mad men, marijuana and adventures in purple asparagus

hello, dear readers, and welcome to the inaugural post of television dinner! tvd aims to chronicle two ladies' adventures in television and gastronomy. 

THE AUTHORS

• d (aka marissa) is the chef; she's got a knack for whipping up delicious things out of nowhere and using unconventional ingredients. 
• b (aka mary) is the critic; she knows all the thangs about tv and entertainment -- what you should be watching and when. she began her life in tv blogging with her LOST blog eye of the island and has been addicted ever since.

but enough about us. this week, we are chronicling our desire for fall-themed treats: the warm comfort of roasted autumn vegetables and the orange cardigan chilliness of mad men. 

THE DINNER

over the long weekend (columbus freakin' weekend, as it has affectionately been called), b was upstate and picked up a lovely spaghetti squash at a fall festival in harlemville, ny. in the spirit of crunchy leaves and dreams of sweaters (was it seriously 80 this weekend?), d took this random vegetable acquisition and came up with the menu: 

it's fall and it's roasting [time]

    eats:

•  roasted spaghetti squash with a mushroom parmesan cream sauce
• roasted purple and green asparagas; carrots; tomatoes
• italian pork and chive spiral sausage

      beverage of choice: southern tier pumpking imperial ale

hands down the best pumpkin beer i've ever had

           dessert: soco creamery pumpkin ice cream

       how to:

         

1. preheat oven (and, if you only have one rack, comme moi, your convection oven) to 350 degrees. 
2.  clean all veggies. cut carrots into chunks and tomatoes into 1/8 inch think slices. slice about 3/4 to 1 inch off of the bottom of asparagus.
3. arrange veggies  on ungreased baking sheets and drizzle lightly with olive oil. sprinkle liberally with roasting spices such as the rub it in roasted veggies mix.  roast until tender with a fork.
4. puncture holes in spaghetti squash with a fork (we probably made out 20 jabs all around the squash). stick on baking sheet and put in the oven for 1 hour.
5. mushroom parmesan cream sauce: cut and sautee some mushrooms. add half cup almond milk. saute for about 15 minutes, stirring contstantly. also: grate some cheese. more details on this shortly. 

    

        the results:

 

THE TELEVISION

show: mad men

season: 3

episode: 3

title: my old kentucky home

since this episode aired in august 2009, we know we're a little behind. in case you need a recap: http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/ep-303-my-old-kentucky-home-highlights 

now, i thought mad men had some crazy moments before -- lest we forget this barfariffic gem -- but roger sterling's HE DID WHAT performance at their garden party was the nuttiest yet. yep, folks, it was 2009 and someone on tv performed in blackface. more review here. 

wait, wtf just happened?

and how about that peggy? i was wondering what she was doing all that time leaving those xy chromosome bozos to themselves, but i'm glad to see her step up to bat with the big boys. more review here.

highlights: 

• peggy getting high, natch
• drunk jane, and her inability to even hold a plate steady
• that old fashioned that don makes connie. can i get me one of those?
• JOAN AND THE ACCORDIAN. you thought she couldn't get any better. 

memorable lines: 

my name is peggy olsen and i would like to smoke some marajuana.

episode mvp: elisabeth moss. our gal peg is not always my favorite, but moss kicked it out of the park on this one, especially in the scene with her secretary. 



... and that's about all for now. leave your suggestions, thoughts and joan admirations in the comments below.