ELF Dinner Night

Winter is in the air and the holidays are right around the corner.  This truly is my favorite time of year: the music, lights, holiday movies, and FOOD!  There is so much to look forward to on the days leading up to the holidays.  To really get into the spirit, I decided we needed to enjoy a themed dinner to one of my favorite holiday movies, ELF!  This week, I am excited to share with you our Christmas themed ELF Dinner Night.

Download a printable version of our ELF Dinner Night Menu here:

ELF is a cherished holiday classic in our household; we look forward to watching it every year during this season.  This movie is full of laughs and Christmas spirit as you follow the adventures of Buddy the Elf (who is actually a human raised by elves).  When creating a menu for our ELF Dinner Night, I knew I had to incorporate some of our favorite laughs and Christmas theming into the menu offerings.  So, don’t be a Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggings!  Read on to see how we celebrated this Christmas classic, ELF.   

ELF Dinner Appetizers

We all know the four main food groups (according to Buddy) which consist of: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup!  I’m sure my kids would LOVE to have a dinner centered solely around candy, but this mom can’t get behind a dinner without SOME sort of nod to the food pyramid. 

“How are we going to get the star on top? – I got it!”

For our first starter, I wanted to serve up something light and healthy.  I was inspired by this Avocado Christmas Tree idea from Healthy Little Foodies.  There is no shortage of Christmas trees in ELF.  Viewers are treated to scenes of the stunning Gimbels Christmas tree Jovie is seen decorating when Buddy first lays eyes on her, as well as the magnificent Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.  But the MOST memorable scene, is when Buddy and his little brother are decorating their towering (and mistakenly stolen) Central Park tree in their apartment.  To place the star on the very top, Buddy LITERALLY leaps into action, and manages to topple the whole thing over. 

To put my own spin on the recipe, I decided to use pita bread and a Christmas tree cookie cutter to create cute little tree shapes.  For my avocado spread, I mashed up one avocado with the following:

• 1 Tbl sour cream
• 1/4 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp onion powder

I smeared the avocado spread on each tree, then used diced tomatoes to create a garland effect.  I cut star shapes out of sliced cheese to top them off for that real Christmas tree feel.  No toppling over Christmas trees here! 

“You smell like beef and cheese, you don’t smell like Santa.”

Another ICONIC moment from ELF is when Buddy meets the Santa working at Gimbels.  Bursting with excitement, Buddy rushes over to greet his longtime friend.  Upon close inspection, it becomes clear to Buddy that the man is indeed NOT Santa, but rather an imposter, who smells “like beef and cheese!”  This scene inspired our second appetizer offering – you guessed it – beef and cheese!  Raising Whasians featured some adorable Christmas tree cheese stick snacks on their site that I took inspiration from.  I whipped up several of these trees to make up a meat and cheese platter to enjoy during the movie. 

I decided to also get creative with the crackers I served with the Christmas trees on the platter.  Using some Christmas cookie cutters, I cut out some fun shapes in the cheese to top off the crackers and beef. Santa certainly needed to make an appearance on the platter as well. To assemble his face, I freehand cut his beard and moustache out of some Swiss cheese and topped him off with a hat of sliced beef.  I’ll be honest, I couldn’t stop giggling as I cut out those moustaches – they were so adorable!  I cut small pieces of dried cranberries for the eyes, but you can really use anything you have on hand!  I was very happy with the festive look of this platter.

ELF Dinner Entrée

For our main entrée, I knew we had to serve up some spaghetti!  This is the same classic dish Buddy enjoys with his family during their first dinner together.  While Buddy elected to douse his portion of pasta with maple syrup (sticking to the four main food groups), I decided that wasn’t going to fly in our household.  We kept it simple and enjoyed a traditional spaghetti dinner with classic marinara and ground Italian sausage.  I am incredibly lucky to have my Great-Grandma Carmella’s Classic Italian Marinara recipe in my arsenal.  This recipe is a total GAMECHANGER if you are cooking Italian food.  I highly recommend checking it out HERE to make your very own authentic Classic Italian Marinara (you can thank me later 😉)!    

ELF Dinner Dessert

Buddy’s Spaghetti Cupcakes

Our dessert was inspired by Buddy’s sugar loaded breakfast he creates with spaghetti, syrup, and LOADS of candy.  I decided to whip up some cupcakes that had the LOOK of Buddy’s spaghetti creation but would taste much better.  For the cake portion of our treats, I utilized this recipe for Gingerbread Cupcakes from Delicious Little Bites.  Because of Buddy’s penchant for syrup, I decided to look for a maple flavored frosting to top off our cupcakes.  Using this Easy Maple Frosting from Cake Whiz, I was able to pipe long, thin, strands of frosting using a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.  The kids thought it looked just like spaghetti sitting on top of the cupcake!  We had fun decorating the “spaghetti” frosting with whatever candy we could find in the house (which incidentally was A LOT).  I think Buddy would have been proud! 

“You did it!  Congratulations!  Worlds best cup of coffee!  Great job, everybody!  It’s great to be here.”

Upon arriving in New York, Buddy stumbles upon a café boasting to have the worlds best cup of coffee.  I knew we had to incorporate this movie element into our ELF Dinner Night menu but serving the kiddos coffee was out of the question!  Instead, I wanted to whip up some delicious cups of hot cocoa.  To make the cocoa a truly ELF inspired treat, I wanted to find a recipe to incorporate maple flavor as a nod to Buddy’s favorite food group – syrup!  I used a Maple Hot Chocolate recipe from Taste of Home.  Everyone thought it was a delicious cocoa, and a great way to end the evening.

“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!”

I hope our ELF Dinner Night has inspired you to create your own holiday movie night with your family!  Before you know it, you’ll be hearing a chorus of “I love you!  I love you!  I LOOOVE YOU!”

What are some of your family’s favorite holiday classics to enjoy together? Do you have a favorite holiday snack or treat you like to serve up during movie nights? Let me know in the comments!

Looking for other holiday themed dinner nights to enjoy with your family?  Check out our Christmas Story Dinner Night HERE!

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