Today's Entertainment

Most mothers and grandmothers get to take it easy on Mother's Day, but Sunday, May 10, finds Food Network star Nancy Fuller pulling double duty. In prime time, Fuller joins her fellow judges Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale on a Mother's Day-themed episode of "Spring Baking Championship." "It was delicious, if you will, to see the creativity that went into their brunch dishes," Fuller says. "I love the judging. It's great fun. I love watching these kids exceed all the limits that we had when we were much younger." Fuller says she brings the perspective of a "regular" cook to the process. "I'm a big proponent of (visual) appeal. I want to be wowed by the presentation," she explains. "Duff and Lorraine are much more technical. They know the gluten and protein, the chemistry of it all. I'm just a cook. Duff and Lorraine are more astute about how the various components interact. I'll tell you if it's dry or overbaked." Earlier that Sunday, Fuller hosts two of her daughters and two granddaughters to a mother-daughter dinner party on her hit daytime series, "Farmhouse Rules," where the menu goes from chicken-liver mousse to crème brulee. "Years ago, when I was the mother and they were the kids, it was great because they always brought me breakfast in bed," Fuller says. "It was fun to see what they would try to do. Now, because everybody is older and has their own kids, they're following in that tradition with their own families. So we don't get to do this as often as we would like to. When the opportunity presents itself, we do. We do get together every summer and every winter." What did you have for dinner last night? "I ate out last night with some friends. I had swordfish with a spinach-mushroom ragout. It was lovely." If you could host a dinner party for three guests, living or dead, who would they be? "Julia Child, Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton. Wouldn't that be a wealth of information? And how diversified. Think of the many different facets of life that they each lead." Do you have a favorite kitchen tool, high-tech or low, that makes your life easier? "I have an antique instrument that I call a garlic masher. It probably wasn't a judge's mallet per se, but it may have come from the Masons. I use that thing all the time, for garlic, for breadcrumbs, for tenderizing meat. I bought it at an antique auction one afternoon." Do you have a favorite spice? "Tarragon. One of my first and foremost meals that I can remember is grilled swordfish with tarragon butter. So simple, so easy, and it was divine, a fabulous flavor. Also, if I am making a stew, I probably will add a pinch of cayenne just to add a little bite." Nancy Fuller pulls a double Mother's Day shift on Food Network BY JOHN CROOK So many Nicholas Sparks novels have been made into movies, it's pretty easy to know what to expect from any new film based on one of the author's stories. Lovers meet or reunite; one is, or both are, plagued by a trauma or traumas from the past; happiness seems impossible; and, ultimately, happiness happens. Perhaps you've just been spared feeling compelled to pay the price of admission to "The Longest Ride," the latest Sparks adaptation which transplants the standard formula into a rodeo setting. You still get thematic doses of Sparks' "The Notebook" and "Dear John," and there's mild intrigue in the casting of certain descendants of screen icons. First and foremost on that count is Scott Eastwood, son of Clint, as a rodeo rider who largely overcomes a head injury – caused by a wild bronc – to return and ride again, attracting an art-history student (Britt Robertson, "Under the Dome") in the process. Sounds nice and easy, right? Don't kid yourself: This is Nicholas Sparks material we're talking about. Complications inevitably arise in their romance, which is paralleled with a "Notebook"-ish love story from the past that involves Alan Alda, lending his typical expertise as a car-accident victim saved by the young couple. Letters that he's transporting cue the flashbacks, with Jack Huston (grandson of John) and Oona Chaplin (granddaughter of Charlie) also figuring into that component of the tale. Put all of this together and essentially, "The Longest Ride" isn't much more than a Sparks soufflé, with all the expected ingredients. That may be all well and good for those already in the choir that the novelist sings to ... but even then, it wouldn't be a surprise to overhear such fans note, "Oh, he did that in (such-and-such story), too." That's the catch with genre success: Unless you change things up sufficiently, the familiar can seem really, really familiar. A little overlong at two hours-plus, "The Longest Ride" is inoffensive overall, but the Sparks faithful shouldn't be surprised by the sense that they've taken this ride before. Scott Eastwood BY JAY BOBBIN A familiar plot sparks 'The Longest Ride' Page 8 May 11 - 17, 2015

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