I should preface this by saying that the grapes have nothing to do with the magic tricks. I just don’t want to disappoint anyone hoping for some intricate blend of the two topics.
Anyway, I watched The Prestige and the The Illusionist at the dollar theater recently. (Oh! The dollar theater, better known as Movies 10, is no longer the dollar theater but rather the dollar-fifty theater. I’m distraught, but that’s another subject for later.) The Illusionist is a movie about magicians and the art of creating an illusion. The Prestige is what The Illusionist would have been if it were a good movie. The Prestige, great. The Illusionist, not so much. It was disappointing because I really like Ed Norton (The Illusionist, American History X). But The Prestige was clearly conceived, had solid acting throughout, had character development, and all that other good stuff (plus Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman). The Illusionist was badly edited, executed its ending poorly, and the production quality was just worse overall. My point is, if you’re trying to choose between the two, go with The Prestige. It’s much better.
But I mentioned something about grapes. So here goes, two more recipes for the cookbook. The first is for a full on Waldorf salad (which is basically an enhanced fruit salad), which my sister and I made while I was in Austin. The second is just a snack, Spiced Grapes, which is like a watered down version of the first item.
Classic Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- Two (2) cups of apples, diced (roughly 3 or 4 apples, Gala or Fuji apples are best so skip those standard “Red Delicious” apples)
- One (1) cup of seedless grapes, halved
- Half (1/2) cup of celery, chopped
- Quarter (1/4) cup of walnuts or pecans
- Quarter (1/4) cup of raisins or dried cranberries
- Quarter (1/4) cup of mayonnaise
- 8 oz. of low-fat vanilla yogurt
- One (1) tablespoon of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- Half (1/2) tablespoon of ground cinnamon
Instructions
Most of these items, you can add or subtract as you see fit. Basically, just combine the mayonnaise and yogurt in a bowl. Bake the walnuts/pecans until golden brown (usually 5-10 minutes, just put them on some foil on a baking pan) in the oven. After that, just combine and fold the ingredients in. Voila!
The Waldorf makes for a very easy, but still delicious and relatively healthy side dish. However, if that’s still too complicated for you, Spiced Grapes are a good alternative (assuming you don’t have some intense hatred of grapes). Just wash some grapes, plop on some vanilla yogurt, add a dash of cinnamon and enjoy.
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