Milk Meets Nixon

The surprise winner of Sunday night's Golden Globes? "Milk Meets Nixon." No, your author isn't suffering from a champagne-fueled Jack Nicholson/Elizabeth Taylor-like moment. This unlikely pairing was a winner at the completely unauthorized, unofficial Golden Globes party I attended, far from Hollywood, in a cozy apartment in New York.

Our gracious host Randall, who is a bit of a movie nut and a contest junkie with a serious competitive streak, ordered invited guests to "bring a party dish that is not only delicious but also inspired by one of this year's GG nominees." Oh, #%@*, I thought. This ought to be fun—NOT.

But after bemoaning my plight to friends and coworkers, nearly all offered ideas, with gusto. Some even sounded a little sad that they wouldn't be going to said soirée. And it did turn out to be fun, even the judging part. Yes, the dishes were judged according to an elaborate scoring system devised by our host:

50% - Link/explanation to your dish and the chosen Golden Globe nominee. Written, clever explanations are encouraged.
35% - Taste.
15% - Presentation.

So, without further ado, the envelope please:

3rd Place: "Milk Meets Nixon": Apparently Nixon's favorite snack food was dried figs. (Really, not prunes?)  So guest Ken created mini semolina cakes made with "milk" and topped his creations with fig syrup.

2nd Place: "Harvey's Milk Pie": I was responsible for this tooth-rotting traditional "milk pie" flavored with "Harvey's Bristol Cream" sherry ... If you haven't seen "Milk", the protagonist's name is Harvey Milk. Terribly clever, right?

And the Golden Globe went to "In Bruges," another masterful creation by Ken. I'll give you his description verbatim: "Two Irish men find themselves enmeshed in the local customs of Bruges, Belgium. I took a very Irish ingredient (potatoes) and made a sandwich out of it. The filling between the two 'buns' are things that are not Irish to symbolize the two Irishmen being in a different culture." The three different fillings were tuna, chicken and avocado.

Honorable mentions should go to the delicious tortilla Espanola (in tribute to "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), "Revolutionary (Rocky) Road" (an ice cream/cake concoction), and "The Wrestler" (a cheese "ring" with lots of raspberry preserves in the middle, symbolizing, well, blood). The booby prize of the night goes to a plain (and untouched) carton of "Milk." Who brought that?!

Alas, I wasn't able to capture an image of this eclectic spread due to an unfortunate accident involving leakage from my milk pie, which hadn't quite set before we set out for the party. If you've ever wondered, cameras don't mix very well with sugary, milky syrup.

Now your author must sign off for a pre-bed diet of Tums. And hope my stomach recovers in time for the Oscars.

P.S. Did anyone else notice that whenever the camera panned an actor sitting at a table, the Moet label on the champagne was always turned so that you could read it? Did they have attendants running around to stage the champagne bottles after every glass of bubbly was poured? Now that's some serious product placement.