A Close Encounter

Dinner and a movie night is back folks.  This time on the menu, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

A couple of weeks ago we had our BiFFs over for dinner and a movie night.  Which, in case you missed the February 7th post, is a stay at home double date where one couple hosts.  We pick a movie someone hasn't seen and try to fix this injustice to mankind.  We watch it and have a themed dinner. Super fun.  And I.  Love. Themes.

So, if you have never seen this movie, you are going to be a little lost in this blog post.  I will try to help you out as best I can.  At worst, you will get some great recipes.

For starters, we had some "Hotter Than Devil's Tower Jalapenos".  They weren't really THAT hot.  But it's a good name.  For those of you not in the know, Devil's Tower is that tall thing in the picture under the ginormous space ship.  It's a real place in Wyoming.  I don't think the space ship is there though...

Stuffed Jalapenos

We cooked ours in the oven instead of on the grill.  Still delicious.  I was so mad though...I forgot the tomatoes and cilantro on top.  I'm pretty sure that was going to take these to the next level.

For dinner...a little "What's on the Side of the Road" Pineapple Ginger Flank Steak.  I can't really go into detail about the name without spoiling the movie.  Delicious.

Pineapple Ginger Flank Steak

And how would dinner be complete without a mashed potato bar!  There is a very famous scene in the movie where Richard Dreyfuss has a come apart of his very own at the dinner table.  With mashed potatoes.  It's awesome.

So we had some of our own (mashed potatoes, not nervous breakdowns).  Sadly, I was so excited to fix mine, I forgot to take pictures.  But it was kind of like this.

Our toppings included:

bacon

cheese

jalapenos

green onions

garlic

butter

sour cream

Make it your own.  And definitely serve in the martini glass.  It's a mashtini!  

For dessert....First of all, do you remember these things?

Oh, my gosh.  There were several flavors but they were all stupid except for the raspberry ones.  Well, I found a Zinger cake.  Oh yes.  I will figure out a way to work this into the movie.

This cake was so good.  (DEFINITELY refrigerate it before you eat it.)  

So this is....wait for it.  "I Saw a UFO" cake.  Get it!?  You don't?  The scene in the movie...where Richard Dreyfuss sees a UFO and then his face gets sunburned...but only on the side that was exposed to the UFO. 

 NOW, do you get it? Haha...I could do this all day.

Let's not forget our beverages.  Tasty Alien Secretions.  OK, the name is not so tasty.  Actually they called it Alien Pee.  So I really brought it up a notch.

Alien Secretions

Have you recently had a close encounter?  I mean with your friends, not with aliens (although if you have, I'd love to hear about that!)  Enjoy time with friends, it's what really mattes.  Close Encounters taught us that we are not alone. We're not meant to be.  That's for sure.

~K