Dinner and a DVD

I've had enough of winter! Another winter storm has blown into my area and I'm really getting tired of shoveling and dealing with the driving conditions. This has got to be one of the coldest and snowiest seasons Michigan has had in a long time. How many more weeks until Spring?? According to Phil the Groundhog, I'm thinking about four more, I hope, I hope.

But at least I'm staying nice and warm by fixing this comforting casserole that takes advantage of convenience products.

Spaghetti Casserole

1 lb ground beef

Chopped green pepper

Chopped onion

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

1 20 oz can prepared spaghetti

1 can of sliced mushrooms, drained

1 can sliced ripe olives, drained

Shredded cheddar cheese

Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper, onion, garlic, salt and pepper until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti, mushrooms, and olives. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake casserole, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Tonight's Feature Attraction: First Daughter

Plot: The first daughter of the U.S. President heads off to college where she falls for a graduate student with a secret agenda.

Pam's Review: I watched this movie, not really hoping for a lot, but expecting to kill time on this extremely cold Tuesday night with another of those misguidedly romantic teenage boy-meets-girl kinda flicks. The kind that is generally worth that couple of hours worth of your time. Well, to make it short, this movie failed to do any such thing.

I thought the dialog was sloppy and very lame. The actors (maybe because of the very unimaginative lines they had to work with) were too wooden for my liking. Micheal Keaton, who has in the past proved that he can pull off romantic comedies (Mr. Mom, Night Shift, Multiplicity, Speechless) was reduced to mere background scenery here. He didn't have a very great role to start with ,and hence had hardly anything to give back.

Katie Holmes, is an actress whom I've never thought too highly of, I'm sorry to say. And her performance here just underscores that. Despite the fact that the script here is just plain lousy, Holmes fails to draw the viewer in. Watching her on screen, I discovered that I really couldn't care less if her character lived or died. She was either too syrupy or too rigid, failing to ever strike the right note.

The only highlight of the movie was seeing Marc Blucas from my old Buffy The Vampire Slayer days. He played Riley Finn, Buffy's boyfriend in Seasons 4 & 5, and he was part of the secret government organization called the "Initiative." I always wondered what happened to him.

For me, the movie was a waste of time.