First, the meal. I decided to make coq au vin for my Oscar dinner guests, figuring I might as well go French since “The Artist” was a sure winner for Best Picture. I made the chicken a day ahead and when I first tasted it on Saturday I panicked. The sauce seemed really bitter. I called my friend Laurie Burrows Grad (check out her Epicurus blog over on the right) and she suggested I add some brown sugar to sweeten it up, along with some extra chicken broth. Her tips were perfect, and so was the chicken. Whew. The other applause-getter was my dessert: chocolate silk pie.
The photo doesn’t do it justice. It’s a chocolate mousse filling on a crust of ground chocolate wafers, and I served each slice with a dollop of creme fraiche. Yum.
Okay, on to the show.
I thought Billy was great. Not ground-breaking. Not edgy. Not hilarious. Just good in a way that the Academy needed him to be. Loved his opening number, especially.
The banter between the presenters was awful. The producers seriously need a new writer next year.
The awards themselves went entirely as predicted, except for Meryl Streep’s win over Viola Davis, which was a bona fide surprise given Davis’s success in all the run-ups to the Oscars. Meryl’s acceptance speech was lovely and she looked beautiful.
Speaking of looks, my picks for best dressed?
- Stacey Keibler
- Jessica Chastain
- Michelle Williams
- Viola Davis
- Gwyneth Paltrow
My picks for worst dressed?
- Rooney Mara
- Melissa McCarthy
- Penelope Cruz
- Sandra Bullock
- Angelina Jolie
Other random thoughts…
- Did Tom Cruise have work done? He’s got a new face, sort of.
- Good to see Michael Douglas looking healthier than last year.
- Glenn Close must be sick and tired of losing to Meryl Streep.
Tags: 2012 Academy Awards, chocolate silk pie, coq au vin, Oscars dinner
We noticed Cruise’s face too.
Jeez.
Why?
While he is not my favorite anything, he did have a good face before.
He seemed to be overly injected. or perhaps more who knows but all unnecessary to me.
Are all men turning into bruce jenner now?
Sad.
We who sat in our theatre seats kept saying it was a boring broadcast.
While Billy was okay it all just seemed old and dull to us.
Viola to me was robbed.
And while I agree with most your worst dressed I would like Octavia’s sylist to speak with Melissa.
She needs structure and support and what is funny about that is that my husband said it – it made the group break into hysterics. But my Big Guy was correct. Where the hell did that came from?
I really enjoyed the show. Thought Billy’s opening was superb…really clever how they intertwined all the movies. Clooney’s part – hilarious, as was the Bridesmaids bathroom scene – how they related that to the cake scene in The Help. Loved it. I was so thrilled for Meryl, and not surprised at all. I think she and Viola split the awards leading up…I thought Meryl had gotten the Golden Globe or one of the awards…so I figured it would be close. I don’t think it’s ever a crime when Meryl wins…after all, three wins in 17 nominations is not that much. Can’t say she didn’t deserve this one (I’m biased towards Meryl, can you tell? Just love her.) Now, what to do? No more awards shows….guess it’s on to BASEBALL. Oh, my hubby and I watched all the nominated Live Shorts last week, and we predicted the winner, The Shore. Definitely the best movie won in that category.
Well, about Tom Cruise, Peg. He’s got a young wife, is trying to stay vital as an action movie hero, etc etc. Mostly, I was surprised he was given the job of presenting the Best Picture award, since that’s a pretty lofty spot in the evening. I guess it was because his latest “Mission Impossible” movie was such a money maker and pretty much saved the box office. I agree that Octavia’s stylist should speak to Melissa’s, who may or may not have one. I’ve seen her look good (Melissa), so maybe it was just an off night for her. A boring broadcast? Too old? Just remember last year with Hathaway and Franco. The producers needed to get back to a host who would restore order, and Billy did, if tamely.
I was thrilled for Meryl too, Ruth. I just think the momentum was in Viola’s favor because Meryl has been nominated so many times and because it seemed to be Viola’s year. It was a very, very tough category with great performances by all the nominees. (Well, I didn’t see Rooney Mara’s so I can’t count hers.) I only saw one of the shorts – “La Luna,” I think it was called. I feel the same way you do when the awards season is over. But I said to my guests at the end of the show, “Just think. This time next year we’ll be sitting here talking about a whole new crop of movies.” It excites me to think about what’s coming in the months ahead. My screenings here will be starting in a couple of months!
Sorry…still want to talk more about it…I didn’t think Cruise was needing any work…in fact, I JUST saw something in US magainze (don’t judge me…I suddenly started getting this magazine for free, so I look at the pictures) comparing his look today (pre-whatever he had done to himself, because he looked like ‘himself’) to his look 25 years ago, and I marveled how he looks the same and doesn’t seem to age. I guess he thought he needed work. And Melissa McCarthy…I’m sorry, this isn’t very PC of me, but I can’t stand looking at her. She is just too damn heavy…she’s a beautiful girl and for her own sake she needs to drop probably 100 pounds, at least. Being overweight is one thing, but let’s face it, she’s just obese, and it’s not good for anyone. I know you shouldn’t judge someone on their looks alone, but when someone gets that heavy, it’s just distracting. There, I said it. And while I’m on a critical rampage….since when are nipples en vogue? From here on, J-Lo will be ‘Nip’ to me (to steal a line from Seinfeld’s Elaine Benice).
I must be the only one who didn’t see J Jo’s nip, Ruth. I saw Angelina’s leg – how could we miss it – but not the nip. On Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood this morning she said the nip thing was a shadow. As for Cruise and his “work,” mags like US Weekly do a lot of photo shopping/air brushing, even if the pic was 25 years ago, so I wouldn’t go by that. Even Billy Crystal looked Botoxed; his upper lip didn’t move at all!
So glad it was a Fun Night!
Great idea for the French-themed food…after all, not just “The Artist,” but also “Midnight In Paris” won an Oscar…and you know How Glad I Am that the first pic won 5 Oscars!! Maybe someday soon, “enfin,” I’ll get to see it…
And leave to me, Mr. Lowbrow, to make this comment: were you having a fiendish little bit of evil delight in making that CHOCOLATE PIE for dessert? Did any of your guests NOT see “The Help”…?? Or was it just one of those…um…coincidences…?
Barely saw any of the show. Unless you’re a devotee (and we ain’t), staying up till all hours just wasn’t in the cards for us. A shame, too. Thanks mainly to YOU, Andy and I were as well-versed in the movies up for honors than we’ve ever been. We rented “The Help,” “Midnight In Paris,” “Drive,” and “The Ides Of March” thanx to your recommendations, and of course “The Artist” is still my “cause celebre.”
And for us, there’s something special about Christopher Plummer winning at last. Andy’s first, foremost, and ever-fave movie is “The Sound Of Music” (which me dear ol’ mum calls “The Sound Of Mucus”). But for my tribe, it’s the special memory of meeting Mr. Plummer at Stratford-On-Avon when I was ten. We spent the entire summer in England that year, and my dad had a bit of pull at the time. We were actually allowed to go backstage and meet him after his terrific performance as Richard III. What a classy gentleman — and he was SO nice to my mom, noting they were fellow Canadians. So very very happy for him.
I did think about the pie and “The Help,” Dave, and I was sure to tell my guests that the ingredients were not the same! It was very nice to see Plummer get a win, finally, and for a film that was so deserving. You really should rent “Beginners.”
Can you publish your chocolate pie recipe please ?
Dear Angelic Gal,
Here’s the chocolate silk pie recipe. It was originally in the NY Times. (I skipped the brandy.)
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients for a chocolate crumb crust (see recipe)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy (optional)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 eggs
PREPARATION
1.
Combine the crust ingredients, reserving 1/2 cup of the mixture before pressing the rest into the pie plate. Bake as directed.
2.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mix in the salt, vanilla and brandy, if using. Add the chocolate and mix well. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3.
Scrape the filling into the pie shell and sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the top. Refrigerate for 2 hours to set. Cut into wedges and serve.
YIELD About 10 servings
Here’s the recipe for the chocolate crumb crust:
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups ground chocolate wafers (from about 30 cookies)
1/3 cup sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
PREPARATION
1.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the chocolate crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and stir until well mixed. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
YIELD One nine-inch pie crust
Enjoy. It’s delicious!