Fast Food Fun

Our culture's obsession with fast food made it into my monthly dinners when I hosted a Fast Food Fun theme back in 2011.  The idea came to me as I was trying to think of a monthly dinner theme and menu.  A friend of mine said, "Why don't you just get a bucket of KFC this time and save yourself the craziness; You are 8 months pregnant!"  The thought was appealing for all of 10 seconds, and then my crazy brain became overloaded with ideas to go with the KFC, etc. theme.  I thanked my friend for her inspiration as she rolled her eyes at me!!  Although it took some work running around town to ask fast food restaurants for various items, I did really enjoy hosting this theme.  Most of the chains were very friendly and willing to give me what I needed for this party, and the decor was super easy.

Invite:  I designed a french fry box on Microsoft Word using a Google image and a bit of editing.  You could keep the front as the McDonalds logo, or alter it to fit your last name, etc. I kept the back of the fry box plain.  Then I cut card stock to look like french fries, and wrote a party detail (date, time, etc.) on the bottom of each fry. The cardstock "box" is glued at the sides.  The fries were just placed so that guests could pull them out when they received the invite.

Decor:  Most fast food restaurants have red and yellow as their colors. (Random Fact: Did you know this is because these colors have been proven to enhance hunger/increase your appetite?)  I decided to stick with similar colors for my dinner.  I used a red tablecloth to cover the table, then folded a black tablecloth to make a runner down the middle.  A few pieces of yellow rectangular card stock were placed on the black to make it look like a street. I also added a few toy cars of my daughters to make it look like they were driving on the street.

As a place card, I made tall sign poles like you would see on the side of the road as you passed a fast food restaurant. I used alliteration with each guest to choose the establishment and included this in the sign logo.  I printed them on card stock, cut them out, and attached them to the top of black straws I picked up at Baja Fresh (I think).  I stuck this "pole" into mini play dough containers (set of 5 for $1 in the Target dollar bin). Make sure you put the logo and the front and back or it may look funny.

Samples of the establishment logos.

I had a student who worked at Jack in the Box, so I wrote a letter to his manager asking to borrow 12 of their black trays with paper accompaniment.  He agreed to loan them to me, so I used these at each place setting. I placed a crown I got free from Burger King on each plate for guest's to wear throughout the evening as well. I used red napkins at each place setting, tied a white ribbon around them, and attached a tag that matched the restaurant on their "sign".  All images were free on Google.

Activities/Games:  I had two simple activities for this party.  The first was Happy Thoughts make Happy Meals.  I got a happy meal container from a local McDonald's for each of my guests, sliced a slit in the front, and attached a paper with their name above the slit.  I made little note cards and asked guests to write down "happy thoughts" for each guest and place it in their designated Happy Meal.  It was rather sweet to read these later especially since they were anonymous.  Everyone needs a little positive energy and compliments every now and then!

The second activity was a Name that Fast Food Slogan game.  Guests had to guess the slogan for each of the fast food restaurants....Finger Lickin' Good....Where's the Beef?...etc.  It was fun to talk about the correct answers after everyone had played.

Menu:  We had homemade fast food items at this dinner of course. All items were served on the Jack in the Box tray without plates.  We started with hamburgers wrapped in Carls Jr. Famous Star paper wrappers.  The burgers were plain, and I placed all the lettuce, tomatoe, etc. on the table for guests to "have it your way"...okay that's Burger King's slogan, but you get the idea! Below are all of the menu items with how they were served...

 

Hamburgers

(wrapped in Carl’s Jr. Famous Star paper)

Ground beef molded into patties

Bun

Cheese

Fixins: Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, etc.

Bistro-Style French Fries

 (served in In n Out fry buckets)

2 pounds russet potatoes

Oil

Salt to taste

Slice 2 pounds russet potatoes into fries, transferring to a bowl of tepid water as you go.  Heat 2 inches of peanut or vegetable oil, shortening, lard, or a combination of fats in a deep wide pot over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees.  Drain the potatoes and dry well.  Add half of the potatoes to the pot and fry, stirring gently, until they soften and blister, 3 to 4 minutes (do not let them color).  Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining potatoes.  Transfer to the freezer until firm, at least 1 hour.  When ready to serve, reheat the oil to 375 degrees over medium-high heat.  Working in 4 small batches so the oil stays hot, fry the potatoes until golden brown, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to afresh paper towels to drain.  Season with salt.

Cole Slaw

(served in KFC bowl)

3 cups shredded cabbage

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon celery seed

Stir dressing together until sugar is dissolved.  Add cabbage and mix.  Serves 4.

Taquitos

(served in Del Taco bags)

Frozen taquitos bought at Costco served with guacamole

Blizzards

(served in Dairy Queen cups)

Vanilla Ice Cream

Choice of Reeses or Snickers

Put vanilla ice cream in blender and add desired candy.  Mix (don’t blend) until desired consistency.

Dairy Queen and KFC made me pay for the cups/spoons/bowls I got from them, but all the other restaurants gave them to me for free.  The recipe for the french fries was awesome.  I recommend making these if you have the time.  The Blizzards were easy and a crowd favorite. 

The evening was a lot of fun, and the food was easy.  This theme takes some pre-planning to get the suppliesfrom the restaurants, but if I could do it 8 months pregnant...I'm sure you can! :-)  If you would like the Name that Slogan document or the Happy Thoughts tag, comment below with your email,a nd I will send it to you.

Thanks for "driving through" this post!!