Foods for a Flintstone Party

"The Flintstones," which originally aired in the 1960s, was voted the second-greatest cartoon series of all time by "TV Guide" in 2013 -- and for good reason. Its iconic family has been reincarnated in re-runs, reboots and live-action feature films. Throwing a Flintstones-themed party is a fun way to indulge in some retro nostalgia in a family-friendly manner. Plan the food to be meaty-heavy -- the Flintstones were partial to dinosaur -- and feel free when labeling your dishes to indulge in your goofiest rock-related puns.

In the opening credits of the Flintstones television series, Fred Flintstone is served a huge rack of dinosaur ribs at a drive-in. You can replicate this by serving beef ribs at your party; in fact, many restaurants and recipes call these oversized beef bones "dino ribs" already. Your butcher may have to special-order this cut for you, however. Grill your beef ribs and slather them with a tasty sauce, either a traditional barbecue sauce or an Asian-style hoisin glaze. You can also serve other oversized meat on the bone, preferably grilled. Turkey legs are a good choice; call them pterosaur legs if you like. You can also serve large rib-eye or porterhouse steaks.

Fred and Wilma Flintstone spent many a weekend in their back yard grilling up "bronto burgers" for the family. You, too, can serve oversized beef burgers from your grill or indoor stovetop to your party guests. Cook each burger to order and serve them on the biggest buns you can find. Turn the cook-out into a Bronto Burger Bar by lining up a variety of condiments and toppings and letting guests build their own. Label the condiments with prehistoric names such as, "Mesozoic Mustard," "Cretaceous Catsup" and "Permian Pickles."

Prepare a batch of deviled eggs and label the platter "dinosaur eggs" for a fun Flintstones-themed appetizer. If you can find goose, duck or turkey eggs, you can experiment with hard-boiling them and slicing them up for a visually enticing presentation. Sometimes you can find ostrich eggs at farmer's markets and specialty retailers; they're expensive, but impressive. Scramble the innards and keep the shell for serving.

For dessert, serve "gravelberry pie," a delicacy in a "Flintstones" episode. Any berry pie, such as raspberry, will do -- just label the platter appropriately. Rock-related puns were fundamental to the Flintstones' humor, so it's entirely apropos to serve colorful rock candy to your guests. Egg-shaped chocolate Easter candy can also be repurposed for your dessert table as mini dinosaur eggs. Or you can try dipping frosted cupcakes or caramel apples in Fruity Pebbles or Cocoa Pebbles brand cereal -- they're named after Fred and Wilma Flintstone's daughter, after all.

Fred Flintstone's favorite drink was called a Cactus Cooler. This is both the brand name of a soft drink that can sometimes be found on store shelves in California and the southwestern states and the name of a cocktail drink consisting of orange-flavored spirits plus a splash of energy drink. You could also concoct your own Cactus Cooler punch. A nonalcoholic version might consist of pineapple juice, ginger ale or lemon-lime soda and orange sherbet; spike it with vodka for an alcoholic version.