Let's Go To The Movies!

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Do you remember the first movie you saw in the theater?  I remember mine. It was Grease, and boy, was I obsessed with that movie. I used to spend hours at a time looking at the album cover, which was shaped like a table setting at a classic 1950s diner, while listening to the music and imagining I was at the Frosty Palace with the gang from Rydell High. My friends and I all liked to act out all the parts and pretend we were fifties characters just like the pink ladies.

Going to the movie theater is like a rite of passage through childhood. As young kids, it’s a big outing with mom and dad, and as kids get older the movie theater becomes an option for kids to hang out with their friends on their own. These days, now that there are DVDs and you can watch movies online in the comfort of your own home, you may not get out to see all the summertime blockbusters in the theater. But whatever their age and wherever you watch, kids love movie snacks like buttery popcorn, pretzel bites and, of course, the candy!

When I was a kid, we used to fill up a paper shopping bag with freshly popped and buttered popcorn, and take it to the drive-in theater along with sodas and other treats. Or at the regular theater, I remember taking what seemed like hours to select my candy. Back then it didn’t come in a supersize box, so I could have a package of Milk Duds or Snow Caps all to myself. Nowadays movie snacks and candy have become so expensive that many people skip them altogether or sneak some in from home.

But we all know that it’s tough to replicate that movie theater popcorn taste at home! The distinctive taste comes from popping the corn in partially hydrogenated coconut oil and adding artificial butter flavoring and lots of salt. Of course once you read all the ingredients you might decide to opt for movie popcorn as a very rare treat anyway.

Then there are all those distinct movie candies: Junior Mints, Mike & Ikes, Dots, Raisinets, Goobers, Snowcaps, and Milk Duds. My siblings and I used to finish our boxes of candy before the movie even started, but these candies now come in large sized boxes that could last the whole movie through. One treat you could make at home that is the perfect small size to snack on through a whole movie is Puppy Chow. This snack combines peanut butter and chocolate with crispy rice cereal for a treat kids love to help make and eat.

Movies are such as big part of childhood that kids have movie inspired theme parties and field trips, but have you ever thought of cooking some foods from your kids favorite movies? The options are endless! From Harry Potter’s butterbeer, to a spaghetti tornado like in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, a kids movie full of comically over-sized eats, to Popeye’s spinach, to Willy Wonka’s river of chocolate, you could create a whole menu of movie food favorites. Movies are full of larger than life ideas when it comes to food.
 
We recently took our three year old to his first theater movie, Cars 2, and he loved every minute of the experience (even though his first attempt at sitting in the seat, it folded up on him!). But it's fun to try to recreate the magic of the big screen at home. All you need is some movie inspired treats, a great flick, and your favorite kids!

Serves/Makes: 10

• 2 liters creme soda
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 10 Werthers original candies