My Pal, Oscar

Today marks the start of one of my favorite weekends of the year.  Oscar weekend.

Oscar and I go way back.

When I was a kid, I would anxiously await the hour-long special where Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert wore tuxes and stood behind podiums to announce their own Oscar picks.

In college, I would camp out in the TV room around 4PM and "save" the TV for Oscar night.

In my thirties, I started to watch the televised red carpet with my fashionable friend, Sarika.  We still do that to this day via texts, both admiring and snarky.

My loved ones have known for years that I am unavailable on Oscar Sunday.  Talk to me on Monday.

So this year I've done the requisite homework as I've done for most of my adult life.  Started collecting the results of the critics' awards in early December.  Watched the Golden Globe awards.  The SAG awards. Tomorrow I'll watch the Independent Spirit Awards and then it's time for the Big Day.

I've seen five of this year's nine Best Picture nominees.  One of my favorite Oscar memories is when G and I attended an Oscar Showcase Day at AMC Theaters where we watched the best picture nominees from 2009:  Slumdog Millionaire; Frost/Nixon; The Reader; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Milk.  I was in heaven.  That was the last year the Academy chose only five nominees so we could watch all the films in one glorious day.

We live in Naples, FL now and the closest participating theater is an hour and half away.  I am bummed but I think G is secretly relieved.

G has picked up the bubbly.  I'm in charge of snacks.

I usually make some popcorn.  Obviously a great pairing for a night about the movies, but also a favorite pairing of ours with sparkling wine.

I make a couple deviled eggs topped with bacon and chives for myself.  Not G's thing.

The current trend in the Nichols' kitchen is to look at what's in the pantry, fridge, and freezer and create something on the fly.  I have some shrimp in the freezer and some dumpling wrappers so I think potstickers will make an appearance on our Oscar menu.

If I feel ambitious on Sunday, I'll throw together some stuffed mushrooms as well.  My mom had a fantastic recipe for stuffed mushrooms that she only made at Christmas or New Year's so I associate them with major festivities.  You know, like Oscar Night.

Here's a fun link for your own Oscar snacks.

Apple Speculoos Crumble

Dorie Greenspan is one of my favorite cookbook authors.  If you've read my blog in the past, you know that I've cooked from her Around My French Table quite a bit.  Last week, I found Tuesdays with Dorie, a site that continues to follow and sample Dorie's more recent cookbooks.  I jumped on that bandwagon immediately.

From Baking Chez Moi, I tried the recipe for Apple Speculoos Crumble.  Spec-u-what?  Speculoos are these little digestive cookies popular in Europe.  A quick search on Amazon and voila!  I had a 3-pack arrive at my doorstep.  G immediately tore into them.  Cinnamon and brown sugar?  Um, speculoos and G speak the same language.

Dorie perfectly describes the aroma and taste of these cookies as:  "...Christmas...-just-around-the-corner..."

For the Apple Speculoos Crumble, I used both Granny Smith and Gala apples.  

Delicious and perfect for the upcoming holidays.

G, my own King of Apples, gave this a big thumbs up.  His forever favorite, apples, paired with his new fave, speculoos, equalled a big hit.  I surprised him with the addition of vanilla bean ice cream.  No photo though.  He was too fast on the draw for me.

The Move

We just moved to Naples, FL from San Francisco, CA.  Culture shock, to say the least.

I thought I'd put some words to this move and explain our decision.  This blog does have the word diary in its title after all.

My G introduced his idea to move to FL Thanksgiving of 2014.  He had a list of good reasons because he is my G.  Logical, well-thought, strategic.

I wasn't ready to listen though because first I was heartbroken about leaving SF.  I was heartbroken through Christmas and sunny, beautiful January and February.  My heartbreak let up a bit by March because it was my birthday month.  But I wasn't able to actually discuss this idea with G until April.  And I wasn't able to discuss it with my dear ones until June.  I just didn't want to say it out loud because it really would be a plan.  It would be real.

SF and I were like peas and carrots.  Organic, farm raised peas and carrots.  I had always wanted to try being a city girl and I took to it right away.  I loved living in a high rise with a 24-hour concierge desk.  I loved not having a car and walking everywhere.  I loved being by the bay.  I loved the weather...hardly reaching 70 most of the time.  Jeans, a blouse, a cardigan and good walking shoes being my daily wardrobe.  I loved volunteering at the farm market on Saturdays at the world famous Ferry Building.  I loved having Napa and Sonoma practically in my backyard.  I loved discovering that SF was a coffee city and I was highly caffeinated throughout my stay.  Needless to say, I loved the food scene in SF.  Three words:  to die for.

I loved walking into a yarn store my first month in the city and ultimately finding some lifelong friends.  Clementine, Rachel, and Emily, you rule and I love you.

The headline news was that I finally found some help and guidance for my anxiety and depression issues that weren't diagnosed until I was in my late 30's.  My time in SF was all about me learning how to cope, learning how to forgive, learning how to mourn, learning how to breathe.  Learning how to be myself again, but a newer, and hopefully better, version.

So back to G's proposed plan for moving to FL.  I'm going to use bullet points because that's what he would do.

• Mom's health and parents that routinely spend time in FL
• Cost of living
• Travel
• Relaxing environment

My mom's health took a nose dive the summer of 2014.  The poor thing has had a few surgeries and procedures, major fixes, minor setbacks, you name it.  Through it all, she has been a champ.  She and my stepdad have been wintering in FL for years now.  Spending time together here in FL will be much easier than being all the way on the West Coast.  G has family here in FL and his parents have all started to spend time down here on the Gulf Coast as well.

Our SF lease was up this month.  The leasing company wanted to raise our rent 23%.  That's when G's plan went into high gear.  He had had enough.  We lived in an 875 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment.  We had no cars.  And SF still priced us out.

Living in SF was a dream come true.  But we have more dreams.  Moving here to FL allows us to save money and travel again.  Our tenth anniversary is around the corner and France might be a doable option with more money in the bank and flights across the pond instead of across the US and then the pond.

Finally, G found out he is not a city guy.  The food scene, the coffee scene, the wine scene, yes.  The noise, the pollution, the crowds, the public transportation...not his bag.  Whenever G came to visit family in FL, he loved it here.  He loved the pace, the vacation vibe, the beach and water nearby.  The quiet.  He loved the simplicity of being here.

So here we are.  In Florida.  With room for guests, a screened-in lanai, and air conditioning.

G has taken to this like I took to SF.  Now it's my turn to try and get used to this new reality.