Hunger Games

Somehow on a whim we decided to watch this movie and the rest of the series. I think we didn't have a new released movie to watch, so we searched some movies and this one was a perfect candidate. The girls are at the age to understand the movie more. Tyler and I have seen the movies, but we also have read the books too. The movies are good, but there is definitely lots that is missing and we felt like we had to explain some to the girls. Overall, they enjoyed the series and ended up watching all of them. Hopefully they will read the books and get more from them.

If you don't know anything about these books/movies, they take place in a dystopian future in which North America is divided into 12 Districts and where one boy and one girl are forced to participate in a televised deadly Hunger Games. Some of these Districts are wealthier than others. District 12 in which our main characters are from is one of the poorer districts that is also centered around mining. The main character Katniss in the movie is great with a bow and arrow and in order to have food needs to hunt. Even when she enters the Hunger Games, she is seen hunting and cooking her food over a fire. With that in mind, we decided to have our own hunted "squirrel", which was really chicken skewers. They turned out perfect as they looked like they were cooked over the fire and they tasted delicious as well. We paired it with a nice spinach salad and then either sweet potato fries, curly fries or tater tots (depending on the person's request). Overall, well received dinner and fit the theme perfectly!

There was no way we were not going to have a drink that did not catch on fire for this theme! As Katniss is repeatedly known as the Girl on Fire. And that is because her stylist, yes stylist (once they are picked for the Hunger Games, the capital goes all out) has her dresses turn to fire during her chariot ride in front of the people who live in the capital. We looked up some drinks and had some 151 already on hand, which is the alcohol known to catch on fire. However, our 151 decided it didn't want to work as it would not ignite for us. So our drink was a bust! We did however, get the girls to light up. We researched how to do it without using alcohol and soaking a sugar cube in lemon oil does the trick. To make the color match with ours, we used Dr. Pepper and then placed the soaked lemon filled sugar cube on top of some ice and it worked like a charm. They didn't necessarily enjoy the smokey flavor that was leftover once removing the sugar cube, but hey it still worked!

There are multiple parts in the book/movie that had Nightlock berries which are poisonous if eaten and I wanted to incorporate this into our dessert. I was really in the mood for some cheesecake and also happen to be at Costco who has a delicious one. I didn't want to bake one myself, so I went with a premade one. I did however, make the blueberry compote topping as our Nightlock berries. I didn't put it on all of the cheesecake as I knew I would have some girls who would not like it, so it was there if desired. The cheesecake with the Nightlock berries was delicious! My girls don't like cheesecake for whatever reason and suffered through eating some of it as they had to try it. Oh well, there was more for Tyler and me and also some other close family members (since its Costco size) to enjoy.

Disclaimer

These are my opinions, and not necessarily the same opinions of any organization I am affiliated with. Because I’m always adding new content to my blog, I may change my mind about a few older topics. I am not responsible for the comments my readers leave and I have the right to delete comments. The content on my blog is generated for entertainment and informative purposes, but not to be perceived as professional advice. Lastly, I am not offering any endorsements.