Last night’s episode featured a good deal of Peggy and her boyfriend, Abe. He seems constantly miserable with how much she has to work. When he insists on a serious dinner out, I thought he was going to dump her. Peggy thought he was going to propose.

But SURPRISE he asks her to move in with him. Looks like we are both wrong. And we are both disappointed. But not as disappointed as Peggy’s mom, who tells her Abe is just using her. Is he?

Don and Megan are hosting her parents, Emile and Marie, in their beautiful Manhattan apartment. Emile obviously hates Don but Marie likes him…maybe a little too much. Their chic French snobbery is awesome.

As if the Draper residence wasn’t crowded enough, Sally and Bobby get shipped there when Gross Grandma breaks her ankle. Don is being honored by the American Cancer Society and allows Sally to attend the dinner.

That is, if she removes her make up and go go boots. Yup, our Sally is growing up.

Sally and Roger are the best part of the evening, and it’s probably one of the greatest nights of her life. Until she catches Marie’s head in his lap. Whoops. The party is a bore and does not provide any opportunities for the agency to get new business.

As a matter of fact, they are having trouble keeping the business they have. Megan saves them from being fired by Heinz with a brilliant campaign idea. More than just a pretty wife, she is a natural at client relations and the creative process. She just needs the confidence to back it up. Even though her mama’s a tramp and her father disapproves of her life, Megan’s a capable woman.

I love lists and have been wanting to do this one for awhile. My top ten favorite movie soundtracks! Before you send me hate mail about how I’ve missed Purple Rain and A Hard Day’s Night, let me reiterate, these are only MY favorites. I’m only speaking for myself.

10. Dirty Dancing. Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

9. Darjeeling Limited. This one has a great mix of Indian music and The Kinks. An unlikely mix that totally works.

8. Garden State. Zach Braff handpicked the music for my home state, and dare I say, he got it very, very right.

7. Almost Famous. There are so many great music moments in this movie, but the one that always stands out to me is Tiny Dancer.

6. The Big Chill. The oldest album on my list, I consider this soundtrack absolutely essential.

5. Crooklyn. The coolest music from the 1970s. Also, I love Spike Lee.

4. Rushmore. Yeah, another Wes Anderson movie. I could do a thousand lists just based on how much I love his movies. Rushmore is my very favorite and the soundtrack is perfection.

3. The Wedding Singer. The 80s soundtrack was done in such a fun way for this movie. As I look back at all the Adam Sandler movies I used to like, this is the only one I can tolerate anymore.

2. Singles. The soundtrack is better than the movie in this case. It helped confirm Seattle as the coolest city on the music scene and makes me nostalgic for the 90s.

1. Pulp Fiction. Surely you weren’t surprised by my top pick. This album is so important, everyone should be handed a copy at birth.

Recently I was able to submit two couple recipes for a community cookbook that will be published this fall. I don’t know if either of my recipes will be chosen, but I had a blast doing this. I enjoyed the whole trial and error process of writing and testing recipes.

I’m going to post both recipes on my blog so you can try them. I was really happy with how they both came out.

Today’s recipe is Southwestern Salad with Seared Scallops. 

First, take freshly cleaned corn on the cob and roast it on a baking sheet in a 375° oven, turning occasionally. One ear is enough for two salads, so adjust accordingly. It takes about 20 minutes to get a nice char on the outside. Once cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife to remove the kernels.

Assemble salads with spring lettuce mix, tomatoes, avocado, red onion and the corn. Set aside.

Now to prepare the scallops. A quarter pound for person is good…a half pound is better. Rinse and pat them dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter together over high heat. The olive oil allows you to sear at a high temperature while the butter gets the scallops brown. You really do need both to do this properly.

As soon as it starts to smoke a little bit, place your scallops in the pan. Give them plenty of room. I am a rebel and like to overcrowd my pan, so do as I say, not as a I do.

Let them cook for two minutes before checking on them. Seriously, don’t disturb them or they won’t sear properly. The most difficult part of searing is practicing restraint. After two minutes, turn them over and let cook for another two minutes. If your scallops are gigantic, you may want to finish them off in the oven for a few minutes. This is no big deal. Just stick the whole pan in the oven and let them cook through.

But mine were done and had the perfect amount of brown. Thank you, butter!

Divide your scallops among your salads. To make the dressing, pulse the following in a food processor and pour over salads.

• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup cilantro, packed
• juice of one orange
• juice of two limes
• zest of one lime
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Wow, this dish is so good! It’s easy to make and is so light, colorful, and satisfying.

Okay, I said I’d never post about this crap but I give in. This is the real me, people. Sometimes I love trash.

The truth is, I watch all the Real Housewives of Bravo. Not religiously, but I will catch a marathon from time to time and I definitely know all their names. Hangs head in shame.

And maybe it’s my home state pride, but I believe New Jersey is the best of the franchise. I guess on some level I identify with these women. Now, I wasn’t raised to scream about family all the time and shriek that blood is thicker than water, but yes, I think family is important. I treasure mine.

I feel the fierce loyalty that Carolyn exhibits.

And I like to think my family takes our party food as seriously as Kathy Wakile.

And I believe in the power of leopard print.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. These fools are crazy. A few of them are very stupid…especially the men. But there’s something comforting about turning on the TV and hearing that familiar accent and seeing Yankees hats and Wildwood tee-shirts. It feels like home. Reality TV, indeed.

Austin is a city divided. One half supports Magnolia Cafe, the other, Kerby Lane. While I think they are both cool, I am definitely in the Magnolia Cafe camp.

I’ve braved the brunch wait many times. It can get long, but the three alarm breakfast taco is worth it. As are the gingerbread pancakes. I’m all about the breakfast grub.

But the last time I was there was for dinner. There were four of us, and we all tried a different special:

Chicken Piccata

Chimichurri Steak

Etoufee

Grilled Salmon

Everything looks good, doesn’t it? It was good. The service was good, the prices were good. Magnolia Cafe = good. It’s an Austin staple and I love it. They use lots of local and organic ingredients and keep it plenty weird.

To be fair, I’ll try to get over to Kirby Lane soon and snaps some photos. But my heart lies with the Mag.

It’s a classic that I make a couple times a year. French onion soup is so flavorful and delicious and is near the top of my pub food favorites. There are lots of variations and things you can do. Add sherry, use sweet onions, change up the cheese. But I like to keep it fairly simple.

Start with a bunch of onions. If I have giant ones, I’ll use four. If they are tiny, I’ll use eight. But more often than not I’ll use five or six. Peel them under running water to give your eyes a break, and then julienne them. They don’t need to be perfect.

Warm up a little olive oil in a large soup pot and start cooking those onions over medium-low heat with three minced cloves of garlic. Season with a pinch of salt.

Once the onions are soft and yellow stir in two TB flour. This gives the soup a little more body and is an important step. Don’t worry if it clumps; it’ll work itself out in the simmer.

Next add eight cups of beef broth. I like to add four or five bouillon cubes, too, for a richer flavor.

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

While that’s going on, prepare your bread. French onion soup calls for stale bread. If you happen to have some, great. I never do, so I toast some and it works fine. The key is to have the bread be hard enough to not fall apart in the soup. Ten minutes on a baking sheet in a hot oven does the trick.

Now that you are done simmering and your bread is ready, you can start assembling your crocks.

Ladle enough soup into each crock so that it’s almost full. Dip a couple pieces of bread in the soup and turn them over so they are wet on top.

Next, cover with a few pieces of thinly sliced provolone. Let it hang slightly over the edge or it will just all fall into the soup. Sprinkle a little parmesan and paprika in the center.

Now place your soup under a hot broiler for a minute or so. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. When it starts to brown and get a little crispy on top, it’s ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Well, it was quite a miserable episode of Mad Men last night. When Don decides to skip a major pitch meeting for Heinz, he sets a series of events in motion. A butterfly effect at the agency, if you will.

Peggy was a nervous wreck about the Heinz pitch and was forced to lead the meeting. She already woke up on the wrong side of the bed and fought with her boyfriend, so it’s not totally shocking when she freaks out and tells off the client during the pitch. But still…kind of shocking. They kick her off the account, so she goes to the movies and gets high and promiscuous with a stranger in the theater. Peggy!

Don has the brilliant idea to take a trip to the original HoJos on a fact-finding mission. He is excited about surprising Megan with a little getaway, but she is less than pleased. She takes her work seriously and feels guilty just taking off and leaving her team to work in her absence.

But HoJos rolls out the red carpet and they sample everything on the menu.

Thing go south when Megan wants pie for dessert and bossy Don insists she gets ice cream. They argue and storm out of the restaurant. Megan voices her concerns about Don not respecting her work ethic and bossing her around. He drives away and leaves her there. Oh, snap!

When he feels guilty and returns, Megan is long gone. She’s not answering the phone and Don fears she is gone forever. So he does the most depressing thing possible: spends the night in the HoJo. Ugh.

Eventually Don drives home and Megan is there. They fight a little more and then make up. Don kicked the door down to get into the apartment which makes me mad. But I think he truly loves Megan. Cooper puts him on warning at work, as well. So Don has some work to do, fixing things both professionally and at home.

Roger and his wife, Jane, were supposed to accompany the Drapers to HoJos, but Jane throws a fit and insists Roger keep his commitment to her prior plans. Which was to go to her doctor’s house for an LSD party. Also, Roger really seems to hate his wife. I’m thinking he just needs to be single.

But he takes the LSD and hears music in a vodka bottle. Kind of fitting for Roger, really. It’s a long night of dancing, laughter, baths, introspection and a serious discussion about the flaws in their marriage. Roger wakes up happier than ever, ready for a divorce. Jane has no recollection of asking for it but relents. They are both so miserable, I think this is the right move.

And that’s it in a nutshell. It looks like Joan will be in next week’s episode. Will we see Betty again?

Last night was the grand opening of Workhorse Bar, a cool little neighborhood joint in the trendy North Loop.

Located across from Phara’s and next to Hog Wild, two of my favorite spots, a cool bar is exactly what this shabby chic area needed. The massive crowd in attendance at the grand opening was evidence enough.

I didn’t get to sample any food, but from what I heard, the burgers and mac & cheese are top notch and made from local ingredients. I was impressed by their 50-ish beers on tap which feature a great selection of local and other craft beers. There’s a full bar, too.

The decor is sparse, but what’s there is cool. Nice tree accents on tables and some of the bar stools.

Really fun paintings, too.

Outside seating in the back and an unbelievably good jukebox complete the picture and make Workhorse a great hangout spot.

Rumor has it that Anne Hathaway lost 16 pounds in three weeks for her role in Les Miserables. While her reps argue that the numbers have been exaggerated, the media says she succeeded in her weight loss by limiting her calories to 500 a day.

Oh, yeah. She got a pretty drastic haircut, too. But back to the diet. 500 calories is really low. I thought I’d give you a few examples of what that looks like.

• Grande Skinny Latte, 120
• Apple, 65
• 5 oz grilled chicken, 100
• 1 cup plain sweet potato, 180
• 1 Twizzler, 25

Or how about this:

• Individual serving 2% Fage yogurt with honey, 190
• 1 cup carrot sticks, 50
• 10 boiled shrimp, 80
• 1 cup grapes, 62
• Banana, 120

Maybe Anne wants Chinese one day:

• 8 oz chicken lo mein, 305
• Pork egg roll, 140
• Half a steamed vegetable dumpling, 33
• Fortune cookie, 32

I guess my point in all this is…holy crap. How is Anne Hathaway still alive?

I attended the world premiere of Mel Gibson’s movie Get the Gringo. I love when movies premiere in Austin. LA is just so overdone, don’t you think?

I picked up my press kit and staked out my spot in front of the step and repeat with my camera. The red carpet was packed with photographers and camera men, and when the stars arrived everything moved very quickly.

Denise Gossett

Tom Schanley

Adrian Grunberg and Stacy Perskie

I think these guys were on the soundtrack.

Kevin Hernandez

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson laughing

Robert Rodriguez shows support for the film

Austin’s film buffs lined up in the hopes to get into the movie.

I got a seat in my favorite row, the back. Score. A nice cold Live Oak Hefeweizen and some popcorn and I was ready to watch the movie. I wouldn’t say I was dying to see it. Truth be told, I’ve been boycotting Mel Gibson for quite some time. Just earlier in the day, some audio footage of another of his rants was released. So things are not getting better in his personal life, to put it lightly. But I tried to keep an open mind about the movie.

The opening scene featured some Tarantinoesque violence and blood spattering. A clown was driving the getaway car. I was hooked. The movie was actually pretty good. Most of it took place in a Mexican prison filled with not just the prisoners, but their wives, children, and a booming economy. I’m not sure where my life is going to take me, but if I end up in a Mexican prison, I hope it’s like this one. You can buy tacos there. And eat ice cream at a wrestling match. And carry a gun.

Gibson’s character (Driver) befriends a ten-year-old boy (Kid) who is constantly bumming cigarettes. Most of the characters don’t have names. They don’t need them. There’s some conflict and a resolution, and in between is the appropriate amount of violence, empathy and humor.

Mel Gibson was the charming actor I remembered growing up. Funny, wry, the good guy with an edge. I wish I could go back an unlearn everything I know about him. As an actor, I like him. As a person, I loathe him. But should we really be judging a person’s talent by their flaws? It’s hard to separate the two, and I suspect that I would be sorely disappointed with the personalities of most of the people whose talents I admire. It’s better not to know.

After the movie there was a Q&A panel moderated by Harry Knowles of Ain’t it Cool News. I had a few questions ready, but alas, the questions answered were all sent in via email from fans watching in other cities. Pre-approved softball questions like, “When’s the next Lethal Weapon coming out?” And of course, Mel Gibson can no longer answer questions without prior approval, ever again.

Knowles asked why he chose Austin for the premiere, and Gibson responded that he liked Austin. But then his reason for liking Austin told me that he doesn’t know the city at all. He said, it’s got that “middle America” feel, but you can still get a cappuccino here. I’m insulted that he would assume that that’s a compliment to us. Garsh, mister, I ain’t never heard of one of dem fancy coffees before. I mean, where can’t you get a cappuccino?

So now my fantasy question for Mel Gibson might be something like, “Hey Mel, have you heard of South by Southwest?”