Lake Winola writer inspired by food

A local resident has taken the popular pairing of dinner and a movie and turned this concept in an interactive blog. Mark Yuhas, 27, of Lake Winola, has created and developed ‘Food for Flicks,’ where he displays his favorite recipes paired with a movie to complement each dish. After creation of the blog in October of 2012, Yuhas has featured dishes varying from mango stuffed French toast to fresh cut French fries to beef bourguignon.

The essence of ‘Food for Flicks’ is that it archives and displays recipes posted by Yuhas, which viewers are encouraged to try on their own, and then pairs them with a suggested movie to enjoy with a homemade dish. In addition to the recipe and a photo of the completed dish, a summary and trailer of each movie accompanies the blog post.

‘Food for Flicks’ explores some of Yuhas’ favorite interests, which include writing, cooking and the art of filmmaking.

Yuhas shared the origination of his love for cooking, “I’ve been cooking since I was tall enough to see over the countertop.” Yuhas continued, “I come from a family full of amazing home cooks, so being in the kitchen really came natural to me.”

Based off of the blog’s name, Yuhas was partially inspired by a movie for the idea to create a blog. Being an aspiring writer, Yuhas explored his options to allow himself to write about things he loves, and landed upon the idea of creating a blog. “The writer Julie Powell came to mind, the woman who half of the movie ‘Julie and Julia’ was based on.” Yuhas added, “It then came to my mind that like Julie, I could write about cooking.”

With a general direction of his blog decided, Yuhas wanted to also add in another element by incorporating his love for film. Yuhas explained his logic behind combining food and movies, “From a bowl of popcorn to a tray of pizza on a Friday night with a movie rental, snacking and watching a movie go hand in hand.” Yuhas said, “I wanted to take that concept a step further and try and create a meal that was inspired in some way by one of my favorite films.”

A few food and flick pairings featured on the blog include vodka sauce with pancetta and penne paired with “Last Chance Harvey” and French onion soup paired with “Midnight in Paris.”

Although ‘Food for Flicks’ is currently just a hobby for Yuhas, he explained how his blog not only satisfies his love for cooking, but also his passion for writing, “Since I’ve started writing this blog, I feel like my inner writer has been rejuvenated and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every post I’ve written.”

Out of all of the combinations he has created, Yuhas shared his personal favorite, “So far I’d have to say the pairing of the movie ‘It’s Complicated’ and the French ham and cheese sandwich, a Croque Monsieur.”

If you are hungry for more, ‘Food for Flicks’ can be read at http://foodforflicks.blogspot.com/ and new pairings are posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.