Bill & Ted's Excellent Movie Night (#96)

This month's movie was originally scheduled for September, but we go hit by Hurricane Helene that same weekend, so it got pushed back. The film is Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, a childhood favorite of mine. For the meal, I definitely had options. There's a scene with Genghis Khan where he is eating meat off a bone, so something like turkey legs or ribs would have been fitting. If I had done that, I would have seasoned it with Mongolian sauces or spices. Another option would have been to do mall foods like corndogs or Orange Julius based on the mall scene that happens later in the scene.

Instead, I decided to base the meal on the beginning of the film, when strange things are afoot at the Circle K. That scene is iconic and so is the store. Circle K was one of the early convenience stores of the day. They weren't gas stations back then, just one stop shops to get food or rent a movie. Based on my research, they did have deli sandwiches back then, so I decided to base our meal around that.

We had fresh hoagie rolls that I preordered from the local grocery store. Guests made their own sandwiches with a selection of deli meats, toppings, and condiments. Because this happened to fall close to Thanksgiving, I made some stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce that could be paired with the sliced turkey to make thanksgiving subs.

I had planned on also making slushies, like you would find at a Circle K or similar convenience store. I found a great recipe online, but my blender struggled to blend ice, so it did not come to fruition.

Zyggie Piggy

For dessert, the choice was obvious. We had to recreate the Zyggie Piggy dessert that Napoleon ate during the film. In the film, it appears to be a giant ice cream sundae. Upon examining screenshots from the film, I spotted graham crackers, marshmallows, whipped cream and cherries. I also noticed that the ice cream was vibrantly colored. When I went to the store, I couldn't find ice cream with those same colors, but I did notice that the sherbert was very colorful. I ended up grabbing lime, raspberry, and orange sherbet for their vibrant colors.

To build the Zyggie Piggy, I started with a large bowl and lined the inside of the bowl with whole graham crackers. Then I scooped in a bunch of the sherbet that I had. Then I started adding the toppings. 

In addition to the toppings that brought, I encouraged guests to bring some of their own toppings to go in what was essentially a group sundae. Some of what that they brought were gummy worms, popping candy, thin mints, chocolate pretzels and caramel amongst other things. Then we topped all of that with whipped cream and cherries. To serve, guests used a large spoon to scoop what they wanted into a personal bowl.

In the end, this was sugary and sweet, but not too overpowering. I believe that my last minute decision to use sherbet instead of ice cream was a great choice. Sherbet is a bit like a frozen juice and is therefore not as thick and heavy on the gut as a regular ice cream would have been. This made it easier to eat and less intimidating. If you were to make your own Zyggie Piggy, I would encourage you to go the sherbert route as well.

 

After dessert and before we returned to the film, I had a little surprise for everyone. In the film, Napoleon is recognized for eating the dessert and is given a pin identifying him as a "ziggie piggy." I found an image online that resembled the pin and had it printed as large stickers, which I gave to my guests, identifying each of us as a zyggie piggy. After we got our stickers, we had to do a group "piggy pic."

 

Overall, I feel the night was a great success. Even without the slushies, the theme worked and the food was good. Before dinner, we played the video game Rock Band as a nod to theme of Bill and Ted trying to form a band despite not knowing how to play. This is definitely a movie night that I would recommend for anyone.