Jason's Log

The Pixar Short - Bounding

As part of the pre-show entertainment that went along with The Incredibles, we got another dose of Pixar genius in the short film 'Bounding'. You can get a sneak peak of it on their website, but you really need to see the full version.

It is absolutely magical - it has an amazing mythical quality that just instantly pulls you in. Its like a folk tale told told to music with an uplifting theme. Just amazing.

The Incredibles - wow.

For the fist time in too long Young and I made it out to the movies on a Saturday evening. We went to see the Incredibles at a theater that uses DLP projection, the Century 22 in San Jose.

All I can say is that the people at Pixar are just incredibly talented. The movie was excellent. At a technical level, it was the most visually stunning thing I have ever seen. Some of the tropical island scenes were jaw-droppingly good.

Add to that the usual Pixar qualities: Appeals to both adults and children, funny, uplifting, etc.

Amazing all around.

Chicken Cordon Bleu - Take 2

Well, this is now our second attempt at Chicken Cordon Bleu in the slow cooker. Although the results this time were an improvement, I'm still not totally thrilled with the results. Using the base recipe from the Low-Carb Slow Cooker book, the resulting mixture is just too bland. In this latest attempt, I did use a higher grade Swiss cheese, but that wasn't enough to really make the meal stand out.

Because I'm keeping this low-carb, I can't rely on the bread-crumb crust to make this taste good. Research on allrecipes.com and foodtv.com suggest I try some of the following:

- Dried thyme leaves (a couple of teaspoons)
- Salt and pepper
- Guyere, Desoto, Bethmale or Ementhal cheese instead of (or in addition to) Swiss.
- Prosciutto instead of plain ham slices
- A few even suggested paprika

So I'll give some of those ideas a try in future incarnations, and we'll see how it improves.