but this movie has smart dialogue and amazing performances. Olympia Dukakis almost steals the movie as Loretta's mother. Because it's a romantic comedy, everything goes wrong in a delightful way and the prerequisite happy ending isn't obnoxiously saccharine sweet. Dramatic gestures and fantastic quips abound. Plus there's food and beautiful music, two of my favorite things in life.

This movie was my first introduction to egg in a basket. Or toad in a hole as my mother says which is just gross in my humble opinion. In the movie Mrs. Castorini made eggs in a basket with a side of roasted red peppers. The first time I watched it (which was 954 times ago) I thought the peppers were bacon. Note to Self: make it with bacon next time.

Egg in a basket is simplicity itself. Made with homemade white bread and creamy farm butter, it's heartily satisfying. Just cut a circle in the middle of the bread for the egg and cook the buttered bread in a skillet until the bread is toasted and the egg slightly runny. That's the trick, not overcooking it.

Part of me says it's still too hot for comfort food, but when you need it, you need it.