Recipe: Candied Bacon

12 slices of thick-cut Bacon
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
1/3 cup of Light Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon of ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper

Add bacon slices and walnuts to a bowl with both peppers and rub well. Add the brown sugar and continue rubbing the bacon until they are all covered. Lay down a sheet of aluminum foil to a large baking tray and lay out the bacon slices in a single layer. The walnuts can be scattered about. Add any remaining brown sugar from the bowl on top of the slices. Cover with another sheet of aluminum foil and place into a 350-degree preheated oven for thirty minutes. The slices can be cooked longer depending on the texture desired. When the slices are ready, remove and place on top of dish lined with paper towels to drain any excess fat for a few minutes.

Movie Review: Snow White & The Huntsman

So I got a chance to check out "Snow White and the Huntsman" today, and the movie looked fantastic. The lighting, scenery, special effects, and wardrobe of the characters were, for the most part, fantastic!

And that's about it.

The story itself was great. I liked seeing the back story of Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron), or at least the elements they did cover. Still left out how she learned magic... We got a little glimpse into the nature of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), although his character is never named in the movie, aside from being called Huntsman. Snow White (Kristen Stewart) did actually appear pretty gorgeous in some scenes, unlike what we saw in the trailer. Sadly, what I didn't feel was any attachment thanks to the lackluster acting on pretty much all the parts of the actors. Although Theron's acting did fare better once Queen Ravenna begins to feel her life waning away and she lashes out in anger at everybody, especially her brother Finn (Sam Spruell). Otherwise, it feels like everyone's coasting for the paycheck.

The story doesn't stray too far from the mythos of "Snow White," but it does include a lot of fantasy/fairy tale tropes, to the point where a lot of it was predictable. I'll be honest, I rolled my eyes a lot...

And last but not least... there was a serious math problem in this movie... which you should be able to figure out after seeing the movie to the end, if you paid attention.

Overall it is an okay film, but some polishing would've greatly improved it for me.

Recipe: Lemon-Thyme Roasted Potatoes

1 tablespoon of unsalted Butter
1 lbs. small Red Potatoes (halved)
3 thin slices of Lemon (seeded)
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon of Kosher Salt
1/8 teaspoon of crushed Black Pepper
1/8 teaspoon of crumbled dried Thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon of fresh Thyme)

Take the butter and coat the bottom and sides of a baking pan large enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except the thyme. Add potatoes and lemon slices to the pan, in a single layer. Place into a 425-degree pre-heated oven, and roast for 15 minutes. Remove lemon slices and turn potatoes over, and let cook for another 6-10 minutes, until tender and browned. Take the lemon slices and mince. When the potatoes are done, add the minced lemon and crumbled thyme.

When There's No More Room In Hell For The Souls Of The Dead...

Sunday I followed the NYC Zombie Crawl through the streets of Williamsburg. My photos were used on Monday by Gothamist :)

Here's a sampling, with more photos on my Flickr:

Recap of the Steampunk World's Fair

A little late, but I've been busy after my brief visit to the 3rd Annual Steampunk World's Fair! I visited the event on Saturday, and what a long Saturday it was! I was there from 11:30am to about 3:45am. It was insanely fun, and while there wasn't as many bands I was into, like the first year, I definitely had a fun time checking out the different performances, and catching up with friends, as well as making new ones!

To check out the photos, visit my Flickr set. Here's a brief sample:

Fire It Up

This weekend I was finally able to somewhat catch-up on photos. Finally cleared out many photos that were behind, so now I can focus on photos from May.

Saturday I attended a barbeque birthday party for two friends, that was titled The Paul & Kurt Show BBQ of Love, and made my awesomely-delicious watermelon-chipotle BBQ wings, which I set on fire once I arrived to finish them off. I just added half a cup of Everclear to the wings and lit them on fire before I was ready to serve, to help caramelize the sauce onto the wings and help to form a nice saucey crust.

Now I can focus on knocking out photos for Geek Girl Productions' May 2012 show, "Victorian Vixens," before the upcoming weekend for the Steampunk World's Fair.

An Update

Still catching up on photos, I have such a backlog it's not even funny :/

Switching my web site's domain and hosting to a new company, and it's been a slight nightmare, but I think it's pretty resolved for now... I think...

Got an email this morning that my flash has been repaired and en route, so hopefully I should have it next week.

Next week is the 3rd Annual Steampunk World's Fair, so yay!