Holiday Inn

One of our family Christmas traditions is watching the Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire movie "Holiday Inn," which we did last night. Bing Crosby claims he's broke, but lives in a cavernous Connecticut farmhouse with a servant and just happens to have in his barn everything from a full professional stage, to satin hearts the size of monster truck tires to a riverboat prop complete with an hologram of Lincoln in the paddle wheel (the centerpiece of a cringe-inducing blackface number that the TV version usually edits out). All of this allows him to stage improbably lavish shows each holiday, the only days his inn is open.

The movie introduced the Irving Berlin song "White Christmas" and also served as the inspiration for motel chain by the same name. Here's a clip.

Yes, this is a food blog, and I'm getting to that. There are some great culinary scenes in the movie. My favorite is the New Year's Eve bit in which Bing and his winsome love interest (rivalry over whom with Astaire is the core of the story) sing as they assembly plates for guests. I especially love the ridiculously huge wooden salad bowl that looks like it was carved from a giant Sequoia. Just had it laying around somewhere.

And then there's Bing's Thanksgiving dinner just before he gets up his gumption and heads to Hollywood to reclaim his girl. It looks so good you're dying for him to eat it, but not a morsel passes between his lips.