Doing More

I've done it. Finally, I've done it. I sat down and I watched the movie Food, Inc. I'm not sure what took me so long, really. I guess part of it was that I knew what I was in for. I've read several Michael Pollen books and generally know that I don't like the way the food industry operates.

As it turned out, most of the movie I had heard or read before. I was still shocked all over again. The difference here was that in most cases I had never seen images of the food industry's icky business before. And the images are powerful.

The movie left me feeling very unsettled. It re-affirmed my family's choice to be vegetarian, but it also left me feeling that we should do more. The problem is that I haven't figured out what "doing more" means yet. For now, I'm pondering. Pondering where my food comes from and where I wish it came from. Afterall, I like that food is so convenient. I have no plans to grow all my food in my backyard. But surely there are some better ways to get food ~ better ways to grow it and better ways to buy it.

If I reach any firm decisions on how I plan to "do more" then I'll be sure to share. In the meantime, I'd love to know what others thought after seeing Food, Inc. or learning about the same food issues from other sources. Did it change how you ate? Did you find ways to do more?

So Left Out

Last weekend my hubby and I watched Julie and Julia (finally, I know!). It was such a cute story and so fun to see Meryl Streep play Julia Child. But I have to admit that I felt pretty left out. All that French cooking, and there appeared to be little beyond dessert for the vegetarians. If it weren't for this hurdle I would have run right out and bought my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and started. . . well, mastering it! But alas, the hurdle is there.

Then today I was delighted when I saw this recipe for Mushroom Bourguignon by Smitten Kitchen posted over at Amateur Gourmet. That's right ~ mushroom! I guess there's hope for vegetarians and French cooking mingling every once in a while, even if it doesn't involve Julia Child.

Are there other amazing vegetarian recipes for French cooking that I should know about? Hmm. This might require some research.

Oldies But Goodies

I love movies. And I especially like movies set in the past - either because they are "period films" made recently or because they're old movies that were made a long time ago. (Although, I mostly gravitate to new movies that are set in the past because I love the costumes, set design, and interesting customs, culture, manner of speech, etc. Black and white movies often don't give the visuals I love.)

Recently I've seen a few really enjoyable movies that fall into this "old" category, so I thought I'd share:

Doubt - I was drawn to this for the acting, and it didn't disappoint.
12 Angry Men - This one is interesting from a legal and historical perspective. You only see white men the entire movie!
Chicago - I love the dancing and the music.

Halloween put me in the mood for a little Hitchcock review, so the next "old" movie I plan to watch is Psycho.