How the Grinch Stole Christmas Themed Dinner

For our final Christmas Themed Dinner, we enjoyed a Who-feast while viewing How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

This classic Christmas tale focuses on a mean-spirited grouch who HATES Christmas and his neighboring merrymakers, the Whos.  In his attempt to steal Christmas and end it once and for all, the Grinch learns a valuable lesson: Christmas isn’t about material things; it’s a joyous feeling in your heart when you care for others.

The menu I created for our Grinch Themed Dinner can be enjoyed during a reading of the beloved Dr. Seuss story, a viewing of the classic animated film, or during your favorite Grinch adaptation!  In our household, our favorite rendition is the 2000 live-action film starring Jim Carrey.

I loved the Jim Carrey portrayal of the Grinch as a child.  The comedy still makes me laugh to this day, and the sentimental moments still make me feel all the feels.  If you haven’t seen this version, be sure to check it out!    

So, without further Who-ado, let’s get started on our Christmas feast!  We will feast on Who-pudding, Who-hash, and rare Who-roast-beast!  (Sorry – couldn’t resist!)

Click the link below to download my free Grinch Food Label printable!

Merry Grinch-mas Cocktail

To kick off our Grinch Themed Dinner, I wanted to create a festive green cocktail to emulate our redeemed antagonist.  This drink is composed mostly of alcohol, so think of it like a martini on the rocks (or on ice).  The flavor reminds me of my favorite Girl Scout cookies – Thin Mints!  Yummmm 

To make the cocktail, you will need:

Equipment:

• Jiggers – to measure your ingredients
• Boston Shaker and Pint Glass
• Hawthorne Strainer
• Lowball Glass
• Two Small Plates (for sugar rim)

Ingredients:

• Green Crème de Menthe – 1/2oz
• White Crème de Cocoa – 1/2oz
• Rumchata – 1/2oz
• Milk – 1/2oz
• Ice
• Red Sprinkles (for sugar rim)
• Agave, Honey, or Caramel Sauce (for sugar rim)

1. First, you will want to prepare the red sprinkle rim on your lowball glass.  To do this, gently spin the rim of your glass on a plate with something sweet and sticky for the sugar to adhere to.  You could use honey, agave, or even caramel sauce.  Then, do the same on a plate with your red sprinkles until thoroughly coated.   
2. Next, use a jigger to measure your liquid ingredients into your Boston Shaker.  Fill with ice, secure with a pint glass, and shake ingredients until chilled – about 20 times. 
3. Strain cocktail into your lowball glass filled with ice and ENJOY!

* It is important to buy GREEN crème de menthe and WHITE crème de cocoa to achieve the green color of the cocktail.  While dark cocoa will taste just as good, it will not maintain the desired green color of the drink.

* As I mentioned before, this drink is mostly composed of alcohol like a martini.  Be sure to enjoy responsibly!

Entrée: Who-Roast-Beast

“And he…HE HIMSELF…!  The Grinch carved the roast beast!”

Planning our Grinch Themed Dinner menu was very simple, because it’s right there in the story!  The Grinch steals every component of the Whos’ Christmas feast including rare Who-roast-beast, Who-hash, and Who-pudding.  So, I took my inspiration from this traditional Who feast and got to work.

For our Who-roast-beast, I followed this recipe from Simple Joy.  The spice blend for the roast was super simple to throw together and made the house smell AMAZING as it cooked in the oven. 

I kept my eye on the internal temp of the roast until it reached 135 degrees, then let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.  While the Grinch carved the roast beast for the Whos, I bestowed that honor to my husband 😉

The roast beast won my family’s stamp of approval, which always make for a great themed dinner night!

Side: Who-Hash

“Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash!”

While searching for a Who-hash recipe for our Grinch Themed Dinner, I noticed most contained some sort of meat.  Because we were already having a roast, I wanted to find a vegetarian recipe.  I was thrilled to find this Apple-and-Root Vegetable Hash recipe from Martha Stewart herself.  In my cooking experience, you can’t go wrong with Martha!

This recipe was a winner.  It was actually the highlight of the entire meal for me!  Even my 11-month-old couldn’t stop eating off my plate (he’s lucky he’s cute).  This is definitely a recipe I plan to make again, especially for the holidays.

To make our Who-hash extra authentic to the story, I created these printable can labels.  Click the pdf link below to download the free printable! The label fits a standard Campbell’s soup can.

Dessert: Grinch Cookies served with Eggnog Who-Pudding Dip

“He took the Who-pudding!  He took the roast beast!”

The dessert for our Grinch Themed Dinner had two components.  The first, was our cut-out Grinch cookies. 

To achieve the look, I first made a standard sugar cookie dough.  Once ready, I used food coloring to dye half of it green, and half of it red.

Next came the fun part, rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes for the Grinch cookies!  I started with the green dough, and cut-out a border cookie shape that my heart cookie cutter would also fit into.  After the green heart shapes were cut-out, I set them aside and cut heart shapes from my red dough to place into the green outlines.  Just like putting a puzzle together! 

I was happy with the effect and thought the cookies were a great representation of the Grinch’s growing heart after realizing the true meaning of Christmas.

And now, for the second component to our Grinch Themed Dinner dessert – the Who-pudding.  I took some creative liberties with this element from the story.  We know the Whos enjoy pudding as part of their feast, but I wanted to find a recipe that could be utilized with our Grinch cut-out cookies.  So, again, I turned to my favorite recipe book – Pinterest.

After some brief scrolling, I found this recipe for Eggnog Pudding Dip from Crazy for Crust.  A festive pudding dip for cookies?!  It was perfect!

And not only did this recipe perfectly complement our Grinch Themed Dinner menu, but it was also SUPER simple to make with only three ingredients. 

I am not a huge eggnog fan, but the presence of it was subtle in this pudding dip giving it the perfect touch of holiday flavors.  While we served this dip with cookies, I think it would also be great with fruit or any other tasty treat you can think of!

“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

Well, this wraps up our Christmas themed dinners for 2021!  I hope you all enjoy the holidays with your loved ones and have a fantastic New Year.  We will be back with more posts from Inspiring Magical Memories in 2022!

Are there any Disney Themed Dinners you’d like to see in the upcoming year?  Let us know in the comments!

Looking for other holiday themed dinners?  Check out our Elf Themed Dinner HERE and our Home Alone Themed Dinner HERE!

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