The Beautiful Simplicy of Rome (or how I learned to love the Wal-Mart)

Dean Martin--"That's Amore" (mp3)

In the 60 days or so since I've returned from Rome, I have yet to track down a cup of coffee to match the get-it-anywhere kind of everyday stuff I was drinking in Rome. Oh, I've tried. Panera, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, my house, with coffee I've bought here, with coffee my daughter brought to me from Italy. Tried my best, but just can't do it. I even bought us an espresso machine for Christmas (everyone was drinking coffee in Italy!) in hopes of making my own "Cafe Americano," but even that hasn't been very satisfying.

C'est la vie. This isn't about what Italians can do that we can't.

I have been roasting tomatoes with great success this winter. It's very simple really. You buy up a bunch of Roma tomatoes, slice them in half, put them on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with salt, and put them in a 200 degree oven for 6-10 hours. It's hard to be exact without knowing the size of the tomatoes. But it isn't like you have to keep watching them or anything (though I'd check them after about 6 hours). You'll smell them roasting. A tomato smell will infuse your house.

Roasting tomatoes is about concentrating flavor. It's not about turning them into an oven version of sun-dried tomatoes, those leathery things that you pay a fortune for in gourmet supermarkets. Roasted tomatoes are much, much better.

You take them out of the oven when they still have a bit of plumpness to them. They may be down to about half of their original size, but they will still have some juice in them. When you take them out, you chop them up coarsely, toss them with some olive oil, maybe a little pepper, then put them in a bowl, cover them and refrigerate them, and you have the basis for any number of delicious, healthy meals waiting for you.

While you're boiling pasta, put your oven-roasted tomatoes in a food processor until they're fairly smooth, maybe heat them a little in the microwave and you've got an immediate pasta sauce that's far better than anything you'd pour out of a jar. Grate a little parmesan over the top of your dish, salad and bread, and you've got a quick, homemade, middle-of-the-workweek supper.

Here's where Rome comes into play.

One of the best pizzas, out of many great pizzas, that I had in Rome consisted of nothing but crust and tomatoes. That's right--no pile of cheese, no salty pepperonis, no combo of more ingredients than you can count. Just a good crust and a tomato sauce. And within the sauce itself, the same simplicity--no oregano, no basil, no chopped this or sauteed that, just tomatoes, a bit of olive oil, a bit of salt. But good tomatoes. Really good tomatoes.

Because the beautiful simplicity of eating in Rome is not fancy preparations or layers of flavor. It's about the ingredients, and when you have good ingredients, you don't have to do much to them.

Here's where Wal-Mart comes into play.

I've fought Wal-Mart forever, probably still should. But when you walk in there and they have a huge bin of Roma tomatoes for $1/lb. and everywhere else you see those same tomatoes, they go for about $2.24/lb. or more, it's hard not to stock up.

And what's more surprising, Wal-Mart has a better crust to make a Roman street pizza than just about anywhere in town. Yeah, I like to make my own pizza dough. But not all the time. And some of you never do. Well, the "Thin Pizza Crust--Napoli Style," one of the Signature Flatbreads made by the bakery at Wal-Mart is one of the few authentic, all-natural crusts that you can buy in this city. And it is certainly the cheapest. And the thinnest. Forget Boboli or Pilsbury or any of that kind of crap crust with enough preservatives in it to give it a shelf life of 2 years and no particular connection to anything resembling real pizza.

So you wanna do like the Romans even though you're not in Rome? Spread your Wal-Mart crust with your oven-roasted tomatoes, chopped or pureed to your liking, maybe drizzle a little olive oil and a little sea salt over the top. I've been known to put a few sliced mushrooms on top, maybe even a bit of grated parmesan. Bake it at 450 degrees for about 8 minutes. Cut it into strips.

Have a glass of a light Pinot Grigio with it. Take a bite. Close your eyes. Taste tomatoes and sun. Put on Dean Martin. Forget the winter blues.

Rat Pack member Dean Martin is available at Itunes.

He's No Hack

Cure for Sale - Loomis + the Lust (mp3)
Written All Over - The Jayways (mp3)

Ever seen Hoosiers? God I love that movie. For a stretch of about 10 years, I would watch that movie the week before the NCAA basketball tournament began, back during the time when I was under the illusion that cheering for UNC was anything at all like rooting for the little engine that could.

Anyway, there was always one scene in Hoosiers that left me feeling really icky. Cold shivers up my spine. Hair on the back of my neck raised. A pinch of nausea.

Barbara Hershey’s character finds Gene Hackman’s coach walking out in a field. (There’s a lot of those in Indiana.) They talk. He tries to explain his sketchy past. She, 18 years younger, caves in to his sad song, and they kiss.

You remember back when Al Gore kissed Tipper at the DNC, and the entire viewing universe offered up a collective groan of uncomfortable disgust? Well, Al stole that move from Gene Hackman from Hoosiers. It was disgusting enough the first time around. Al Gore’s version was like the Gus Van Sant remake of Psycho.

That scene is, to the best of my knowledge, the only time I can ever recall watching Gene Hackman and thinking, “That’s Gene Hackman, and that’s just wrong.”

The rest of Hoosiers, and the rest of his career, Gene Hackman never really did anything to make me think much about him. And I mean that to be just about the best compliment I can offer an actor.

A recent issue of Newsweek offers a brief but great send-up of this man’s career, a career that is apparently over.

Did you know Hackman hasn’t been in a movie since 2004?! Neither did I. Combine his remarkable acting with his unremarkable looks and his uninteresting personal life, and you have someone who, when their name isn’t on the marquis, can be out of mind when out of sight.

But when he’s in sight? When he’s on that screen? Hackman is like BASF. He doesn’t make the movie you watch; he makes the movie you watch better.

I just looked through his list of 70+ movies, and I can’t see a single one where any actor could have taken his role and made the movie better. Did some of his films suck? Sure. Was he the sole reason Unforgiven was amazing? Of course not. But even Michael Jordan didn’t win every year. He was on some shitty Bulls teams. And the Wizards. And the Barons, fer Chrissakes. It’s not like he won a World Championship every year. And Jordan won titles thanks to some pretty vital supporting actors.

Hackman's critically-acclaimed work – The French Connection, The Conversation, Mississippi Burning – certainly deserves respect, but it’s the collection of films down the rung that endear me to him and his talents. In almost all of the Hackman films I love, he manages to create characters both despicable and deeply sympathetic, people designed to be the villain yet frustrating us with their moments of endearing humanity, as if those moments were an unavoidable weakness.

Crimson Tide, The Firm, The Quick and the Dead, No Way Out. Even stuff as unimpressive as Extreme Measures and Absolute Power. His CV is filled with roles of unlikeable, cranky men. But damn he’s good at it. And not many people are so good at it that they can keep tweaking it and riding it into one film after another without most people getting sick of it.

I can’t think a single actor who has been in so many films that I happily and greedily digest over and over. Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman might come close. Tom Cruise has more than I’d like to admit. Jack Nicholson almost competes, but he’s soooo busy being soooo Jack Nicholsony in his movies that it’s hard to say he’s fighting fair.

And Hackman gets but a fraction of their glory. ‘Cuz he’s fugly.

But if you had to limit yourself to a single actor’s or actress’ works, to never again watch a movie that didn’t include that person, you’d be hard pressed to find a better collection and a wider array of genres and vibes than Hackman’s. Sorry Meryl, but there just ain't enough testosterone in your collection.

I hope to never be limited in such a way, but if I had to, Gene ol' buddy, you'd be my man.

"Cure for Sale" is off their EP Nagasha. "Written All Over" is from The Jayway's EP Light. Both are up and coming bands. Give 'em a whirl and see what you think!

Bohemian Rhapsody Vol. 1

A bohemian (apart from technically being a native of Bohemia itself) is often used to refer to "a person, as an artist or writer, who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices." For me, Bohemian style is something defined by each individual... it's like a paint palette on which an artist blends his colors, over time it becomes layered with the colors from all of his masterpieces, the evidence of his passion and labor. For me, my style is just the same, evidence and expression of my travels, my passions, my creativity and the essence of my personality. Both in fashion and design, I am a whirlwind of bohemianism - a collage of all the things I love, uninhibited by convention.

Bohemian style is articulated over time, it's a passionate collection of global beauty unregulated by trends or pretentious order, it is a reflection of ones personality and above all it makes for a warm and cozy sanctuary from the daily grind! There's no style I love more than an eclectic and artistic amalgamation of furniture, art and accessories! Even if a bohemian isn't your cup of tea, you can still apply it to your own style by remembering to follow your own inspirations and ideas of beauty and not let trends and opinions effect the expression of who you are and what makes you happy!

Amen! And now, enjoy the first volume of what I consider to be some amazing bohemian themed inspiration photos........ oh, and have a wonderful weekend!

(Images via various sources, I do not claim ownership of these photos. Sources include: Apartment Therapy, House of Turquoise, Bohemian Vintage, Flea Market Style and various other blogs as well as many searches on Google Images)