Frankenstein and Insidious

Today I spent the afternoon and early evening at the cinema:

The National Theatre production of Frankenstein (broadcast at the Arts Picturehouse) with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Doctor and Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature was mind-blowingly good, from the abstract and minimalistic but ever changing set and lighting to the extraordinary performances of the actors.
The production is probably closest to the original source, in that the creature isn't a dumb, violent monster but a learning, self-aware, articulate being, the process of which Miller portrays wonderfully. The play is fascinating, moving, shocking, even in a few short moments funny. I'm not a big theatre fan but I would have loved to see that at the actual theatre rather than a projection of it. Then again, in the broadcast you get close-ups and varying camera angles so that was good, too.
They're showing it in the reverse cast on Sunday.

I then wandered over to the VUE for Insidious. This starts off as a run-off-the-mill haunted house story (family moves into new house, odd things start happening, one son ends up in a coma after an accident) but is well done and moves in slightly different ways later. There are elements of Poltergeist (including paranormal investigation team and psychic) but the film moves on from that, it keeps you on your toes and there are some genuinely scary sequences in it. None of this stupid modern torture porn crap but proper supernatural horror.
Recommended if you like classic horror films.

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Besenbrennen

Tonight's Walpurgis Night. Specifically in the area of Germany I'm from this is celebrated by lighting bonfires and the event is called Besenbrennen (the burning of brooms) which combines the "out with the old, in with the new" idea with chasing out the spirits of winter with fire. Obviously, these days nobody uses bundles of twigs or straw as brooms anymore, the fires are mainly fed with old bits of wood, crates and other stuff.

Fun family anecdote: It's also my dad's birthday so when I was little he claimed that the fires were lit in his honour.

[Baking] Rhubarb and Apple Crumble with Home-Made Custard

I experimented with baking today. Yes, that's right, the guy without a proper oven who doesn't do measurements. However, I reckoned I could try a crumble as it's just the same amount of flour, sugar and butter and as there's no egg, you can make as much or little as you like.
For the filling I stewed together two sticks of rhubarb and an apple, a bit of sugar, some lemon juice, some water, some grated ginger (about a teaspoon, could have done with a little more) and an inch or so of cinnamon until the fruit was soft. I set the saucepan to the side to cool down and infuse a bit more.
For the topping I mixed cold butter, flour and sugar (about 2 tbsp each), rubbing the mix between my fingers until incorporated.
Then I spooned the drained filling (it was rather liquid) into the bottom of an aluminium takeaway tray (of which I bought a couple as I didn't even have an appropriate oven dish), spread the topping in bits loosely on top and baked it in a preheated oven at 180 until the topping was golden brown and crispy (about 15 minutes).
Meanwhile I made the custard by heating together milk and double cream with the husk and seeds of half a vanilla pod until steaming. This I poured in a steady but slow stream onto two egg yolks beaten with sugar while whisking vigorously (and not cooking the egg!), transferred it back into the milk pan heating it again slowly until it coated the back of a wooden spoon.

The next bit was the hardest: Waiting until the crumble had cooled enough to eat. It smelled so good but I stayed strong until it was time to serve. I filled some custard into the bottom of a bowl and spooned chunks of the crumble on top.

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Tonight's dinner

Flat iron steak, mash, spinach, whisky glazed shallots