(Image above: American Fashion Cookbook taken from Amazon)

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to this amazing book, “American Fashion Cookbook,” and I could not believe it! This totally chic, hardback, adorably-illustrated cookbook combines both of my loves – fashion and cooking! Published by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, this unique collection of recipes highlights the favorite dishes of over 100 top American designers.  From Betesy Johnson’s Cherry Sour Cream Pie recipe, to Isaac Mizrahi’s Mushrom Truffle Spaghetti, to Donna Karan’s Green Juice, this book showcases that odd and wonderful relationship between haute couture and fine cuisine.

As an added bonus, some of the recipes are accompanied by personal statements from the designers. Diane von Furstenberg states that, “when you cook for the ones you love, you somehow become [a great cook],” and she goes on to say that every time she makes her Saturday Night Chicken, she ends up eating with her hands! I just can’t believe that! Michael Kors calls his favorite recipe “a meal version of a ten-ply cashmere turtleneck,” and I get the biggest kick imagining he and Heidi Klum, dressed in holiday sweaters, feasting on Grandma Bea’s Pot Roast. Although I wish this collection contained more personal stories and tidbits from the designers’ kitchens, it’s a worthwhile and inspiring read for any fashionista who fancies herself a chef!

Keep reading for Nicole Miller’s Tortilla Soup recipe!

(Image above: American Fashion Cookbook Intro and Tortilla Soup Illustration)

Tortilla Soup by Nicole Miller (from American Fashion Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium jalapeno chilies, seeded and chopped
• 4 roasted tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 can white hominy, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chicken, shredded
• corn tortillas
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 medium avocado
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions:

• Heat oil and add onions. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and jalapenos, and cook for a few minutes.
• Add chopped tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then add hominy and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add shredded chicken.
• Season with salt and cumin.
• Cut tortillas into thick strips 1/4 inch or less with sharp knife or scissors.
• Fry strips in oil until crisp.
• To serve, peel and pit the avocado and cut into 1 inch slices.  Divide half of the tortillas strips among serving bowls. Add soup.
• Top with avocado and cheese. Garnish with remaining tortilla strips and cilantro.
• Serve with lime wedges.

Enjoy!

(Image above: Stuffed Acorn Squash from Post Punk Kitchen)

For the last day of our Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings Contest, our ingredient is SQUASH! Any kind of squash will do, as long as you pair it with an adorable ModCloth outfit that matches your recipe! Submit your squash recipe and matching outfit as a comment at the bottom of this post. Read complete contest guidelines here.

As our surprise guest blogger, Isa Chandra Moskowitz (co- founder of the vegan food blog Post Punk Kitchen, and author of such vegan cooking tomes as Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Veganomicon) is sharing an amazing squash dish with us, and an adorable ModCloth dress to match! Thanks, Isa!

Outfit:

• Panacea Dress
• Bow-sic Black Flats

Keep reading for Isa’s vegan cornbread stuffing and roasted squash recipe! Ingredients:

• 4 acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1 recipe PPK Cornbread or Veganomicon cornbread, or your favorite recipe from a 9×13 pan
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 Cippolini onions, diced medium (use whatever onion you like – about 2 cups once chopped)
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme (keep the soft stems on, just ditch the woody ones)
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 teaspoon salt
• fresh black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 red Bartlett pears, sliced in 1/4 inch slices (use whatever pear you’ve got)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Place the squash face down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 45 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. You can proceed with the rest of the recipe in the meantime.
• Cut cornbread into roughly 3/4 inch pieces. Place on a baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes, flipping about halfway through. Remove from oven.
• In the meantime, toast the pecans. Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium low heat. Add the pecans and toast for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until they smell toasty and are a few shades darker. Transfer to a bowl and roughly chop once cooled – I like to keep the pieces relatively large.
• In the same pan over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F.
• Add the herbs to the pan and saute for about a minutes. Add the cornbread and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Mix with a spatula, it’s fine if you break the cornbread up with a spatula a bit. Drizzle in the oil and vegetable broth. If it seems too dry, add a little extra veggie broth.
• Fold in the apples and pecans. Transfer to a lightly greased 9×13 pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.
• Serves 8.

Leave your outfit ideas and matching squash recipes as a comment below, and good luck! The Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings Contest ends at midnight EST, Sunday, October 18th, so get your submissions in soon!

(Image above: Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars taken from Picky Palate)

It’s Day Two, and our fall ingredient for today is APPLE.  Find your favorite apple recipe, and pair it with an adorable ModCloth outfit that matches your dish! Submit your apple recipe and matching outfit as a comment at the bottom of this post. Read complete contest guidelines here.

To show us just how yummy apples can be, Jenny from Picky Palate is sharing one of her super sweet, totally indulgent recipes and a matching outfit with us! Thanks, Jenny!

Keep reading for a cute fall look,and an ultra delicious apple treat!

Outfit:

• Cassiopeia Dress in Mythology
• Ginger Button Sweater

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars

• 3 Tablespoons melted butter
• 3 Cups Golden Grahams Cereal, ground in food processor
• 1 Roll Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough or 2 pkgs Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Dough Mix prepared and divided into 2 equal parts
• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 21 oz can apple pie filling
• 1.5 oz package Nature Valley Oats N’ Honey Crunchy Granola Bars (2 count), crushed (I use a rolling pin to crush them right in the bag before opening)
• 9.5 oz Kraft Caramels
• 1/2 Cup Half and Half

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine melted butter and ground cereal into a large bowl; press into an 8×8 inch baking dish lined with foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven.  Crumble half of the cookie dough over partially baked crust.
2. Place cream cheese, sugar and vanilla into a mixer; beat until smooth.  Pour over crumbled cookie dough layer.  Bake for 25 minutes then remove from oven.  Top with 3/4 of the apple pie filling (I chose to just add part, but you can add the whole can if desired).  Next top with remaining cookie dough, breaking off into little pieces evenly over top.  Sprinkle with crushed granola bars and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.   Let cool completely, then cut into squares.  Melt caramels and Half and Half according to package directions.  Drizzle over each bar.  Refrigerate leftovers.
3. Makes 9 squares. Refrigerate leftovers.

Leave your outfit ideas and matching recipes as a comment below, and good luck! Be sure to check back tomorrow at 1.00pm for the next ingredient – Squash!

(Image above: Molasses Cookies from Southern Grace Gourmet)

We are so excited for the first day of our Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings Contest! Our ingredient for today is MOLASSES.  Find your favorite molasses recipe, and pair it to an adorable ModCloth outfit that matches your dish! Submit your molasses recipe and matching outfit as a comment at the bottom of this post. You have until this Sunday at 12:00 a.m. E.S.T. Read complete contest guidelines here.

To help us kick off this contest and get the molasses recipes flowing, Angela from Southern Grace Gourmet has a yummy molasses dish and an adorable outfit to share with us! Thanks, Angela!

Outfit:

• The Soda Fountain Dress in Ginger
• Coca Beach Wedges
• Out of Africa Bag
• Birds of Paradise Earrings
• Hibiscus Bangle
• The Raphael Necklace

Keep reading to see Angela’s yummy recipe! There is nothing more delicious than a warm, chewy molasses cookie.  This cookie will give you a warm snuggly feeling. The molasses paired with the spices is perfect for the fall season. The chewiness of the cookie will allow you to savor every bite of this delectable treat. I have tried several recipes, before perfecting this one. These cookies have cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Molasses balances out the spices in the cookie and adds a perfect backdrop for the spices. The best part of these cookies though, is the beautiful aroma that will fill your home as they bake.

• 2  1/4 cups flour
• 2 oz, or 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 4 oz, or 1/2 cup shortening at room temperature
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup white sugar for rolling cookie dough in

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, shortening, and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add molasses and egg to creamed butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
2. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
3. Then take teaspoons of dough and roll in sugar and in the palm of your hand to make little balls. Place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees until just firm. Do not over-bake. They should be browned, but look underdone when removed from oven.  They will firm up when cooled.  For a crisp cookie, cook longer.

Leave your outfit ideas and matching recipes as a comment below, and good luck! Be sure to check back tomorrow at 1.00pm for the next ingredient’s recipe – Apples!

The ModCloth Cooks Perfect Pairings Contest is back! This time around, we’re featuring three harvest-time ingredients to match with our fall wardrobe items.  For the next three days, we’ll present you with a new, tasty, fall flavor. Simply send us your favorite recipe for that ingredient and an outfit that matches the recipe,  and you’ll be entered to win $100 toward the outfit you styled! As a super fun twist, we’ll also be featuring guest food bloggers to help us launch each day’s ingredient! We’re so excited, and we can’t wait to see what you cook up this time!

Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions: ModCloth Perfect Pairings Contest Schedule:

• October 13 – The ingredient is Molasses, and our guest blogger is Angela from the down-home and healthy blog  Southern Grace Gourmet!
• October 14 – The ingredient is Apple, and our guest blogger is Jenny from the delectably sweet blog Picky Palate!
• October 15 – The ingredient is Squash (any kind!), and we’ll have a surprise guest blogger!

Contest Guidelines:

• Choose a recipe which incorporates the daily featured ingredient.
• Create an outfit using ModCloth items that matches your recipe.
• Leave your outfit idea and recipe as a comment to each of the daily posts on October 13, 14, and 15. Submissions left on this post, on Facebook , or on Myspace will not be accepted.
• Submit your Fall Flavors, Fall Fashions Perfect Pairings by Sunday, October 18, midnight EST.
• We will accept multiple enteries.
• We will choose the best ensemble/recipe pair, and the winner will receive $100 towards their ModCloth outfit! In addition, the winning recipe/outfit combination will be featured on the ModLife blog!
• Winners will be announced on Wednesday, October 21st.
• Click here for our Official Contest Rules.

Help us reach our goal of donating $5,000 to this needy animal non-profit by ‘tricking out’ your pumpkins and submitting them on Facebook. Remember to tell us how your original design is ModCloth-inspired, or feel free to use our Winston pumpkin pattern! Be creative, and the pumpkin carving we like the best will win a $100 Gift Certificate, and an awesome prize pack for ModCloth.com!

(Image above: Honey Teriyaki Salmon taken from Joelens.blogspot.com)

We’re thinking ‘pink’ at ModCloth this month, and our awareness is spilling over into the kitchen! The key to healthy bodies begins with eating, so we wanted to focus on a helpful cookbook. The American Cancer Society has recently published a brand new recipe book titled What to Eat During Cancer Treatment: 100 Great-Tasting, Family-Friendly Recipes to Help You Cope.  If you or someone you know is dealing with cancer, then this cookbook is a must! It was designed specifically to help minimize the side effects of cancer treatment, as well as provide tasty, hearty meals the whole family will love. This October, give this fantastic kitchen companion to the brave cancer survivors in your life, or send them to all of your friends to spread awareness and support an amazing cause.

In addition, What to Eat can be used by anyone who is experiencing health problems (not just cancer) that make eating a difficult or confusing event. The 100 quick and tasty meals are arranged by side effect to help make dealing with an illness easier. Click here for a sneak peek as some of the fantastic recipes in this collection, including Brie and Apple Grilled Cheese, Crunchy Peanut Butter Waffle Sandwiches, and Honey Teriyaki Salmon!

This is just one, small – and flavorful – way you can make a difference in the fight against cancer.

Got a craving for carving? With Halloween just around the corner, we know you’re thinking about pumpkins, and so are we!  Show us your mod pumpkin decorating skills in our Pumpkin Carving Contest! Create one of your own, ModCloth-inspired designs, or use one of our pumpkin patterns. From September 28th until midnight, October 31st, post a picture of your carving creation on our special ModCloth’s Pumpkin Carving Contest Facebook group!

For each photo submission we receive, we will donate $5 towards the animal charity you selected. Help us reach our goal of donating $5,000 to a needy animal non-profit by pumping up your pumpkins and submitting them on Facebook!

The most gorgeous gourd will win a $100 Gift Certificate and ModCloth Halloween Prize Pack including the following fun-and-spooky items: 

• Cat Face Mug
• Cobweb Cuff
• Chest-ire Cat Maxi Dress
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Book

Good Luck, and Happy Carving!

9/30/2009 Update: Please put in the caption or comments how your pumpkin design relates to ModCloth!

(Image above: Rainbow Cake taken from Whisk-Kid.blogspot.com)

If food bloggers and full-color cookbooks have taught us anything, it’s that people love looking at their food almost as much as they love eating it! For example, I’ll bet that this Roy G. Biv cake featured on Whisk-Kid tastes delicious, but I’m enjoying just looking at it! I’m also a huge fan of food that looks like other stuff – you know, like gummy candy that looks like pizza, watermelons carved to look like owls, and cupcakes that look like ice cream cones. Luckily, there are some really fantastic websites devoted to the aesthetics and presentation of food! I searched the web to find some of the cutest, most unique, and whimsical examples.

Caution – seriously cute food and bento boxes ahead!

(Images above clockwise: Happy Cat Bento from IMadeDinner.net, Piggy sushi from CookingCute.com, Tower of Cuteness from EpiCute.com)

Sweets and Treats and Cutie Pies:

I am in love with EpiCute, which simply bills itself as a ‘blog about cute food.’ It’s got a really lovely, fun, and colorful aesthetic, and its image-heavy content won’t disappoint if you have a sweet tooth and a place in your heart for cakes, cookies, and ice cream.

Another super cute blog that sticks primarily to the sweeter foods is Pretty Pretty Yum Yum. It’s a bit less refined than EpiCute, but no less fun!

Although she likes the super-sweet treats as well, La Carmina of Cute Yummy Time also features some wild and wonderful cute foods like piggy-shaped hamburgers and smiling breakfast pancakes.

Light and Pretty:

Not as heavy on the sweet-n-cute, but still wonderful is Cannelle at Vanille. I love the natural light, the elegant photos, the strawberries and cream theme, and the refined aesthetic, not to mention the recipes!

Tartelette is another stylish, elegant, and chic blog run by Helen Dujardin, an experienced Food Stylist and Food Photographer. I can hardly focus on the recipes, since the images are so captivating!

Bento Box Bounty:

Food just doesn’t get any cuter than when it’s molded, sculpted, and put in an adorable little box for a super-cute lunchtime pick-me-up! Bento boxes, the Japanese snack-pack phenomenon, have take the U.S. by storm, and here are some great sites devoted to the trend.

Cooking Cute gives a great history of the bento box, as well some very informative and helpful recipes, not to mention some super cute pictures of bentos!

Another great bento resource is Just Bento, a very hands-on, how-to site, while Inside the Rabbit Box is a very recipe-oriented blog for those with more of a grasp on bento creation.

Super adorable and fun, Pikkoi’s Bento Blog will have you totally inspired, ready to cut, shape, and cute up your lunches.

Want to try out your bento skills? Start with the Panda-A-Day Bento Box or  the Banana Boat Bento Box!

(Images above left to right: Hungry Caterpillar taken from Flickr.com/cutebento and Cute Elephants taken from EpiCute.com)

Do you have a favorite foodie blog that makes you say ‘aww’ as much as ‘yum?’ Let me know about it!

Image above: Eco-Erin to the Rescue! taken from NYDailyNews.com

For a while now, Hollywood has been getting greener and greener. While not all of these eco-centric films have been blockbuster mega-hits like Erin Brockovich, they have made an impact on our social consciousness. Documentarians, in particular, have taken on the topic of environmental concern and have flooded the genre with an abundance of green-focused films. My Netflix queue is brimming with them! Here are a few my must-see, green flick favorites.  If I forgot any you think should be included, please comment, and let me know! Pass the organic popcorn…

Super-size Me, Soylent Green, Silkwood and more!

Fictional but Eye-Opening:

Soylent Green – What a way to start the list! This  Hollywood classic starring Charlton Heston explores the dystopian not-so-distant future of 2022, and shockingly mirrors the overpopulation and food shortages we face today. Heston’s character is a detective investigating the death of a food manufacturing company executive and discovers a horrific truth about what’s actually being served up to society.  I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it, but Soylent Green is not what you’d expect… (1973)

Safe – When I first watched this terrifying flick starring Julianne Moore, I was captivated, confused, and totally dumbstruck. In this slow, quiet, and deeply disturbing tale of an affluent suburban woman who slowly deteriorates, our collective social worries about environmental toxins and chemical paranoia are put to the test. At first you think Moore’s character is insane as she insists that the air is making her sick, until eventually, you want to escape to the Arizona desert cleansing resort with her. (1995)

Adorable but Poignant:

Happy Feet – Oscar-winning, toe-tappingly fun, and piggy-backing on the success of March of the Penguins,  this kid’s film deals with the repercussions of humanity messing with the delicate balance of the food chain. Although couched in cute metaphors and surrounded by upbeat sing-alongs, the message is as cold and crystal-clear as the polar ice melt-water. (2006)

WALL.E – This Pixar offering is not to be missed. It’s adorable and devastating, hopeful and dreadful all at once. WALL.E is the story of a trash-compacting robot who wanders the abandoned Earth cleaning up the literal garbage of consumerism, and along the way, learns how to be more human then those who did the eco-damage. (2008)

FernGully: The Last Rainforest – If you’ve never seen this animated eco-flick featuring the voices of Robin Williams, Christian Slater, Tone Loc (no joke), and Tim Curry, I suggest you stop what you’re doing, rent a copy, and start watching! It’s an epic fairy sprite vs. human destroyer story, set in a magical rainforest in Australia. Pollution and deforestation give rise to an evil, hellish being, set on destroying the lovely inhabitants of FernGully. (1992)

Send in the Nukes:

Silkwood - Exploring the circumstances of the death of Karen Silkwood, a real-life metal worker at a plutonium processing plant, this eerie tale speaks to all the things we don’t know about the nuclear power industry. Silkwood, played by Meryl Streep, had been investigating some wrong-doings at the plant just before her suspicious, allegedly accidental, death on the night she was to meet a New York Times reporter. Streep and Cher were nominated for Oscars for their performances in this based-on-a-true-story film. (1983)

The China Syndrome – Like Silkwood, The China Syndrome centers around the relationship between a reporter and whistle-blower at a nuclear power plant. Although a fictional story, this movie ironically premiered just 2 weeks before the infamous, and very much real, Three Mile Island meltdown in Pennsylvania.   (1979)

You Are What You Eat:

King Corn – This truly engaging, super-watchable documentary follows two college buddies as they seek to achieve their goal of farming an acre of corn in Iowa. Along the way, these budding farmers learn all about the destruction of the family farm, the totally illogical structure of government subsidies, and the shockingly unhealthy prevalence of high fructose corn syrup in the American diet.  (2007)

Two Angry Moms – This film focuses on a particular pet-project of mine – making the school lunch programs at public schools better! Amy Kalafa and Susan Rubin were moms fed up with the horrible, processed food their children were receiving at school, and this film was the result. Not only do they highlight the horrors, but they also suggest solutions for getting good grub into our school systems. (2009)

Food, Inc. – Just how much choice do we really have in the grocery store? Food, Inc. shows us that the answer is not that much. A massive percentage of our nation’s food supply is controlled by just a handful of corporations, who oftentimes put their bottom line before our health – in clear sight of the USDA and FDA.  I guarantee that this movie will scare you and have you signing up for a CSA in no time flat. (2008)

Super Size Me – If you haven’t heard of this movie, or its creator Morgan Spurlock, you’ve probably been living in a McDonald’s-induced coma! Nominated for an Oscar and earning huge box-office ratings, this experiment in fast-food binging piqued the curiosity of a nation. I was so excited about this film when it premiered – I gave up fast food in 1999- and I was eager to finally get some attention for the cause. I was not disappointed. In this highly-effective documentary, Spurlock challenges himself to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days and only take the shockingly low amount of steps the average American walks daily. The results are McDisgusting. (2004)

Farming at Risk:

The Garden - A moving, frustrating tale of a community rebuilt from the rubble of the LA riots thanks to an urban garden, this film depicts the various ways in which the powers-that-be seek to suffocate any breath of self-reliance in the inner city. (2008)

The Real Dirt on Framer John – Farmer John Peterson had it all, lost it all, then turned it all into the largest organic CSA in the U.S. in this unique documentary. Admittedly, it’s a bit slow-moving, but John is sweet and watchable, and totally entertaining in his attitude towards life, farming, and the American dream. (2005)

Water, Water, Everywhere:

Chinatown – A cult, film-noir classic, Chinatown takes conservationism to the highest apex of chic. Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson, this who-done-it won Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for 10 additional Oscars! The plot intertwines danger, murder, adultery, and incest with municipal corruption, real estate hoarding, and the control of LA’s precious water supply.  (1974)

Flow: For the Love of Water - Just like Food, Inc. documents the dangers of corporate control of our food supply, Flow assures us that the the big businesses that maintain our water supply are just as uncaring and harmful to our health. The statistics put forth in this documentary are horrifying – 500,000-7 million people get sick from water each year, and Flow explores why and how. If nothing else, this movie will have you looking at your tap a little differently. (2008)

In the Air, up in the Trees, and under the Sea:

Sharkwater - This stunningly filmed, hi-def, underwater documentary explores the cruel world of shark poaching. Corruption, greed, death threats, chases on the high seas, shark fin soup – this movie’s got it all. (2007)

Winged Migration – Showcasing the fantastic, grueling, and elegant migration journeys of several species of birds, this truly amazing documentary spans four years and seven continents. Using in-flight cameras and aerial footage,  you’ll feel like you’re flying along with the geese. (2001)

Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey – The true-life story of environmentalist and naturalist Dian Fossey,  Gorillas in the Mist is the story of a women devoted to the study of primates and her work in the mountains of Rwanda. Sigourney Weaver plays Fossey in an Oscar-nominated performance, who forsakes romance and safety for the good of the peaceful, loving gorillas. A true, full-out tear-jerker. (1988)

For the Sci-Fi Fans:

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – The moral of this trekkie tale is that you never know how  all of our pollution and poaching today will impact us in the future. For example, a super-powerful race of aliens from an unknown galaxy could come to earth years from now, hoping to say “hi” to some humpback whales, but if they’ve already been poached out of extinction, how can they tell the aliens to go home? Kirk and Spock figured it out, but I’m not so sure we could. (1986)

Silent Running – From the same director of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain, Silent Running is an  environmentally-conscious sci-fi flick that tells the story of a futuristic eco-protector. In this vision of the future, all of the plant life has died on Earth, save some specimens that float, preserved, around Saturn in bio-dome space stations that are slated for termination. The fate of every little flower rests in the hands of one rebel ecologist. (1972)

Quirky and Worth It:

Blue Vinyl – Lighthearted and interesting, this documentary follows one woman’s quest to outfit her parent’s house with an attractive, eco-safe covering. Her quest takes her to various US towns (and all the way to Venice, Italy) effected by the vinyl industry, and the harm that polyvinyl chloride presents. (2002)

Traffic-Stopping:

Who Killed the Electric Car -  Get ready to be seriously angry. This film, detailing the creation, limited distribution, and eventual destruction of the electric car, will have you gearing to write your Senator and protest oil companies. If you weren’t too sure about those government automotive bailouts,  this film will help you make up your mind. (2006)

It’s Gettin’ Hot in Here:

An Inconvenient Truth – This highly-acclaimed cautionary tale by Al Gore shed new light on and breathed new life into the topic of global warming. Passionate, informative, controversial, and captivating, this film became a hot-button political issue and a water-cooler favorite.  An Inconvenient Truth is to be admired. (2006)

The 11th Hour – Things are bad. The environment is suffering. And, Leonardo DiCaprio wrote this movie to tell us about it! In the style of An Inconvenient Truth, but lacking the hopeful sentiment, DiCaprio’s documentary is an assessment of the plight of our world in very grim terms. Not a picker-upper, but well worth the watch.

Did I miss your favorite eco-film? Leave a comment!