A Christmas Story on Your Table: Recipes to Celebrate the Holidays

I know, I know—this should have been one of the first movie menus I created, and I don’t disagree! Despite a busy year, I made sure to squeeze it in. My favorite part of creating these menus is discovering unique ingredients or recipes I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Let’s just say, Lingonberry Jam will always have a spot in my fridge from now on! I aim to keep these menus simple yet, most importantly, fun! I hope you and your family enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed creating it. Happy Holidays!

Don't want family time to be over once that the movie has ended?

There's Q&A section at the bottom of this page; it can ignite a conversation with the kids once the movie ends. Movies affect us differently due to our individual biases and perspectives. The Q&A helped me understand my kids better, and vice versa. It provided an opportunity to share my viewpoint and hear theirs. Often, it turned into a valuable teaching moment. Make the most of this extra time with them while you have their attention.

NOTE: The content below may contain spoilers

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A Christmas Story on Your Table

BESURETODRINKYOUROVALTINE, Chinese Turkey and Mommy's Little Piggy dessert

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Movie Inspired Drink: BESURETODRINKYOUROVALTINE

Let me get this straight: I fill out a membership form for the Little Orphan Annie Secret Circle and wait weeks to finally receive an official letter signed in ink, along with a gold-plated pin/decoder. I eagerly anticipate the evening when I finally receive the secret message, lock myself in the bathroom so I can decode it in peace, and it turns out to be just a crummy commercial! I would have been mad too!

It’s no surprise that I'm including a tall glass of OVALTINE on my menu, garnished with a pink bunny. While it symbolizes a big glass of disappointment, it doesn’t have to taste like one!

NOTE: Pink PEEPs are not in season during this time. You'll never find it at the store. You'll have to order them online ahead of time.

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Movie Inspired Meal: Chinese Turkey with Red Cabbage

I know what your thinking where is the turkey dinner? but if you remeber the neighbors dogs broke into the house and ate their turkey, ruinging the amazing dinner Ralphie's mom was working on all day. The best part of the scene besides the waiters singing "Deck the Halls" was how this family turned an unfortunate event into a memorable one and the first time they were introduced to Chinese Turkey, so I had to go with the duck. I also had the option of going with more traditional Chinese sides, which technically you can do but I wanted to try the sides the mom was cooking throughout the movie, which was mashed potatoes and red cabbage and I was not dissapointed.

For the mashed potatoes I went with the box, so grab your favorite brand or make it from scratch whatever time allows. As for the red cabbage, this was my first time ever making this and at first I had to reach out to some friends because I had no idea what it was. I ended up making this about 2 days before I served the dinner. It heats up really fast and tasted just as good. I followed the recipe from "Taste better from scratch", the only difference was that I added 2 TBPS of Lingonberry Jam to it at the end, which I purchased at the World Market.

SIDE NOTE: I had never heard of Lingonberry Jam and I gotta say it's my new favorite Jam, and so far I've been putting it on everything. I ran into it while researching some recipes for red cabbage, some had this jam as an option to add at the end.

TIP: If you don't want to make the red cabbage from scratch you can always purchase it ready in a jar from (Aunt Nellie’s). I've never tried it so I can't say whether it's good or not but it was recommended by a friend.

As for the duck, I choose the breast, it's just a prettier piece of meat for me and they are easy to find at the grocery store, usually in the freezer aisle next to the frozen burgers. I followed this air fryer chineese style recipe from @tiffyycooks. This was easy and it cooked the duck to perfection!

TIP: Feel free to add a little of that Lingonberry jam on top of that duck, so good! and garnish with some orange zest.

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Movie Inspired Dessert: Mommy's Little Piggy

I have many favorite scenes in this movie, but my absolute favorite is when Mom gets her little boy to eat his dinner by making him eat it like a pig. This scene never fails to make me laugh, so as a homage to that sweet moment between mom and her little boy, I created a mini dessert inspired by it. It's super easy to put together, but be mindful to work quickly since the ice cream melts. If it becomes hard to handle, simply place it back in the freezer to firm up again.

First: Use either a piece of brownie or chocolate cake as the "meatloaf." I opted for a brownie.

Second: Slap on a scoop of ice cream. I used a miniature spoon to stab into the ice cream and brownie, then added more ice cream on top of the handle of the spoon, just like Randy did when he was playing with his food and exclaimed, "Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf!"

Third: Mix together lingonberry jam and some coconut shavings for the "red cabbage," and voilà! You’ve got Mommy's little piggy dessert. Enjoy!

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Q&A: A Christmas Story

1. What was the first bad word you said in front of your parents? Did you get in trouble?

2. What was the best Christmas gift you ever got?

3. Was there an unfortunate event that happened during the holidays that later became a funny tradition in your family?

Share your moovie-night creations at #foodie_Moovies