I'd be willing to bet that my generation -- those who were children during the pre-cable-TV and computer age -- are the last that could readily tell you "Who's on First", what a "Nyuk" is and which greasepaint-browed comedian said, "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." No, I'm not seventy-five; just a child of the 70s.
Comedy legends like The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello and The Marx Bros. were regular TV fare back in the days when kids rode Big Wheels on the street till the sun when down, took pride in their tin litho lunchboxes, and had to change the channel (all five of them) on their TV by getting up off the couch and turning a dial.
A few weeks ago, my girls got a glazed-over look of despair when I made a reference to Charlie Chaplin. "You know...Charlie Chaplin? The Tramp? Little mustache? Big shoes...". I knew it was time to intervene. Well, it just so happens that the stars aligned that week -- the constellation of Larry, Curly and Moe to be exact.
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| If you purchase 2 participating Snack’rs items from
Smart & Final, your receipt will have a special code on it to
redeem for a FREE movie ticket! |
First, I received an invitation to be a part of the "Moe 4 Ur Money" campaign from Smart & Final & Social Fabric -- a tie-in between the new Three Stooges movie from 20th Century Fox hitting (pun intended) theaters on April 13th and the Snack'rs line of snack foods from Smart & Final stores. While running errands the very next day I came across a boxed set of Three Stooges movies. All that remained was to call up some friends and schedule an evening to initiate the new generation into the celluloid world of slapstick, physical farce, and the good old pie-in-the-face humor.
If there's a special place in your heart for classic comedy -- whether it be the Stooges, the Marx Bros., Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, or George & Gracie (my personal fav) -- take the opportunity to share a slice of comedy history with your children by planning a classic movie night! Here's how we pulled it off...
INSPIRATION
I jumped online and found a list of all the Three Stooges films. Next, I created a document containing all their film titles that could be tied-in with a food, a drink, or a recipe. It was fun reading all the titles, and there was so much great material to work with. I eventually narrowed my list of menu inspirations down and made a shopping list.
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
The party was scheduled to take place at the end of a very busy Friday. It's the only time we could manage to get our whole crew of friends and their kids together. Thank goodness I was able to get everything I needed from a single store -- Smart & Final. I did my shopping when the girls were in school and was happy to find lots of convenient foods that would save me time without compromising quality.
PREP TIME
When the girls got home from school I set them on the task of dipping the Snack'rs Waffle Pretzels and Wavy Potato Chips in melted chocolate. These would be the take-home gift for our guests.
I got to work on making some Stooges photo props and fun labels for the soda bottles.
THEMED MENU
We started the evening with a table full of snacks inspired by Three Stooges movies. Each snack was accompanied by a sign with the title and year of the movie on which it was based. Pictured above is a recipe for a beer and cheddar dip I created for the campaign (recipe below) based on the 1933 film "Beer & Pretzels". It was the perfect accompaniment to our big bag of Snack'rs Waffle Pretzels.
In the frozen section of Smart & Final I picked up these vegetarian spring rolls that included packets of Sweet & Sour sauce to represent the 1958 film "Sweet & Hot".
Here's another recipe I created for this event -- "Gents in a Jam". The "gents" were Snack'rs dried cranberries and the "jam" was Smart & Final's First Street brand of apricot preserves. I topped a wheel of brie with my "Gents in a Jam", wrapped the whole thing in puff pastry, and baked it till golden. You can find the recipe below.
We also served a big basket of "Plane Nuts" -- The Snack'rs Mixed Nuts includes cashews, pistachios, filberts, brazils, almonds, pecans, spicy peanuts, and fancy peanuts.
For the main course, we made two types of homemade pizza. For the "Nutty But Nice" pizza, we brushed our pizza dough with olive oil, then arranged a layer of thinly sliced pears and Snack'rs pistachios. The pizza was topped with gorgonzola and mozzarella cheeses.
The second pizza, titled "Three Little Pigskins" was a traditional tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza topped with ham, bacon, and sausage.
I picked up two types of Jarritos sodas at Smart & Final -- The orange soda bore a label representing the film "Bubble Trouble". The pineapple soda was dubbed "Hello Pop!"
What classic comedy evening would be complete without some cream pies?
NYUKS
I downloaded and enlarged some pictures of Larry, Curly and Moe, then glued them to paint sticks to use as photo props. I loved watching everyone choose their "stooge".
After dinner we snuggled up in the living room and watched "Who's for Dessert".
When it was time to say goodbye to our friends, we sent them off with a sweet reminder of the evening -- a bag of some of our favorite chocolate dipped treats, aptly named after the Three Stooges film "Love at First Bite".
It didn't take a lot of time, money or effort to put together this fun family evening. The idea was to stay casual and have a fun time. With a pinch of creativity, some willing friends, and a great store like Smart & Final, it was a snap!
RECIPES
BEER & CHEDDAR PRETZEL DIP
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
10 oz. grated sharp cheddar
1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
2 scallions, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 cup of your favorite beer (we used Newcastle)
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process till smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate at least an hour before serving. Serve with carrot, celery, zucchini and Snack'rs Waffle Pretzels.
GENTS IN A JAM (BRIE EN CROUTE)
3 Tablespoons First Street Apricot Preserves
3 Tablespoons Snack'rs Dried Cranberries
1 teaspoon water
1 sheet frozen puff pasty, thawed and refrigerated until ready to use
1 small wheel of brie
Egg wash consisting of one egg beaten with 1 TB water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
In a small bowl, combine preserves, cranberries and water. Microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute to melt preserves. Stir, then set aside to cool.
When preserves have cooled, place thawed puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place brie in the center. Top with the preserves.
Gather up the puff pastry and pinch together at the top. Brush with egg wash and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.
Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
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This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias. All opinions are my own.
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