Romcom 101

recommendations from a self-proclaimed connoisseur, plus an easy movie night menu!

Welcome back to my small kitchen, where the table is set for movie nights, the snacks are homemade, and romcoms are taken very seriously.

“So, why am I looking for this star?” she asks, as she looks through the telescope he built for her.

“Because I had it named for you,” he replies with a shaky smile, holding up an official paper from none other than the International Star Registry.

They’re in high school. I’m watching Tubi on my phone while I drink my coffee.

This is exactly the kind of stuff romcoms want you to believe is real. It’s also what life looks like for a young woman who raised herself on such absurd premises. It wasn’t something my mother inflicted on me, it wasn’t the unguided influence of a well-meaning older sister. I am the older sister, therefore the inflictor.

By the age of sixteen, with my ten thousand hours of romcoms under my belt, I gave myself the title of romcom connoisseur and wondered if there was a job in the world that required extensive knowledge of the pursuit of love, brought together by the wayward rules of fate and serendipity, its complexity leading to comical situations while bridging the gap between magical thinking and reality.

And so I became a recipe developer.

In a perfect world, I eat snacks and watch romcoms all day, so this post strives to be just that: a world of its own, where there are only meet-cutes and food you can eat without missing a scene.

Hosting a Movie Night

I regularly host movie nights and sometimes I force my friends to watch romcoms (it’s okay, sometimes they make me watch Robin Hood: Men in Tights). Of course, it all starts with the movie choice, followed by a menu to match. Most of the time I keep things fairly simple and realistic — though insisting on making everything from scratch is a character flaw at this point — but occasionally I get a little too ambitious with my planning.

Tonight’s menu is meant for a very casual event, where sophistication is not really the theme. Well, neither are options; we have a very concise menu of three dishes: a healthy-ish one to start with and give you the illusion of freshness and nutrition, followed by sugar and carbs, the real stars here.

So let’s start with the movie.

When I started putting this post together, I came up with a list of romcoms that quickly grew so long I had to stop at 54. I don’t know what this says about me, but I like watching the same thing over and over again. I can quote half of Legally Blonde but haven’t watched a single episode of Game of Thrones. In my humble opinion, the 90s and 00s were the golden age of romcoms, so you’ll quickly notice a pattern here.

The list came with an existential question of sorts: what actually counts as a romcom? Is Legally Blonde a romcom? I decided it wasn’t, so it didn’t make the list — but I welcome discussion. Uptown Girls: a classic. But romcom or chick flick? Didn’t make the list.

Criteria aside, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous to post a 54-movie list, so I narrowed it down to 15 — a nice, digestible number that hopefully won’t plague you with the paradox of choice. You’ll probably recognize a few you’ve seen before, but part of the purpose of this list is to remind you to go rewatch old, great romcoms! I recently rewatched Runaway Bride (seriously, Tubi is a goldmine for old romcoms) and was reminded of how delightful it is.

And I think the movie perfectly encapsulates what romcoms are to me: a world perpetually stuck in grainy film, where technology halts at the first wave of cell phones. Nothing is glossy or pristine, the homes are filled to the brim with worldly possessions. There’s color and questionable hairstyles; a time before veneers and Amazon. People fall in love with urgency and abandon. They run across airports to declare their love after two weeks. I don’t need to know what happens after that. I’m perfectly cozy here.

If you want to be enveloped in that wonderful kind of delusion, these are a good place to start:

I tried to keep the list somewhat seasonal, so these movies feel a little like spring and summer. We have enough Nancy Meyers to keep things classy, although we are missing some heavyweights like Nora, Richard Curtis, and Gary Marshall — next time!

The Menu

Movie sorted, now onto the menu — arguably the real motivation behind a movie night.

Romcoms are all about the comfort of predictability. You go into it knowing that by the end, all the pieces will have fallen perfectly into place, all the twists and turns it took to get there were just fate and cupid having a little fun.

So the menu is also all about comfort. To start, we have a very laid-back version of a crudité platter. I’m a big fan of crudité platters, and I always go back to my favorite anecdote: on my last day at an internship, I made the entire office a huge crudité-and-charcuterie platter. I’d heard most interns bid their adieus with a cake, but since 90% of the office was vegan, I thought, well, let me break the cycle. The platter was a success. People devoured every nut, every olive, and every cheese. I walked away feeling like a genius, and the feeling still carries me through my darkest days.

I always add radishes and cucumbers to my crudité platters for the visuals. I love their vibrancy and crunch, and how easily they can be dipped into any sauce. I like to keep the radish leaves and taproot on and simply cut them in half. It makes for a gorgeous platter. Always sprinkle your veggies with salt and pepper (sometimes I also like to add fresh herbs or chopped chives).

For this platter, the potatoes came in the form of chips, which is always delightful and effortless. Have the platter ready for when the guests arrive and your pizza is finishing up in the oven.

Sheet Pan Pizza

For our main snack, we have a sheet pan pizza. I love Hailee Catalano’s recipe, and it’s the one I go back to again and again. It requires minimal active time, you start the day before, and finish it when you’re ready to serve. The dough needs a lot of relaxing, and so do you. So when the dough rests, you rest!

I like trying different toppings depending on the season — like fresh corn in the summer — but a good old margherita is a classic for a reason.

Brookies

Whoever invented brookies is a real genius. I’m very grateful for this wonderful fusion of dessert classics. I often find brownies a little too rich for me, but a brookie is a dangerous right amount of rich, decadent, and sweet.

This recipe yields an incredibly fudgy brownie, while the cookie comes out super chewy, which is exactly what I want: fudgy and chewy all at once. To make your life easier, I recommend making the brookies the day before, so they can chill in the fridge and deepen in flavor overnight.

That way, the day of is all about assembling your crudité platter and your pizza. Easy peasy!

Sheet Pan Brookies

Cookie Dough:

• 163g (1 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour

• 3/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tbsp corn starch

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

• 70g (1/3 cup) dark brown sugar

• 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping

• flaky salt

Brownie Batter:

• 113g (4oz) dark chocolate (I use 70%), roughly chopped

• 113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

• 250g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 60g(1/2 cup) all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Make the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the softened butter and sugars until pale and creamy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla until fully combined. Fold in the flour mixture just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough in the fridge while preparing the brownie batter.

Make the brownie: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x13-inch sheet pan and line it with parchment paper.

Over medium heat or in the microwave, melt the butter and chopped chocolate, stirring often to combine. Set aside and let it cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla.

Fold in the flour and salt just until combined.

Pour half the brownie mixture into the prepared sheet pan. Top with spoonfuls of cookie dough, scattered in patches — it doesn’t need to cover the whole surface. Pour the remaining brownie batter evenly over the top. Scatter the remaining cookie dough in patches over the surface. Sprinkle with extra chocolate and flaky salt.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5–10 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Serve.

See you next time, xo.