2003-07-13 - 6:12 p.m. pirates, panini, plague Each year, I give myself something fabulous for my birthday. Many years, it's a dinner at a fabulous restaurant; other years, it's been frivolous shoes or collectible vinyl. This year, I bought myself a panini grill. And in typical me-fashion, I already have it in my hot little hands, several weeks before my actual birthday (a naughty tradition started by my childhood best friend, who gave me a present for my 15th birthday more than two months in advance because she couldn't bear to keep its fabulousness all to herself (it was a Psychocandy poster, in case you were wondering.)) But back to the panini. I've been in love with panini since my trip to Italy two years ago. In fact, the amazing panini at the corner bar may have been the best part of my stay in Florence (well, the same bar's cappuccinos may tie with their panini, but you get the point.) Fast forward to a few months ago. I was browsing on Amazon when it recommended a book to me: Nancy Silverton's sandwich book. Thanks to her amazing La Brea Baking baguettes, I think Ms. Silverton is a genius. I love to go visit the bakery when I visit L.A. and stock up on breads, and olives, and other treats. Thus, seeing she'd put together a sandwich book made me drool. I had to have it. Luckily, I had a leftover Amazon gift certificate from work, and was able to order the book. When the book finally arrived, I was simultaneously pleased and dismayed to see that many of the recipes were for panini. Living in an apartment without any outdoor living space means I don't own a BBQ or grill. All my cooking is done in the convection oven or my stove/oven combo. The recipes convinced me the only solution was to purchase a panini press. Which brings us to where we are now. I finally felt well and motivated enough today to plug in the panini press and get rid of the "new smell" (just like the instructions dictated), then slapped down two salmon fillets, seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with some Badia Coltibuono olive oil and Sanford Santa Barbara chardonnay. I followed them up with some asparagus tips, and finished up with two slices of San Francisco sourdough bread (which I slathered with some mayo after grilling). I assembled a sandwich out of one filet and half the asparagus (I saved half the sandwich to take for lunch tomorrow). I can�t wait to have someone over to make a brioche bread and dark chocolate dessert panini� Of course, I�ll need to procure a new non stick bread pan and bake some brioche first, since no place in SF that I know of produces little top knot brioches, let alone brioche loaves. Luckily, Silverton�s book includes a brioche recipe. I think I may try it out next weekend. My panini making was inspired in part by cleaning up my kitchen, and by the incredibly giddy good mood I was in after returning home from seeing Pirates of the Carribean. It was much better than I expected it � or any other film based on a theme park ride (though admittedly it is my favorite such ride ever) � to be. Lots of sword fighting, including undead/skeleton swordfighting; an over the top performance by Johnny Depp, replete with sexy kohl-rimmed eyes; a beautiful, long-haired Orlando Bloom, wearing tight pants and engaging in swordplay; and many silly recreations of scenes from the pirate�s life portrayed in the ride. Such a good time. I *must have* this movie on DVD. Amazingly, this wasn�t the only good movie I saw this weekend. Yesterday, I went to see 28 Days Later, entirely due to positive word of mouth from folks with similar taste in film as mine. I�d seen the trailer for it a while back and it didn�t grab me. But, when I kept hearing about how good it was from various reliable sources, I decided to go see for myself. It helped that a friend was able to score us some discounted tickets, so that if it sucked, I was only out $5. The movie did not disappoint. The scenes with the infected made me squirm. The cinematography was gorgeous. Not quite enough gore or bone-cracking noises on the soundtrack for me (and nothing that matched the �ewwww� squeamishness factor of the dissection / wolf jaw-breaking scene in Brotherhood of the Wolf), but the hotness that is Cillian Murphy more than made up for that. Yes, it was a fine weekend indeed. any comments? (0 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09