The Walking Dead Season 2.5?

From previous posts, such as Daryl Boom Day and The Dead Walk, you can maybe figure out that I love The Walking Dead.


If you don't love AMC's The Walking Dead, I will convert you. I've done it several times. Most recently, I forced my teacher Mr. Pope. I literally harassed him for like 3 months to watch this show. He finally did over Christmas break. The entire thing, Season One & the first half of Season Two. He is in love with the show. His exact words when he saw me when school started back? "I really tried to not like this show… but it is so good!" You're welcome, Pope. Told you I'm always right! (Now, I'm trying to force him to watch Boondock Saints. Even lent him my copies. I keep telling him that he'll love them.)


If I'm watching grown up tv, it means either Spike is home to watch the kids so I can fold laundry and watch it or the kids are asleep. The Walking Dead comes on Sunday nights right after we lay the kids down for bed. Perfect timing. I am not afraid to say, I refuse to do anything that happens during The Walking Dead. It's like a little at home date for the Hubs & I.


I want to say one thing before I get to the meat of this post. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, all the writers all the actors, and generally anyone involved with this show are insanely talented. Which ever one of these people suggested that they split up the season is a GENIUS! They didn't have to fight holiday programming and got to drive up hype for this show. Well done!


They dragged it out way too long, but the reveal of Sophia as a walker was by far the greatest moment of the first half of season two. Technically, one of my Twitter predictions came true. They did find her on the farm, I just didn't think she would be in the barn! Madison will be missed on the show according to her cast mates. I know I'll miss Sophia, the little blonde girl who I hoped would end up being Carl's first kiss.


The most amazing bit of acting this time, definitely goes to my favorite living actor Norman Reedus and the extraordinary Melissa McBride. Reedus has been quoted as saying "Damaged people gravitate to damaged people" when he is asked about Daryl and Carol. They are beautiful on screen together. Their chemistry is unexplainable. They made me cry, more times than I'm comfortable admitting. I know some people don't want them to get romantic, but I think it would be beautiful and healing. I want to see them slowly develop a deep love for each other and prove, even the end of the world cannot defeat a true love. They need each other. "Amor Vincit Omnia." (my favorite line from the Canterbury Tales)


(Side Note: it was reported that Madison and Norman got to be good friends on the set. She even called him her boyfriend, and he called her "my girlfriend Maddie." That is so sweet it makes me want to cry! I had to put this picture here.)


The Walking Dead does not disappoint on the sexiness factor. I know, ewww zombies, gross. But! Everyone who survives the end are hotties! If the human race does outlast the walkers, it will be gorgeous. You all know I adore Norman Reedus and I am completely in love with Daryl Dixon, but there's more hotness than that on the show. AMC has made sure to pack the show with good looking people and crazy sexual vibes. I say it's because death is an aphrodisiac. You think you can die at any moment, you'd be wanting to get down and dirty too. Glenn is so adorable and his steamy new love with the farmer's daughter Maggie is just too perfect. Pretty early in the first season we got some hot, raw woods sex with Shane and Lori. Then some of Rick and Lori making love. Next they're throwing some very forward, car banging with Shane and Andrea. AMC knows sex sells. Bravo to them for exploiting this in such an interesting way. (And keep showing a shirtless Shane! Jon Bernthal has such a pretty body!)


Before the first half of Season Two premiered, I made a list of predictions. A lot of them came true. Let's see which ones!


• Lori is pregnant.
Thanks to a loud piss sound effect, we know Lori took the test and proved she is intact pregnant, just like the comics. I'm seriously hoping that they never figure out who the father of the baby happens to be.


• Shane attempts to leave the group, but Rick begs him to stay.
Okay, I was a little off here. Sure, Lori basically begged him to stay, so I'm counting it as a half right.


• The survivors from the farm throw up major problems and they really do have the barn full of geeks.
Okay, this one kind of speaks for itself.


• Carl gets shot, but survives and let's every one know how cool he thinks it was.
He totally got shot & totally had a great heart to heart with his dad over it. (Side Note: Carl with the hat and six shooter makes the FanGirl in me giggle, because he looks just like the comics Carl.)


• Daryl finds Merle.
Sure, he found him as a hallucination, but he still found him. I'm calling it a half win.


• Glenn gets laid.
Boom! I was right again! See? I learned a lot from reading the comics!


Now, I am ready to jump for joy over the fact that my favorite show returns to television February 12th, but I'm still going through withdrawals. To bide this time, I have watched the marathon, poured over the comics, gazed over the action figures, obsess over the board game and even kept up with the role play on Twitter. (By the way, the star of the role play, in my opinion was @DixonDaryl. The girl who wrote him was great at staying in character. Sadly, the role play has fizzled due to the same idea being done too many times. It got kind of stale. I'm hoping it can be reborn when the show starts back.)


During this hiatus, I have come up with more predictions. Some are the same from last time since those didn't get to happen yet, but I still think they will happen so I'm adding them to this list.


WARNING CONTAINS SOME COMIC SPOILERS

• We find out Andrea and Dale are lovers or they become lovers.
• Daryl and T Dog form a friendship, because that would piss off Merle.
• A lot more Daryl screen time. Daryl is a personal favorite of Robert Kirkman, and he is, arguably, everyone's favorite character on the show. Some people think he'll die at the end of the season, but I think AMC wants to keep Reedus on the show because he is instant money. He may not be the star of the show, but you do not kill off everyone's favorite if you want to keep the money flowing in. Plus, they're probably scared of rabid FanGirls, too.
• Shane talks about leaving again. (Hold on to the idea of Shane… I'll come back to him.)
• If Hershel doesn't kick them off the farm, they leave on their own free will, and find the prison on the way to Fort Benning
• Hershel catches Maggie and Glenn or Glenn goes to Hershel & asks him for his approval on their relationship, because Glenn loves Maggie
• Daryl finds Merle. Merle stirs up a shit storm and makes Daryl feel guilty about bonding with the other survivors. I want Daryl to cry, because that would totally make me cry. (Yes, this is the same prediction word for word because I WANT ME SOME MO MERLE!)
• Daryl straddles the fence of sanity and insanity, but Carol helps him through it, while trying to not go crazy with depression or killing herself. Shane will completely snap & go super crazy.
•Michonne comes in. I love her, she's easily one of the best characters in the comics. Bitch is hard core!
• A major character dies at the season finale. My money is on Shane. He's already been dead for a long time in the comics. I love Jon Bernthal and I think he's a wonderful actor, but I feel Shane won't be around much longer. I'll miss him. Shane is an amazing, tortured, love sick character. (If they kill off Carol, I'll be pissed. I want her for Daryl, unless they bring in Michonne.)


That's it for this incredibly long rambling about my favorite show. Expect another post once the she comes back. You know I can't go long without getting all wordy about zombies!


Disclaimer: No person, thing, book, show, movie, character or zombie mentioned in this post in any way, shape, or form, asked me to write this or gave me any compensation to write this. I jacked all images from Google image search or Twitter and just assumed they fell under the Public Domain Usage thingy. Please don't sue, I'm broke anyways. I just wanted to share my Walking Dead obsession with Bloggywood! While I was not offered anything to write this, I will be more than happy to receive any swag you may want to send my way.


- Whether you love me or hate me, you know who I am.

Chocolate Bacon Pie

Thanksgiving has officially started. I have many, many things to be thankful for: my intelligent children who keep me smiling, my husband who understands me completely, my mother and father for both beating health issues, my extended family who accepts me, the roof over my head, my fabulous SUV, a great job with awesome perks, wonderful classmates and super knowledgable teacher who all crack me up, Dixon's Vixens for always lifting my spirits, my perfect health and incredible height (I like being an Amazon). Those are the most important things that I am thankful for.

There is something completely trivial that I am completely thankful for. My awesome cousin Annie introduced me to my newest obsession: Chocolate Bacon Pie. This is the food of the gods. It is sex in dessert form. The perfect combination of salty and sweet. It is a total foodgasm.


Only a few ingredients make pure awesomeness. Annie's friend found the original recipe here. I tweaked it a tiny bit. I am in no way a baker. I just cook for my family when I can and do things my way.

First, I thought I'd make mini pies with the big pie. The mini pies burned horribly, the other pie wasn't as smooth as I had hoped for. The second time (in a week) that I made this, I made two separate full sized pies. The mini pies could have worked if I would have watched them instead of following the directions word for word. This is a burnt mini pie.


Do not "double" this recipe. It makes the pies totally not smooth. Make each one separate unless you have something like a stand up mixer. These measurements are make one pie. Whisking a double batch by hand makes it look like this.


Make sure you have plenty of time to make this. The first time I rushed it & they sucked. Yesterday, I made a box recipe for pumpkin pie bars, and two of these pies. It took me about four and a half hours with a single oven. I make an awesome pie assembly line. Each pie turned out more beautiful than the last.

If you feel brave enough to give this a try, here's what you'll need.

1/2 pack (~ 6 oz) Cooked Bacon
1/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate (finely chopped)

Pie Crust:
6 tbsp Butter
2-4 tbsp Bacon Grease
6 oz All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Ice Water

Pie Filling:
8 tbsp Butter
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped (I used the Nestlé morsels, they melt easily)
4 beaten Eggs
1 tsp Pure Vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp Yellow Cornmeal

You'll also need:
Aluminum Foil
Large Frying Pan
9 inch Pie Pan
Whisk
3 Forks
Spoon
Sauce Pan
2 Large Mixing Bowls
Small Microwave Safe Bowl
Paper Towels
Plate
Wax Paper
Rolling Pin
Dry & Liquid Measuring Cups


Thorough enough for you? You ready to get cooking?

First, the recipe says to bake the bacon in the oven. In Alabama, we throw that the the pan.


I'm going to tell you how my Grandpa taught me to fry up some bacon. It's the only way I can make bacon. You'll want to go ahead and cook the whole package of bacon, because you know you'll want to eat while you bake. You put that big frying pan on the biggest eye of the stove and turn it up about half way. Using two of the forks, pick up one slice of bacon at a time. Let them pop and sizzle a bit and flip each slice using the forks. Let the bacon get crispy, but watch it so it doesn't burn. Save the bacon grease, we call them bacon drippins. I always use a jar that I keep by my stove. In the South, we never throw out bacon drippins. Here's crispy bacon.


Now, make sure you place the bacon on paper towels to soak off the excess grease from the strips. When the bacon is fried, crumble half of it and set aside. Enjoy the rest. We can make the crust.

Next, take the 6 tbsp of butter and melt it down with the 2-4 tbsp of bacon grease, and stick the mixture in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.


Use a fork to mix the 6 oz of flour and the 1/2 tbsp of salt. Cut the butter and grease from the freezer into the flour and salt. Mix all this until you can roll it in a ball, adding some of the ice water if needed. Wrap the ball in some wax paper and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Put the 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave safe bowl. Cook it for 30 seconds. If not melted, add another 10 seconds.


Melt down the 8 tbsp of butter. Put the 1 cup of sugar into a large mixing bowl. Pour the butter over the sugar and mix them thoroughly. Pour in the melted semi-sweet chocolate. Mix evenly. Whisk the 4 beaten eggs into the chocolate mixture. When it is smooth add the 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 1/2 tbsp yellow cornmeal. Once again mix it until it is smooth.


Set that aside and chop up the 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate. Set aside. You will need this for the final step.


By now the crust ball should be done chilling. Place it on a piece of wax paper and place another piece of wax paper over the top. Use the rolling pin to roll it out to just a bit larger than the top of the pie pan. Take off the top sheet, place the pie pan upside down on top of the rolled dough, flip, pull off the wax paper.


Pour the pie filling into the crust. Bake for 45 minutes. It'll rise and develop like a crust on the top. Remove and sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the top and bake for 15 more minutes.


When that 15 minutes is up, remove the pie and sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the top. The chocolate will melt with the heat of the pie and lock the bacon into place.


I prefer the pie cold, so I put it in the fridge. Annie likes it room temperature or warm. Either way tastes great. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think of it.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Disclaimer: No person, brand, website country, and/or holiday mentioned did not in any way, shape, or form, ask me to write this or gave me any compensation to write this. I took all photos with my own iPhone 4. Please don't sue, I'm broke anyways. I just wanted to share my amazing recipe with Bloggywood! While I was not offered anything to write this, I will be more than happy to receive any swag you may want to send my way.

- Whether you love me or hate me, you know who I am.

mo Merle, mo Merle, MO MERLE!!!

We all know I'm a HUGE Walking Dead Fan and that I'm so very proud to be one of Dixon's Vixens, but there is something that is just bothering me about this new season. WHERE IS MERLE?!?


I want me some mo Merle and I want him BAD! Merle just adds some perfect color to the show. He doesn't just effect himself. Merle throws a wrench in everyone's chain. Daryl has a devotion to Merle, but has bonded with the people Merle hates. That's an insta-conflict there!


Merle is easy to love. A man doesn't become that hard and that angry overnight. Merle had a rough life. Bear with me, I'm going to give you what I think is Merle and Daryl's back story.


In my first Merle centric post, I gave Merle a wife and a kid. I'm going to expand on that. Once again, this is from my own ideas and not from any secret insider info. (If someone reading this can get secret insider info, contact me. We need to be friends!) This is just to show what I think could have lead Merle to be the man that he is.


Daddy Dixon and Momma Dixon fell in love young. Daddy was a Senior in high school, Momma was a Junior. They got married as soon as Daddy graduated and Momma dropped out of school. Soon, Merle was on the way. When Merle was little, Daddy was killed. Maybe it was an accident, maybe it was a murder, but either way, Daddy is gone.

Now, Momma works hard. Long days as a secretary, long nights waitressing. Merle is left to entertain himself after school. He's probably known as the "angry kid" at school. He might have played in the woods by himself or bullied other kids.

(As for the racism? It's common. You sit there and think. I bet you can name at least three people you know who hate another race for no real reason at all. I'm thinking of five people I know right off the top of my head.)

Momma meets a man one night at the diner. The two date for a couple of years, He'd come home late at night, reeking of booze beating Merle for some senseless reason. Suddenly, Daryl is on the way. Daryl's daddy stuck around for a short time. Didn't marry Momma because he said he wanted to "Keep his options open." He soon left momma for another woman. (Later, Daryl got to know his Daddy. Daryl learned his father was a womanizing drunk, leaving him to spend a lot of time being looked after by Merle.)

Momma Dixon got sick. Maybe she had cancer. Merle ended up in juvenile detention. Daryl took care of Momma until Merle got out. (Lot of responsibility for a young kid, and it made Daryl an outcast among his peers. He was very quiet and didn't have any friends because he was so awkward.) Momma ended up dying, leaving a young Daryl in the care of Merle.

Merle and Daryl become close. Daryl idolizes his big brother for working long hours to keep food on the table and Daryl in school. To deal with the stress of working that hard, Merle turns to loose women and hard drugs.

Eventually, Merle went to rehab, met a woman, had a kid. He had a happy little life. Then, one day an accident took away his family. Merle turned back to loose women and hard drugs, until the dead started walking.


I need a Dixon brothers reunion soon. I imagine Merle turning up, with Daryl tearing up when he sees him. The tears are quickly stopped when Daryl and Merle get in a fight because Daryl stops Merle from attacking T Dog or Rick. (My bet is T Dog.)

Daryl is torn between his brother and what he knows is the right thing. Merle is hurt because his brother is defending the very people who locked him on the roof.

I've probably put too much thought into the character of Merle, but since him and Daryl are not in the comics, I am free to think as I wish with them. I know Rick and Lori's back story. Andrea, Amy and Dale, I am familiar with. There's even a explanation on Glenn, and a nice frame up for Carol and Sophia. I've often said that I love Shane and his decent into madness The Dixon boys don't have any history I've seen before, so my mind tends to wander.

I hope you enjoy my theories, because I enjoy them. But instead of just making up my own little stories, I want to know what AMC's The Walking Dead has in store for Merle Dixon. Please, bring us back Merle.

I'm begging you, don't let this be the only Dixon Brother Reunion I get to see!


Disclaimer: Michael Rooker, Norman Reedus, The Walking Dead, AMC, Dixon's Vixens or any person/character mentioned in this post did not in any way, shape, or form, ask me to write this or gave me any compensation to write this. I jacked all images from Google image search, and just assumed they fell under the Public Domain Usage thingy. Please don't sue, I'm broke anyways. I just wanted to share my mo Merle Love with Bloggywood! While I was not offered anything to write this, I will be more than happy to receive any swag you may want to send my way.

- Whether you love me or hate me, you know who I am.

Daryl BOOM Day!

It's that time of year again, folks!


On my oldest son's fourth birthday, my favorite show comes back. When the kids pass out from the exciting birthday party we're throwing, Mommy gets some special time with her favorite survivors!


From the first time we see Rick and Shane talking about the evil energy draining ways of my sex, to the last moment of driving away from an exploded CDC, I have loved this show. Everything about it is just powerful. It is nothing short of amazing.


My favorite moment of Season One will always be when Amy died and Andrea was basically cuddling her. No moment in television ever has had me as emotional as that one. I was literally screaming at the tv “Why the hell she cuddlin a zombie? Bitch, you gonna get ate! Shoot her in the fuckin head!” My heart was racing, my nerves were jacked and my palms were sweaty until she finally shot her. Then, I cried as hard as if it was my own sister. Such a powerful moment. (BTW, when I entered The Zombie Survival Crew's contest, I had to make that comment PG. Rest assure, when I was watching it, my mouth was as foul as ever. And, yes, I still scream at the tv every time I watch it on DVD.)


I expect more moments like the above from Season Two. What I'm most excited about in S2 is the Daryl Dixon back story/episode. I'm really anxious to see if it's comparable to the many FanFics out there that have all speculated about Daryl and Merle's lives before the outbreak.


In an article for The Los Angeles Times, Norman Reedus had a laugh telling them “I’m trying to play Daryl like he’s a virgin. Like if you try to kiss him, he’s like, ‘Ew.’ He just hasn’t gone there.”


We all know how much I Respect the Reedus (I blogged your faces off about that here and here), but I must disagree with Norman on this point. He may be trying to play Daryl as a virgin, but I don't see it. Daryl has swagger. He's just sexy. Maybe I see it because I've grown up in the Deep South and the country boy is my ideal man. I can promise you, any redneck who looks like that with those amazing provider skills has no chance of making it to his forties and still being a virgin. Unless Daryl has spent his life pushing away women like me, he's gotten some tail!


In the same LA Times article, Norman says, “He’s kind of like a little kid. He’s sort of emotionally damaged. ... He needs a hug, but if you hug him he’ll probably try to stab you. It’s interesting. Daryl is definitely becoming more of an integral part of the group. We see some of Daryl’s back story, which is interesting; you see Daryl form alliances with certain people, get along with certain people that you wouldn’t expect."

I completely agree with Reedus here. From the moment he realized Merle was gone, I've loved Daryl. He has that hurt side that melts even my cynical heart. I may be cold blooded, but Daryl makes me want to cry. I think he lost his parents at a young age. Maybe mom died and dad ran off, leaving Merle to play daddy. He's never been able to trust anyone, so he puts up a huge front. He's spent most of his adult life tending to Merle and making sure that Merle's drug problem didn't kill one of them or even both. I just know that once you get to know him, he's a sweet soul that is screaming for someone to love him. I can see him and T Dog becoming friends because they're now both alone in the world. One missing a brother, the other a mother. We all know misery loves company.


I have to admit, there is one other man in The Walking Dead cast that I have a soft spot for: Shane. My heart hurts for him. Maybe it's because I saw him go crazy in the comic, but seeing it brought to life, draws me in. Shane accidentally fell in love with his best friend's wife, after just trying to do what Rick would have asked him to do. If he could have spoken while in the hospital, I know he would have told Shane to get Lori and Carl and protect them. Rick and Shane have a bromance that I adore, but that also hurts. I know at any moment all the skeletons in the closet will come flying out to an unsuspecting Rick. Seeing Shane lose his grip on sanity shows us that living in the land of the walkers can make even good men snap.


(I hate to bring up Shane's pants, but THANK GOD they got him in to some good fitting pants. Jon Bernthal has a very yummy torso and I'm so upset it was hiding under those pants from the 1940's! Looking good Shane!)


We're just a few days away from the premier of Season 2, so here is what I want to see happen:

WARNING CONTAINS SOME COMIC SPOILERS

• We find out Andrea and Dale are lovers
• Daryl and T Dog form a friendship
• Lori is pregnant, baby is born at the end of the season and we don't know if it's Rick or Shane's
• Shane attempts to leave the group, but Rick begs him to stay. Out of brother like love, he stays.
• The survivors from the farm throw up major problems and they really do have the barn full of geeks.
• Carl gets shot, but survives and let's every one know how cool he thinks it was.
• Daryl finds Merle. Merle stirs up a shit storm and makes Daryl feel guilty about bonding with the other survivors. I want Daryl to cry, because that would totally make me cry.
• Glenn gets laid. I mean straight up sex scene. Make Lori and Shane look like amateurs. (And no, I don't want to see Glenn is in to necrophilia.)


Feel free to leave comments about how this show has made you feel, your favorite scene, what you want to see happen, or even what you thought of my thoughts!


Just to prove how much I think of Daryl and The Walking Dead, I leave you with a photo. We had a family beach trip with Josh's family. I got some alone time to tan on the beach. Instead I sculpted a squirrel and a crossbow in the sand.


Disclaimer: No person, thing, book, show, movie or zombie mentioned in this post in any way, shape, or form, asked me to write this or gave me any compensation to write this. I jacked all images from Google image search, Twitter or myself and just assumed they fell under the Public Domain Usage thingy. Please don't sue, I'm broke anyways. I just wanted to share my Walking Dead obsession with Bloggywood! While I was not offered anything to write this, I will be more than happy to receive any swag you may want to send my way.


- Whether you love me or hate me, you know who I am.