This is the first time I’m doing a live-action film for Disney Dinner and a Movie and I couldn’t have chosen a better one. Hocus Pocus is a flawless film (in my humble opinion) about kids who accidentally awaken three witches on Halloween night and must stop them before they steal the souls from every child in Salem. Everything about this movie is amazing; the characters, the setting, the humor, the memorable dialog. I could go on and on about how much I love this film but I’ll spare you. I watch Hocus Pocus every year for Halloween but this is the first time I’ve made a themed meal to go along with it and boy am I glad I did.
When I decided to do a Hocus Pocus meal I knew that I absolutely had to make Witches’ Brew. Winnie’s potion she uses to suck the souls from children is such an important (and fun) part of the film that I wanted to emulate it as much as possible. You can find plenty of different recipes online for this sort of drink but I made up my own because I couldn’t find any non-dairy sherbet (if you do use green sherbet it will make the drink a very pretty color). Instead, I mixed one can of frozen limeade with one bottle of cherry lime seltzer. It fizzled right away but then died down. If you want to go all out I suggest adding some dry ice for a true smokey effect (but please make sure you do it safely). Lastly I added some gummy worms as a garnish. This particular mix came out very sour (try lemon-lime soda instead of seltzer to sweeten it up) but my friends all enjoyed it nonetheless (especially since we added rum to it). Witches’ Brew is not only an easy way to mimic the film, but can be tinkered with to your exact specifications and I highly suggest it for a Halloween party.
The entree took me the longest to figure out. They don’t really eat any meals in the film so I decided to go with the theme of pumpkins (the ultimate Halloween food) and create these adorable and tasty mini stuffed pumpkins. I followed this recipe but modified it based on my own taste preferences. I substituted seitan for sausage and nixed the fruit to keep it a fully savory dish. I also substituted butternut squash for pumpkin in the stuffing. It was surprisingly easy to make, all you do is cook up the veggies and meat and add some couscous then bake it in small hollowed out pumpkins. Think of them like stuffed peppers, but with pumpkins. This recipe turned out great and I ate every bite. It was a great dinner meal, with or without the film.
For a Hocus Pocus dessert I immediately knew I wanted to make witch hat cookies. These are absolutely perfect for this film (and make a great treat for any Halloween gathering) and are pretty simple to make. I used chocolate covered oreos as the base and “glued” on Hershey’s kisses using the same orange gel icing that I used to draw on the bows. I tried out both straight and crooked bows and decided that I like the crooked ones best but they all came out great. The only downside to this is that your hand gets tired pretty quickly (hence why I stopped at 7). These were delicious and fun and were a big hit at my Hocus Pocus movie night.
Hocus Pocus is not only my favorite Halloween movie but also one of my favorite films of all time. It’s perfect for all ages and lends itself very well to a themed movie night. Both the Witches’ Brew and the Witches’ Hat cookies would make great treats for a party or any other sort of Halloween gathering and the stuffed pumpkins are a great Fall dish. Overall, this was a very easy and perfectly themed Disney Dinner and a Movie.
Coming Soon: Disney Dinner and a Movie: Cars
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