A Scarily Delicious Beetlejuice Inspired Feast! Food 'n Flix's October Round-Up! {#foodnflixclub}

I am always inspired by the creativity and mad cooking skills of my Food 'n Flix friends but I think everyone outdid themselves with their Beetlejuice-inspired creations this month. (You can see my announcement post here if you missed out and somehow don't know this fun Halloweenish film.)  

Instead of the lack of much food presence being a stumbling block, it seem to spur even more fantastic dishes. Adding to the Food 'n Flix fun was the concurrent Tim Burton movie event from Fandom Foodies hosted at Witchy Kitchen, #Burtoween and many of our participants shared their posts with both events. 

I had a blast rounding up all of the fabulous entries and there were a lot of them! So pull up some leftover trick-or-treat booty and a napkin or two for your drool and let's take a look!

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla was our first entry and she was inspired by the scene where Beetlejuice tries to attract a fly with a Zagnut candybar. She made a Zagnut flavor-inspired Spooky Juice cocktail, saying "So, with all those flavors in mind, I whipped up this tasty libation. My husband liked it so much he asked for a second one; I told him I'd make him another if he came up with a name for it. He tried different variations that included coconut, Caribbean, Kraken, and more before settling in 'Spooky Juice.' Okay."

Katharina of Pretty Cake Machine made two different movie-inspired (and creepily gorgeous!) dishes. First was her nod to Beetlejuice and Lydia's marriage ceremony with her Bride of Betelgeuse Severed Finger Cookies. She said, "When asked to present a ring, he whips out one from an unnamed ex… with a finger still attached. ... I decided to bake up a small arsenal of replacement fingers for this unfortunate mystery gal, with a bonus manicure to make her feel extra sassy. Any dead ex-wife of Betelgeuse is bound to need a pick-me-up."

 
Katharina's second recipe channeled her affection for Lydia Deetz into Lydia's Blood Orange Bubble Tea, which she calls perfect for enjoying with her severed finger cookies.  Katharina said, "I already mentioned in my last Beetlejuice entry that I adore Lydia. I know I keep sneaking in photos from the Beetlejuice cartoon, but that’s because I love it!"

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen also had two dishes inspired by the movie. First was her Winter Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin. She says, "... I took inspiration from the Beet colour that runs throughout the movie: from the welcoming door of the couples home Adam and Barbara played by Gina Davis and Alec Baldwin.  The barn where the couple crash under, to the designer Ortho outfits, from his ties to his socks even his house gown was Beet coloured.  The beet colour is splashed loud in our face when we are shown  Lydia's wedding dress and even Betlguise (pronounced Beetlejuice) own groom suited outfit is Beet and white, which brings me to my Beetroot Gratin as it perfectly matches with Betleguise outfit!"

  
Shaheen's second Beetlejuice dish is color coordinated to her gratin. She says, "One of my favourite movies but it comes second to Edward Scissorhands. I took inspiration from the Beet colour that runs throughout the movie. This Beetroot Barley Goats Cheese Salad is an autumnal salad because of the hearty barley and the colours that remind me of the drying leaves on the trees. It's perfect for taking into lunch as it won't leak liked those tossed in heavy salad dressing."  

Catherine of The Gluttonous Geek, took inspiration from the dinner party scene and that crazy shrimp cocktail and made creepy Shrimp Pâté Wellington Hands with Cranberry-Ginger Cocktail Sauce. Catherine said, "I will admit, I’ve not been all too big a fan of shrimp cocktail growing up. However, I hold the staunch belief that if you don’t like a dish, you can always reinvent it into something that you do. With this in mind, I wanted to take a card from Delia’s book on how I can make this more fitting to the character, and also more appealing to my own palate since I don’t have a house ghost to serve my cooking when it’s not to my liking."

Ali of Fix Me a Little Lunch used her love for Tim Burton in her dish saying, "Beetlejuice is one of my favorite Halloween movies. First, it’s a Tim Burton film and I love the Burton universe with its over-the-top weird. Second, it’s not a scary, slasher film – I’m not a fan of those. ... So in honor of all things beautiful and strange and Burton-esque, I made Spooky Halloween Onigiri for my Beetlejuice inspired post. ... I can completely see dancing sushi rice in the Burton universe, as well as onigiri decorated as spooks, bats, and Jack-O-Lanterns."

Carrie of Witchy Kitchen, host of the #Burtoween linkup, made Jamaican Banana Curry with Shrimp and Coconut Rice saying "The scene where Recently Deceased Adam and Barbara possess the Deetz’s garish dinner party with the Banana Boat song – culminating in attack of the shrimp cocktail – is pretty delightful. It inspired this Jamaican-style banana curry, with shrimp of course. I’ve never met a curry I didn’t love. I consulted this Jamaican Curry Powder recipe for an authentic mix of spices. The result was a haunting balance of sweet, salty and spicy; with some simple coconut rice, it was to die for!"

Even though Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures didn't find Beetlejuice to be quite her cup of tea, she was still inspired to make these fun Eyeball Cookies, saying, "After the scene when the Maitlands pull out their eyes to scare the Deetz family, I remembered some eyeball cookies I was eyeing (hehehe) when searching for a recipe for last week’s Taste of Home Tuesday inspiration. I ended up passing on the cookies that time, but they were perfect for Beetlejuice! I love when things work out!"

Heather of All Roads Lead to the Kitchen made these cute Easy Beetlejuice Truffles and said, "While there isn't a ton of food, it is very memorable. There is also piles of inspiration to be found in the dark, Halloweeny atmosphere. I had several ideas, but as the month flew by, I realized that I was almost out of time and chose something that was incredibly simple. Probably too simple. But hey, sometimes simple is just what we need.I used storebought Lindt white chocolate truffles and decorated them with colored decorating gel (you could also use frosting) to mimic some Betelgeuse traits...the black and white suit, the purple around the eyes."

Evelyne of CulturEatz made this fun and colorful Beetlejuice Swiss Roll Cake and said, "I am always super excited to present my big main Halloween post each year! And this year, with my goolish Halloween recipe, I got to knock down two skeletons with one big candy (ha ha). This post combines both the October 2016 challenges for Food ‘n Flix and the Daring Kitchen. The movie for Food ‘n Flix was Beetlejuice. The Daring Kitchen challenge was a decorated swiss roll cake. Hence, my evil mind gave birth to the scary themed Beetlejuice Swiss Roll Cake! Do you dare to take a bite?"

For Debbie of The Friday Friends, it was the dinner party scene, her son and daughter-in-law's urging and some misheard lyrics that inspired her Banana Slush Punch (you have to read her post for the fun story!). She said, "A frozen, slushy, banana flavored punch.

Perfect for kids. Unless you top it with a splash of rum--which is what I did. I always like a little splash of rum in my punch. This rum/banana punch fit the theme, even if it was a little predictable. It was a fun afternoon laughing at our lyrical mistakes.The movie was just as cute and fun as it was years ago. And that song? You can't get it out of your head!"

Debra of Eliot's Eats said, "As for the food inspiration, there wasn’t a lot. But, hey,  it’s the month of Halloween—scary cupcakes and gross dismembered finger appetizers abound. I felt sure that the Food ‘n Flix members would let their creative juices flow." Debra found inspiration for her Beetlejuice Cocktail in two things she spotted, "Betelgeuse conjures a carton of Minute Maid orange juice in his charade game with Lydia. (Hmmm….)" and "There’s what appears to be a decanter of brandy and a tray of lemon wedges by Ortho at the blood red bar. (Hmmm…) ... I was definitely inspired by the last two items mentioned above, the orange juice and brandy. I tried to think of something that would be appropriate for a Halloween cocktail party or something one could sip while watching this fun film."

Elizabeth of The Lawyer's Cookbook made darkly delicious homemade pasta for her Squid Ink Pasta and Shrimp and said, "I was inspired for this month’s recipe from Beetlejuice’s black and white striped suit. The squid ink pasta noodles, which are absolutely delicious, but look quite freaky being dark black, are representative of Beetlejuice’s signature outfit. I made the squid ink noodles from scratch, though I actually had a box of premade squid ink noodles in my cabinet. But I hadn’t made noodles from scratch in awhile and decided to go crazy this month."

Caroline from Caroline Makes made a fun Rocky Road Halloween Graveyard Cake and said, "If you haven't got much time for Halloween baking but want to make something as a treat, then look no further than this recipe. It would make a great centrepiece for a children's party - and goes down pretty well with adults too! The recipe comes from the Konditor & Cook recipe book 'Deservedly Legendary Baking'. It's basically a rocky road, arranged to look like a grave site, with some bones and skeleton hands coming out of the grave!"

   
Kimberly of Coffee and Casseroles made Stuffed Red Peppers saying, "One of my favourite scenes actually has nothing to do with the main cast, but with the sidekick Otho during the ending of the seance; where he's stripped of his dark cool looking suit and ends up in the powder blue nightmare 70's one. And I desperately was trying to come up with something for it. Sadly, my creative food writers block got bigger. But, as I was staring at the screen giving myself an ego attack, I thought about the blood red wedding dress Lydia gets "stuffed" into against her will. And I had it! So simple it hurts, but I made a really easy Stuffed Red Pepper."

Although not a fan of the movie, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm still found inspiration in the Zagnut bar scene and says, "I have never eaten a zagnut bar. I am not even sure they make them anymore. I did a google search and found that it is a candy bar made by the Hershey company that contains peanut butter and coconut. I like peanut butter and coconut. I have peanut butter and coconut in the house. I decided to make Zagnut Cookies. These are peanut butter cookies with toasted coconut added to the batter. I don't know if they taste anything at all like a zagnut bar but I do know that they are absolutely scrumptious. YUM!!!"

Finally here at Kahakai Kitchen, I joined those finding inspiration with the dinner party and the shrimp cocktail that comes alive. I decided to create Ghoulish Green Curry Chowder with Grilled "Scary Shrimp"--both because it sounded delicious and also because I wanted to capture the eerie green light of the afterlife and the ends of Beetlejuice's hair and a chowder full of veggie pieces conjured up the strange, almost junkyard feeling of the Maitland's model cemetery where Beetlejuice hangs out. The shrimp are scary because I left the heads, tails, and shells on--very delicious for the brave--but I did include some hard-boiled egg eyeballs if you'd rather get your protein that way!

What an amazing and scarily delicious virtual Beetlejuice party we had! Thank you to everyone who joined in this month. I only wish I could have sampled all of your ghoulish creations! 

If you missed October's Food 'N Flix event but you like food, films, and foodie films, consider joining us in November, when Caroline of Caroline Makes will be hosting with Burnt. (We can all give thanks for some Bradley Cooper!) ;-)