Movies and Moong Beans

I had a very chill weekend - I watched a lot of movies! I watched The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Opposite of Sex, Dear John, Love Story, and Bright Star. The Purple Rose of Cairo is one of Woody Allen's biggest hits and I did like it. Jeff Daniels was adorable! I grew up thinking of him as Harry from Dumb and Dumber so it's funny to see him in a "heart-throb" role. I didn't love The Opposite of Sex, it was just OK. Dear John was enjoyable, and I was impressed with Channing Tatum. He was really natural and great with this honest, almost shy dialogue. I really liked Love Story. Ryan O'Neal was great and Ali MacGraw's wardrobe was amazing. I seriously want all those clothes!!!

Bright Star was the best movie I saw all weekend, and if you haven't seen it, you should. It's a 2009 film directed by Jane Campion about John Keats' romance with Fanny Brawne. The acting was beautiful, the cinematography is beautiful, the poetry is beautiful. The whole movie just fills and breaks your heart. The music is fantastic. And I will forever be grateful to this movie for introducing me to John Keats' poetry. I probably wouldn't have had a reason to become interested in Keats if not for this film. Several of his poems are read in the movie, including over the closing credits. It's gorgeous. Just really gorgeous. Please watch it.

I've also been a busy little actor. I went to the LA Actors Tweetup last night and went to a workshop with an agent tonight. And, in some big news, I joined AFTRA, one of the two actors' unions. I'm excited to be a union member! The unions are very important for actors because people are so desperate to work that they'll endure really inhumane conditions and terrible pay and the unions do a lot to protect us.

I went to the farmers' market on Sunday and yesterday I made a big pot of veggie stew. It was kind of a mix of my Green and Orange Soup and Curry Veggie Stew but instead of using split peas, I used about a cup of mung beans that I soaked overnight.

If you are unfamiliar, these are mung beans -


They're small and green, with a very mild flavor and soft texture. I soaked them overnight and they cooked in about an hour.

I put some of the stew in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 and made "Veggie Casserole."


Ahhh, look at all that spinach! I sprinkled nutritional yeast on at the end.

One of my most interesting purchases at the farmers' market was a persimmon! I've never eaten one before but they had some samples and it tasted good so I bought one.





I ate about half of it raw and crunchy like an apple. It was tasty. I'm going to use the rest of it in a savory recipe I'm making tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm going to a free screening of Halle Berry's new movie and she's going to be there for a Q & A afterwards. I'm excited!

Have you seen any of the movies I mentioned? Did you like them?
Do you have any good persimmon recipes?

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