Dinosaur Themed Party Food
When it comes to organising that dinosaur themed party for your dinosaur obsessed youngster, one of the many questions we get asked is how to customise the food to fit the dinosaur party theme. It is not easy to find dinosaur shaped sandwiches and tit-bits in your local supermarket, but you needn’t spend a fortune to make sure that your dinosaur themed party buffet cuts the “Mesozoic mustard”.
For example, dinosaur shaped cookie cutters are inexpensive to purchase and can be used to create biscuits shaped like prehistoric animals. However, don’t be limited to just the sweet elements of your buffet when it comes to using the cookie cutters. We have used both the plastic and tin cookie cutter types to create dinosaur shaped savoury snacks. With a cookie cutter, it is simple and easy to make your own dinosaur shaped sandwiches.
Using soft bread (we find that a quality white or wholemeal loaf works best); and a series of simple fillings such as spreads – peanut butter, jam, chicken paste or honey, dinosaur shaped sandwiches and light bites can be created by simply using the cookie cutter to cut out the slices once the sandwich has been prepared. A firm push into the sandwich with the cookie cutter is all that is required, but have a pair of kitchen scissors or a sharp knife handy in case you need to trim off any bits. This is a simple and straight forward way of theming up your dinosaur party platter.
The majority of dinosaurs known from the fossil record were vegetarian so don’t forget to put plenty of salad out for the young dinosaur fans. They are used to seeing strange plants such as cycads and tree ferns alongside dinosaurs in their picture books and you can use this to encourage them to eat their greens. A mixed green salad containing such delights as rocket and a little water cress can resemble the most exotic of ancient prehistoric plants. For added spice a handful of washed dandelion leaves can be put into the salad bowl. Dandelion leaves are edible, but don’t forget to wash them and use them sparingly as they are a diuretic. The “toothed” edges of the leaves make a great prehistoric addition to any salad, we have even called them T. rex jaws, it is fun to watch the young party guests trying to find a green T. rex jaw and put it onto their plate at feeding time.
Take a cocktail stick and a coloured piece of paper, prepare a label for the sandwiches using simple dinosaur vocabulary. A quick peek inside your child’s dinosaur book should provide you with plenty of names for inspiration, for instance we have created “Jurassic Jam” and “Hypsilophodon Honey” sandwiches in the past. The cocktail stick can be used to stick the label securely in the plate of sandwiches, but don’t forget to blunt the end that points upwards, we don’t want any of your little monsters pricking their fingers.
