Dumbo Movie Night Food
“I heard a fireside chat, I saw a baseball bat
And I just laughed till I thought I'd die” — When I See an Elephant Fly (Dumbo)
Note: This post includes Amazon affiliate links.
Each month while I focus on a movie, I will make a meal that is inspired by it. I will say my cooking skill level is novice and I am terrified of experimenting with cooking unlike with mocktails and cocktails where I have a lot more confidence. So, while I’m putting together these movie night menus, I will mostly be utilizing recipes I find online, and I will always link to it so you can see the original source.
Fried Pickles
With Dumbo, I felt I had to do carnival / fair type food so the food to go with this! Fried pickles are one of my favorite foods. If I go to a restaurant with fried pickles on the menu, I will always be ordering them. I have attempted to make fried pickles at home before, but wasn’t really that successful until utilizing this recipe: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/827677237804954596/
I used this dutch oven to make mine in: https://amzn.to/3Y7gJFo It comes in many colors so that was attractive to me. I chose the red one because most of my kitchen appliances are red.
I struggled with this recipe at first because it mentions a spider strainer and the way I read it was to dip them in the oil in it and use it to remove it. That just made them stick together, so I found much better success when I threw the pickles in individually and pulled them out of the oil with the spider strainer.
Mini Corn Dog Nuggets
The smell of corn dogs is one that immediately transports me to a fair or carnival in my brain, so I wanted to incorporate that somehow. I ended up finding this recipe: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/827677237804212688/ and they were so easy to make. They are a little addicting because they are so bite sized!
I didn’t already have mini muffin tins - so I bought these silicon ones (SO easy to clean as they are dishwasher safe!): https://amzn.to/4j6as4P
Popcorn Chicken
I was seeking out one more food item to add to my carnival inspired meal and I landed on popcorn chicken, mostly because I love the Publix brand popcorn chicken!
Frosted Animal Cookie Cheesecake
I was SO excited to attempt this cheesecake. I’m not a big fan of the frosted animal cookies, but the idea of using them as the crust intrigued me. Here’s the recipe: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/827677237804208025/
This turned out so good! The crust was a bit hard to cut at first, so I’m wondering if I crushed too many cookies. I didn’t end up doing the dollops of whipped cream on mine because I didn’t want people to feel like they had to take a big slice and could cut it to whatever size they wanted. Don’t skip the frosting though, it was such a great addition to this!
I use this springform pan: https://amzn.to/4hUjcu6
