Looks like I forgot a few: like others, I tried Turkish Delight via Narnia - I don’t mind rose flavor, but the texture doesn’t work for me, too sticky and soft. I had read about it being jelly, and expected something more like a jellybean, or maybe gummy bear - harder, chewable. Not really a fan.
Also, I have Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, the companion cookbook to the Aubrey/Maturin series, and I can honestly say I would never have made a Sea Pie, Neeps Hackitt with Balmogowry, Lobscouse, or a Cabinet Pudding without that series/cookbook.
Redwall gets credit for Deeper’n’Ever Turnip’n’Tater’n’Beetroot Pie too. If the companion cookbook to that wasn’t such rubbish (well, no, just aimed at dibbuns), I’d have had a lot more Redwall fare too.
Aaaaand I had the Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern as a kid, and my sister and I made ‘klah’ and bubbly pies, albeit with Earthly ingredients. Man, I’d forgotten about that - I’ve been a cooking nerd longer than I remembered…
I don’t remember the movie–wait, maybe I do–I think it was Pretty Woman, actually, where they eat fresh strawberries dropped into champagne. So romantic in a tacky kind of way! Must try!
What is not awesome about calzones? They’re more variable than pizza, so maybe you just had a “meh” one. A great calzone is better than a great pizza, though.
Being a huge fan of The Big Lebowski, there was no way I could pass up the chance to dine at an In-N-Out Burger when I happened upon one during a visit to the US… I really was actually impressed at how nice they were, even if they didn’t have any lettuce on them. They really were some good burgers.
Another one from a book that my book club read. We always have a potluck dinner and often try to bring foods related to the book in some way. A couple of years ago the club read Peace Like a River, which takes place in North Dakota. We were a little short on ideas for North Dakota cuisine, but the book did mention in passing a dessert called Bob Andy pie. My wife and I Googled it, it sounded good, so we made it. It was sort of a custard pie, and was GREAT.
The rose aspect of the jelly is greatly toned down, and the chocolate is thick and rich. I find “proper” turkish delight to be horrifically cloying, but I love me some Fry’s Turkish Delight bars.
Turkish Delight comes in a number of different flavors, at least at the Persian Deli I shop at occasionally [mrAru loves the stuff. I prefer the rose flavored, he prefers the orange flavored. I eat maybe 2 pieces a year …]
In “National Velvet”, they had for dessert Castle Puddings, small cakes baked in ramekins, topped with custard or jam. Simple to make - they sell Bird’s custard mix in the furrin foods section of the grocery, to make and put on cake and such. In “Poldark”, set in Cornwall in the 1700’s, one of the women made a Stargazy Pie - a fish pie, using whole fish, heads and all, set into holes in the crust so they’re looking upwards. I didn’t make this, but whenever I used to see small fish in the fish store, that’s what I thought of…
I wanted to try jelly babies after watching Doctor Who, the Tom Baker season. Finally did manage to get hold of some; nothing fantastic but it was just fun to have done.
I was 13 when Twin Peaks was on the air, and I tried to cultivate a love for cherry pie and coffee in honor of Dale Cooper. The cherry pie was easy; the coffee was gross. (I still don’t like coffee.)
We went to a Sci Fi Convention,and there were drunken costumed boys roaming the halls with thermoses they claimed were filled with Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, and they were generous enough to share. I don’t know what was in them, but they were damn good.
I made myself a beer milkshake because Doc drinks one in Cannery Row, and Lister orders one in Red Dwarf. I used homebrewed stout and vanilla ice cream and it was…well, pretty terrible. But I survived and got a story out of the experience, so I count it as a success.
I used to drink Pepto Bismol (generic store brand version IIRC) and whiskey pretty often, after the idea of Joe Don Baker mixing it up suchlike in “Cape Fear” (the remake).
I can’t remember if it was my idea or a friend’s, but it was, unsurprisingly, called “The Cape Fear.”
Also, warm gin on inspiration from “The Days of Wine and Roses.”
That’s funny, because I specifically mentioned Fry’s as one that’s bad! I’ll still eat it, mind you, but it has about the same relation to real turkish delight as cheap Easter-basket jelly beans have to Jelly Belly beans. (The Wikipedia article, BTW, points out that jelly bean goo is basically the same as turkish delight goo.)
I just did some comparison shopping and found some turkish delight (made in Turkey!) on Amazon for much cheaper than Liberty Orchards, which I linked to earlier (the Aplet and Cotlet company). I just ordered eight one-pound boxes of turkish delight! I would totally have fallen for the White Wich! It’ll keep, and I can take a couple of boxes into work, so with free SuperSaver shipping it works out to a pretty good deal! Much cheaper than betraying Aslan and condemning my eternal soul (though unlike Susan who used lipstick, Edmund got saved in the end, so I guess he got a refund!)
I got half assorted plain with nuts and half assorted rose, mint & lemon. [del]You know, because sometimes…[/del] (Oops, wrong candy!) I can’t wait! Yep, I’d have been in that sleigh in a Calormene minute.
I went to Disneyworld with my brother and his family a couple of years ago. So when they had ratatouille in the buffet at one of the restaurants, we had to try it. (Although I suspect it wasn’t the same recipe as in the movie.)
Finally did manage to get hold of some; nothing fantastic but it was just fun to have done.