Eggs en Cocotte

I feel rather sheepish posting so easy a recipe. It's not really fair to call it cooking it's so simple but I do love me some eggs. I will eat them in a pan, I will eat them in a flan, I will eat them poached or fried, I will eat them on the side . . .

So another sweet way to eat an egg makes me happy.

If you're running short on time but have it together enough to throw this in the oven for half an hour you'll have a fancy warm breakfast that will make you look quite elegant.

Originally the recipe calls for butter and cream but I've substituted lighter ingredients that worked satisfactorily.

6 eggs
3 tablespoons butter (I substituted light cooking spray)
6 tablespoons cream (I substituted low fat milk)
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Use 1 tablespoon butter or light cooking spray to thoroughly grease each of three ramekins. Crack two eggs into each ramekin then top with 2 tablespoons cream or milk, salt and pepper. Divide the crumbled cheese between the three dishes (I used Alouette's Mediterranean goat cheese and it was amazing) then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with a side of juice and toast and you're in business.

***

So we finally saw Avatar. For Christmas Grace gave Andrew and I tickets to see it because she knew he was dying to go. Me? Not so much. I mean I know that James Cameron is known for painting with a brush of subtle artistry but I just didn't want to worry about whether this movie would live up to the high quality and multi-level significance of, say, Terminator or True Lies (pardon the sarcasm).

Though I told Andrew that Cameron making a CGI film makes a lot of sense--it's really a logical step for him because given his history with his actresses I'm bettin' the current missus is limiting his work to strictly computer-generated leading ladies.

Anyway, we tried to go last week and it was sold out. We tried again this week and bingo . . . success. I have to admit I was curious because everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is raving about how great this movie is. Critics seem to like it and here it is three weeks after opening night and there are still lines in snaking through the theater half an hour before show time. I know people who have already seen it two or three times.

And I hate to be a nay-sayer . . . but seriously? That was it?? I mean it's definitely a visual effects movie and if you like visual effects to the point that two and a half hours of James Horner blasted at you over 3-D CGI is your idea of a great way to spend $15 then this is your lucky day but I had a hard time sitting through the whole thing. It was probably a case of there being no way this movie could meet all the hype I'd heard.

"WHY?" You screech? Well I guess I objected to being repeatedly hit over the head with Cameron's morality play. The "save our planet from the evil corporate white man" thing has been done to death seventeen times over and I was kind of expecting that a movie ten years in the making would have started with a creative, unique or even mildly interesting plot. Isn't that the first item on the "How to Make a Movie Checklist"?

1. Write great plot.

So that kind of disappointed. Though it has been said, and I do agree, that there are no new plots. Everything gets rehashed in one way or another and I suppose that's the case here. In fact, if you've seen Dances with Wolves you've seen Avatar. Only Dances with Wolves was slightly less formulaic and had a lot more clothing. A LOT. In fact I think the word "avatar" in Latin must mean "without clothing"--I'm pretty sure.

And while the computer graphics really were amazing I wasn't buying into Cameron's view of utopia. Though I guess I can see how a man of his wandering-eye reputation might be attracted to a society of naked supermodels loping through the forest, stopping occasionally to squat in provocative poses. No really, and for all the nipples and bare breasts you see there's not a saggy one among them. Apparently that low-gravity thing is really working for them.

But maybe I'm just thinking too much. Go go for the "wow!" visual effects. Go for the chance to relive the life of a 12 year-old boy sneaking peaks at the National Geographics in hopes of seeing something naked. Maybe go for the chance to sit with your husband and enjoy some nice "alone" time. Shoot, even go to see what all the hype is about. But if you're going for a story that will transport you or for dialog that lifts you with its richness or for characters that thrill you with their universal timelessness and roundness (and not that kind of roundness) then you might want to instead try out Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel. I'm just saying . . .

Sponsored by Polkadot Peacock for children's bedding.