I love watching older movies that I haven’t seen before. I enjoy spotting actors that might have made it big (or bigger). By older here, I mean those from the early 2000s. Leap Year (2010) was one of these. Of course Amy Adams is well known (even to me). I spied Adam Scott before his Severance fame and I was really preoccupied throughout the movie trying to place Matthew Goode and Dominique McElligott (in a minor role).
Leap Year is the March film for Movies & Munchies. Camilla is hosting.
Anna is living the highlife. She is a stager for high end properties and she is living with the love of her life, Jeremy, a cardiologist. They are just getting ready to be approved and move into an exclusive and elite Boston apartment building. Anna is convinced that Jeremy is going to propose but instead he gives her a pair of diamond earrings. He then departs to a medical convention in Dublin.
Anna is reminded by her father (John Lithgow) about family lore and the tradition of women proposing marriage on Leap Day. Anna sets off on a journey to Ireland to propose to Jeremy.
The trip seems doomed. There’s severe turbulence that forces her transatlantic flight to be diverted. She finally gets a boat to the shores of Ireland and lands in a rural village that basically just houses a struggling pub. The pub, of course, has a hot, young proprietor, Declan. He agrees to drive her to Dublin.
Probably no more plot summary is needed for you to see where this is going.
It’s a cute film and I did laugh out loud during the crashed wedding scenes, both at Anna and Declan’s entrance and the bride’s injury during the reception.
The Food:
Here’s the food I spotted or was mentioned in the film:
- Shots, pints, whiskey, Champagne, vodka, coffee, tea, Guinness
- Premade cookie rolls (that Anna suggests be baked in one of her staged homes)
- Hang Sandwich (an Irish ham sandwich)
- Lucky Charms leprechaun
- Apple
- Tripe
- Coq au Vin
- Breakfast tea with jams and scones
- Quiche
- Pot Pie
- Leek and potato soup
I had been wanting to make some sort of dessert with Guinness for St. Patrick’s Day, but that holiday has come and gone. I took advantage of Leap Year being set in Ireland to make a Guinness Chocolate Cake à la Nigella Lawson.
I’m not reprinting it but you can find Nigella’s recipe here.
I did everything for the cake (even the metric measurements) exactly from Nigella’s recipe. This makes a very thick and dense cake. The frosting was a different story. I used only one block of cream cheese (not the full amount that she called for) so I didn’t add as much whipping cream. I also added a splash of vanilla. Both the cake and the frosting are delicious!
I will definitely make this cake again. (Maybe every St. Patrick’s day….at least every Leap Year.) I’ve got a few other Guinness recipes on the blog if you’re pre-planning for next St. Paddy’s Day: Shepherd’s Pie with Guinness, St. Patrick’s Day Boozy Cupcakes, and Guinness Gingerbread.
Just in case you haven’t figured it out, Matthew Goode played Henry Talbot (Mary’s final husband) in Downtown Abby. Dominique McElligott (the bride that Anna beans in the head with a flying Louboutin) was the unfortunate Lilly Bell on Hell on Wheels.
Thanks for hosting, Camilla!
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