This is July, our Escapes Month, and so we asked a few blogger friends to share recipes and inspiration from faraway places and international cuisines. To kick it off, here's Monika from Crumpets and Cakes, with a gazpacho inspired by Pedro Almodóvar!

My introduction to gazpacho was like probably many of us, through Pedro Almodóvar's movie Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, where Pepa (played by Carmen Maura) throws a handful of barbiturates into a bright red tomato concoction prepared for her ex-lover. While the plot keeps twisting and turning, gazpacho plays bigger and bigger role in the movie, putting nearly all of its characters into deep sleep. More

We often think of escapes at this time of year as getaways to distant places. But another great escape is that into the animated world. One favorite cartoon kitchen that caught our imagination from the start was the one from Ratatouille. More

Today, in honor of Lunch Week here at The Kitchn, we're setting out in search of a legendary beast of days gone by, that Bigfoot of the corner office: The Three-Martini Lunch. More

One of our favorite picnic scenes ever is from Charles and Ray Eames' short film, Powers of Ten. It's set on the Chicago lakeside, where a young man and woman are enjoying a leisurely outdoor afternoon of food, reading, and napping. Some of our favorite details from the picnic: More

What do you trust and how does that influence and inspire your life? Filmmaker-photographer Andrew Zuckerman trusts, among other things, his butcher, his favorite restaurant and a grocery store. In other words, Mr. Zuckerman is a lucky man because he trusts and is inspired by those who feed him. And he shares these relationships with us in three beautiful short films, linked below the jump. More

Figuring out what to do for New Year’s Eve is always a fraught decision. Do you go to the big party? Do you make reservations at your favorite restaurant? Do you stay in and watch the ball drop in Times Square? Do you actually make the trek to Times Square? More

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we have been contemplating gratitude not just for the good food in our lives, but also for the farmworkers whose unseen hard labor brings this nourishment to our tables. We just watched a new online documentary on this subject, called Fair Food: Field to Table, and highly recommend it. More

The other night we were watching Gosford Park, Robert Altman's wicked and delightful take on British murder mysteries. One of the things we love about this movie is all the rich downstairs detail in the servants' kitchen. You see the knives (well, one especially), stoneware, fancy silver, and other trappings of 1930s English manor cooking. One thing we noticed this time through was the egg holder in the kitchen. More

According to Michael Ruhlman, there is a difference! In a recent blog post, he describes foodies as those who love the shiniest equipment and the newest ingredients, and follow the antics of top chefs the way others follow the NFL. By contrast, cooks simply, well, cook. Do you agree? More

The big food movie of the summer, Julia & Julia, opens today! Are you going to see it? If so, come and tell us what you thought about it here! More