This post comes courtesy of chefs and cookbook authors Max and Eli Sussman.
Depending on where you live, it may already be fireplace and hot cocoa weather. The BBQs are stored away and the backyard rooftop day-drinking extravaganzas are shut down for the season. The last thing you want to hear your friends say is, “I think we are just staying in tonight. It’s too cold and there is nothing going on.” But you don’t need to let the cold weather drag down the fun. Instead of going out, keep your sweats and slippers on and get everyone over for a movie night.
For a movie night you can never go wrong with choosing a classic comedy. People can talk over the movie, quote along with it and no one cares if you rewind when crazy laughter makes you miss one of the best jokes. We chose three of our personal favorites: Spaceballs, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Zoolander. And to make your life even easier we’ve included some delicious recipes that go perfectly with each movie. You don’t need to put on a coat, you won’t have a huge bar tab to groan about the next day and you get to stuff your face. Who says you can’t easily have fun during winter?
Spaceballs
A classic spoof with so many jokes it takes multiple viewings to catch them all, Spaceballs is still one of the most hilarious comedies ever made more than 20 years later.
Very Berry Smoothies This smoothie combines two of the best parts of the movie. The wise and merchandising savvy Yogurt (Yoda) and the classic Dark Helmet (Darth Vader) line after the radar is jammed “There’s only one man who would dare give me the Raspberry: Lone Star!” |
Sausage & Pepper Pizza Lonestar’s badly in debt to the space gangster Pizza The Hut for 1 million space bucks! Embrace one of the most hilarious villain parodies with this Sausage and Pepper Pizza. |
Vanilla Bean Iced Coffee Dark Helmet always has coffee when he looks at Mr. Radar. Everyone knows that. And this Iced Coffee recipe is perfect to avoid burning your mouth on that “tooooo hot” coffee. |
Chocolate Truffles You need to eat dessert. Spaceballs. Chocolate balls. No brainer. |
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Perhaps the perfect movie, Ferris Bueller has all the right ingredients. Brilliant writing, a genius cast and a simple story executed with the right mixture of believability (he skips school as one last hurrah with his best friend and girl) and ’80s ridiculousness (dancing and signing on a float leading to the entire city breaking into dance). Why not have all your friends call into work — or skip class — and come over to watch this classic?
Fruity Cocktail Ferris calls Cameron to lure him to come over while lounging poolside sipping on a seriously ridiculous drink. Whip these fancy cocktails up and get everyone situated and ready for the best day off school. |
Peanut Brittle Swingggg batta!!! Ferris and Cameron manage to end up on TV at the baseball game without anyone noticing. Here’s a perfect peanut snack to get you to the 7th inning stretch of the movie. |
Sausage Abe Froman is the sausage king of Chicago (and he’s devastatingly handsome). For the main course, show off everything Froman’s sausage can do. Chicago style deep dish, sausage sandwich and baked ziti with sausage. |
Beer A meal of sausage isn’t really complete without fitting beer into the menu somewhere. If you want to go crazy, dip some sausage in this Warm Beer and Cheddar Dip. |
Ice-Cream Sundae Bar I don’t know if you heard but “my best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.” Close out the meal with a full ice cream sundae bar sure to make everyone happy. |
Zoolander
Derek says he’s “pretty sure there’s a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking.” We’d argue that eating well is just as important. Here’s a small bites menu good enough for Billy Zane. And even though we don’t have a recipe for it, we highly suggest having one of your guests bring over some Orange Mocha Frappuccinos.
Blackberry Champagne Cocktail For your guests on the model-friendly liquid diet. |
Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls Summer rolls with dipping sauce are extremely healthy and really hot right now. |
Tapenade Crostini Derek Zoolander definitely doesn’t know what tapenade or crostini are. But they are delicious. |
Watermelon, Manchego & Serrano Ham Skewers Watermelon is the essence of wetness. |
The All-New Green Bean Casserole Maury Ballstein’s wife loves to make casserole but he works late. “Don’t worry Sheila, it’ll keep!” |
White Wine-Poached Pears Models can’t turn down a healthy dessert that incorporates the after party staple white wine. |
About the authors: Max and Eli Sussman grew up outside of Detroit Michigan and have been cooking since high school. Max is currently the Chef De Cuisine at Roberta’s in Brooklyn which recently received 2 stars from the New York Times. He has previously worked at The Breslin in Manhattan and was the Chef De Cuisine at Eve in Ann Arbor Michigan. Eli is a line cook at Mile End in Brooklyn. He previously wrote for LAist.com and is on the Board of Taste of the Nation NYC. They are both closely affiliated with Share our Strength, an organization working to end childhood hunger in America.They live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn NYC. Their website is www.thesussmanbrothers.com