List: Best Movies That Celebrate Food

There are 297 movies currently on my Netflix queue. By the time a movie makes the top of my list and into my house, many times I have forgotten why the movie was on the list in the first place.

I watched one of those movies today - Last Holiday. The 2006 version not the original version from 1950 with Alec Guinness, which I now want to see.

The movie's summary from IMDB:
In morte veritas. Georgia Byrd clerks at a New Orleans department store. She defers pleasure: cooks gourmet meals, eats Lean Cuisine; likes a co-worker in silence; has savings, but hasn't left Louisiana. All that changes when a CT Scan discloses she has three weeks to live. She cashes her savings and heads to Europe's Grandhotel Pupp, where Chef Didier(Gerard Depardieu) presides. She checks into the Presidential Suite, orders everything on the menu, snowboards, and comes to the attention of the chef and the hotel's powerful American guests: a Congressman, a Senator, a retail magnate, and his mistress. She has nothing to lose, so she tells them what she thinks. Will the truth set them free?

 It is a bit predicable, but Queen Latifah, LL Cool J and the rest of the cast are quite good. The movie had two other things going for it that made it even more enjoyable: 1) a large part of the movie was filmed and set in New Orleans (which came as a pleasant surprise to me) and 2) the movie celebrated food - eating and cooking it.

In the first scene in the European restaurant run by the character played by Gerard Depardieu, in response to the waiter announcing the day's specials, Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) orders all of them. According to IMDB, Food Network posted the recipes for all of the dishes on their website. Specific dishes prepared for the movie include:

• Lobster Salad in Potato Leek Nests
• Duck Hash on Toasted Baguette
• Spiced Lamb Shanks with Blood Orange Relish
• Roasted Quail with Brioche and Chorizo Stuffing
• Risotto Barolo with Roasted Vegetables
• Bananas Foster
• Poulet Tchoupitoulas

This movie has me thinking of other movies that have the love of food as a main idea so here is my list of...

Best Movies that Celebrate Food
Last Holiday
Bend It Like Beckham (for the Indian dish Aloo Gobi, which I have made twice)
Waitress
Julie & Julia

Honorable Mention:
Soylent Green (no spoilers here)
The Help (for the chocolate pie)

That's a short list for now, but there are other movies on my Movie Master List that I have yet to see that may make the above list once I watch them:
Tampopo
Soul Food
Mostly Martha
Fried Green Tomatoes
Chocolat

Post Scrips II

Back in June 2011, I updated a few past posts. As I type this, it is Sunday morning and Carlos is still in bed - so I have a few minutes to update some other posts, which I have been meaning to do for awhile.

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Update to Gardening: Year Two
and
Gardening: Year Two, Week Three

The Summer 2011 here in New Orleans was very dry for about two months. Then we had tons of rain for about a month. This year's crop - green bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, jalapenos, and snap beans - shriveled up in the heat. And then were drowned out by the rain.

NOTHING grew this year. Next year, I'll try bell peppers, cucumbers, snap beans (which seemed to do the best this year) and onions - a new choice, that Monica, a friend of mine at work, tells me grows well.

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Update to Fun with Remodeling

At the end of the post, I wrote, "Once all this is completed, I’ll post before and after pictures". Well, I completed the office remodeling project in February 2008, but never got around to posting pictures. Thanks to a reader (Hey Iona!) for pointing that out. Here are before and after pictures of my office / guest room.

Back wall...

Front Wall...

 

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And an update to a very recent post...

Update to An Evening with Stephen King

 "The doors open at 6:30 pm." My plan was to pick up Carlos at 5 pm, eat at a restaurant about a block away from the event, and get in line at 6 pm. We altered our plans a bit and ended up getting there about 5:45 pm. This is what we saw:

The entrance was on the other side of the block - meaning that the line snaked around the front of the building, down the entire left side of the block, and back to near the middle of the next side of the block - where we joined it.

By the time, everyone was let in at 6:30 pm, the line almost joined back to itself at the front of the building. In the auditorium, we were in the middle - so the seating wasn't too bad.

We received a free book with our ticket. Only 250 out of 2000 were signed - randomly distributed. I got one!

Since I'm also in the Stephen King Book Club, I will also receive the book within the next month. I'll give that copy to charity.

Carlos and I ate at the newest location of New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Company on St. Charles Avenue. New Orleans has many, many great restaurants so there is really no reason to eat at a chain. This chain is the only one I enjoy.

Shopping Feedback

This summer, we stopped at a Chic-Fil-A on the way back from Florida. I was so impressed, I submitted positive comments to the store via their web site. I received back a personal email from their Regional Manager, thanking me and letting me know that the employee that I mentioned and his manager would receive my comments.

I thought I would continue my project: Instead of complaining about bad service (see this post), I would compliment good service whenever possible (but with also being honest about a less than good experience).

Today, I shopped at Pier 1 Imports and our local Rouses supermarket. I didn't make a copy of my Pier 1 comments, but they were basically "the cashier was very nice, but I really DO NOT appreciate being asked for my phone number and email address. I understand why you are asking for it, but it really feels intrusive. If I have the choice, I will shop at another store." I was asked for my phone number at Party City yesterday. That is really starting to become a pet peeve of mine.

I did copy my comments to Rouses:
I was at your Airline - Metairie location this morning, trying to find all the items to create Muffaletta sandwiches for a dinner I am attending this Wednesday. I spoke with Florence (I think that was her name) in your Deli. She was very, very helpful - guiding me through all the items I needed to purchase. She even pointed out that Rouses carried the Olive Salad (in a jar) that I was looking for, but that I had not even asked her about. Great employee!!

I also asked one of your employees in the Bread/Dessert department if my Muffaletta bread would still be fresh if I bought it today (Sunday). She told me that it would not, and then offered to bake a special batch for me that I could pick up Tuesday (for my Wednesday dinner). I did not, however, get her name. There were two employees in the department at the time. The one who helped me also wrote my name (-------) in her log.

I live much closer to Wal-Mart, but drive the extra distance to shop at your store. This is why. Keep up the great work, and please let the employees that I encountered today know that they are doing a great job.

9th Anniversary

Carlos and I met online through AOL Personals near the beginning of March 2001. Neither of us remembers who answered whose ad.

We chatted via email and IM’s for a couple of weeks, trading information and pictures. We quickly realized that we had a lot in common – including our friend Vincent.


We agreed to meet in person on Saturday, March 24, 2001 at Lakeview Harbor, a local restaurant known for their great hamburgers. The restaurant was my suggestion; I had gone there a few times with Lloyd, who used to work across the street at Coral Reef Pet Shop.

We met that night and really hit it off. At the end of the night, we agreed to meet again the next night at the Prytania Theatre. It was showing the Academy Awards, which we both loved, on the big screen.

The following night, Monday, we were discussing that we wanted to eat dinner together, but couldn’t decide the location. I mentioned that I usually did laundry and drank beer (with John) on Mondays – and asked Carlos if he would like to go with us. He readily agreed. I suggested that we eat at Taco Bell beforehand. He told me years later that was when he knew that we were meant for each other. He could tell that I was as down to earth as he was.

Carlos and I have been together ever since. Nine years this past Wednesday. Every year on March 24, we have dinner at Lakeview Harbor and reminisce about our past – and plan our future.

Not Commander's Palace

Claudia, my younger sister, in town from Atlanta for the week, around 3 pm Friday: "Well, we'll see you when we get back tonight."

Me: "Oh, where are you going?"

Claudia: "Commander's Palace" a really nice, expensive restaurant here in New Orleans "with Christine" my other sister "and Karlie" her girlfriend.

Me: "This is the first I'm hearing about this. How long has this been planned?"

Claudia: "About a week. I wouldn't worry about it. Well, I gotta go."


My cell phone rang 10 minutes later. It was Christine.


Me, looking at the caller ID: "Hey, Christine."

Christine after AT LEAST 5 minutes of small talk: "So I wanted to let you know that Karlie got a gift certificate to Commander's Palace from one of her clients. Jeff" Claudia's husband, also in town this week, along with their three kids "has never been to a really nice restaurant so we wanted to treat them."

Me: "Did Claudia just call you?"

Christine: "Uh, no. Anyway, I've felt guilty all week about not inviting you and Carlos."

Me: "Then why not invite us?"

Christine, avoiding the question: "Well, it's Karlie's gift certificate."

Me: "Do you realize by leaving us out that you have really hurt our feelings? If it were me, this is what I would have said right away: 'Christine, Carlos and I have a gift certificate to Commander's Palace and we would like to take Jeff and Claudia out. We would love to have you join us, and, if it's okay with you, the four of us can split any extra not covered - and give Claudia and Jeff a free night out.' I would never have thought to exclude you."

Christine: "Uh, do you and Carlos want to come with us?"

Me: "Christine, a pity invite is worse than no invite at all."

Christine: "Oh, we'll you'd have to wear and coat, and it's an expensive restaurant and ..."

Me: "I know you're trying to make the situation better, but you're just digging yourself a deeper hole. You should just let it go. I hope the four of you have fun. Seriously. In the future, however, I wish you would think about the feelings of others and how your actions affect others."

Christine: "Pam and Kurt" Karlie's sister and brother-in-law "invited themselves along so there are actually 6 of us going." That means that everyone from our generation except for Carlos and me are going to dinner.

Me: "Christine, you really should stop trying to make this situation better."


Knowing that she would repeat this conversation to Karlie, she and I laughed that Karlie "is dead inside" and "wouldn't really think any of this is important". Then we hung up on that positive note.


I can't really fault Karlie. She has a brain for business, not interpersonal relationships. (On the decision making function of the Myers-Briggs test - basically if thinking or feeling determines your decisions, she always scores very, very high toward thinking. Carlos and I usually score toward feeling.)


You can read more about the test here.



All of us, plus our parents, plus Claudia/Jeff's three kids (ages 4, 3, and 4 months) hung out at my house Saturday night. Friday night was not brought up - or alluded to - AT ALL. I was hoping at least Karlie or Christine would apologize. My guess is that since Christine follows Karlie, and Karlie probably laughed off our feelings for the event, Christine followed Karlie's lead.


This afternoon, I sent an email to Karlie:

Friday afternoon, Claudia and then later Christine mentioned to Carlos and me that the six of you (including Pam and Kurt) were going to Commander's Palace Friday night. Christine told me about your gift certificate and wanting to treat Jeff to a fancy restaurant because he had never been before. Because Carlos and I were the one couple in our generation excluded, we really felt left out. Especially when Christine told me that she "felt bad about it all week and was hoping we wouldn't find out".

I am sure that was not your intention, but I do wish you would have said something early in the week - or even Saturday evening - to Carlos and me about this. Even just to explain why you wouldn't be able to invite us. We would never had excluded you from anything like that that we would plan. And we never will.

I have said my piece - and made my peace - with the situation. I do not expect any reply from you. I just wanted you to know how I felt.


I really am now going to let it go. And I really do not expect a reply from her.