Film Addict's April Film Choice

Continuing on from last month where I decided that I was going to review a relatively new addition to my film collection, the Film Addict's April Film Choice is Chef, a film I really wanted to see that came out in October last year but never got the chance to see.

Chef is Jon Favreau's 2014 comedy-drama film revolving around a chef who quits his job after being pressured by his boss to keep from experimenting with his menu at his restaurant.  Stars includes Jon Favreau himself (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Couples Retreat), Sofía Vergara (Modern Family, Four Brothers), John Leguizamo (Romeo + Juliet, Ice Age), Emjay Anthony (It's Complicated, The Divergent Series: Insurgent), Scarlett Johansson (Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Island), Oliver Platt (Casanova, X-Men: First Class), Bobby Cannavale (Will & Grace, Win Win), Dustin Hoffman (Meet the Fockers, Rain Man), and Robert Downey, Jr. (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sherlock Holmes).

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Those looking for a happy film

Favourite Characters: Martin - plot might not have worked without him

Favourite Part: Carl: I gotta pick up some equipment for the truck.  You wanna come with me and help me pick out a stove 'til Mom calls back?
Percy: Fine.
Carl: Alright.  Let's go.

Good Points: Great cast; the way social media was incorporated; great feel good film

Bad Points: Made me massively hungry; predictable plot

Love Food - The Burger

For Christmas, my mum bought me a few cookbooks and I thought I'd try out something out of one of them and this time, I chose burgers because I have never really made anything like that and since I'm on holiday from work.

Months ago, I bought a burger press at work - we have a lot of random things - which is probably inspired my mum to buy The Burger cookbook for me.  As well as making burgers, I thought I'd review The Burger just to bring something back to my blog seen as I've been in a slump recently with reviews, both books and films.  Though I've only chosen one recipe from the book, I am going to review how easy the instructions were to follow and then maybe review another recipe later on.

Don George - A Moveable Feast

Sometimes I get bored and search on the internet for books that may spark my interest even if it's from an author I've never read.  I like to read about other people's travels because I like to get inspired for my own plans to travel, something a lot of people apparently do in their 20s.  I have a number of guide books from Lonely Planet because I like their writers so when I found this collection, I bought it immediately even though I've only picked it up now as it intrigued me.

A Moveable Feast is an anthology edited by Don George who is a frequent editor for Lonely Planet, a travel guide publisher; Don George has edited a number of Lonely Planet's travel anthologies Better than Fiction - a collection of stories from novelists on their travels, By the Seat of My Pants - a collection of funny stories that have occurred while travelling, and The Kindness of Strangers - a collection of stories that explores unexpected human connections and kindness around the world.  A Moveable Feast is his collection of stories from writers that were deeply affected by some kind of food during their travels.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Non-fiction fans; those that like to travel; foodies

Favourite Part: Mango Madness - Amanda Jones - Page 173-8

Good Points: Most of the stories were interesting; the variety of places; stories were relatively short

Bad Points: Some stories didn't fit; not a lot of female writers; all experienced writers

Matthew Fort - Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons

I have never struggled with a book in my life apart from maybe when I was a kid and picked up a difficult book I didn't fully understand, which is normal when you're like 7 or something, but recently, I found myself struggling with this book, Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons, a book I bought out of curiosity and desire to travel to Italy.

Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa is the sequel to Fort's Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa focussing Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean sea and off the coast of Italy.  Fort is a food writer and critic, having worked for The Guardian as well as writing for other media outlets.  As well as writing for newspapers and magazines, Fort has also written other book, one already mentioned, recounting Fort's travels from the south of Italy to the north, and another focussing on an English chef as well as English food and cooking.

Rating: 1

Recommended To: People interested in just the Italian food not the place

Favourite Part: 'We may take their food,' he went on, 'but all the foreigners who come to govern Sicily end up by becoming Sicilians - Greeks, Romans, Arabs, French, Germans, Spanish.  Even you English.  There is something about this island. - Page 21

Good Points: The concept and format; the descriptions of the food

Bad Points: Not enough photos; very Southern in his way of thinking; lack of details other than food; dude needs to learn his UK geography again

Matt O'Connor - The Icecreamists

A bit after my 21st birthday when my friend gave me Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book I bought The Icecreamists by Matt O'Connor because it looked interesting then my sister asked me to make one of the recipes out of it seen as I had the machine out to make the coconut ice cream and she chose the dark chocolate ice cream, Choc & Awe.

While it wasn't as simple as the Ben & Jerry's book because I could just dump everything in the food mixer then into the ice cream maker but that was because the final product was different; this time it was smoother and thicker, more like frozen custard, rather than like standard ice cream.

Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield - Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book

Previously, I have reviewed cookbooks from The Hummingbird Bakery after I have made at least one of the recipes so I decided, after making something out of this book, that I would review this one as it was different and I thought others would like to know how good this book was.

Hopefully you know what the Ben & Jerry's company produces because it is a good product, lovely ice cream and frozen yoghurt, and while in the UK we don't have all of the flavours that the Americans do, the ones we do have are extremely popular.  For my 21st birthday, one of my best friends from university bought me this brilliant book because she knows how much I like to cook for others as I used to make cakes for birthdays and such but I had never made ice cream so it was something new to do.

Tarek Malouf - Cake Days

For years, Macmillan Cancer Support have held the World's Biggest Coffee Morning and this year it is being held on 27th September 2013, tomorrow.  This Coffee Morning is the biggest fundraising event for Macmillan and over this wonderful country, people are encouraged to hold a coffee morning to raise money.

This year, my mother's work are holding their own coffee morning and I was asked to bake a few things for her; some mini cocktail cupcakes (mojito, piña colada, strawberry daiquiri) that can be found in Cake Days by Tarek Malouf from The Hummingbird Bakery. I agreed to this because it's a good cause, Macmillan has helped when my grandmother was ill and supported her and my family towards the end; I think I would do anything for this charity because of my grandmother.

Tarek Malouf - Home Sweet Home

While I was reading Touch of Frost, the main character, Gwen, kept speaking about eating a number of sweet things including pumpkin roll. When this happened, I kept craving something sweet like what Gwen was eating so I decided to make something.

I first looked on the internet but then when I was looking through my many cookbooks, I found a recipe for pumpkin & cream cheese roulade (basically pumpkin roll) in Home Sweet Home which was compiled by Tarek Malouf from The Hummingbird Bakery. When I found the recipe in a book, I decided to review the book based on this recipe, though I have made a couple of other recipes so I will mention them at the end. I'm going to review this book based on how clear the recipes were and how easy it was to follow and the end result.