With just nine days left before the red carpet shenanigans begin, it's time to get down to the business of food. We've shared our process for creating the perfect Oscar Menu, and now we're ready to unveil this year's feast. We prefer a balance of courses and flavors in our menu (with at least two cocktails in the mix), and we try to avoid an attention-hogging entree or epic meat course that will take away from the true star of the evening: the Oscars telecast itself.

The envelopes, please. <imagine a drumroll here>

COCKTAILS

Drinks are a vital part of any Oscar party, and often necessary to ease the pain when a personal favorite loses (all too often with the Academy, but we love them anyway). This year we'll stick to one form of alcohol (hey, vodka!) to hopefully minimize hangover potential come Monday morning.

Tang Gravityni

Tang, an astronaut's drink of choice, is not featured in the film, but Russian vodka is! We'll combine 2.5 ounces of vodka with 1.5 ounces of mixed Tang in a martini shaker filled with ice. If you're feeling extra fancy, you could rim your glass with Tang powder or sugar.

The Texas Sipper featuring Dallas Buyers Club Soda

Combine 1.5 ounces vodka, 1/2 ounce St.-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, and 1.5 ounces grapefruit juice in martini shaker with ice. Shake and strain into glasses with ice and top with club soda.

APPETIZER

Nebraskalamari featuring June Squid
(Recipe from Melissa Clark at the NYT)

ROUND ONE

Philomena's Irish Potato & Leek Soup
(Recipe from Irish American Mom)

Dame Judi Dench as Philomena reminds us of a warm, cozy potato soup. And it's Irish, what more do you want from us?

The Wolf of Waldorf Salad

A CineMunch favorite, this salad was served at our wedding reception. Much like the excess of The Wolf of Wall Street, the dressing features an abundance of sugar.

Romaine Salad:

4 plus c. Romaine lettuce, torn
½ c. chopped celery
1 c. red grapes, cut in half
½ c. toasted walnuts
1 chopped apple, skin on
1/3 c. feta cheese

Dressing:

½ c. sugar
Dash pepper
2 tsp. celery seed
3 T. minced onion
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/3 c. white vinegar
1 tsp. salt
½ c. salad or vegetable oil

Toast walnuts at 350* for 10-15 minutes, stir often.
Mix vegetables, fruit, walnuts and cheese.
Mix dressing ingredients; shake until sugar dissolves.
Add dressing to vegetable mixture just before serving.

Serves 4-5. Can reduce amounts of oil to one half. One bunch of romaine yields 4 cups usually (once torn). We typically would use a granny smith apple.

ROUND TWO