We’re off to Neverland for a magical evening of delicious food, lush tropical decor, and a viewing of Peter Pan. Get the details, recipes, and resources to create your own Peter Pan dinner below!
Where is Neverland?
Neverland is a fictional island, but by studying visual clues in the book and film The Film Theorists believe they have identified an actual location that matches key geographical characteristics — Turneffe Atoll in Belize.
By analyzing visual clues, The Film Theorists discovered that Peter Pan was heading southwest across the ocean, indicating that his destination was somewhere in the Americas. In the movies, Neverland is an island surrounded by lagoons, only three of which can be found in the western hemisphere.
Remember the crocodile scene involving Captain Hook? The crocodile shown is a large saltwater species only found in the Caribbean.
A fascinating piece of evidence that Turneffe Atoll is Neverland is that Captain Hook is based on a real pirate named Blackbeard who used the atoll as a base of operations in the 17th century.
The Turneffe Atoll is part of the Belize Barrier Reef, the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. The Turneffe Atoll is the largest atoll in Belize and consists of several lagoons and mangrove forests. It is part of a protected marine reserve which is home to more than 500 species of fish and 65 species of sea turtles, manatees, and dolphins.
The Tablescape & Decor
Our tablescape and decor were inspired by the flora & fauna of Neverland as well as Peter and Tink’s signature shades of green — with a little pixie dust sprinkled in, of course!
The table was dressed in a white linen tablecloth and burlap table runner. We included wooden elements, lots of leaves, moss, and tropical flowers. We embellished our green glass votive candle holders with tropical leaves. Get our tutorial and materials links here to make your own.
Our centerpiece was inspired by the flora & fauna of Neverland and featured a variety of fresh leaves, big white cushion poms, and little green button poms. A gold glittery silhouette of Tink as well as some fairy lights added a touch of magic!
For our place settings we chose to use simple white round plates centered atop our favorite rustic wooden chargers. We added a linen napkin and wooden napkin ring. A beautiful green sparkly butterfly rested on top of each napkin.
We decorated our serving buffet with more elements inspired by Neverland — luminaries lit with fairy lights, simple glass jars, tropical flowers, moss, and a rustic “You can fly!” sign.
Our Menu
There are many factors that make Belize’s food special: availability of fresh seafood, the influence of Mayan, African, and Spanish cultures, and the celebration of indigenous flavors. Belize is bordered by Mexico, Guatemala, and the Caribbean sea and its diverse population results in a variety of delicious foods.
We chose to try some common Belizean dishes for our Peter Pan dinner to experience the flavors and culinary traditions of the country. We paired our Belizean appetizer, entree, and side dishes with a trio of Peter Pan inspired desserts. The result was a fresh menu of vibrant flavors, vivid colors and touches of whimsy inspired by Neverland.
Avocado Ceviche
Ceviche is a very popular dish throughout Latin America. Traditionally it uses raw seafood that is cooked without heat using fresh lime juice. We made a delicious vegetarian Avocado Ceviche from Cookie and Kate that uses citrus fruits, avocados, and cilantro. It was delicious served with chips as an appetizer.
Tropical Fruit Salad
We continued our tropical theme by creating a fresh fruit salad of papaya, kiwi, pineapple, blueberries, and strawberries. In honor of “the second star on the right” we cut the pineapple into star shapes with a mini star cookie cutter.
Rice & Beans with Veggie Kabobs
Rice & Beans is the national dish of Belize. It typically includes white long-grained rice and red kidney beans with coconut milk, sage and other spices. Belizean rice & beans is usually served with three other elements: some kind of stewed meat, potato salad or slaw, and fried ripe plantain. For our dinner we opted to try Caribbean vegetable kabobs. The meal was hearty, flavorful and enjoyed by all!
Neverland Cupcakes
We wanted to create a cupcake that reflected the beauty of Neverland. Anna created fondant flowers and butterflies with these fondant molds to top our favorite vanilla cupcakes from Sally’s Baking Addiction which were frosted with delicious cream cheese frosting. She dusted them with pixie dust (gold sanding sugar) to add a little magic!
Tinkerbell Cookies
No Peter Pan dinner is complete without a Tinkerbell inspired dessert! We used our favorite sugar cookie recipe to create these adorable cookies using a Tinkerbell cookie cutter, green sanding sugar, and white nonpareils for Tink’s shoes.
Mermaid Float
Our family is crazy about the Peter Pan Float at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. Lime Dole Whip is one of my absolute favorites and something I look forward to when we are in the parks. We love the mermaids in Peter Pan and wanted to recreate the float with a twist to give a nod to the mermaids. We love the result! Link to our recipe here.
Fun Activities
Our family is in the process of traveling around the world through Disney movies. To see our other destinations click here.
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