Thursday Movie Picks_Romance Tropes:TV Edition-Love Triangles

 

Should I be so jaded and say...finally! Absolutely no disrespect to the revered Wanderer, but I am now having my fill of romance. That does sound horrible doesn't it? Anyway, it is the last Thursday in February(EGAD!! Where the hell is time going?) which means it is TV time and we are celebrating the love triangle. I have never been in that kind of threesome but I know it exists and I had to pick 3 TV shows that have this angle. Let's see what I have come up with and then, check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see what everyone else chose. So many TV shows are now on Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Gulu, Zulu that I don't see any and refuse to dish out more money. I actually long for the days with ABC, CBS and NBC had all the shows. I lucked out since I watched a ton when tv was actually free(OK we had to put tin foil on the antenna to get a better quality picture but, it worked). Did I rant again? Anyways(Don't count how many times I use that word), here are my 3...

1. GENERAL HOSPITAL-1963-PRESENT

Yes, I watch this show, got a problem with that(trying to use a Brooklyn gangster accent there). This is now the longest running show still in production in the U. S. and I am still enjoying it with all the angst, anger, deceit, lust, love, improbable situations, murder, mayhem, dogs and cats living together, well, you get the idea. My mom watched this show right from the beginning so I grew up on this show and remember the original love triangle between Dr. Steve Hardy, Nurse Audrey and other nurse Jessie. Alas, poor Jessie, Steve only had eyes for Audrey who was a real slutty slut slut pulling Steve's..er...chain until finally realizing that Steve was the man for her. Later, we had Scotty, Laura and, yes, Luke with Luke winning Laura(never mind the rape incident..pishaw!) and marrying her in the biggest daytime event in TV history. From there, we had many other love triangles with young ones doing a quad triangle..wait..you know what I mean. I love that some of the people that were around in the 1970s are still on the soap.

2. SOAP-1977-1981

This is a hilarious show that took its cue from all the ridiculous plots from the soap operas on daytime TV. It has 2 sisters who love each other, one married a middle-class slob while the other married into a very wealthy family. The down to earth sister, who married the nice working man slob, has an adult son from a previous relationship who is supposed to kill his step dad. She has another son who is gay(Billy Crystal) wondering if he should have a sex change operation but who also is like his mom-nice and down to earth. Finally, her husband has a son who is nice but his ventriloquist dummy is a sarcastic a-hole. Meanwhile, the sweet, naive, daffy other sister(Katherine Helmond) is married to a jerk who sleeps around. They have 3 kids a nice older sister, a not so nice other sister and a young boy who gets some time in with his teacher. The sisters' dad has dementia and thinks he is in WW2 while the Butler(Robert Guillaume) is excellent in sarcasm and leaves to get his own show(Benson). Of course you have love triangles that are more than a few plus a priest who falls in love(that created a big stir in the news), murder, mobsters, aliens, a demon child plus so much more. It always ended on a cliff-hanger that you had to tune in next week to find out what happened. It was very funny(especially when Crystal's character is hypnotized, but can't break free and believes he is an old Jewish man. If you are looking for political correctness, you will not find it here.

3. LOST-2004-2010

I was a major watcher of this show and would still watch it again with all the intricate goings on in this TV show. It starts off when a plane leaves Australia and crashes with the front half of the plane on one side of this F%$@-up island and the other half(you learn later) on the other side. You find out, soon enough, that something is not quite right on this island when a man who could not walk, can now and a woman, who had terminal cancer, is now cancer free. The leader of this wreck is a nice guy, a spinal surgeon, who soon develops feelings for one tough gal, Kate, who is a fugitive. Rounding out the trio is Sawyer a bad ass con man that loves Kate too and she is not sure which way to go-the angel surgeon or the nasty devil..Sawyer. There are many other major twists and turns this series takes which made my mom lose interest in once the plot went nuts. She liked the simple people on an island and learning who they are plot lines but once other people came into the picture including some dark killing mass, she gave up. 

Can you think of 3 that fit the TV show bill?

Weekly Song Challenge

 

I believe this is week 8 hosted by Jingle, Jangle, Jungle where she gives 3 themes per week and one has to choose a song that is in the title, the artist or in the lyrics. The 3 themes are:

1. A Body Part

2. A Flower

3. An Instrumental 

1. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes- Jerome Kern-1933

I fell in love with this song when I heard the beautiful Kathryn Grayson sing it in a compilation of MGM musicals called "That's Entertainment". She sang this in the musical "Lovely To Look At" (1952), a remake of Roberta, where this song originated from. I know the Platters made it more famous but I love this version. I have to admit I always loved the change in lyrics by Hawkeye Pierce (M.A.S.H.) while he showers..."Ask me how I knew, her brassiere was blue..."

2. Honeysuckle Rose-Fats Waller-1929

Yeah, on the same film as above("That's Entertainment") I was introduced to the exquisite Lena Horne who sang this song in the musical, "Thousand's Cheer"(1943) and made me want to see more of her. Unfortunately, unless she played something typical like a maid, she wasn't greatly utilised.  

3. Wheels- by the String a Longs(who knew??)-1960 I know it from Billy Vaughn-1961

My mom had this song and always recalled how my brother would start to dance to this song. This was a vivid and happy memory my mom loved speaking about. Somewhere, there is an old film reel showing my brother dancing when he was maybe 1 or 2 yrs old(my older brother was born in 1961. 

Honestly, these were the first 3 that popped into my head.

Which songs come to your mind?

A trio

 

Stamping Sensations- Colour Your World

We Love Chocolate Baroque- Flowers, Birds Butterflies

Addicted To Stamps- any Occasion

This was fun. I had a scrap paper I was using to wipe up excess colours plus some purple sparkly paste and decided to use this as a fantasy background. I took a red paper and embossed the design through my cuddlebug. You just put the paper between the design as a sandwich and roll it through the cuddlebug...instant design/image. I took my purple ink pad and brushed it along the top to bring out the design a bit more. I glued the 2 pieces together and then stamped my flower image in purple before colouring it in my gamsol pencil crayons. I stamped the butterfly in burgundy and heat embossed it with burgundy embossing powder as well as stamped the 2 birdies in gold and heat embossing it with gold sparkle embossing powder. after fussy cutting all of the images, I affixed the flower with pop up dots and glued the butterfly and birds in place before finally adding the message.  I do like my colourful creation

Color Throwdown- blush, sage, gold (ctd630)

Happy Little Stampers:Dies- Anything Goes 

Cute Card Thursday-Slimline card

This was a nice and simple card I created using my pink distress Dye ink to create a soft pink horizon before stamping my trees using my sage tombow marker that I coloured right onto the stamp. I added some sage coloured cardstock remnants to the side before affixing it to the gold background. I sprayed some white paint onto the card(and me) to make it look like snow before finally using my stickles for some added sparkle. 

CHNC- Use Some Gold

Winter Wonderland- Anything Goes 

Simon Says-Your favourite Technique(just one?...really?)

Dream Valley-Add Some Green

Now, you must be living under a rock if you don't already know that I love glitter so when I bought this new stencil cut (before lockdown) and tried it on basic white paper using my sizzex machine, I knew something needed to pop behind it. This gold glitter cardstock was just the ticket. I glued down the diecut onto the gold and cut out the middle part and the outer area so I had a nice frame. I do love the old fashioned stamping and heat embossing so I took my stamp, stamped it in gold and chose Green Enamel, Red Glitter and Egyptian Gold embossing powders for the image. I took a little measuring spoon to lay the powder down where I wanted it to be(yeah, I screwed up with the green going onto some of the letters but, who cares) and heat embossed it to set the powder. I placed this on to some red cardstock and that is that.

Hope you are all doing well and even though the powers that be are loosening up the Covid rules, be careful. Personally, I think it is too soon even though I would love to just go out somewhere...I know better.

Thursday Movie Picks- Forbidden Love

 

L'amour, toujour. .. love can be tragic, just ask Princess Margaret and Pete Townsend who loved each other but were not allowed to marry (times would be different now). This is one romance theme that I can think of quite a few and I wonder which film will be the big hit this week. Head on over to Wandering through the Shelves to find out. Here are my 3.. 

1. THE STUDENT PRINCE-1954

I haven't seen this film in ages and would love to see it again. Sorry Shady, it is a musical but it doesn't have the typical good ending which is rare for a musical. This stars Ann Blyth as a bar maid who knows how to handle herself with a bunch of exuberant young university men who love to party. Enter the prince, played by Edmund Purdom, who quickly falls for the bar maid. Heidelberg never looked lovelier through their eyes as they sing their love not thinking that she is just a barmaid. It is well acted by Ann and I recall Edmund not being too bad even though he was not the first choice. That was Mario Lanza who had a great voice, great appetite and a great ego. He ended up being let go but they kept his voice recordings which Edmund mouthed to. I have to learn more about Mario who died too young from a heart attack but there are rumours he was killed by the mafia. I think there is something to this rumour.

2. ROMEO & JULIET- 1968

This film is considered the best version of this classic Shakespearean tale of doomed young lovers from different houses whose families refuse to let their children be together. The young actors were actually young ( not like oldies, Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer who were 43 and 34 respectively) and had a great gift for good acting! There have been various versions done or inspired by the plot, but this one is excellent plus the music is so good.

3. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN-2005

I can see this be popular this week and with good reason. When I saw this in the theater, I was, at first, giggly in nervous laughter when the 2 men first get together( I hate admitting this but it's true). Later, I was so wanting them to get back together hoping the ending would be a happy one. I cried at the end partly out of frustration because of how we, as bigoted people, refuse to let same sex partners just be together. Heath Ledger played his role so well as the tortured soul who just loves his partner so much but doesn't want to commit to the lifestyle. Let's face it, look how many have been beaten and killed because they are true to being homosexual. It is beautiful, tense, sad, loving and heartbreaking and worth seeing.

Which 3 would you choose?

Weekly Song Challenge

I am joining my second week over at Jingle, Jangle, Jungle who created the challenge for some fun. She has chosen 3 themes each week where you pick a song that suits the theme. It can be the title of the song, in the lyrics, or the person who wrote it( I think I got this right). I am trying my best to pick 3 songs that come into my head first and just enjoy them( or not) but I am not an expert in music so don’t expect a long discussion on the piece of music like I do with my films. Anyway, the 3 themes are as follows:

Feb 17 - Week 7

A Spice;

A type of Tree (or just 'Tree')

A Unit of Measure

1. Incense & Peppermints-Strawberry Alarm Clock(who knew?)-1967

This is so 60s and hippy so what's not to love. I recall dancing to this in a wild flower child kind of way.

2. UNDER THE MANGO TREE-SUNG BY DIANA COUPLAND-1962

This was the first song that came into my head and I can't get it out of my head now. The voluptuous Ursula Andress sings this song when she walks onto the beach in her white bikini making every man stop thinking with that head on top of his shoulders. It's a cute song.

3. I WOULD WALK 500 MILES-THE PROCLAIMERS-1987

This is just a fun song that makes me feel good and I want to start jumping around like I did on the dance floor.

There are my 3 for this hump day...Any 3 you could pick?

2 Cards- Love & Wintry

 

Color Throwdown-pink, Red, Black & White-ctd629

Double D- picture with hearts, and colors red, white & Black

Cute Card Thursday- CAS

Happy Little Stampers: CAS- Love is in the Air 

This was for my hubby who is truly special. He was a real sweetheart buying me flowers and some chocolate. He does most of the cooking(during the week) since I am working(from home), takes care of the animals and tends to me when I am not well so this card is for him. I tried to make this as clean and simple(CAS) as I can even though it is layered. The pillow, for the Double D challenge, was my inspiration. I stamped the hearts in silver embossing ink and embossed the hearts in pink and red glitter powder. I did the same thing to the Sentiment stamp and added some heart crystals...Voila! Oh..he loved his sparkly card:)

Christmas Craft Creations-Blue & Silver 

The Flower Challenge-Use Your Latest Stamps or dies

Winter Wonderland-Anything Goes

I had a lot of fun creating this card especially since it is snowing here and we are to have a nice storm. I know, I am sick especially since I don't ski, skate or do any other winter sports. I would not mind to toboggan but I would be scared I could not get up again. Anyways, I have this aqua plastic card type which I put threw my cuddlebug to emboss the snowflake design. I took some fine grit sandpaper to rub off the colour so you see the white. I mounted blue cardstock and this other piece I created (inspired by this card I saw on Christmas Craft Creations  done by Shona) by placing silver embossing ink across the whole piece. I took 3 colours-darker blue, light blue and silver sparkle and sprinkled them down onto the silver ink. I dry-heated the paper to adhere the powder to the ink to get this background image. I stamped the poinsettia in silver and coloured it using my tombow markers and a silver pen for the berries. Finally, I took my new saying stamp, stamped and embossed that in silver too. I used some blue chalk to colour around the saying and the silver pen for the border. I mounted them on to the card with the flower on pop up dots for the 3D look. Hope you like them:)

Have a great day everyone and stay safe...not just for Covid but safe driving, shovelling and walking.

Thursday Movie Picks: Romance Tropes Edition -Friends to Lovers

I'm struggling with romance movies. I know there are a ton out there but my mind draws a blank. I also know there are more romance films where they start out hating each other before true love blooms, you know that, 5 years later they are divorcing. Wandering through the Shelves has made me put my thinking cap on so let's see what I came up with.

1. GIGI-1958

I do love this film which is one of the last great musicals starring the enchanting Leslie Caron as Gigi. She is a sweet, fun girl who is friends with Gaston, a bachelor...a filthy rich bachelor who goes out with many girls who all vie to be his next mistress. He comes to visit Gigi and her grandmother( played so well by the enchanting Hermione Gingold) because it provides a respite from the arduous duties of a rich playboy. He has a good friend  and Uncle in bon vivant Maurice Chevalier ( who was a real curmudgeon in real life) who thanks heaven for little girls because they grow up. He is not a psycho nutbar like Weinstein  but is just an old man in love with love through women. One of the best scenes is his duet with Gigi's grandmother whom he had a great romance with many years ago. When Gigi grows into being a beautiful woman, the playboy realizes he has someone special. He realizes he loves her but she does not want to be some mistress. Will love triumph?

2. TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA-1970

Now, you may not think this works but I think it does - a romance Western with a twist. Clint Eastwood plays a man, who seemed to come right from a Sergio Leone Western, who comes across a woman about to be gang raped by a group of thugs. The thugs are dealt with by Clint and his handy gun and Clint finds out the woman( Shirley MacLaine in a great role) is a nun and soon he is reluctantly helping her get back to the Mexican revolutionaries who are trying to overthrow the French control. They become friends and help each other get out of a few predicaments. He is surprised that she has some unique habits( sorry) like a penchant for cigars and alcohol. They make a good team especially when they get to her town and the group she is helping. This is very funny, has some good surprises and the music is fun( the music was used in the 2nd Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey Jnr) which was written by the great Ennio Morricone.

3. CLUELESS-1995

I really didn't think I would like this movie until I was sick and had to stay in bed. Maybe it was the fever but I found this Emma adaptation a nice movie with more depth that I was not expecting. Alicia Silverthorne plays Cher who is a rich Beverly Hills teen who is very popular and knows how to speak Valley Girl ( anyone remember that...grody to the max!). She wants a better grade so she becomes a matchmaker  to 2 teachers and is happy with the result. Her ex-step brother helps her dad, the lawyer, and Cher and ex-bro, Josh, spar but rely on one another as they get to know more about the other. She helps an awkward nerd become a popular girl but things get out of hand making Cher doubt herself. Who knew her ex-step bro would be the one she relies on most. Yeah, it's kind of icky because he is an ex-step brother but it seems to work.

So what are your 3 choices?

OH MY GOODNESS! I'M DOIN' ANOTHER CHALLENGE-I'M NUTS!!

 

I think I am nuts since I am joining this challenge the day before the Thursday Movie Picks, but I am enjoying the weekly themes created by Jingle, Jangle, Jungle. If you wish to join, check out the challenge here. Basically, you follow the theme as long as it is part of the song title, mentioned in the song or the the Artists. I do not pretend to know music very well at all but this theme, I think I can do...maybe...we shall see. I still think I am nuts. Anyways, the 3 themes this week are

Feb 10 - Week 6

An Acoustic Song

A Song from a Movie

A Song about Cheating

1. THE THIRD MAN THEME-1948 BY ANTON KARAS

I love the zither which looks like a complicated instrument. When Carol Reed(it's a guy not a gal), the director for The Third Man, went to Vienna to scout out the locations he found this man in a Viennese cafe just outside of Vienna. He hired Mr. Karas on the spot and told him to create a song for his upcoming film and this was it. It became a huge hit!

2. LARA'S THEME FROM DR. ZHIVAGO-1965 BY MAURICE JARRE

It's my mom's birthday today and she would have been 93 years old. As a tribute to her I chose her favourite film with a song she loved and interpreted by the great Andre Rieu whom she called her boyfriend..hahahaa.

3. MAMMA MIA-1976 BY ABBA.

This song is about an unhealthy relationship that must come to an end since "I've been cheated by you since I don't know when". I love ABBA so expect more. 

Enjoy!

A new card..finally!

 I finally started creating cards again  and have done a couple but just showing one here for now. I took my time taking all my Christmas stuff down plus the last 3 weeks we were travelling. No not being an a-hole and flipping my nose at Covid but going for rocks. Yes, rocks because my hubby finds free stuff on Kijiji and needs rocks for his pond. He's crazy because his fingers have swelled up and he did a number on his back when turning into the driveways with our little trailer (he has rheumatoid arthritis). We wear our masks and he toiled while I stayed in the car because I'm as useless as a boar's tits in doing any lifting ( one of my daddy's old sayings). We were able to social distance and get plenty of field stone and potato rocks for the pond. Last weekend I went for my jolt juice in Toronto so I feel better. The pain is there, but I can do more before I have to sit down so I'm very happy. Ok, here's my card...

Alcohol inks, sponge thingy, gelatos, water, rose stamp, champagne embossing pad, pearl gold embossing powder, pearl stickles in mint, yellow, lavender, die cut saying.

Color Throwdown-ctd628- soft colors in pink, yellow, lavender, mint

Addicted to Stamps- Birthday

Cute Card Thursday- Anything Goes 

It was tough to get my mind back into the swing of things. I started by having fun with my alcohol inks. I took pink, purple, green and pearl and squeezed some colour onto a soft pad. I took the pad and just kept popping the color down on the white paper until it was covered. I used the alcohol blending solution to do just that and was pleased with the results. I stamped and heat embossed the Roses. I coloured them in with the pastel gelato(yellow and lavender..hard to see) and fussy cut it out. I took the pearl stickles and just squeezed out some colours on a piece of paper and used a piece of plastic to spread the colour. Once it was dry, I used my sizzex to cut out the happy birthday diecut and glued it in place. I used pop up dots to place the flower on top, added the border stickers and placed this on some vellum design paper  to cover the yellow paper I used that was too strong a colour for this card...the vellum softens the tone.   

Have a great day everyone 

Thursday Movie Picks: Romance Tropes Edition-Fake Relationships

 

February....the time we listen to a rodent, hoping the little bastard doesn't see his shadow to all things romantic, sweet and drippy. We all expect, on February 14th, to get chocolates and flowers and oodles of lovey, dovey poems and such. Over at Wandering Through The Shelves, it is Romance month starting  with fake relationships. Have you ever tried this once? Well, I have but just for a few minutes with one of my dearest friends V.J....the one who lives in Vancouver. He and I have done this more than once to put one over on some morons or just to have a little fun. He hated it when I pinched his cheek calling him my Cutesy, Ootsey. We would happily walk away, laughing and him asking me never to do that again. Where was I? Oh yeah, I know there are probably tons of films with this type relationship but these were the 3 that came into my head. I have discussed the great What's Up, Doc? just in my previous post so here are 3 I will discuss.

1. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT-1934

Clark Gable won an Oscar for this role(not Gone With The Wind) and so did Claudette Colbert, Frank Capra(director), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Riskin) and Best Picture...yup, the top 5. This was a huge suprise since it came from Poverty Row studio, Columbia Pictures. A team had to stop Claudette Colbert from getting on a train so she could go accept the award. Gable didn't want to go do this picture but he had no choice since he was under contract, was a bad boy, and sent to this studio as punishment. Colbert plays an American heiress, newly married but hates it, who jumps ship(yacht), literally, and takes off but not sure where. She ends up on a bus and meets up with a reporter who thinks he will have the story of a lifetime since he knows who she is. She lets him help her because she does not want to go back but, when the bus leaves without them, they must find a way to move about the states with the help of a thumb and a pretty leg. They end up in a motel and must pretend they are husband and wife in order to stay. This is where one recalls the famous scene where a rope and a blanket separates the 2 of them when they go to sleep. It is also when Gable was blamed for the undershirt business taking a nosedive because he was wearing any when he was undressing. They find out they need each other more than they want to admit. a classic film in every way.

2. THE PROPOSAL-2009

Sandra Bullock plays an uptight, dislikeable bitch editor of a publishing company who violated her work visa and will be sent back to Canada(this character is supposed to be Canadian...really? We are so nice) so, not wanting to lose her position in the company, she blackmails her assistant, played by Canadian, Ryan Reynolds, to marry her otherwise he will lose his aspirations of becoming an editor himself. They travel to Alaska where she meets his family, surprised to find out her assistant comes from a very rich family. They must fake their relationship to everyone, even his nice old gammy played by the great Betty White. If Bullock is any more uptight you know those coals shoved up her butt will come out diamonds, but the family try to warm to this gal even though his dad isn't buying into the whole thing. The immigration man is having no parka pulled over his eyes and travels to Alaska to prove he is right and they are faking it. This is an enjoyable comedy, quite sweet without any major surprises that plays on TV on a regular basis. 

3. WE'RE THE MILLERS-2013

This film is anything but sweet and not for everyone but I love it so you know it is depraved. You have Jason Sudeikis as the penultimate under-achiever who makes a living selling drugs and using some himself(just pot). His teenage neighbour loves talking to him even though he pays him no mind to the teen. His other neighbour, played by Jennifer Aniston, is a stripper who is close to being evicted..oh yes and she hates his guts. Unfortunately, when Sudeikis helps out a girl (who is just a petty thief) from these roughians , his money is taken, by these future inmates, which puts him in a no win position with his slimy boss to "accept" a run to Mexico to pick up a small amount of drugs.  How will he do this? Become a stereotype waspish family with an RV, of course. He pays  the stripper, the naive, innocent teen(well, not the teen, poor kid) and the thief to be his family. They cross into Mexico but, when they realize how much drugs they must bring back, they start hyper-ventilating. I find it hilarious and it is not for kids...well, duh! Yes, there are drugs, foul language and a spider bite that makes everyone cringe so it is not for everyone but, to me, it is funny. 

So...which 3 would you choose?

Tribute to Jo

 

I could only grab this image of Jo from her own blog, which is still up, loaded with nice anecdotes, her life and some great recipes. She was a gentle lady who took care of her ailing husband, despite her limited ability to walk long distances, and had a great spirit for life. She would speak about books she read, documentaries she watched, her life when she lived on a boat with her parents and her love of cooking especially asparagus. She loved that veggie and would share recipes about this dreaded veggie the whole time it was in season. I can't stand this vegetable and she knew it and we would laugh at our comments. My mom loved asparagus too, but they were all for her.  My mom would cook the asparagus just right, add some salt, a bit of pepper and would coat it in butter but my mom would often add hollandaise sauce to it. I do love that sauce. 

Here is my recipe, not for asparagus, but one I make, normally, at Christmas time...

Rouladen

Rouladen is a very thin, long pieces from the top side of beef-I usually get 10

Salt

Pepper

Mustard(I use Dijon)

Montreal Steak Spice

Chilli pepper spice

3-4 cloves of garlic-minced

1 Large chopped onion

5-6 Pickles-cut in half and the sliced lengthwise twice so have little strips

4-5 pieces of Bacon-cut into smaller pieces but not chopped up.

Toothpicks-the round kind not flat

Mushrooms cut in slices

You take one slice of rouladen, sprinkle the salt and pepper on it, spread some mustard on the piece, sprinkle some garlic on it along with a dash of the chilli peppers and steak spice. In the wider spot of the rouladen, you add some onion, 3 or 4 pickle pieces and about the same with bacon. You then roll it up like a cabbage roll making sure nothing spills out the sides. You close it up using a toothpick. Repeat until all are done. Place them in a roasting pan,  I add a little more mustard on the tops of the rouladen, add the water until they are 3/4 covered, throw the mushrooms in and cook in the oven at 350F for about 3 31/2 hours. 

When done, I take out the rouladen, I get a Knorr beef cube and place it in water and crunch it down with a fork. I get a coffee mug, fill half with water and the other with flour and mix it(no lumps) until I have the thickness I want. The water in the roasting pan is heated and I add the beef cube juice(not the remnants) into the broth until I have the right taste that I like. When it boils I take it off the heat and lower the heat to low. I start adding the flour mixture to thicken the broth, place it back on the burner and whisk until I have the right consistency. For an added creaminess, I will add a little thick cream. I place the rouladen back into the roasting pan and put it back into the oven(it is now off) to keep it warm until the veggies etc are done. 

I usually make red cabbage with this and mashed potatoes. 

Hope you like this Jo even if I didn't include asparagus. I know you are near Matt right now looking over him.