Picasso's private muse / SAT 5-1-10 / Populist power couple of 1940s-'50s / Ornamental pond fish / Wimbledon's borough / Adversary of Rocky

Constructor: Paula Gamache

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none


Word of the Day: ORFE (24A: Ornamental pond fish) —

The ide (also id) or orfe, Leuciscus idus, is a freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae found across northern Europe and Asia. It occurs in larger rivers, ponds, and lakes, typically in schools. The name is from Swedish id, originally referring to its bright color (compare the German dialect word aitel 'a kind of bright fish' and Old High German eit 'funeral pyre, fire'). (wikipedia)

• • •

This puzzle seemed reasonably easy, except for the NE, which was a kind of nightmare. Not just tough for me, but annoying tough, in that it was overwhelming proper nouns. Just look at the Acrosses. Name over name over name over name over whatever ORFE is over really awkward airport name (Airport alternative to JFK or LGA => EWR) over name over name over name over RESOD (45A: Fix, as some bald spots). 3/5 of the Downs are names as well. I love names, but come on. Balance. Also, for reasons I'm having trouble articulating, MAN BREASTS really bothered me (12D: Unmacho features) — the cluing seemed kind of offensive. I'm just trying to think of a comparative clue for women and how that would go over. [Unfeminine features]=>SAGGING TITS. I don't think so. Cluing seems oddly mean. Also, "man boobs" outdraws "man breasts," Google-wise, by a Huge margin. I did not even know MAN BREASTS was a real phrase. Rest of the puzzle seemed fine. I had AMEN, SISTER for AMEN TO THAT (26D: Response of approval), but other than that, no serious hangups.

Started in the NW and got those little Downs easily enough, but didn't know what followed EMPTY in EMPTY SUIT (1A: Good-for-nothing), and couldn't see GUARANTEE at all with just GUA-A---- sitting there. GUACAMOLE? Still not sure I understand TARS (4D: Hold hands?). Is a hold a place on a ship, and TARS are hands, or sailors, as in "all hands on deck"? Definitely didn't know the 80-year-old Triple Crown winner Earl SANDE, but, besides ORFE, I think that's the only answer in the puzzle I flat out didn't know. I should say, however, that the *only* reason I know Pou STO (42A: Pou ___ (vantage point)) is crosswords. It's a godawful piece of crosswordese. But today, that sort of thing was a rarity, so no complaints.

Bullets:

• 15A: Light seeker's question ("GOT A MATCH?") — In what decade? "GOT A LIGHT?" seems the more common phrase, though I liked this answer fine.
  
• 16A: Eponym of an annual award for best left-handed pitcher (SPAHN) — I was lucky enough to get "P" and "H" as my crosses. Not sure I would have uncovered it easily otherwise.
  
• 32A: Code broken by Joe Valachi (OMERTA) — "Code" and "Valachi" told me OMERTA (code of silence among mafia, word I learned from crosswords)
  
• 34A: Picasso's "private muse" (DORA MAAR) — Again, learned from crosswords. Couldn't remember last name exactly, though (MAHR?), which added to my NE struggles.
  
• 38A: Adversary of Rocky (NATASHA)— the Squirrel, not the boxer.
  
• 41A: Wimbledon's borough (MERTON) — uh, ok, if you say so ...
  
• 43A: He said "Most editors are failed writers - but so are most writers" (ELIOT) — Wanted WILDE at first.
  
• 52A: Beggar in Sir Walter Scott's "The Antiquary" (EDIE) — uh, ok, if you say so. I don't even recognize that as a Scott title, so the character? No way.
  
• 2D: Sourpuss's look (MOUE) — word I never see outside of crosswords. 75% vowels = very useful.
  
• 9D: Its news network won a 2008 Peabody Award ("THE ONION") — they also have a great crossword puzzle, ed. Ben Tausig.
  
• 33d. Botanical casings (ARILS) — more mainstream crosswordese. I *still* get ARIL and ANIL confused (the latter being a blue dye)
  
• 47D: "South Park" parka wearer (KENNY) — "Oh my God, they killed KENNY!" "You bastards!" — he used to die in every episode.

• 55D: Ciliary body locale (UVEA) — for the last time today, I say ... uh, ok, if you say so. No idea.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

WILD WAYNE KELSO WANTS YOU!

My friend Don Mancini just made my Friday, and hopefully yours, a little more cheery by pointing the way to this rare teaser trailer for 1941 which ran in theaters during Christmas 1978. Narrated by Dan Akyroyd (channeling the excitable newsreel-speak of Walter Winchell), the trailer is simply Belushi in character as Wild Wayne Kelso (a name that was obviously changed, like undoubtedly many things were in 1941 between December 1978 and December 1979) in a parody of the sort of xenophobia that would be so deliciously skewered in the finished film.

Fans of 1941 will note that in between the filming of this trailer and shooting of the actual film that the name of Belushi's character wasn't the only thing to have changed. It seems Kelso himself may have become decidedly more wild-- he seems much tamer in this piece than the endearingly demented bomber we've come to know and love (well, some of us anyway). So take this little gift from Don and I (courtesy of Rob's Movie Vault as my way of saying "Happy a great weekend and thanks for being patient as I try to put the finishing touches on my comprehensive report on the TCM Classic Film Festival." My editor Keith Uhlich at The House Next Door is being exceptionally patient as well as I try to find time beyond the midnight hour to finish cranking the article out and polishing it up. We're looking at early next week to unveil it for you. Before then, there are a few other things to talk about, and talk we shall. But for now, enjoy the rare rantings of one Wild Wayne Kelso and keep in touch!



************************************************************

"Apollo 13" actor Joe / FRI 4-30-10 / Setting of Hill Air Force Base / Tampico track transport / Subject of a Sophocles tragedy

Constructor: Natan Last

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: None

Word of the Day: HIDDEN BALL TRICK (57A: Diamond deception) —

The trick is exactly what its name suggests. It’s a deceptive play in which the runner on base is fooled as to the location of the ball, and is then tagged out by a nearby defender. Most often, this involves one of the basemen making a fake throw back to the pitcher who, for the play to be legal, must be positioned off of the mound.

According to multiple sources, there have been fewer than 300 successful instances of the Hidden Ball Trick in the recorded history of the Major Leagues. Considering that the game has been around for over a century, with each team playing more than 100 games, it’s an astonishingly low number.

One of the earliest known practitioners of the trick was Bill Coughlin, a third baseman who played for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers in a career which spanned nine years (1899-1908). While there is no way to verify his claim, Coughlin was said to have been responsible for seven successful executions of the Hidden Ball Trick. His most high-profile exhibition came in Game Two of the 1907 World Series, when he caught Jimmy Slagle of the Chicago Cubs. It is the only recorded instance of the trick in World Series History.

[The Wanna-Be Sports Guy ]

• • •

Hi, everybody. PuzzleGirl here filling in for Rex so he can get some sleep before catching his flight to L.A. at oh-dark-thirty tomorrow morning. My flight doesn't leave until the afternoon, so I told him I'd have plenty of time to do this post. Never mind that I haven't packed yet. And the clothes I want to pack need to be washed. And that I have a thing at the kids' school tomorrow morning. But hey, I printed out a bunch of my back-logged puzzles for the plane, so I'm sure everything will be just fine. Priorities, people!

I thought this puzzle was pretty fun. When I saw it was constructed by one of the Boy Wonders, I had a moment of panic. It's not always easy coming out here and telling you all about the mistakes I make and the stuff I don't know. And sometimes on Fridays and Saturdays, I can't even finish the puzzle. For some reason, when it's a young constructor, it makes me feel even worse about myself. So I'm happy to report that I did, indeed, finish the puzzle with no errors. (Whew! And, by the way, you know I adore you, Natan!)

Let's talk about the 15s. I'm shocked that THE SUN ALSO RISES (20A: Novel whose title comes from Ecclesiastes) doesn't turn up at all in the cruciverb.com data base. I thought for sure it was more common. I guess I'm thinking of "A Farewell to Arms," but even its most recent appearance was back in 2006. "Old Man and the Sea" is also 15. You'd think this Hemingway theme would have been done to death by now. Maybe constructors come up with it and think "Nah. Too easy." In any event, that entry seemed kinda blah to me (could also be because I'm not much of a Hemingway fan) and THE GREEN LANTERN (51A: Justice League member) — weren't we just talking about him the other day? Oh no, that was the Green Hornet. I have trouble keeping up with the comic book characters. Maybe I'm not as much of as dork as people think I am.

Anyway … what I was trying to get to was TRUE DAILY DOUBLE (17A: Risky thing to try for on "Jeopardy!"). Now that's an awesome entry. Here at the PuzzleHouse when we watch Jeopardy! we make fun of the contestants when they don't bet very much. "Come on! Bet it all!" we yell gleefully at the TV. Love that show.

What else:

• 5A: Bob of stand-up comedy (SAGET). PuzzleKids have taken to watching reruns of "Full House" lately. Every time I hear Bob Saget's voice coming from the television set, all I can think of is his appearance in "The Aristocrats." How is it possible that Bob Saget is the filthiest person in that movie? He's so darn wholesome in "Full House"!
• 23A: Heat unit? (LAP). I thought for sure this was going to be gun-related, not track-related.
  
• 24A: Player of Sethe in "Beloved" (OPRAH). I read the book, but can't say that I saw the movie. I bet it was weird.
• 42A: Midgets of the 1960s-'70s, e.g. (MGS). This is a car, right?



• 47A: Image on Connecticut's state quarter (OAK). I tried elm first. Hey, I knew it was a tree!

• 9D: It might include check boxes (TO-DO LIST). I'm sorry but, "might"? If it doesn't have check boxes … how do you check the things off? I'm confused. And possibly a control freak.
• 12D: Fit (HALE). With the L in place, I tried able at first.
• 18D: Brunswick, e.g., once (DUCHY). I'm thinking about including a video of Musical Youth here. What? You'd rather pull your fingernails out one by one? Okay, I'll skip it. You're welcome.
• 30D: Crushed corn creation (CROP CIRCLE). This is an awesome clue. Everybody was thinking food, right? It wasn't just me?
• 31D: Total hottie (TEN). I tried to find a video of Roseanne Roseannadanna singing Santana's "Evil Ways," but no luck. ("You've got change your evil way, Bo Derek ….")

• 34D: Martinez of the diamond (TINO). I admit, my first thought was Pedro, but when I saw it was only four letters, my next thought was TINO.
• 37D: Disney doe (ENA). Sometimes I'm just grateful for a little crosswordese. Ya know, just to give me a little toehold.
• 49D: Lara's son, in DC Comics (KAL-EL). Again with the comic book stuff. I started out with Kel-al which is … wrong. Also, I thought Kal-el was Superman's father but it turns out it's actually Superman. His father is Jor-el. His mother, as we know from this clue, is Lara. We wouldn't know that from Superman's Wikipedia page, however, as it doesn't even mention Lara. Not once. Interesting.

If you're in the L.A. area this weekend, please plan to attend the Crosswords L.A. tournament at Loyola Marymount University. It will be a super fun event and it benefits a great organization, Reading to Kids. Hope to see you there!

Love, PuzzleGirl

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter]

MY OWN HAUNTED HOUSE

I was just minding my own business tonight, trying to get some writing done, when I heard what sounded initially like purring coming from somewhere inside the house, a noise that quickly took on a much more sinister timbre. I had put the girls to bed hours ago, and my wife was tucked into bed, laptop humming. What the hell was that noise? It only seemed to get louder... fuzzier... now sharper... and more insistent with each barely distinguishable intake of breath. Finally I'd had enough. I stood up from the dining room table, where I usually work, put down the cover of my own laptop, and began to walk slowly, with a measure of caution, toward the hallway door. The sound hitched, then resumed after a split second, as if whatever it was that was creating it had decided to stop and then suddenly thought better of it. Louder now, almost a growl. I entered the hallway and turned on the light...











The House cat tore me limb from limb. Were it not for the advice of one Joe Gillis on matters of post-fatality narration I wouldn't be talking to you now, begging you not to follow my example, warning you to keep... the litter box... clean!

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This One Is Mine by Maria Semple... A Review

Violet Parry = Anna Karenina with an L.A. Lifestyle

Back of The Book... Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life--except that she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the ESPN sportscaster savant who falls into her trap. For all their recklessness, Violet and Sally will discover that David and Jeremy have a few surprises of their own. THIS ONE IS MINE is a compassionate and wickedly funny satire about our need for more--and the often disastrous choices we make in the name of happiness.

What Did I Think?! This One Is Mine by Maria Semple is wickedly funny, sassy and shocking, with larger than life characters that show us that having it all may not be all that it's cracked up to be, and having nothing has a whole set of other issues... When rich, snobbish, well educated very married Violet Parry meets Teddy Reyes, a down-on-his luck ex-drug addict over-sexed bass player, she thinks she's found something to fill that void, LITERALLY! And I think, what are you doing?! Violet seems to have lost her mind. There's nothing to make you like Violet's husband really, but Teddy seems far from the answer. As Violet throws money, gifts and food his way and herself too, I couldn't stop turning those pages. Then Maria Semple adds to the story one track mind Sally, Violet's sister-in-law, whose only goal is to snag a rich husband and have the perfect accessory. The only thing these two girls have in common is they're both train wrecks waiting to happen, and you can't help but hop on for the ride. While you're watching the scenery Violet and Sally develop into women that you can really empathize with... and that makes the story so much more than just "chick lit".

Maria Semple's writing is smart and fresh. Her story is lust, longing, and happiness. It's ultimately about friendship and the girl getting the guy and finding herself in the process. And it's a book you'll enjoy.

Learn more about Maria Semple at her website MarieSemple.com, read how she came to write This One Is Mine at the Hachette Book Group website and read about how This One Is Mine was an Indie Notable Pick this past January.

*I received a copy of this book to review from Marie's publicist. Thanks Gigi it was a fun read!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Asian spiritual guide / THU 4-29-10 / U.S. term for British saloon / Big name vacuum cleaners / King with statue in Trafalgar Square

Constructor: David J.W. Simpson

Relative difficulty: Medium (might very well be "Easy" — I did it on the couch while watching baseball, so have no idea how fast I would have been under my "normal" — timed, undistracted — conditions)

THEME: ODD — I'll let 17-Across et al. explain: "EACH ANSWER HAS AN / ODD / NUMBER OF LETTERS"


Word of the Day: Maurice STANS (5D: Maurice of Nixon's cabinet) —

Maurice Hubert Stans (March 22, 1908 - April 14, 1998) was an American accountant, high-ranking civil servant, Cabinet member, and political organizer. He served as the finance chairman for the Committee to Re-elect the President, working for the re-election of Richard Nixon, and was a peripheral figure in the ensuing Watergate Scandal. (wikipedia)

• • •

Did not like. In general, I am not a fan of these types of puzzles — the ones where answer are instructions or explanations. You just have to wait around for crosses to fill it all in — no joy in that — and then ... what? Maybe you connect the dots or fold your puzzle or, as with today, learn about some architectural feature you wouldn't notice if you weren't looking for it. Odd number of letters in each answer. Hmmm. Who. Cares? How does this feature increase my solving enjoyment? What does the this theme add, value-wise? Zero. If anything, it takes up valuable grid real estate with lengthy, inherently dull explanations of its raison d'etre (ETRES = possibly the ugliest Fr. word I've ever seen in the grid — 34D: French beings). "Hey, look what I made." Yep, those are answers with odd numbers of letters, alright. Congratulations?


This puzzle has ZEN MASTER (32A: Asian spiritual guide) crossing ZONKED OUT (32D: Totally beat), clearly the marquee answers of the day. Sadly, they aren't anything close to redemptive. Just an interesting sidelight, a not-quite-successful attempt to make me forget the triple-partial nightmare in the NW — IS A and OR NOT and NO I ... and the last two cross ... and the clue for NO I has "not" in it ... train wreck. Nevermind MST crossing SSW, and ORA, which is essentially another partial disguised as an Italian word (2D: 60 minuti). It hurts.

Bullets:

• 23A: King with a statue in Trafalgar Square (JAMES II) — ousted in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which brought William and Mary to power. I didn't know the answer here, though (briefly considered HENRY II), and not knowing STANS contributed to this section's being the toughest for me today, by far.
  
• 28A: "Interest paid on trouble before it falls due," per W. R. Inge (WORRY) — first, "W. R.?" I had no idea. Second, today appears to be "massive quote" day in the puzzle. There's this one, then 51A: "___ fancy you consult, consult your purse": Benjamin Franklin (ERE), and 48D: Who wrote "I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him" (POE).
  
• 42A: Lizard that chirps (GECKO) — did you see where the guy who does the voice in the GEIKO ads (no, not the voice of the GECKO, but the disembodied voiceover voice) got fired for prank-calling some conservative group? Absurd. It's a very calm, non-threatening call. It's just ... you don't prank call and then leave your *actual* phone number on the voicemail. As I understand it.
  

• 64A: U.S. term for a British "saloon" (SEDAN) — news to me. How the hell do does our word for a bar in the old west with the swinging doors and card-playing and what not become a four-door automobile overseas? Or vice versa? Absurd.
  
• 26D: Big name in vacuum cleaners (DYSON) — I think we have one of these. But not the one with the ball. The older kind. The purple kind.
  
• 44D: Mythological subject for Titian and Botticelli (VENUS) — I have a t-shirt with a "Simpsons" parody of the Botticelli painting. Features Marge on a half shell. Bare breast and all. Can't believe it's official, but it is.
  
• 47D: Mini-section of an almanac (ATLAS) — The "mini" part threw me, because I associate the word "ATLAS" with bigness.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. this is my final plug for this weekend's "Crosswords L.A." charity crossword tournament at Loyola-Marymount University. Looks like I'm on the judging/scoring team with constructors Tyler Hinman, Doug Peterson, Todd McClary, and Alex Boisvert. Tyler and Andrea Carla Michaels are doing color commentary for the finals. It's cheap, it's fun, you can solve in teams if you want ... more info here. For those of you who are wondering if you are "good enough" to compete — you are. These tournaments are only stressful for the hyper-competitive. For the rest of us, they're just a chance to geek out about puzzles in a low-key, friendly environment. Hope to see L.A.-area folks there.

Self-assembly retail chain / WED 4-28-10 / Foot to zoologist / Holders of some pipe joints / Cardholder's woe

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels and Peter L. Stein

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: SPOUT (66A: Teapot part ... or a two-word hint to 16-, 25-, 43- and 59-Across) — "SP" is taken "OUT" of familiar phrases, leaving wacky phrases, which are clued "?"-style


Word of the Day: KATO (28D: Green Hornet's sidekick) —

Kato is a fictional character from The Green Hornet series. This character has also appeared with the Green Hornet in film, television, book and comic book versions. Kato was the Hornet's assistant and has been played by a number of actors. On radio, Kato was initially played by Raymond Hayashi, then Roland Parker who had the role for most of the run, and in the later years Mickey Tolan. Keye Luke took the role in the movie serials, and in the television series he was portrayed by Bruce Lee. // Kato was Britt Reid's valet, who doubled as The Green Hornet's unnamed, masked driver and sidekick to help him in his vigilante adventures, disguised as the activities of a racketeer and his chauffeur/bodyguard/enforcer. According to the storyline, years before the events depicted in the series, Britt Reid had saved Kato's life while travelling in the Far East. Depending on the version of the story, this prompted Kato to become Reid's assistant or friend. [...] On June 4, 2008 Sony Pictures announced plans that they are going ahead with plans for a feature film of the superhero. Set to be released on December 17, 2010, the film is to star Seth Rogen, who will take on writing duties along with Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg. Stephen Chow had originally signed on to play Kato, but then dropped out. Taiwanese actor Jay Chou replaced Chow as Kato for the film. (wikipedia)

• • •

A type of theme we've seen many times before and will undoubtedly see again. Even as we speak, aspiring constructors are scrawling down all the -OUT (and -IN) words they can think of. TROUT, FLOUT, STOUT, GRIN, CHIN, TRAIN, etc. I feel like Andrea Michaels herself did the SPIN version of this theme not too long ago ... and I am correct. I liked the puzzle OK, but only RING CHICKEN seemed sufficiently funny for this kind of theme. IN THE BOTTLE, on the other hand, does absolutely nothing. Just lies there. Not surprisingly, that section (the west) took the longest for me to uncover. I was looking for something more lively in the theme answer — and then MASSLESS just wouldn't come (40A: Like a photon), and I didn't (and still don't) think MOST could be a "kind" of anything (33D: Kind of votes a candidate wants). I can't think of any situation where "MOST" would be the answer to a "what kind of ...?" question. ELON (36A: North Carolina's ___ University) and ELAN (32D: Zip) just need ELIN (Woods) to show up, and they could have a nice little party. Hey, ELIN — there's the basis for your next puzzle theme right there!



Theme answers:

• 16A: Attila, for one? (ACE INVADER) — I guess this means he's good at invading?
  
• 25A: Cowardly boxer? (RING CHICKEN)
  
• 43A: Where to find a genie? (IN THE BOTTLE)
  
• 59A: Holders of some pipe joints? (ELL BINDERS) — no idea why this answer wasn't ELL-BINDING, a play on the more common, all-purpose word "spell-binding," and one that gets rid of the pointless plural
  

Revelation of the day: Tyler and Taylor were WHIGs!?!?! (21D: Taylor or Tyler). I had apparently completely blocked out the fact that that was *ever* a viable American party. This may be partly due to the fact that I taught Jonathan Swift's "Description of a City Shower" yesterday, which has the lines:

Here various kinds, by various fortunes led,
Commence acquaintance underneath a shed.
Triumphant Tories and desponding Whigs
Forget their feuds, and join to save their wigs. (39-42)

So in my mind, at least for yesterday, WHIGs were a purely London phenomenon. I was actually considering whether I knew anyone named Tyler WHIG.

Bullets:

• 1A: Appetite arouser (AROMA) — Looking for an AMUSE-BOUCHE or the like. I never get AROMA when clued this way, or as a "lure" of some kind.
  
• 37A: Jefferson's religious belief (DEISM) — Why some contemporary Christians believe he was one of them, I just don't know. He took a razor to his bible to extract the "supernatural" stuff (you know, the Resurrection and all that).
  
• 47A: Polite reply that may be accompanied by eye-rolling (YES, DEAR) — Yeah, your wife *is* a bitch. (i.e. I do not like this clue)
  
• 4D: Like towelettes, typically (MOIST) — there's a word I'd be happy never to see again. [Shudder]
  
• 28D: Green Hornet's sidekick (KATO) — With the movie coming out later this year, Dynamite Comics has launched a *ridiculous* number of "Green Hornet" titles. Five of them, I think. I am reading only Matt Wagner's "Green Hornet: Year One." Wait, maybe I'm reading the Kevin Smith-penned series as well. It's a little alarming that I don't even know what's being pulled for me at the comic book store each week any more.
  
• 37D: Cardholder's woe (DEBT) — was thinking of a different kind of card (playing).
  
• 42D: Foot, to a zoologist (PES) — yay, Latin.
  
• 45D: First pope with the title "The Great" (LEO I) — boo, random pope who's here only 'cause he's 75% vowels.
  
• 54A: Self-assembly retail chain (IKEA) — "Self-assembly" sounds weird — like a robot that somehow builds itself.
  
• 60D: "If I Ruled the World" rapper (NAS) — Here you go:

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

What's Cooking? Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy by Lidia Matticchio Basthianich... A Review & Recipe!

Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

and Tanya Bastianich Manuali

A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes

A cookbook can be just a list of ingredients and ways to prepare them, or it can be a much richer experience, an exploration of tastes and textures that can make our mouths water. Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, who is well known for her wonderful Italian cooking and sharing that knowledge on her public television show, has a new cookbook! And Lidia's newest cookbook, Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy, is the kind of cookbook that is not only a feast for the taste buds, but a feast for the heart as well. Lidia invites us along to explore little-known parts of Italy and the wonderful foods and recipes that come from them. The recipes are divided by the region of Italy they are from, such as Lombardy, Liguria, & Umbria, and Lidia introduces us to each region with the people and flavors that are rooted there. She writes snippets of history, such as how Apples have been a major product of Va id Non since the Middle Ages and how an 1856 nursery list listed 193 apple varieties and now there are over 8000! And at the end of each chapter Lidia gives us further places to explore in the region we are cooking in, such as the wonderfully romantic city of Sirmione in the region of Lombardy, or the antique shops in the Navigli quarter of Milan. Her passion for cooking is infectious, even in the the way she describes the food , " Just a small amount of saffron can imbue extra-virgin olive oil with the spice's captivating perfume and distinctive flavor", the recipes are easy to understand with thorough directions, even down to the recommended equipment to prepare it with, and with 175 recipes there is plenty of great cooking for everyone! Definitely a nice variety of recipes. Everything I have made from Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy has been delicious! And with permission from the publisher, Alfred A Knopf, I am able to share one of the recipes from Lidia's new cookbook that was a BIG hit in my house! Baked Penne & Mushrooms! I've also included Lidia's intro to the recipe. Here it is... (along with a couple photos of my cooking)

Baked Penne & Mushrooms (Pasticcio di Penne alla Valdostana) ©Lidia cooks from the Heart of Italy (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)

The marvelous melting qualities of authentic fontina are particularly evident in baked pasta dishes such as this delicious pasticcio. When it is in the oven with penne (or other tubular or concave pastas, like ziti, rigatoni, or shells), the molten cheese oozes around each peice of pasta and is caught in all of its nooks and crannies. The cheese on top of the pasticcio melts and then becomes crusty and carmelized.

Recommended Equipment: A large pot for cooking the penne; a heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan, 12 inch diameter or larger; a 3 quart baking dish, 9 x 13 inches, of shallow casserole of similar size.

***********************************

Ingredients...

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

8 ounces fontina from Valle d’Aosta (or Italian Fontal)

1 cup freshly grated Granda Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano - plus more for passing

4 tablespoons soft butter

1 pound mixed fresh mushrooms - (such as porcini, shiitake, cremini, and common white mushrooms) cleaned and sliced.

1 cup half and half

1 pound penne

1 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 400 degrees. Fill the pasta pot with 6 quarts of water, add Tablespoon salt, and heat to a boil. Shred the fontina through the larger holes of a hand grater, and toss the shreds with 1/2 cup of the grana (grated parmigiano-reggiano).



Put 3 Tablespoons of the butter in the big skillet, and set it over med.-high heat.

When the butter begins to bubble, drop in the mushroom slices, stir with the butter, season with 1 teaspoon salt, and spread the mushrooms out to cover the pan bottom. Let the mushrooms heat, without stirring, until they release their liquid and it comes to a boil. Cook the mushrooms, stirring occaionally,as they shrivel and the liquid rapidly evaporates. When the skillet bottom is completely dry, sitr the half and half into the mushrooms, and continue stirring as the sauce comes to a boil. Cook it rapidly for a minute or two to thicken slightly, then keep it warm over very low heat.



Meanwhile, stir the penne into the boiling pasta water and cook until barely al dente. Ladle a cup of the pasta cooking water into the mushroom sauce and stir. Drain the pasta briefly, and drop into the cream and mushroom sauce. Toss the penne until all are nicely coated, then sprinkle over them the remaining 1/2 cup of grana (not mixed with fontina) and the chopped parsley. Toss to blend.



Coat the bottom and sides of the baking dish (13 x 9 or 3 quart) with the last tablespoon of butter. Empty the skillet into the dish, spreading the penne and sauce to fill the dish completely in a uniform layer. Smooth the top, sprinkle the mixed fontina-grana evenly all over.



Set the dish in the oven, and bake 20 - 25 minutes, until the cheese topping is crusty and deep golden brown and the sauce is bubbling up at the edges. Set the hot baking dish on a trivet at the table, and serve family-style. ©Lidia cooks from the Heart of Italy (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)

This is a great cookbook! If you make this recipe, let me know what you think! Learn more about Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, her tv show, recipes and books at Lidia's website Lidia's Italy. In the meantime enjoy her recipe! Thank you to Caitlin of FSB Associates and Alfred A. Knopf for a copy of Lydia Cooks From The Heart of Italy to review!

SCANNING THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL: MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY

A full report (and I do mean full) on my four days at the 2010 TCM Classic Film Festival will be ready to go at The House Next Door in the next few days. Until then, check out the terrific photo and video galleries at the official TCM Classic Film Festival website. I've also created a gallery of my own of posters from the 14 movies (and one cartoon collection) that made my recent adventure in Hollywood so memorable, presented in the order in which I saw them. (Check out links for more info and fun on each movie on the sidebar.) Please stay tuned! I'll be back with a link to much more soon!

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Johnny who used to cry Come On Down / TUE 4-27-10 / Penny-pincher slangily / Seoul-based automaker / Means of staying toasty at night

Constructor: Oliver Hill

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: SWITCHBLADE (62A: Street weapon ... or a hint to the circled letters in this puzzle) — consecutive circled letters in each theme answers are made up of the rearranged ("switched"?) letters of BLADE


Word of the Day: SAE (55A: Major coll. fraternity) —

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ, also SAE) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South. Its national headquarters, the Levere Memorial Temple, was established on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1929. // Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the largest college fraternity by total initiates, with more than 300,000 initiated members and more than 11,000 undergraduates at 300 chapters in 49 states and provinces at present. The creed of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, The True Gentleman, must be memorized and recited by all prospective members. New members receive a copy of The Phoenix, the manual of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, for educational development.

• • •

Amazingly easy for a puzzle with a whopping seven (7!) theme answers. Easiness is probably largely attributable to the fact that the grid is something close to 40% three-letter words. Not sure I counted properly, but I've got 30/78 words at 3 letters. And with none of the clues particularly tough today (exc. SAE, what the hell? I never saw the clue and figured it was simply the "self-addressed envelope" abbreviation I've come to know and ... tolerate), I methodically chomped through this one from NW to SW with hardly a hesitation. The puzzle is all theme ... and it's a good theme. Nice use of circles (contiguous, useful in solving). BED LAMP and HEATED BLANKET both seem like basic phrases, but I don't think I'd say either. I'd probably throw "SIDE" into the "BED LAMP" answer, and all the HEATED BLANKETs I've known have been heated by electricity, making them ELECTRIC BLANKETS. Maybe folks are heating blankets other ways these days (or on the prairie in olden tymes).

Theme answers:

• 17A: Genesis duo (CAIN AND ABEL)
  
• 21A: It's found on a nightstand (BED LAMP)
  
• 29A: Certain mustache shape (HANDLEBAR)
  
• 38A: Means of staying toasty at night (HEATED BLANKET)
  
• 50A: American symbol (BALD EAGLE)
  
• 57A: Made possible (ENABLED)
  

All of the very short fill makes the two Long Downs stand out, and I like them. Oddly homey, familiar implements. Fittingly, I got CAN OPENER (6D: One use of a Swiss Army knife) off the CAN and it opened the puzzle right up. Are there HOES that are not GARDEN HOEs (36D: Tool you can lean on)? Oh, wait, BACK HOE. That's a HOE. A HOE you can lean on, too. I would like to make the point now that a pimp can lean on his hoes, too, just so we can get that pun out of our systems. There. I feel better.


Bullets:

• 11A: MP3 holders (CDS) — this is pretty cheap cluing. People listen to MP3s on iPods and iPod-like devices, not CDS. You can record MP3s to CDS, it's true, but ... :(
  
• 73A: Darcy's Pemberley, e.g., in "Pride and Prejudice" (ESTATE) — Hesitated here trying to untangle the grammar of the clue. Had a brief moment where I imagined Pemberley was a person. Then thought, "wait, I've actually read this novel. Several times." And brain said "Oh yeah. That's right. Here you go: it's ESTATE."
  
• 69A: Bond girl Kurylenko (OLGA) — Apparently being a Bond girl is like winning a gold medal — automatic puzzle eligibility. The only Bond girl I know is Ursula Andress. And I like it that way.
  
• 11D: Penny-pincher, slangily (CHEAPO) — that would be a good name for a disposable lighter. Zippo is for the elites — try CHEAPO, the working man's lighter!
  
• 37D: Snick's partner (SNEE) — These guys need an animated show, like Tom and Jerry or Chip and Dale.
  
• 53D: Johnny who used to cry "Come on down!" (OLSON) — me: "Uh ... CARSON didn't say that, it was Ed McMahon! Oh wait, wrong show."
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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