It's A Wonderful Life and a Simple, but Festive Dessert

It's A Wonderful Life, released in 1946, is one of my all time favorite films. Much to the chagrin of my family, I watch it at least once every winter and love it every time. The movie was not so well liked when it was released as it is today. When it first ran in theaters, it didn't even recover it's productions costs. It was considered by the FBI to be communist propaganda. This, to me, is a completely valid interpretation, but that is what is so amazing about the movie. The first few times I watched it I saw the story of a man whose life begins to unravel, only to have an angel reveal to him why his life has so much meaning. Later, like the FBI, I started to see a story about the importance of socialist programs and the evils of capitalism run amok. (Although, I must say, Pottersville looked pretty fun to me.) Later still, I saw the story of a man with big dreams who got tangled up with a woman who had a sinister plan to tie him down for the pursuit of her own goals. She won.

The real reason audiences disliked the movie (according to the Special Features on my DVD) is that it was too schmaltzy. It was dubbed "Capra-corn."  But I don't find it to be that syrupy, and there are some great sarcastic one-liners, like:

"You call this a happy family!?  Why do we gotta have all these kids!?" (Ouch Dad!)
"I was saving this money for a divorce, if I ever I got a husband." (Now that's practical thinking.)

And who doesn't love the Charleston over the swimming pool scene? It's a classic for sure.

In order to celebrate my own "wonderful life" (well, really I had intended for this recipe to celebrate the new year ) I've made a simple, festive dessert called a syllabub.

The syllabub is made by whipping two cups of whipping cream until stiff. Then fold in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 Tbps rum. "Ripen" in the refrigerator for a half an hour. The book says to cover it, but it adds the phrase "of course" so you can feel stupid if you didn't think of that on your own.

I decided to make half with rum and half with cocoa powder so my son could try one too. He said that his was "good and chocolaty." I was worried that I wouldn't like mine, since I'm not a fan of liquor, (and I bought the cheapest rum I could find), but I found it to be quite tasty. Light, a little sweet, and a little buttery.

"A civilized syllabub to blow your mind" - Tori Amos

I'm calling this one a definite win. I will certainly make more of these for company and will try some of the variations found online with champagne or lemon juice. A wonderful life? Maybe. A wonderful dessert? Absolutely.