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My Girl

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My Girl

Image credit: My Girl, 1991

This week, I really had a hankering for a classic Bee’s Knees cocktail. And really, what better movie to watch with this honey-laden beverage than My Girl (DVD/Download).  After all, it’s the film where Macaulay Culkin kicks the bucket after a severe bee attack. As Dan Aykroyd tearfully informs us, “There were just too many…..” I could say the same about cocktails after a wild Saturday night.

I’m not sure if I should admit this, but my love of 60’s pop music originated from the My Girl soundtrack (on cassette, which I would play in my purple Casio while sitting on the cement stoop of our apartment. All. Summer. Long.) As a pre-teen bookworm living in Pennsylvania when this film came out in 1991, I strongly identified with Vada Sultenfuss. If you’ve ever been teased by mean girls, and/or had a weird relationship with the nerdiest kid in the class, and/or were oddly close to your English teacher (the only person who really gets you), then you understand the character of Vada. She’s dealing with the death of her mom, her dad’s remarriage to a free-spirited makeup artist (hey Jamie Lee Curtis, where ya been?), and the fact that she lives in a funeral parlor. It’s a lot for anyone. Luckily, she has a mood ring, Macaulay, and a showtune-singing grandma to ease the pain.

Perhaps it’s in bad taste to reference poor Thomas J’s bee allergy, but how can something bad taste this good? While watching My Girl, I recommend drinking a Bee’s Knees.

Bee’s Knees

2 oz gin

¾ Fresh Lemon Juice

½ oz Honey Syrup (equal parts honey and water, boiled then cooled)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Bees Knees

What’s the one soundtrack I loved more than My Girl? The My Girl 2 soundtrack. Elton John, Jackson Browne- it was the musical education I needed. I’m a little amazed that we haven’t had a My Girl 3 yet, since all the actors are still around, but maybe Dan Aykroyd is too busy making vodka to bother with playing an aging funeral director. I mean, I know which career I’d rather have. Cheers!

Home Alone

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Image credit 20th Century Fox, 1990, Home Alone

Image credit 20th Century Fox, 1990, Home Alone

Now that the Thanksgiving leftovers have been totally consumed, I can move on to more pressing matters- Christmas movies! And even more importantly, Christmas cocktails!! This week, I’m featuring one of my favorite childhood movies, Home Alone (DVD/Download). I have to admit, I watched this with some trepidation, worried that it would no longer appeal to my adult brain. I’m here to say, worry not- it’s still funny. Yes, Macaulay Culkin is pretty corny, but the chance to see Joe Pesci again in, well, anything, plus the late, great John Candy, PLUS comedic genius Catherine O’Hara outweighs the massive eye roll I have for Culkin’s trademark scream.

For anyone who has been living under a rock for the last twenty years, Home Alone tells the story of a young boy (played by Macaulay Culkin) who accidentally gets left behind at home while his family travels to Paris for the Christmas holiday. At first he revels in the freedom he has to eat junk food, watch violent films, and go through his siblings’ personal belongings. But eventually, loneliness sets in right around the time some petty thieves try to rob his home. He cleverly booby traps the house against the bumbling burglars, but in the end, it takes the help of an unlikely friend to really save him (like George Costanza, the old man gets to me too).

For my pairing, I’m going to pretend to be Kevin McCallister for a day. That’s right, I’m drinking sugary/chocolate-y cocktails and watching Home Alone, thus rotting my teeth and my brain. While watching Home Alone, I recommend drinking a Chocolate Peppermint Martini.

Chocolate Peppermint Martini

2 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur

2 oz vodka

1/2 oz peppermint schnapps

1 tablespoon half-and-half

Candy Cane and red decorating sugar

Combine liquid ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker and shake until chilled.  Meanwhile, rim your martini glass with a little bit of the peppermint schnapps, and dip into the red sugar.  Strain your cocktail into the prepared glass, and garnish with a candy cane.

chocolate-peppermint-martini

As we decorate our homes for Christmas, buy the presents, and make the travel plans, it can be tempting to throw our hands up and say, “Forget all of it, I’m staying home this year.”   This movie reminds me that despite the enormous headache that is Holiday Travel, I would really miss my family if I didn’t get to see them on Christmas.  However, if you are traveling this season, remember to come up with a plan of defense for your home- you never know when Joe Pesci will stick his head through the doggie door.  Cheers!