Entertainment

December 2015 - Posts

• RED Hearts: Entertainment: This Book Will Make You Cry (That's Good)

  By Zulay Regalado, 26, reporting from Miami, on the moving novel—and future movie—Me Before You

  

  I’ll admit that I’m not the most emotional person when it comes to books and movies. While my friends watched The Notebook through streams of uncontrollable sobs, I was busy giggling at Ryan Gosling’s overly romantic professions of love (disclaimer: Team Gosling forever).

  Thanks to my recent discovery of the 2012 tear-jerker novel Me Before You, by British author Jojo Moyes, that’s all changed. I mean, it was hard not to feel for Louisa Clark, the story’s main character. She’s a young working-class woman who knows nothing about life beyond the tiny village in England where she grew up. Suddenly jobless and desperate for work, she accepts a job as caretaker to wheelchair-bound millionaire Will Traynor, whose life took a tragic turn (and him a sour outlook) after a road accident.

  While Louisa’s ordinary lifestyle is worlds away from Will’s, which is loaded with glamour and travel, she refuses to walk on eggshells around him. She also makes it her mission to put an end to his sadness. But she soon learns that Will has a different solution in mind, and the race is on to make him see that life is still worth fighting for.

  It’s a touching story of two people who couldn’t have less in common but who somehow come together and learn from each other—and in ways not expected or cliché. Of course, the book is not made entirely of tears. There are plenty of happy moments and laughs, and my only real lingering sadness is seeing it go. But it lives on! I then discovered there’s a sequel and a film adaptation in the works. Needless to say, my tear ducts will be quite active for the foreseeable future. Perhaps they will even overtake my The Notebook-style grins in the movie theater.

  Posted Dec 04 2015, 08:49 AM by admin with no comments

• RED Hearts: Entertainment: Make Perfect Pumpkin Cookies

  This is a favorite for fall 2015 in a RED Hearts series of seasonal recipes – things you can cook or bake, usually healthy things, always easy things – for the people you heart! Served up by Erika Kwee, 25, “the baker, photographer and typo-maker” behind vegetarian food blog The Pancake Princess.

  

  Hands down one of my favorite things about fall is holing up in the kitchen with a cozy recipe to tackle: a giant pot of chili or homemade pasta or a spice-scented loaf of pumpkin bread. Squash something is a seasonal must, and this year my favorite snack in the category is these puffy, cakey pumpkin cookies.

  These are no ordinary cookies: They’re made up from a base of hearty chickpea flour (healthy and easily found in international grocery stores) and without eggs, thanks to my new ingredient crush aquafaba. It’s a miracle egg-replacing ingredient that’s also known as the brine that surrounds canned chickpeas! (You can learn more about the fascinating properties of aquafaba.)

  I highly recommend picking up these couple of new ingredients to try these cookies out. They’re hearty and lightly sweet, special for fall. Plus, with chickpea flour in your arsenal, you’ll be prepared to make a whole bunch of other delicious things—chickpea fries, pizza, gingersnaps. Happy magical concoctions, happy magical autumn to you.

  
  

  Healthy Chickpea Pumpkin Cookies

  Yield: about 8 small cookies

  ½ cup chickpea flour
  ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  dash of ground cloves and nutmeg
  ¼ teaspoon each: fine sea salt, baking soda, baking powder (gluten-free, if desired)
  1.5 tablespoons coconut oil, soft but ideally not liquid
  3 tablespoons brown sugar
  ¾ tablespoon aquafaba (reserved from a can of chickpeas or white beans)
  3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
  ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

  Instructions
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients (flour through baking powder). In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut and brown sugar until smooth. Add the aquafaba, pumpkin and vanilla, then mix until thoroughly combined. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

  Use a medium cookie scoop to portion dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.(Don’t taste the raw dough—chickpea flour tastes unpleasant when uncooked!). Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until set around the edges. Best enjoyed fresh.

  Posted Dec 04 2015, 08:41 AM by admin with no comments