After being accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation, rambunctious eight-year old, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) must prevent his home from being burglarized by a pair of crooks.  

Released in 1990, Home Alone is without a doubt, one of the best and most beloved family-friendly Christmas films, and seeing as the holiday season is officially in full swing, I thought it would be the perfect introductory film for the month of December. This month food & a film will be featuring four festive films, one every week, in honor of the holiday season, so make sure to come back next Wednesday for another festive fix.

 In addition to being a Christmas cinematic classic, Home Alone features some pretty fantastic food moments beginning with its opening sequence at the McCallister residence, where everyone is enjoying freshly-delivered pizza from Little Nero’s Pizza and washing it down with glasses of Pepsi or milk. Following this initial appearance of pizza from Little Nero’s, the next food moment comes right after Kevin discovers he has the house to himself. Upon Kevin’s realization that his family is gone, we cut to him jumping on his parents’ four-poster bed while snacking from a bag of microwave popcorn; flakes inadvertently bursting from the bag with each jump.

Shortly after his spirited popcorn snack, while Kevin is inspecting his brother’s trunk of contraband, we see a box of Junior Mints and a bag of Crunch Tators. Following this scene is a shot of ice cream sundae supplies on the kitchen counter including a bag of marshmallows, a carton of ice cream, a bottle of chocolate sauce, a can of whipped cream, and a jar maraschino cherries. We then cut to Kevin eating a massive ice cream sundae with a bag of Crunch Tators (presumably from Buzz’s trunk) and a can of Pepsi on a side table next to him, while he watches Angels with Filthy Souls (fun fact: this black & white gangster feature is not an actual film, but instead was created specifically for Home Alone!). As Kevin spoons giant scoops of the sundae into his mouth, he stops and says, “Guys, I’m eating junk and watching rubbish. You better come out and stop me!,” before proceeding to continue enjoying his food & film.

Also worth noting is the second appearance of Little Nero’s Pizza; however, unlike the opening sequence, we do not see the actual contents of the pizza box this time around. As Kevin goes to collect the freshly-delivered pizza from the backdoor, he holds up the box, takes a whiff of the aroma emanating from it, and exclaims, “A lovely cheese pizza, just for me.”

After this pizza delivery, the next notable food moment in the film occurs during a trip to the grocery store where Kevin loads a loaf of Wonder bread, a microwave Kraft macaroni and cheese dinner, a microwave Stouffer’s turkey dinner, and some Tropicana orange juice onto the checkout conveyor belt. As the cashier begins to scan his groceries, Kevin asks, “Are those microwave dinners good?,” and when the cashier replies, “I don’t know.,” Kevin responds, “I’ll give them a whirl.” About twenty minutes further into the film, we see Kevin pulling his Kraft mac & cheese from the microwave and sitting down at the candlelit dining table for a rather formal Christmas Eve dinner complete with table linens. Then before putting his napkin in his lap and picking up his fork and knife, Kevin says grace, stating, “Bless this highly nutritious, microwaveable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.”

Following this macaroni & cheese meal, the final food moment in the film comes when Kevin sets out a glass of milk and a plate of carrots & cookies (presumably Keebler Chips Deluxe Rainbow) for Santa and his reindeer.

While I have already highlighted all of the major onscreen food moments in Home Alone, there are a couple of additional minor food moments in the film. The first is when Kevin’s uncle brings out a tray of shrimp cocktail while the McCallisters are in Paris, and the second moment is when Santa distributes a few wintergreen Tic-Tacs into Kevin’s palm and tells him not to spoil his dinner.

 For my vegan Home Alone food pairing, I decided to comprise a menu consisting of a few of Kevin’s favorites. For the main dish, I went with a cheese pizza, naturally— no delivery guy required. 

Then for dessert, I assembled a decadent ice cream sundae, complete with three different types of ice cream (one, two, three), whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, marshmallows, and, of course, a cherry on top. I also included a side of popcorn, as well as a can of Pepsi.

Finally, for the tablecloth, I found a red tartan plaid fabric that could easily be turned into a matching set of cozy wintertime pajamas, similar to the ones Kevin wears in the film.

Thank you so much for tuning in for this week’s entry. Make sure to check back next week for the following festive film as part of the holiday series for the month of December here on food & a film. Until then!