Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Olivia Pope?
Gladiators, are you ready??? Scandal season 4 is right around the corner, and I can’t wait! I’ve mentioned in the past that I love me a good trashy reality show, but Scandal is another guilty pleasure that always made me super excited for Thursday nights. In this post, I’ll be covering my menu and plan of attack for my Scandal Season 4 viewing party.
Menu Planning
To come up with a fun menu, I took a minute and re-played my favorite Scandal characters and moments in my head. Here’s my partial list.
- Olitz in the Oval Office
- Mellie drinking
- Huckleberry Quinn
- Olivia drinking wine and eating popcorn
- Cyrus going berserk
- Mention of Vermont and jam making
- Jake and Olivia stand in the sun together
From here, I started thinking of how to relate these to food. Some were easy (i.e. red wine and popcorn) while others took a little more creativity (a Scandal season 4 viewing party would not be complete without some love triangle cookies J). Since Scandal airs at 9 pm (it got bumped up due to another intriguing Shonda Rhimes show, How to Get Away with Murder), I didn’t want to plan a full-out dinner but more like snacks and small plates. And I didn’t want to spend forever in the kitchen, so I looked for recipes that could be prepared in advance.
My Scandal Season 4 Viewing Party Menu
Olive-ia Pope tapenade: Cheesy but appropriate. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fig-and-Olive-Tapenade/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
Grilled ham & cheese with strawberry red wine jam: Three words – red wine jam. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/grilled-ham-and-cheese-with-strawberry-red-wine-jam
Popcorn balls: Sweet, spicy, with a little exotic twist thrown in for good measure. http://dailyburn.com/life/recipes/coconut-curry-popcorn-balls/
Love triangle cookies: Need I say more? http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2012/03/buttery-hamantaschen/, http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2010/02/hamantaschen-apricot-filling/
Verdict?
To be 100% honest, I was happier with the idea of my menu items than the actual taste. Everything together was SO sweet. Halfway through my grilled cheese sandwich, I realized that I didn’t pick any salty or really savory items to balance it out. My bad.
My favorite menu item had to be the fig and olive tapenade. It had a little sweetness from the dried figs that was balanced by the balsamic vinegar and the saltiness from the olives. Plus, cream cheese makes everything taste better.
I also liked the love triangle cookie recipe (real name: Hamantaschen). The cookie was nice and buttery, but I made the mistake of using apricot jam instead of the homemade apricot filling that Tori recommends. The jam ended up melting and oozing out of the cookie (just like Tori warned!), and it made the cookie soft and cloyingly sweet. Luckily, I filled half of the batch with Nutella and those were delicious!
My least favorite? The grilled ham and cheese with strawberry red wine jam. I wanted to love it for the name alone, but it didn’t live up to it. I think part of the problem was the bread I used – I bought a loaf of white bread from a Chinese bakery I’d never been to before. Probably not a good idea. The bread was sweet by itself and had a strange crumbly texture that was more like cake than bread. I think this made the sandwich taste like dessert, which was not what I was expecting at all. If you end up trying this recipe, try it with the brioche like the recipe says and let me know how it turns out. Maybe it’s worth giving another shot…
Other Menu Ideas
Given my not-so-fabulous menu, here are some other ideas that would be equally fun for your very own Scandal season 4 viewing party:
- Popcorn bar – Olivia’s fave! Pop your own bucket of plain popcorn and buy different flavorings for you and your guests to customize their own favorite flavors or blends.
- Luau – grab some takeout from your favorite Hawaiian plate lunch spot and get your island food on. After all, we know that Olivia and Jake are on a tropical island somewhere…. Right?
- Wine or scotch tasting – If drinking is more your thing, why not try a red wine tasting a la Olivia Pope? Or for a stiffer menu, try a scotch tasting a la Fitz.
Soundtrack:
Any Scandal season 4 viewing party wouldn’t be complete without a party soundtrack. After doing a quick search on Spotify, I found a fun Scandal playlist that’ll instantly have you reminiscing that time when the gladiators handled it (whatever it happened to be in each episode, lol). Have this playing in the background while you’re getting your party together, preparing your menu, and when your guests arrive. It’ll be sure to get everyone in the mood for some good times ahead!
http://open.spotify.com/user/1154101011/playlist/2Y38vDWGwY4HLZbZqXLvfw
Check out my next post where I’ll share more fun goodies to throw your own Scandal season 4 viewing party!