My Top Ten Favorite (as in, re-watchable) Movies of All Time

2. Philadelphia Story (Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart) She picked the right guy in the end, but I just loved the scene where tipsy Jimmy Stewart's singing and carrying even tipsier Kate in from the pool house and they run into Cary Grant.

3. Joe vs. The Volcano (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan*) You knew that Meg played three characters in this flick, didn't you? Definite cult movie potential, too.

4. When Harry Met Sally (Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan*) 'Nuff said.

5. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (Woody Allen) I'm not sure why. This still baffles me.

6. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days (Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey) This is so incredibly painful to watch, and yet so worth the discomfort. I laugh until I cry every time.

7. Grease (John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John) Don't ask. We all have our weaknesses. But can you beat the scene where Sandy dons the stilettos, leather and bouffant, and Danny becomes her slave? (Hey, I told you it wasn't pretty.)

8. Much Ado About Nothing (Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves) Just wonderful. Shakespeare would be proud.

9. French Kiss (Kevin Kline, Meg Ryan*) "... and your leetle girl walk ..." Yep, Kevin stole the show for me. 

10. Practical Magic (Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, et. al.) Girl power, macabre humor, and magic beyond witchcraft.

*Do you see a pattern here?

Love Stories That Will (Should) Never See Print

2. Me and Ewe

3. Me, You, Myself and Irene

4. The Lion and the Witch in the Wardrobe

5. Four Funerals and a Wake

Evil Chocolate Recipes*

1 stick butter

1 stick margarine

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp. water

3 Hershey (or better chocolate) bars

chopped walnuts or pecans

Butter or spray the bottom of a square cooking pan (8 or 9 inches diameter, or equivalent), and cover with nuts. Cook everything but the chocolate over medium to medium-high heat until toffee colored -- really, not just yellow, but toffee-brown. The darker, the crunchier. (Note: I did try using two sticks of butter in one batch and two sticks of margarine in another, but the consistency wasn't right. You're going to want one of each.) Pour this over the nuts and lay the chocolate bars over the top. When the chocolate melts, spread it like icing over the toffee. Let it cool, probably overnight. The next day's challenge is to break this evil baby into serving-sized pieces. 

Better than Se--. . . well, just really, really excellent cake that may kill you in one serving

Devil's food cake mix and required ingredients

1 small can of sweetened condensed milk

8 oz. container of whipped cream or equivalent

Butterscotch or caramel ice cream topping (I like caramel best)

Crushed Heath or Skor bars, or some other evil sprinkle you like

Bake the cake mix according to directions in a 9 x 13 inch pan, and let it cool. Using a wooden spoon handle or butter knife handle, poke lots of deep, absorbent holes all over your masterpiece. Next, pour the condensed milk over the cake, and then the ice cream topping (and let your craving determine the proportions here) on top of that. Sprinkle, if you desire, half of the crushed Skor bars over the whole. Let this refrigerate overnight. Top with the whipped cream and the rest of your Skor bars or other sprinkle. Check with your physician before sampling.

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Banana Bread (Of course this doesn't contain chocolate and therefore does not belong in this section, but, technically, you could toss in some chocolate chips if you were so inclined. I often am.)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

at least 2, preferably 3 really ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup soft butter

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

raisins (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

applesauce (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

cinnamon (keep pouring and pouring and pouring . . . I love cinnamon)

Spray, or grease and flour, two loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a big mixing bowl. Add the butter and mash with a fork until it looks crumbly. (It looks like you're doing it wrong here, but you're not.) Then add everything but the raisins and mix well. Fold raisins (and possibly chocolate chips) into the mixture. Pour the batter into the loaf pans -- they should be 1/2 to 2/3 full -- then bake them in the center of the oven for one hour.

*For your dining pleasure and safety, I will not recount my flaming fudge experience. Suffice it to say that very few recipes require heating anything for 20 minutes in the microwave. Hey, it was a typo in the recipe book. Not my fault.

Copyright © 2003 Natale Nogosek Stenzel. All rights reserved.
Revised: 07/31/07.

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