Best of the Year

What was the best movie last year? How about the best book? TV show?

Depending on who you ask, you’ll get very different answers. Well, at least the critics agree. Right?

When I was looking back at 2014, I found an interesting article that looked at the compilation of the “Best of” lists for books, movies and TV and they found there was quite a bit of variety. They surveyed 30 different national media outlet lists and created the ones most commonly on the lists. Of the movies, (as of the time of this writing), I had only seen 2 – The Grand Budapest Hotel and the Lego Movie. I liked the GBH even if it was a bit quirky. While I appreciate the artistry of the Lego movie, I was one of the few people in the world that thought the plot was awful.

For television (which I watch a lot more of than going to the movies), I do a little better. I watch Fargo (2nd), The Americans (4th), Mad Men (8th) and Walking Dead (14th). I didn’t read anything current, so missed on the whole list there.

They also look to see how many of any individual list matched the most common group. This shows which lists are mainstream and which are on the fringes. Rolling Stone was the most mainstream one for movies at over 75% and New York Magazine was the highest for TV at almost 40%.

See the article here.

Bacon-Apple stuffing

This stuffing should make a top 10 list for sure!

Bacon…apples…pecans…stuffing.

This takes the most time – dicing everything,

Mix it all together.

Yum!

Bacon-Apple stuffing

Ingredients:

8 ounce uncured bacon, diced
3 celery hearts, diced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
4 gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup pecan halves, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 loaf multigrain bread, stale or dried in oven
2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Add bacon to preheated medium-high pan and cook, stirring, until fat renders, about 4 minutes

Immediately add celery, onions and apples. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and onions are translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Stirring spices and remove from heat. 

Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes. In a large mixing bowl, toss together bread, pecans and hot bacon mixture to blend.  

Bring chicken broth to simmer in small saucepan. Carefully pour half of broth over bread mixture and toss to mix. Add more broth a little at a time, tossing between additions, until mixture is moist but not soggy. Spoon mixture into buttered 1 1/2 quart covered casserole and bake 45 min. 

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/t/recipe?id=6865956