For Nora’s 11th birthday, we hosted a “Wacky Dinner.” Here’s how we did it in case you are interested for your own families. It’s a great activity for a family dinner on a weekend or parties.
We first learned about Wacky Dinners from our friend Francine about 20 years ago. I could not remember how to do it exactly, so Francine coached me. Thanks Francine!
So here’s the concept – you give the guests a menu that has all the items written as riddles. On the menu, the guests write which menu items they want to receive with each course – and you can have three or four courses.
Here was our menu:
| Menu Item | Clue on the Guest Menu |
| Goldfish crackers | Swimmers |
| Snack Mix | Nora Can’t Stop |
| Cubes of cheddar cheese | Squares |
| California rolls sushi | Wish They All Could Be |
| Deviled Eggs | Wicked Breakfast |
| Mini pizza | Big Enough for a Chipmunk |
| Tuna Salad on a Cracker | Never Swim with a Bicycle |
| Hummus and Pita Crackers | Smooth as a Baby’s Bottom |
| Macaroni and Cheese | Curly Squirty |
| Shrimp Cocktail | Going for a Dip |
| Carrot sticks | Underground icicles |
| Cucumber slices | Round and round |
| Applesauce | Pulverized with Love |
| Strawberries | Nature’s Hearts |
| Grapes | Not Quite Wine |
| Red pepper slices | Like a Lipstick Smile |
| Gherkins | Important for Every Meal |
| Square of Seaweed | From a Mermaid’s Notebook |
| Tomato Soup | Bubbling Lava |
| Birthday Cake | Why We Came |
| Vanilla ice cream | Jack Frost |
| Jello in a cup | Jiggly Wiggly |
| Rice Krispie square | Chewbacca |
| Square of Hershey’s Chocolate | Missing His Friend Graham |
| Chocolate Syrup | Mud in the Rain |
| Raspberry Yogurt Popsicles | Sun-burned Yogurt |
| Whipped Cream | I’m Beat! |
| Butter Crisps | Try Not to Explode |
| Petit Ecolier Cookies (Shortbreads with Chocolate on them) | Petit Écolier or the Little School Boy |
That was actually too much food – the girls got too full. I would cut it in half. We just had so much fun coming up with the clues, and we thought the servings were so small, they would need a lot of stuff.
Also, we found plating the first few courses was a bit stressful with 10 items in each course – better to have something like five.
Nora did this sketch of the Wacky Dinner and I love it so much:
She also did a sketch of the girls at the mall doing a scavenger hunt – another activity the girls enjoyed.
