The Family Stone
The Family Stone is one of those movies that I have to watch every year– usually late at night with no one around to see me ugly cry. It’s tradition.
At the outset of my first viewing experience, I honestly didn’t have high expectations. Yet another holiday movie with a star-studded ensemble cast? “What’s so great about you guys??” But said cast, for the most part, is SO DAMN GOOD at what they do. This movie features typecasting for the purposes of screwball comedy at its best. Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith, the uptight outsider who visits her bf’s super close family for the first time, is wonderful– as is Diane Keaton in her role as the perfectly sassy matriarch much beloved by her husband and children (and especially youngest mini-me meanie daughter Amy, played by my hero Rachel McAdams). The physical comedy, the uncomfortable conversations, and the poignancy of parent to child interaction during times of heartbreak and loss is all captured so authentically that you can’t help but apply and compare The Family Stone to your own life in ways that make you laugh and sob. You almost never even notice Everett (Dermot Mulroney) being the most annoying human on the face of the earth!
If you haven’t seen The Family Stone yet, I hope you give it a try this holiday season, along with the recipes I’ve included below. Good news is, they should almost all be made the night before, so you can still indulge in a little late night blubbering while you watch.
Let the wild rumpus start!
The Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fl9jRAK30M
The Menu
In the Stone house, everyone knows the rule about leaving a full pot of coffee for Sybil. And you never take her mug. While coffee brews, heat your egg nog and bourbon in a small saucepan over low heat until hot. Add nutmeg and cinnamon and stir to combine. Mix with coffee and pour into the biggest, artsy looking ceramic mug you can find. Garnish with cinnamon sticks. Strata-- a Morton family tradition and delicious breakfast main. I dunno what the hell recipe her family was following but that egg to bread ratio looked a little off. Here is a more standard recipe featuring all her key Mediterranean ingredients. Except mushrooms, of course. Because Everett has to ruin everything. Allow the bread to soak overnight while you fly your freak flag at a local dive bar. Just don't spill it all over yourself before you pop it in the oven the next morning, or you'll smell like puke. On the day before you plan to breakfast, assemble your strata. Begin with the bread-- if you're feeling as anal and uptight as Meredith pre-beer, and you have the appropriately shaped cookie cutter, cut out some star shapes for the top of your strata. They kind of show up. The rest of the bread you can cut/tear into 1 inch pieces. Set aside for about an hour, uncovered, to dry out a bit. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat and saute your onions and peppers until slightly softened. Then, in a large bowl, mix your egg, milk, half and half, salt, pepper, and oregano. Whisk just as fast as your wrist allows-- juuust fast fast fast fast fast. Now, time to layer your strata. Grease an 11x7 baking dish with the remaining olive oil, and line the bottom with a solid layer of torn bread-- there should not be many spaces between pieces. Sprinkle liberally with 1/3 of your cheese, followed by peppers, onions, and tomato slices. Repeat this layering process once more, followed by a last, more spread out layer of bread stars. Top with last 1/3 of cheese. Pour your egg mix over your layers of bread, pressing slightly on the top to make sure everything is fully soaked through. Cover that sucker and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. THE MORNING AFTER-- remove from the fridge and top off with your kalamata olives, a touch more oregano, more parmesan, and then allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat your oven and bake your strata until the crust becomes a golden brown and the egg has set, about 55 minutes. Plenty of time for sibling fisticuffs in advance of eating. Simple to make yet complex in flavor, this compote has a frozen stone fruit for each of the Stone siblings-- cherry for Amy (obviously), a peach for cute as a button Thaddeus, blackberry for black sheep Ben, strawberry for Susannah (I don't know why...), and mango for Everett (the son who wants to be exotic and interesting but fails miserably. I hate Everett). Anchor this all in a bowl with a tart base of greek yogurt and top with cinnamon-y granola that both Sybil and Kelly would enjoy. Gather your fruits-- since stone fruits tend to be in season for the summer, go for frozen. If the strawberries are a bit big, feel free to half or quarter them so they are a bit more consistent in size with your smaller fruits. Add to a pot with all other compote ingredients (up to the orange juice) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, allowing the natural pectin of the fruit to thicken. Using a potato masher, gently mash some of the larger chunks of fruit for a slightly smoother consistency. Set aside to cool, and refrigerate until ready for serving. Now time for granola! Mix oats, pepitas, spices, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl-- use your fingers to break up any clumps if your coconut oil is still solid. Spread onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. You should have about a cup and a half of granola. When it's time for breakfast, spoon compote over a bowl of greek yogurt and top with crunchy granola. It's almost like you're a healthy person! Time for more spiked eggnog coffee... No holiday is complete without chocolate. We never meet Aunt Milly in The Family Stone, but her brownies have a couple of cameos-- the most notable of which involves two of the Stones getting stoned. And since I can't make actual pot brownies, I went for an interesting infusion of rosemary. It's DELIGHTFUL. All credit given to Aube Giroux at PBS-- this is her Rosemary Rye brownie recipe, with just a couple of tweaks. Hey look it's all your ingredients! Melt butter and chocolate until smooth, either in a double boiler or via microwave-- if using the latter technique, just microwave in 30 second installments with stirs in between. Whisk in half the sugar and the salt. Allow to come to luke warm temperature. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, remaining sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Pour half of the melted chocolate mix, stirring constantly, so that your eggs don't overheat from the chocolate. Pour in remaining chocolate mix and stir to fully incorporate. Sift your flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder, and add rosemary. Now, combine your wet and dry ingredients, adding the nuts last. Pour brownie batter into an 8x8 baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake your brownies at 350 for about 30 minutes, checking at 20 and 25 to make sure they're not over-cooking-- the middle should be SLIGHTLY jiggle still for a fudgy brownie, and a toothpick should come out with moist crumbs. Let brownies cool in the pan when done, and enjoy with any other substance you choose, no judgement here. Dammit I miss California.
Coffee for Sybil
Ingredients
Instructions
Morton Family Strata
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Instructions
Stone Fruit Compote
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Instructions
Aunt Milly's Famous Brownies (Rosemary and Rye)
Ingredients
Instructions
Epilogue
Without spoiling the film, I wanted to get a little serious and include a link to a list of breast cancer research organizations and charities to which you can donate this holiday season or really any day of the year– because there’s never a wrong time to say Fuck Cancer.
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!