The Santa Clause dinner

Our kids were OBSESSED with this movie.  We watched it like eight times this year.  "The Santa movie" was a big hit.

For dinner we had Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast, Neil's Weenie Whistle, Stuffed Mystery Dates, Cookies and Cocoa from the Cookie Cocoa Dispenser. 

Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast
When Tim Allen burns the turkey, he and Charlie go out to Denny's for dinner!  We did a homemade version of a Grand Slam Breakfast.

Neil's Weenie Whistle
I took small cocktail weenies and wrapped them in strips of crescent rolls.  I baked in the oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Stuffed Mystery Dates
I cut the dates in half and stuffed them with goat cheese.  I drizzled with honey and popped in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cocoa and Cookies from the Cocoa Cookie Dispenser
Tollhouse cookies made to package directions and Cocoa made to package directions.

This was such an easy and festive dinner!!

The Little Drummer Boy dinner

We did a dinner for The Little Drummer Boy to prepare for Christmas and it was a lot of fun!  Olivia and Maddie loved the drums.  In fact, they even got their own drum (plastic) for Christmas!

We had Israeli Couscous with Lamb, Mallets, Hot Buttered Pa-Rum-Pa-Pa-Rum, Rum Pum-Pa-Punch, and The Little Drummer Boy's Cheesecake.

Israeli Couscous with Lamb
I used this recipe here and tweaked it because ain't nobody got time to cook things for 90 minutes when there are two kids under three roaming around the apartment.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1lb of ground lamb
2 small onions
1 cup of couscous

Directions:
1. Cook couscous according to package directions
2. Mix together lamb, garlic, cinnamon, salt, allspice, coriander, black pepper, cumin, and cardamom together.
3. Heat the olive oil on a skillet and add chopped onions.
4. Once the onions are translucent, add the meat mixture and cook until meat is golden brown.
5. Fluff couscous with fork and add to the meat mixture and serve warm.
6. Adding raisins is optional.

Mallets/Drumsticks
Pretzels and Olives

Hot Buttered Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum
I used the Hot Buttered Rum packet you can find in the grocery stores and mixed it with a tablespoon of butter, hot water, and of course, rum.

Pa-Rum-Pa-Rum-Punch
Cranberry Ginger Ale mixed with Rum if you'd like.

The Little Drummer Boy's Cheesecake
I got a pre-made cheesecake from Hornbacher's and used gold sprinkles and chocolate icing to give it a drum look.

For more dinners like this, check out our other Rankin/Bass dinners: Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, and Pinocchio's Christmas!

Pinocchio's Christmas Dinner

We did a dinner for Pinocchio's Christmas which is part of our Rankin/Bass Christmas movie marathon!  It's 13 movies long and maybe our favorite day ever!  This particular Christmas special is pretty bonkers but it has a special place in our hearts. 

For this dinner we had Geppetto’s Christmas Oatmeal, Marionette String Cheese, Blue Fairy Berries, Jiminy Cricket’s Cherry Vanilla Freeze, and Pinocchio Cookies

        

Geppetto’s Christmas Oatmeal

We made Quaker Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal according to package directions.

Marionette String Cheese

Blue (Fairy) Berries

Jiminy Cricket’s Cherry Vanilla Freeze

We used Godiva white vanilla chocolate pudding mix and made according to package direction and added chopped up maraschino cherries. I found the recipe here!

Pinocchio Cookies

I got the idea here!  I made it a little easier but this one definitely looks better!

Ingredients:

Nilla Wafers

Pink Food Coloring

Red Icing

Pretzel Sticks

Candy Eyes

Godiva Candy Melts

Yellow Starburst

Directions:

1. Using the tip of a sharp knife gently cut a circle in the Nilla Wafer to fit the pretzel stick in. 

2. In a bowl, mix two drops of pink food coloring and 1 teaspoon of water.  Mix together.

3. Apply food coloring mixture to the cookie to look like blush.

4. Melt a handful of Candy Melts and dip the cookie in to look like hair.

5. Cut each yellow Starburst in half and stick to the hair to make a hat.

6. Add a smile and a stripe in the hat with red icing.

7. Add a small dot of icing to the back of each eyeball and place accordingly.

Here are our cuties in their snowman jammies!  

For more dinners like this, check out our other Rankin/Bass dinners: Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, Frosty The Snowman, and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Dinner

We are getting so excited to see the next Fantastic Beasts Movie! This is our FOURTH Harry Potter dinner and we can't wait to keep going through this series!   This dinner didn't have a ton of cooking which is a good thing for those of you wanting to do theme dinners, it is possible without taking up your whole night with cooking.  

For dinner we had Basilisk Stromboli, Polyjuice Potion Hummus, Cornish Pixie Jello, Skele-Gro Cocktail, and Mandrake Cupcakes. 

Basilisk Stromboli

We used our Pinocchio Stromboli recipe and updated it bit.

In the egg/butter mixture, we added some green food coloring and to finish up we used black olives and pepperoni to make the Basilisk face.  

*Our Basilisk is a little less threatening than in the movie! Haha!

Polyjuice Potion Hummus

We purchased store bought hummus and I served it with crackers. 

Cornish Pixie Jello

I made blue Jello to package directions. 

Skele-Gro Cocktail

3 parts Rum Chata

1 part Malibu

*This was deadly and very good! 

Mandrake Cupcakes

I purchased pre-made cupcakes from Hornbacher's because I was too overwhelmed by the though of making my own cupcakes.  I cut them strategically to fit into these clay pots.  I found plastic babies in the Baby Shower aisle of Party City and I taped sage leaves to the top of their heads.  

Here are our pictures from the Concordia Dining Service Harry Potter Dinner that inspired us to do another dinner!

If you liked this, check out our other Harry Potter dinners: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Hocus Pocus Dinner

I PUT A SPELL ON YOUUUUU.... And now, you're mine! 

We did an awesome (and easy) dinner for Hocus Pocus...  I'm glad this movie is so popular again.  I mean, I've loved it forever but it's nice to see it so embraced!  It's also a blast to introduce to our kids!  They loved the music!

For dinner we had Billy Butcherson's Tombstone Tacos, Dead Man's Toe(s), Broomsticks, Bobbing for Apple Slices and Caramel Dip, Cauldron Brew, and BoooOOOOooooOOOOk Brownies.  It was easy and a blast!

Billy Butcherson's Tombstone Tacos

I used tortilla boats and made little tacos with meat, cheese, sour cream and other taco toppings.  Lego guy was removed prior to eating! 

Dead Man's Toe(s)

I used mini smokies wrapped in bacon and filled an entire cookie sheet.  I covered them with a 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of butter.  

At 400 degrees, I cooked them for twenty minutes-until bacon is done.  

Broomsticks

I used string cheese (cut in half with the ends separated) and pretzels. 

Bobbing for Apple Slices and Caramel Dip

Cauldron Brew

This was just green gatorade but if you are feeling more adventurous a little Apple Pucker could go a long way. 

BoooOOOOooooOOOOk Brownies

I used a brownie mix to make the brownies and used chocolate brown icing and white icing to make the book details. 

Good luck recovering tomorrow... "Oh look, another glorious morning!  Makes me sick!"

Madeline's First Birthday Dinner

We celebrated Maddie's First Birthday with a Madeline themed party!  It was so much fun!

For dinner we had Chef Flambe's White Cheddar and Bacon Quiche, Croissant Sandwiches (you can make your own Cheese Sandwich Ala Cucuface!), French Fruit Flag, Ooh La Lemonade, Madeline Cookies, and Hat's Off To Madeline Cake!

Chef Flambe's White Cheddar and Bacon Quiche

I got the recipe here and tweaked it!

Ingredients:

8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

16 eggs

2 cups of Whole Milk

2 bunches of chopped green onions

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of pepper

8oz of Cheddar Cheese

8oz of Bacon Smoked White Cheddar Cheese

3 unbaked pie crusts (9 inch) 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk eggs, milk, onions, salt and pepper together.

3. Stir in cheddar.

4. Pour mixture into three pie crusts and place on a baking sheet to prevent spilling into the oven.

5. Bake for 55 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

6. Let cool for a few minutes and serve warm. 

Croissant Sandwiches (you can make your own Cheese Sandwich Ala Cucuface!)

French Fruit Flag

Ooh La Lemonade

This is Simply Raspberry Lemonade with Sparkling Berry water added.  It was tasty!  Not too sweet!

Madeline Cookies

There are two Madeline cookies shown.  The ones on the left are made by baker extraordinaire, Janna Boldt.  The ones on the left are made by me!

Here is the recipe I adapted!

Ingredients: 

6 large eggs

1 1/3 cup of sugar

4 teaspoons of lemon zest

1 teaspoon of salt

2.5 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

18 tablespoons (!!!) of butter 

1 container of strawberries

1.5 cups of powdered sugar

4 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of strawberry puree *see directions below*

Directions:

1. Use melted butter to brush the baking mold and dust with flour.  Place in freezer while you prepare the batter.

2. Beat eggs, sugar, lemon zest, and salt until pale yellow and thick.

3. Add in flour, baking powder, and butter.

4. Chill for one hour.

5. Chop 1/2 the container of strawberries up.  

6. **Take 1/2 cup of the strawberries and puree it in a ninja/blender with a little bit of water/milk.  

7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

8. Fold chopped strawberries (not puree) into the batter.  

9. Drop a spoonful of the batter into the cookie mold about 3/4 full. 

10.  Bake for 8 minutes (until golden brown) until the edges are golden brown.

11. Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the strawberry puree. 

12. Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, dip into the glaze and get aside. 

Hat's Off To Madeline Cake!

This awesome cake was made by Central Market in Detroit Lakes!  It is so amazing and delicious!

We had a great day!

Pooped!