Honestly, I was a little perplexed when I saw that Ghostbusters (2016) was the October Food ‘n Flix feature.   Obviously, I was aware of the Halloween spooky tie-in.  But, food?

I hadn’t seen the film before and was anxious to watch not only for food, but for references and allusions to the 1984 classic original.

Let’s just say it was a fun ride.  (More about that later.)  More importantly, let’s get right to the food. Here’s what I picked up on:

• “I have one wonton! I have a tub of soup and one split wonton!…There isn’t even any meat in there. That’s just a carrot.”
• “Soup Crisis” (as Erin responds to Abby’s wonton rant)
• “Looks like one of those things that makes cotton candy” (in reference to the P.K.E. Meter)
• Pringles–“salty parabolas”
• Starbucks (as in a “Perfectly good bathroom”)
• Chinese restaurant
• Hot and sour shrimp soup
• “Ooooh….cream and sugar”  (Abby’s remark in subway as they witness the electrified ghost.)
• Coffee with sugar (à la Kevin.  BTW, Kevin hates coffee.)
• Papa John’s Pizza
• “Chicken frying itself in the library”
• Soup and salad: “things worth living for”
• “It smells like burnt baloney and regrets down here.”
• Sandwiches in the lab
• Wine and sashimi with the mayor
• Hot dog cart
• Stay Puft marshmallow man
• Ice cream as Kevin mutters on the floor of the Mercado
• Kevin eating a sandwich
• “Potatoes/tomatoes”
• Beers
• Final Chinese food delivery:  “I’m just looking for a reasonable ratio of wontons to broth.  This is absolute madness.”
• Nut cracker (for walnuts)

So color me slime green when I realized just how much food was in this film.    I was tempted to make a slimy cocktail as an homage to Slimer, who appears in both the 1984 and the 2016 versions.

Slimer, then and now.

Instead, I could not get Patty’s comment about the aroma of the subway out of my mind:  “It smells like burnt baloney and regrets down here.”  I just kept laughing.  I had to do something with baloney.

We didn’t burn our baloney, but we did smoke it.  There’s no real recipe here but I will go through the directions for Pineapple-Smoked Baloney.

Pineapple-Smoked Baloney

By The Hubs

If you love the smokiness of that outside piece of baloney, here’s a way to get every piece “burnt” with smoky goodness.

Ingredients

• 1 baloney chub
• 1 fresh pineapple

Instructions

1. Slice baloney into wedges but do NOT cut all the way through.
2. Preheat charcoal grill or smoker (225 F).
3. Using a sharp long knife or an apple corer, remove the core of a fresh pineapple. (Peel and slice the rest of the pineapple for grilling.)
4. Place pineapple core in the center of the sliced wedges. Secure chub with cooking twine.
5. Place upright in smoker and cook at low heat (225 F) for 3-4 hours or until ideal smokiness is achieved.

Kind of looks like an apparition, doesn’t it?

Our string slid down and the baloney bloomed, if you will.  We grilled the pineapple slices and made some pretty delicious sandwiches.

Smoked baloney and grilled pineapple sandwiches.

You can see that this is not my recipe.  The Hubs has a co-worker who came up with the slicing idea.  We had to throw in the pineapple core because I hated to waste it.  The pineapple core, grilling, and the sandwich were all OUR idea.  🙂

So, now that I’ve posted my totally unhealthy and weird recipe, let me get to the film.

It was funny and I did love the retro cameos by Bill Murray, Dan Ackryod , Annie Potts, Earnie Hudson, and last but not least, Sigourney Weaver.   Harold Ramis was even seen (as a bronze bust at the Higgins Institute).

I was expecting a bit more out of the special effects but I thought the Tim Burtonesque Macy Thanksgiving Day balloons and stilt man were cool.

Melissa McCarthy is actually funnier than she was allowed to be in this film.  (I read some trivia notes that said she was originally considered for the Patty role.)  I thought Kate McKinnon’s character to be the funniest.   Without the kitschy references from the earlier movie (Slimer, Stay Puft, Zuul, etc.), I am afraid this remake would have been quite lame.  Obviously, there is a lot of implausibility along with a few plot issues.

I did enjoy this round and I think everyone must have had a LOT of fun making this film, from the primary actors to the retro cameos.

Thanks to  Kimberly at Coffee and Casseroles and for hosting this fun movie.  You can see her announcement post here.  You have plenty of time to play along this month.  Please join us.

I’m posting this sandwich up at Deb’s Souper Sunday (or Salad or in this case, a Sammich).

What’s your favorite?  1984 or 2016 version?

P.S. I am pretty sure I will be posting a slime cocktail for Halloween because I’ve become a bit obsessed with trying one.  🙂