Are you hosting a T.Hanksgiving or a Hanksgiving this year? Then you might like these Tom Hanks themed dinner party ideas. Instead of going out for Valentine’s Day, my husband and I like to create a fun meal at home. Last year we created a Hamilton themed dinner.

This year we decided to create a Tom Hanks themed dinner. For the past two years or so we have been watching Tom Hank’s movies in chronological order. It’s been a fun ride! I peaked in the 90s when we got to watch Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and A League of Their Own. My husband has already gotten me to watch more adventure movies than I care to watch in a lifetime because of the DaVinci Code series books and others. We only have about 8 more movies of his to go before we have watched them all!

Anyway, we decided to create a Tom Hank’s dinner for this Valentine’s Day. First I asked on Facebook and Twitter for some suggestions of food that Tom Hanks ate in his various movies. Most of the answers came from Forrest Gump, but there were some other suggestions, too.

Here is the Tom Hanks themed menu that we served:

Shrimp and Potatoes from Forrest Gump

Seafood Gumbo (shrimp from Forrest Gump, fish from Castaway)

Peas and Carrots (from Forrest Gump)

Strawberries, Walnuts, and Coconut drizzled with coconut milk (coconut from Castaway)

Here are some other great suggestions that might fit into your Tom Hanks-themed dinner:

Baby Corn from Big

Pizza from Toy Story

Hot Tea from Toy Story

Pretzels topped with sardines from The ‘Burbs

Lobster from Splash

Astronaut food from Apollo 13

Box of chocolates from Forrest Gump

Caviar from You’ve Got Mail and Big

Hot chocolate from Polar Express

Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino. from You’ve Got Mail

Ice cream from Forrest Gump

Absolutely anything possible you can think of with shrimp from Forrest Gump.

As Bubba says, “That’s about it.”

Guess the Tom Hanks Movie

We also arranged a table with 11 objects. Each object is from the title of a Tom Hanks movie. Can you guess all 12 Tom Hanks movie titles represented on the table? (Yes, there are only 11 objects. One of the objects included represents two different titles. Bonus points if you get those right!)

Here are the answers to Tom Hanks guessing game if you need them.

Other Tom Hanks Activity Ideas:

Play Charades. Open up IMDB and have partygoers act out the different movies he was in. See who can guess the most.

Read aloud one of the short stories from Tom Hanks new book, Uncommon Type. (You’ll need to make the language PG if there are kids around.) My favorite ones were These are the Meditations of My Heart and The Past is Important to Us.

Play the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, but with Tom Hanks. Here’s how in case you don’t know.

For background music, listen to your favorite soundtrack from a Tom Hanks movie. I listened to the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack while I was cooking.

Watch a Tom Hanks movie. Try one you have never seen before. For the romantics, we recommend Everytime Time We Say Goodbye. For something quirky, try The Great Buck Howard, even though he isn’t in it much, or The Terminal. For a good cry, try Saving Mr. Banks. For something adventurous, you have more choices than you can imagine.

Did I miss any Tom Hanks food? Do you have a Tom Hanks activity idea? Comment below!

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