Sunday, January 24, 2016

Failure to Launch Guava Smasher for #FoodnFlix


This month's Food n Flix is hosted by my friend, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures.  Amy chose the romantic comedy Failure to Launch as the Flix for this month and sent out an announcement post 
inviting us to join her.

All you have to do is watch the movie before the end of the month.  Create a dish or drink or snack that was inspired by the movie.  Blog about it and share it with the rest of us by emailing Amy who will be creating a submission post linking to the blogs of those who participated.

I had never seen nor heard of the movie Failure to Launch.  I kind of live under a rock I guess.  It came out in 2006.  That was 10 years ago!  I'm not sure what I was doing 10 years ago but I guess I wasn't keeping up with the current movies.  You would think it would have gotten my attention.  It has a great cast, Matthew McCounoughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Bates, Zooey Deschanel, Terry Bradshaw and Bradley Cooper to name a few.

Image result for failure to launch


Sarah Jessica Parker is hired by Matthew McCounaughy's parents, Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw, to get him to move out of their house.  Sarah Jessica Parker's character calls this phenomenon of adult son's refusing to leave the nest as "Failure to Launch".  

The movie is predictable but it had me laughing out loud quite often and has great side stories that are also very predictable but no less fun for that.  The supporting cast is fantastic and I ended up really enjoying this movie.

It is not a foodie movie but there was plenty of food.  Starting with Matthew McCounaughy stepping onto a bag of tortilla chips before going down to a full breakfast cooked by his Mom of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon.  There is cereal, melon, bananas and apples.  Their is wine and margaritas served with tacos. guacamole and black beans.  There were BBQ scenes, restaurant scenes and a lunch scene on a sailboat that went awry with the lovely baguette and green beans being thrown into the sea. 

Image result for failure to launch

They enjoy sushi, crabs, and peanut butter and jelly on white bread.  There are hot dogs and peanuts enjoyed at the ball game. There is a lovely roast beef dinner, prepared by McCounaughy and served to his parents and Sarah Jessica Parker during which he confronts them with the fact that they were all scheming against him.

Now, for those of you who know me, it will come as no surprise that my inspiration came from the BBQ scene at the very beginning of the movie where a group of friends are all gathered and lamenting the fact that they are NOT suffering empty nest syndrome.  The hostess comes out with Guava Smashers and passes them out before announcing that they were able to get their son to move out after introducing him to the "right girl".  This gave Bates and Bradshaw the inspiration to hire Parker and gave me the inspiration to research Guava Smashers.

Image result for guava smasher

It appears that the drink is actually a Whiskey Smasher, and any seasonal or favorite fruit can be used when making it.  I chose to use Guava in staying with the theme of the movie but also because I have never had Guava before.  I told you I live under a rock!!

A Whiskey Smash is kind of like a Mint Julep wherein you muddle mint and sugar together, but with the Whiskey Smash you use lemon instead of lime and you can add in fruit of your choice if you wish.


As I was saying, I had never had guava before so I asked Frank to stop on his way home from work one day to pick some up for me.  He brought home 2 for which he paid $8. No wonder I have never had them before LOL.  They were creamy white inside instead of pink as is shown in the picture I found on google that I posted above but further research showed that they are more frequently creamy white.  

I don't know what guavas are supposed to be like so I wasn't sure if they were ripe.  They were hard and when I tried to juice them using a juicer nothing happened.  So I peeled them, threw them in the food processor and hit puree.  Now I had thick pulp but still no juice.  I added some water, pureed some more and then forced the mixture through a fine sieve into a glass.  It was tart but Whiskey Smashers call for sugar with the lemon and mint so I figured that might be okay.  They also said cranberries were a popular fruit to use and they are tart so I figured tart is okay.

We put the sugar, mint and lemon into a glass, muddled it, added ice, added 2 oz. each of whiskey and guava and stirred it up.  I took a drink.  Frank took a drink.  We frowned at each other and took another drink.  The second drink was better.  By the time I finished this drink I had decided that it was a new favorite.  I am normally a vodka/tonic drinker but I really liked the brightness and flavor of this Guava Smasher.  Frank thought they were okay but that he would stick to his Crown on the Rocks.

Frank is on a mission now to find prepared guava juice so we can try them with the packaged stuff to see how they compare.  I'll let you know.

Guava Smashers

4 oz. guava juice (read above to see how I juiced the guava)
4-6 sprigs of mint
2 quarters of a half a lemon
2 t. sugar
4 oz. whiskey

Muddle 2 or 3 sprigs of mint, 1 chunk of lemon and 1 t. sugar into the bottom of 2 cocktail glasses. Add 2 oz of whiskey and 2 oz. of guava juice to each glass.  Stir to combine.  Garnish with lemon twist or a slice of guava if desired.  Print Recipe






17 comments:

  1. I honestly don't know how they get juice out of a guava!! I've eaten it fresh and I've bought guava juice. But how you get from one to the other eludes me. But I like your recipe. I'll have to give it a try. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Cam, adding the water seemed to work...at least the drink tasted delicious, but I am anxious to try it using guava juice and see how much of a difference that makes. Are guava's $8 a lb by you too?

      Delete
  2. I love that you chose the Guava Smasher!!! I totally want to try one now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. One thing I know for sure...you persevere! Sounds good!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I heard whiskey. I think I need to try this now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that you took such a risk, using a fruit you hadn't used before and then just MAKING it work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Elizabeth, I was quite happy with the results. But it really wasn't that great of a risk, I had plenty of time to change my game plan and make something else LOL

      Delete
  6. Guavas are such a pain to work with. I have made jam and puree but it is always a chore due to the hard seeds so if I am making drinks I buy Kern's guava nectar and take the easy way out. ;-) I am glad you made the Guava Smash--I hoped someone would! Fun!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is funny I almost bought guavas yesterday but did not as I did not know how to pick them lol. But the cocktail looks awesome. Again, my condolences. Did not have time to post till now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Evelyne. I am at peace knowing that Mom is whole and happy again. I was glad Frank bought the Guavas. I have no idea if they were ripe but the cocktail was delicious.

      Delete
  8. Does anyone know where the restaurant is located by the sea with boats moored? I believe they were eating crabs there.

    ReplyDelete

I enjoy getting comments and feedback from my audience. Please let me know what you think, keeping in mind that we are all entitled to our own beliefs and opinions. I am happy to hear yours as long as they are stated nicely.