So when a friend, who had never seen White Christmas, suggested I make a dinner menu to go along with the film, I couldn't resist. She knew I'd done similar menus before (Star Wars and The Hobbit, respectively, both birthday parties I threw myself), but this one was fun because I could delve into all my vintage cookbooks for ideas.
Now, there are a few foods mentioned or shown in the film. One of the first (and best) is the scene in the club car on the way to Vermont. Mentioned or shown foods include:
- club sandwiches
- popcorn (on the bar)
- lemonade
- malteds (like a malted milkshake)
- hot buttered rum
- coffee
- buttermilk
- ham and cheese on rye
- turkey sandwich
- liverwurst
There was an added hiccup in all this menu planning - the friend in question is vegetarian. So guess what? A lot of that list is out the window! But I relish a good challenge, so I took to my cookbooks and got thinking. And here's what I came up with:
Here's the menu:
- New England Lemonade
- Grapefruit Salad
- Vermont Parsnip Chowder
- Vermont Graham Muffins
- Lentilwurst Sandwiches
- Malted Milkshakes
- Maple Sirup Gingerbread
No, those aren't typos - "lentilwurst" is what I call vegetarian liverwurst and while everything was good, that was the surprise hit of the night. I wish I had made a double batch because it was gone almost instantly. Maple Sirup (also not a typo - that's how they spelled it in the cookbook) Gingerbread was another delightful (if rather expensive) hit. Thankfully, we did not eat the whole cake in one sitting, although two days later we're down to the last piece.
In an effort to spare you from the world's longest blog post, I'm going to be posting the recipes each day this week (probably more than one per day) as their own blog posts. Don't worry - I'll link them back here as they're posted so you can always find everything in one spot. You should get the whole menu before the weekend - just in time to plan a White Christmas Dinner and a Movie of your own! Happy eating!
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