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Nigella Bites

Popular TV cook and writer Nigella Lawson doesn't like the tag 'chef'. "My qualification is as an eater," she declares. Chef or not, Nigella is passionate about food. Let her into the kitchen and she'll transform the humblest of ingredients into a gastronomic treat.

And she's got a way with words too. She bronzes nuts, blitzes onions, slithers pistachios, uses cardamom for their smoky mustiness and nuts for their fat waxiness. For her, icecream is something that's "satiny smooth, densely melting and voluptuous ... drizzled with pale amber honey".

She fires your imagination.

Just listening to her as she uses a 'crunchy smattering of salt', 'juicy red chillies' and 'golden spikes of ginger' will make you dash into your kitchen.

Where does she get her inspiration from? She is an avid reader and has a library with hundreds of cookery books. Even when she's going on a holiday, you'll find her wallowing in cookery books rather than travel literature.

Her idea of relaxation?

"I know you'll think I'm completely mad ... cooking is my way of relaxing during weekends. I have to say this is the only way of finding a bit of space for myself," she says.

Some other thoughts:

- "Fast food is an obvious necessity of life. What I'm after is minimum effort for maximum pleasure."

- "Entertaining should be relaxed and casual. It should reflect your personality, not your aspirations."

- "All food is comfort food."

That's Nigella Lawson. Now ... if you like cooking or talking about it or just watching a food show on TV, here's a treat: 11 hours of Nigella on 6 DVDs, packed with recipes, tips and tidbits on eating.

The first offering is Forever Summer, a 2-DVD set, presented in the colours of the season: Red, Brown, Green, Amber, Black, Yellow, Pink and White.

Then there's The Complete Series, a 3-disc set. In disc one, the titles are: Fast Food, Entertaining, Family, Home Alone and Weekend, Disc 2 is about TV Dinners, Comfort Food, All-day Breakfast, Trashy food and Temple Food (or restorative food).

Disc 3 deals with the Legacy (dishes handed down in her family), Slow Cook Weekend, Supper Time, Rainy Days and Party Girl.

There's some time before the year end, but if you are a forward planner, you'll greet Christmas Special with joy.

Nigella loves to make cakes, but for a stress-free festive occasion, she recommends that you buy a plain cake and transform it by decorating it yourself.

Suggested festive dishes include Toasted Walnut and Parmesan Pasta, Nut Brittle topped with icecream, Reinforced Tender-Crisp Vegetable Salad (which also works as a pickle), Rudolph Pie, Lentil and Chestnut Soup (which can be had with leftovers), Panch Phoran Aloo (five-spice potatoes) and Beef and Potatoes. And Brownies.

By the way, once you try out these dishes you will be straying into dangerous territory. A single treat will not satisfy your kids. The solution? Get them involved. That's the way Nigella does it. And she gleefully acknowledges it's child labour.

Yummy Fare

Margot at The Wedding
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, Ciaran Hinds

After The Squid and the Whale, which featured two brothers in a family that's falling apart, Noah Baumbach presents Margot at the Wedding, another tale of siblings who do not see eye to eye. Here too the writer-director goes deep into the soul of his characters, and succeeds in discomfiting his audience. As the movie opens, we see Margot (Kidman), a successful Manhattan writer, heading for her sister Pauline's (Jason Leigh) home in response to a wedding invitation.

Margot has not been speaking to her sister for years (we don't know why) but it appears that she's ready to make amends by attending her wedding to Malcolm (Black). Accompanied by her teenage son Claude (Zane Pais), she reaches her destination after a tiresome journey. They receive a warm welcome and it looks as if their life could never have been marred by sibling rivalry.

But not for long. Margot cannot understand why Pauline would want to marry a loser like Malcolm who dabbles in painting and music, and writes an occasional letter to newspapers. "He's clinically depressed. Not ugly but completely unattractive," is her verdict.

As the story unfolds, skeletons begin tumbling out. Pauline finds out that Margot has other reasons for her visit and that she's also told Claude things about her that should have been kept a secret. To make it worse, Malcolm has been indulging in undesirable activities.
Rating: R.

Leatherheads
Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski

It's 1925, a time when college football matches draw big crowds but professional football has yet to take off.

Dodge Connelly (Clooney) is an ageing football player who dreams of a team that should be playing fulltime. For the moment, though he's got to do with buddies who are miners, farmers and factory workers.

Even this doesn't seem to work as the last of the sponsors desert the Duluth Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, Carter Rutherford (Krasinski) a Princeton student and war hero is making waves in college matches, drawing thousands of fans to the game. Dodge sees this an opportunity to usher in a new era in professional football and succeeds in getting Rutherford to join the team.

Meanwhile, the editor of the Chicago Daily Tribune, who thinks there's something fishy about Rutherford's heroic act in the battlefield, assigns Lexie (Zellweger) to investigate the star's past and do an expose.

A dedicated and ambitious journalist, Lexie gets close to Rutherford to find the truth. Dodge, resents this, unaware of the reporter motives, and tries to win her affections. This leads to a clash and an unpredictable outcome.

Rating: PG.