A few years ago, I finally left Orlando and moved back up to the Carolinas. It’s nice to have a change of seasons, to be closer to family, and I needed some distance from Walt Disney World. Now obviously I love Disney, but you can certainly get burned out, particularly when it’s so personal to you. So it’s been nice to get away so that the things that frustrated or hurt me don’t overpower the things I do enjoy. However, after a friend came to visit last year and we explored all these non-Disney things in the real world, I came to realize that perhaps I was distancing myself a bit too much, for a variety of reasons. So I decided to rewatch the classics. Specifically, to put down the phone, not to multitask, and to just relax and enjoy the films– in chronological order, beginning with Snow White.
Then I decided to make a whole evening out of it. I like to cook, but I don’t do it quite enough. It’s a nice creative outlet that’s a different type of creativity than art and design. Certainly, pairing appropriate meals to each movie would be a whole different type of creativity, as well, and would expand my cooking repertoire. Of course I would also design menus for each night, as that is just who I am. So I’ve been doing this for a while now, and it’s been a lot of fun. Recently, I came across a cookbook of a similar idea from Turner Classic Movies, which was a must-have, and it is fantastic! After getting this, a friend suggested I start a blog about the various themed movie nights I’ve been doing. I guess I’m a little old, as it didn’t really occur to me to write about it on the inter-webs, but I figured it would be kind of cool to share my little adventures and exercise my writing muscles in addition to my design and cooking skills.
I’m currently up to the Aristocats, so I guess I’ll start with that for my next post. So the blog won’t necessarily be in chronological order, or even exclusive to Disney movies, since I have the TCM book and also would love to do movies like Thoroughly Modern Millie. Some of the Disney movies I’ve already done should probably be re-visited, anyway. For example, I underestimated Fantasia and definitely need to turn that one into a multi course meal, given its length. So I’ll probably be a little all over the place. Plus, eventually I would love to do select live-action movies, too.
At any rate, it’s a kind of cool way to bring a little magic and delicious food and drinks into my life since I’m no longer 21 and hanging out at EPCOT all the time! We’ll see how well I do continuing to write about it!
-Tammy
Drawn to Dinner 