Doctor Who - Kill the Moon and a bit on NYRB documentary

It's a cool day, considering either making pumpkin muffins or pumpkin bread via a paleo recipe that I discovered on the internet. (Feel I should define what I mean by paleo - no diary, no sugar, no grains, no glutens, no yeast, nothing that I'm sensitive to. Sort of similar to lactose or diabetic or gluten free. It has bananas, chai tea, pumpkin, coconut flour, eggs, spices..) Have decided to take the weekend off to vegetate in new apt. Still adapting to it. While it does get natural light - well in the bathroom and living room, and has a nice enough view of trees and houses and sky. It's not bathed in sunlight like my last apartment. But other than that - it is admittedly a huge improvement in various and sundry ways.

On a totally unrelated topic, we really do bring our own baggage to everything we watch, read, listen or witness - don't we? What astonishes me though is how unaware people are of this fact. I'll read a professional critical review - and think, whoa, we didn't see the same series of movies and you are reading a lot into that which I'm pretty certain was not intended. Entertainment Weekly, the guilty pleasure magazine that I can't quite bring myself to stop subscribing to, had two articles in it that seemed oblivious to this fact, yet ironically emphasized it. The first one was a television critic's take on Nolan's Batman flicks, and the second was a review of the Martin Scorcese documentary -The New York Review of Books - The 50 Year Argument, which highlights a 50 year fight between Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal culminating in a verbal battle of words on the Dick Cavett Show regarding Vidal's review of Eva Figes' Patriarchal Attitudes (which isn't even by Mailer), in which Vidal stated that Mailer's analysis of gender politics "read like three days of menstrual flow", then went on to contend that Mailer, Manson (Charles Manson - the serial killer not Marilyn Manson), and Henry Miller were men who viewed "women as at best, breeders of sons; at worst, objects to be poked, humiliated, killed." I have a feeling Gore didn't realize had hard this hit Mailer - until Mailer blew up at him.
Goes to show you - you need to be careful about critical reviews, and the most seasoned and successful of writers can get riled by them. It also demonstrates how we tend to view everything through our own baggage.

( apparently I'm the only one who wasn't blown away by this week's Doctor Who episode? )

Culinary Experiment - Pumpkin Muffins - Grain Free/Sugar Free with Coconut Flour

Craving Pumpkin Bread, I tried out this new pumpkin muffin/bread recipe with coconut flour. Have discovered fruit such as bananas makes a nice natural sweetener, although it does provide added moistness. So I might need to scale back on the eggs? Other than that it turned out well. I used butter in the recipe, but you can use coconut oil if butter is an issue. Coconut oil is a great butter substitute, not to mention healthier. Like butter it solidifies rapidly when cold and melts when heat is added.

http://wellnessmama.com/3655/coconut-flour-pumpkin-bread/

Pumpkin Bread and Muffins

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins

Simple pumpkin muffins made with coconut flour and pumpkin for a healthy and nutritious breakfast.

Author: Wellness Mama
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients

5 Eggs
1 cup of pumpkin puree (pumpkin only... check the ingredients)
¼ cup coconut oil or butter (softened)
½ cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
¼ cup honey or a few drops of stevia extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Put all ingredients in medium sized bowl

Using strong whisk or immersion blender (recommend!), mix until smooth and well incorporated. If batter is too thick, add a little coconut milk or water to thin, but don’t let it get runny at all.

Put into greased muffin tins or an 8x8 baking dish (a regular loaf pan doesn't work well)- For muffins, I use a ¼ cup measure to make pretty even sized. Batter will be somewhat thick. Bake for 13-18 minutes (muffins) or 20-25 minutes (bread) until lightly browned and set in middle.

Optional topping: finely grind almonds or pecans and mix with butter or coconut oil to make a crumble topping.

I've found these muffins to be moister than normal muffins, and less dry or crumbly. But they also don't rise up quite as high - there's less of sponginess to them. If you have issues with eggs - it could be a problem.

OUAT - tonight's episode : White Out

[Hee, just read a blurb hunting the name of tonight's episode, which stated that Josh Dallas (who portrays David/Charming on OUAT) is 100% okay with the fact that fans want him to romantically hook up with well Hook. Smart man.]

( Apparently Once is going to do its own twist on the Snow Queen...rather pleased by this turn of events. And sort of predicted it when I read the casting spoilers. )