Friday, November 7, 2014

When I Turned 64: Beatles themed food items

As noted in my post "When I turned 64: The Great Beatles Party," as people came to our home, we asked them to identify the food items in the dining room, living room, and kitchen by Beatles song and album or otherwise guess why they were relevant.

I already revealed the answer to the question "Why do we have 64 candles on a pie instead of a cake?"  The answer is found in an interview John Lennon did in 1961, in which he explained where the name "Beatles" had come from:
It came in a vision--a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, "from this day on you are Beatles with an A."
So how about the other items:

What does "scrambled eggs" have to do with anything?  Answer: "Scrambled Eggs" was the working title of "Yesterday."  Paul woke up with the tune in his head and wondered for a while whether he had really written the song.  He didn't have words yet, so for a while the song started "Scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs . . . ."  You can hear Paul (and Jimmie Fallon) sing the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btC2_t8HZP4

Which song mentions lemonade?  Answer: "Rain"

Five songs mention tea; can you name them?  Answer: "Lovely Rita"; "Good Morning, Good Morning"; "A Day in the Life" (implied in "take a cup"); "All Together Now"; "It's All Too Much."

Which song mentions peanuts?  Answer: "Drive My Car" (working for peanuts is all very fine)

Which song mentions rice?  Answer: "Eleanor Rigby," of course.

Which two songs have a connection with Kellogg's Cornflakes?  Answer: (1) "I Am the Walrus" ("sitting on a cornflake"); (2) "Good Morning, Good Morning" (a little less obvious--but more specifically connected with Kellogg's Cornflakes, which has a rooster on the box and which had a commercial back in the day with the jingle "Good morning, good morning, the best to you each morning . . .).

And how about marshmallow pie? Answer: "Lucy in the Sky"

Marmalade? Answer: "Lucy in the Sky"

Tangerines (connected with two songs)?  Answer: "Lucy in the Sky" (tangerine trees) and "Savoy Truffle" (creme tangerine)

Strawberries?  Answer: "Strawberry Fields Forever"

(Bonus question: What does "Strawberry Fields Forever" refer to.  Answer, according to Wikipedia: "Lennon's memories of playing in the garden [i.e., the wooded area behind the building] of 'Strawberry Field', a Salvation Army children's home near where he lived."

And while we're at it, what does "Penny Lane" refer to?  Answer, from Wikipedia again: "the name of a street near Lennon's childhood home for his first 5 years (Newcastle Road, just off Church Road), in the band's hometown, Liverpool, England. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Princes Park area to catch a bus into the centre of the city." Lots of buses had "Penny Lane" listed as part of their route.)

Apples?  Answer: Two connections, really. One is "Savoy Truffle," where "apple tart" is mentioned.  The other is Apple Records, the label of Beatles records starting in 1967 (and part of their company, Apple Corp).

Which songs mention honey?  Answer: "A Taste of Honey"; "Honey Pie"; "Wild Honey Pie."  Anything else?  I'm not sure.

And can you think of anything spaghetti would have to do with the Beatles?  (How about a movie?)  Answer: Well, a made for TV movie, Magical Mystery Tour, which I've never seen.  But I'm aware of the scene (pictured I think in materials accompanying the original vinyl record) in which John Lennon shovels spaghetti onto the plate or the table where a large woman is seated.

Here are a few more questions (and answers):

George Harrison wrote the song "Savoy Truffle" in honor of what person's sweet tooth? Answer: Eric Clapton.

Can you think of any alcoholic beverages named in Beatles songs?

Wine: "Norwegian Wood"; "Her Majesty"; "A Taste of Honey"; "When I'm Sixty-Four."  (Am I missing anything?)
Gin: "Rocky Racoon"
Coca-Cola (OK, it's not alcoholic): "Come Together"

And there could be others I can't remember.

Why did we not have any of them for dinner tonight?  Answer: It's a Monday night (and Latter-day Saints need to be extra good).  (Note tongue firmly in cheek--of course, we need to be good every day; or just to be safe, let's say "any time at all" or even "eight days a week.")

Finally, note the various other items we had at various spots in the house:

A red pepper in the shape of an octopus in a bed of humus and parsley?  "Octopus's Garden," of course.  And maybe an allusion to Pepperland (from the Yellow Submarine movie)?

We had a container of black pepper with a picture of the Beatles in their Sgt. Pepper's costumes.

And we had a container of mustard labeled "Mean Mr. Mustard" (from Abbey Road).

We had a can of dog food on the table to suggest "Hey Bulldog" and maybe the dogs barking at the end of "Good Morning, Good Morning."

Margaret set the book Magic Eye on the table to suggest the kaleidoscope reference in "Lucy in the Sky."

One of our desserts was marshmallow pie! (with a chocolate crust, vanilla pudding, and chocolate bars, topped by marshmallows--aka 'Smores pie)  Of course, another allusion to "Lucy in the Sky."

And we had two boxes of See's Chocolates, which Margaret had carefully chosen to replicate some of the contents of the British product called Mackintosh's Good News.  George Harrison used the names of several of the "Good News" chocolates in "Savoy Truffle," the song honoring Eric Clapton's sweet tooth.  Here are the lyrics:

Creme tangerine and Montélimar
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
A coffee dessert--yes you know it's good news
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle.
 
Cool cherry cream, nice apple tart
I feel your taste all the time we're apart
Coconut fudge--really blows down those blues
But you'll have to have them all pulled out

After the Savoy truffle.

I'm pretty sure we didn't have all the items named in the song.  But we had several.  Plus I had set out bowls of generic truffles and some very tasty dark chocolate coconut almond candies (see "coconut fudge" in the song).

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