The Family, Episode 6: That’s What Friends Are For

So here we are with five family members left in the running and five family members who are sitting idly by wondering how they will get the chance to make it back into the game and steal the cash. That means we have four more episodes to go before we can crown a million dollar winner and find out the secrets to George Hamilton’s tan on The Family.

But first… some viewer mail to take care of…

For those of you that tried the braciole recipe (okay to the two of you that tried it) I’m sorry it didn’t turn out that well. It reminded me of the time that my mother and father tried to make Beer Cheese Soup and it was so incredibly nasty and unpalatable that we wound up going to McDonalds instead. I remember sitting at the table (I couldn’t have been more than third grade at this point) and refusing to eat it because it smelled so bad. Even to this day in our family when someone complains about bad cooking, we always bring up Beer Cheese Soup. So in case any of you want to try what is supposed to be a good recipe… here ya go…

Beer Cheese Soup
Serving Size : 8

1 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped carrots
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon mustard
8 cups chicken broth
1 12 oz. can beer – preferably flat
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add celery, carrots, and onion; sauté until tender but not brown. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon, reserving butter in soup pot. Place vegetables into a food processor or blender; whirl until smooth; set aside.

2. In the soup pot over medium hat, make a roux with reserved butter, flour, and mustard. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture just comes to a gentle boil and is thickened.

3. Reduce heat to low. Add beer and stir to combine. Mix in pureed vegetables and Cheddar cheese; simmer another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Serve in soup bowls topped with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

And finally to those that wrote in wondering if I was sick for agreeing with Donna on more than one occasion last week, oddly enough I was perfectly fine and perhaps it was just the fact that she was out of commission in the game that put her at ease.

But enough viewer mail… on with the show!

Previously on The Family…

Dawn Marie argued a strong closing argument in Maria’s murder trial while Michael and Aunt Donna were bound and gagged by Jill and left in the kitchen to reminisce about the good old days (if only they could drink that piping cold cup of International Coffee sitting on the counter – “JEAN LUC!”). Meanwhile, Cousin Mike and Anthony were still staking out the warehouse were Robert and Melinda run their drug smuggling operation until Cousin Ed came along and bungled thing for everyone leaving all three of them looking the most unlikeliest of enforcers – Linda, the Housekeeper! Just kidding, but isn’t just a little exciting to think that it could happen?

So to the real show…

Last week we saw Anthony dismissed from the competition by a vote of the Board of Trustees and, in what I think is a pretty classy move, he hugs Mike afterwards, congratulating him on sticking through yet another round. Anthony is totally shocked that his mother picked him to go before the Board of Trustees against Mike. Mike has already been up twice (once in the first episode where he bested Robert and again in the third episode when he triumphed over Maria) and come back safe both time. Anthony pretty much figured that going up against Mike would amount to a death sentence.

Now what’s really funny about all of this is how Anthony whined like a baby about how his mother didn’t choose him to go up against the board when he and Mike were the first two family members booted out of the elimination competition but now that she did choose him, he’s whining about her picking her husband (whom she has known and loved longer) over him. It gets even more absurd when he asks his mother if she knew that the other two people left on the boat were going to be shot who would she pick. It’s an asinine question that he just posed and when Donna says that she wouldn’t change a thing, Anthony gets even more upset and continues to push the point. The fact that Donna won’t relent and comes back to say that she sacrificed herself (ugh that phrase!) earlier and she wasn’t going to risk letting her other half fall to the wayside either. Anthony claims that he’s another half of her as well (which means she has three halves and it only goes to prove that math really isn’t Anthony’s strong point). Donna disagrees and says that her husband will always be more of a “half” to her than he will.

Actually it’s kinda nice to know that the relationship between Donna and Michael is that strong. She was put into a really difficult spot and she chose the person that she will be spending (hopefully) the rest of her life with and that trumps anything that Anthony could bring up (first born indeed!). I know it seems like I’m getting a soft spot for Donna but since she’s been eliminated from the running, I’m starting to warm up to her and it’s kinda nice not seeing her act like a total bitch to everyone.