Whole Wheat and Penguins

I baked rolls again this weekend (link to last post on bread-baking here), since I ran out of them Friday. It was hot in my house (no air-conditioning) and humid for Southern California (though the hardy souls on the East Coast no doubt think we're Humidity Wussies the way we complain about what feels positively DRY to them). But my budget needs me to have a steady supply of rolls for making sandwiches to take to work for lunch, so I had to bake in the heat.

Before last month, I bought lunch at one of the sandwich/cafe places near work, but that was costing me $5 - $6+ a day at best, which adds up fast. Now, when I spend the time in the morning to throw together a lunch, I feel great joy thinking of the money I save and the way the rolls are South Beach Diet "approved." Normally, I hate taking a minute more to get ready for work than I have to (I'd rather be sleeping), but this is worth it.

Sunday, the Girls (old enough to have grown children) went out for our mostly regular lunch and movie. This week it was "March of the Penguins." We decided that since it looked like a Discovery Channel program, it might not stay in the theaters very long, so we'd better see it right away and save "The Island" for next week.

The Penguin movie was a National Geographic production and indeed had the feel of a show that, in the olden days, would have been a PBS special but now is on the Discovery Channel. If you like that kind of show, then I wholeheartedly recommend it. The baby penguins are SO CUTE!!! And Morgan Freeman's narration has that comforting quality that not all voices can achieve. The photography was spectacular, showing the sweep of Antarctica's icy landscape as well as closeups of penguins and their interactions that are hard to believe were possible to get with wild animals. An added treat was staying to watch the credits, because they showed some of the photographers and how they were able to get the unbelievable shots.

If you'd rather be drawn and quartered than watch some stupid lame-o nature show, then by all means avoid this movie like the plague. Go see The Devil's Rejects or The Island or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (OK, you probably wouldn't see Charlie, either).