Abomination Tuna Sandwich | Lilo & Stitch #FoodnFlix

This month the Food 'n Flix club was invited by host Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla to take a virtual vacation to the islands. Instead of choosing one particular movie title or series, Camilla left the field open for us to pick anything set or filmed in Hawaii. Immediately two favorites came to mind, and I knew I'd be choosing one of them. I chose my favorite of the two. The one that we watched countless times when my daughter was little (because it was her favorite); the one we can still quote word for word and sing the entire soundtrack through—Lilo & Stitch.

Stitch is an alien experiment gone wrong who escapes his planet, crash-landing on earth—Hawaii to be precise.  Mistaken for a dog that has been hit by a car, he winds up in an animal shelter.

Palmiers | Midnight in Paris #FoodnFlix

It's that time of the month again; time to hop into the kitchen and create something inspired by a film...this month's film being Midnight in Paris, as chosen by our May Food 'n Flix host Debra from Eliot's Eats! So, much like Debra, I'm not a big fan of Woody Allen. That said, this is one film of his that I can tolerate, and maybe even slightly enjoy. I've seen it once before, and probably bits and pieces here and there on television, but this time I sat down to watch it with my eye on the food.

Except that there wasn't all that much food to be found. There were small mentions of it here and there—baguettes, James Joyce eating sauerkraut and sausage, and acknowledgement of a shared love of Indian food and pita bread. You can glimpse people eating in restaurants, parties, and even in hotel rooms (fruit and eggs?), but you really have to pause and stare hard to try and figure out exactly what it is they're eating most of those moments. I did glimpse a pretty white macaron sculpture with a dove perched atop, but it was far too sweaty here this week to attempt meringue.

Flaky Nectarine Pie | The Biggest Little Farm #FoodnFlix

Have you ever cried watching a documentary about farming? I mean, if you had, it'd be okay. I mean, we've all done it. Right? No? Just me? That's fine. I'm okay with possibly being the only person who cried while watching this month's Food 'n Flix selection...a documentary...called The Biggest Little Farm. The Biggest Little Farm tracks the life of John and Molly Chester as they start on the daunting "adventure" of a lifetime in 2010. And as John tells us in the film, it all begins with a promise to their rescue dog, Todd {sniff}.

Peppered Shepherd's Pie | Sweeney Todd #FoodnFlix

For this month's round of Food 'n Flix, our host, Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles invited us to head into the kitchen and pull our recipe inspiration from the vast selection of Tim Burton's filmography. I actually wound up watching a few this month—Sleepy Hollow, James and the Giant Peach (for the bazillionth time), and Sweeney Todd (for only the 4th or 5th time). I also contemplated watching either Dark Shadows...which I'd forgotten I actually owned until I was hunting through my dvds...or Big Fish, as well.

I've actually created recipes inspired by a few of Burton's films in the past...Beetlejuice, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Alice in Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands, and Sweeney Todd. I had some fun recipe ideas from both Sleepy Hollow and JatJP, but alas, the current state of the grocery stores did not allow me to bring those ideas to fruition (but hey, there's always later). But I was able to create something inspired by Sweeney Todd once again, with only ingredients I already had on hand. So, that's a win.

Recipes inspired by Nina's Heavenly Delights #FoodnFlix

Welcome to the roundup post for the February 2020 edition of the Food 'n Flix club! My choice for February was the 2007 British foodie-rom-com, Nina's Heavenly Delights. So, little did I know when I chose this film a while back, it is pretty hard to get your hands on a copy. Or at least an inexpensive copy. At the time, it was available to stream on Amazon Prime, but has since become unavailable. I got my hands on a dvd copy for about $10 a couple of months ago, so I consider myself fortunate. Most of the Food 'n Flix participants were not so lucky.

Scottish Curry | Nina's Heavenly Delights #FoodnFlix

I'm hosting the February 2020 edition of the Food 'n Flix club with the British foodie rom-com, Nina's Heavenly Delights. Nina comes from a fairly traditional Indian family, who lives and owns a restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland. She grew up cooking with her father, learning to use her senses, and becoming a good chef in her own right.  As many young adults do, she leaves home to discover the world on her own terms (and to escape an arranged marriage).

When her father passes away from a heart attack, Nina returns home after 3 years of being estranged and living in London on her own. It's then that she discovers the restaurant is in financial trouble and will most likely be sold to another local Indian family of restauranteurs, which includes the son Sanjay, the man she was supposed to be married to. Remembering all of the memories in the restaurant, particularly learning to cook with her father, she is determined not to let that happen.

Join #FoodnFlix in the kitchen with Nina's Heavenly Delights

I'm excited to be hosting the February 2020 edition of Food 'n Flix this month with a new-to-me film, the 2006 British foodcentric rom-com called Nina's Heavenly Delights. This movie has been on my to-watch list almost since the inception of Food 'n Flix (about 9 1/2 years). It's usually included on those lists of "foodie movies" one can find floating around the internet.

It's about a young woman that returns home (after being estranged for 3 years) to attend her father's funeral. She also finds herself having to take over her the Indian restaurant that her father owned, which is apparently in some trouble. She and a childhood friend who now owns half of the restaurant try to save it by entering a national "Best in the West Curry Competition". I'm guessing it must have big prize money, not to mention the intrigue that comes with winning a title like that.

Kimchi Jjigae | Always Be My Maybe #FoodnFlix

I'm sliding in under the wire with my submission to the January 2020 (!) edition of Food 'n Flix, hosted by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Okay, I didn't make it in under the wire. That was a lie. That wire was a few paces in the past. I'm coming in last. But that's just because the new decade started with a bang! I gave you a little sneak peek of this month's movie pick back in July when I made a dish inspired by it (this Glazed Spam and Rice)...but I'm excited to be able to share another recipe inspired by the Netflix film Always Be My Maybe with you today!

Childhood best friends turned sweethearts Marcus and Sasha are neighbors growing up. Marcus comes from a pretty close-knit Korean family who spend a lot of time doing things together. Sasha and her (Vietnamese) family live next door. Unlike Marcus's family, she spends most of her time alone since her parents are busy running their store.

Recipes inspired by the Thanksgiving movie, What's Cooking? | #FoodnFlix

There are tons of movies out there centered around Christmas, but there aren't a whole lot that feature that infamous Thanksgiving gathering. Forget the presents, this get-together is all about being thankful for the simple fact that we are all alive and together. But that also means differences; cultural, generational, political, moral - it all comes out of the woodwork in between jostling for oven space and rooting for your favorite football team.

Smoked Gouda & Sage Roasted Polenta | What's Cooking? #FoodnFlix

Thanksgiving is THE biggest food holiday in my family. It's such a huge part of what brings my family together with the menu planning and "passing out" assignments (not that it ever really changes - everybody has their specialty) and timing that never quite goes as planned, but works out anyway. It's about food and family and coming together and putting aside the things that make us different, keeping us distant and busy for much of the year...instead remembering our shared upbringing, memories both happy and painful...and celebrating the similarities and diversities that make us a family.

In the kitchen with What's Cooking? | #FoodnFlix

Well, it's officially November - my favorite month. It's my birthday month. And it's Thanksgiving for us here in the states, and that just happens to be my favorite meal of the entire year. Our family Thanksgiving meals are the stuff of legends (seriously, people tell stories of all the amazing food we make and serve that day). We, and especially me, spend weeks dreaming, planning, and preparing.

So, this month I'm combining that passion with my other passion - creating food based on movies (or tv or books or music). I'm hosting the November edition of our "food and a movie" club Food 'n Flix with a Thanksgiving-centric film called What's Cooking?!

Fester's 3-Week Anniversary Meatloaf | Addams Family Values #FoodnFlix

The Food 'n Flix club bloggers have scooched their chairs up to the Addams Family table this month, along with our host Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles. There's no month more fitting than October to hang out with in the kitchen with one of my favorite families. Kimberly invited to watch either (or both) of the early 1990's films, The Addams Family or Addams Family Values. I watched both. Again.

Triple Apple Pie | O Brother, Where Art Thou? #FoodnFlix

This month for Food 'n Flix we watched the 2000 Coen brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?  Set in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, it's full of Grammy-award winning catchy folk tunes (I bought the cd way back when and can still sing all the songs right along with the movie), and scenes from the American South.

But did you know that it's also loosely based on The Odyssey by Homer? You know, the one that kids around the nation dread reading in school. I think that I'd heard that before, but had forgotten until our host for this month, Debra from Eliot's Eats, reminded us in her Food 'n Flix invitation. So, not only did I go back in to watch the film for the first time in years with an eye towards the food, but also on the lookout for references from the epic poem. And boy did I find lots of both!

Bantha Milk Popsicles (Blue Milk) | #FoodnFlix

As a child of the 80's, I have an affinity for the "original three" Star Wars movies. And Ewoks. All of the kids on the street had Star Wars action figures, and since we all had a lot of the same ones, we had an easy way of knowing whose was whose...we each chose a specific nailpolish color, and painted to bottom of each of our figures feet with that color. It was simple, but genius (looking back). It allowed us to spread out and conquer the galaxy together, no matter whose porch we were playing on. And then we could simply check the bottoms of the feet to be sure we packed up our Darth Vader or C3PO cases with our own toys.

Lavender, Bay & Anise Infused Gin | #FoodnFlix

This month the Food 'n Flix club has been watching and creating recipes inspired by the movie, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. In the US, you can watch the film, chosen by this month's host Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, on Netflix. Though it's been on my tbr list for a while now, I haven't yet read the book (by the same name) that this movie was created from. So, anything I mention in this post will be solely based on the movie adaptation.

This movie takes place during WWII, on the German Military occupied island of Guernsey, in the year 1946. The military had commandeered most of the residents food, leaving them with not much more than potatoes and ingenuity. One night, a group is caught out past curfew in good spirits, bellies full from gin and a secret meal of roast pig. As the soldiers grill them, they come up with a name for their "illegal assembly" on the fly, calling themselves members of the "Literary [...and drunkenly added...] Potato Peel Pie Society".

Glazed Spam & Rice | Always Be My Maybe

Today I'm sharing a ridiculously easy recipe inspired by the Netflix original movie, Always Be My Maybe. It's so simple that I almost feel silly sharing it, but that's kind of the point of this post, since I'm joining my friend Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles in another of our self-appointed just-for-fun challenges. Everybody has those days (weeks...months...) when they're lacking in funds, right? Well, since we were both feeling that pain, we decided our current project would be to pick a movie...any movie...and create a dish that uses either rice or ramen, since both are inexpensive (and I pretty much always have them in my pantry, anyway).

But then Kimberly suggested we also try making the dish cost $5 or less. So, in the end, our challenge was to create a movie-inspired dish that cost $5 or less per serving and included either rice or ramen noodles.

Recipes inspired by This Beautiful Fantastic | #FoodnFlix

This month I hosted Food 'n Flix with a bit of an obscure (I think) movie choice. Fun, quirky, heartwarming, and filled with beautiful inspiration in both the garden and the kitchen...we created recipes inspired by the film This Beautiful Fantastic!

I think this is a film that invites you to explore your imagination and aspire to more, but in doing so, don't forget to open your eyes to what you already have. You might find that that is exactly the combination that you need in your life.

I believe that this was everybody else's first time seeing (and even hearing of) This Beautiful Fantastic, and I love that most of them enjoyed it very much. If you've never seen it, check out the trailer, then scroll down to see what everybody brought to the garden party this month!

A Beautiful Fantastic Eton Mess | #FoodnFlix

Bella likes things "just so"; she likes order, and is terrified by the "unpredictability of nature and flora in particular". She has a routine and it both makes her nervous and sparks something curious inside her when that routine goes off-track. Her obsessive issues stem from being abandoned as a child, and subsequently raised by ducks. Okay, not really. She was raised by nuns.

In this month's Food 'n Flix pick, This Beautiful Fantastic, Bella's tidy little solitary world changes when her somewhat grumpy older neighbor Alfie starts hounding her about the "eco-apocalypse" of a garden that she's created between their houses.

In the kitchen with This Beautiful Fantastic | #FoodnFlix!

I can hardly believe I'm about to say this, but...happy June! Somehow 6 months have passed since I've shared a new post (or even opened a computer for that matter). In that time frame (back in February), All Roads Lead to the Kitchen turned 10 years old! Life changes a lot in 10 years. Like anything does over time, this blog has gone through some peaks and some lulls. I'm extremely grateful for all of those times, and to everybody who has checked on me while the blog has been quiet. One of those people is an old blogging buddy, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla who has been holding down the fort over at my other blog space, Food 'n Flix (which celebrates 9 years this coming September!).

Swedish Cardamom Cake | A Man Called Ove | #FoodnFlix

You never really know what's going on behind closed doors. Ove is a man who is never satisfied. He's extremely particular and practical, calling anything fancier than meat and potatoes (aka saffron) "putting Christmas into it". He is the type of man who yells at feral cats to get off of his private property, and locks bicycles in garages if they are left about. Basically, he's miserable, surly, and entirely bad-tempered.