🥳Happy New Year!🥳 I’m just popping in for a quick update about what the new year will hold for this lil blog. I also want to do a roundup of my top five favorite books from 2023 (because I read sooo many exceptional books and can’t help sharing the crème de la crème). Let’s begin!
A meal inspired by ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL can only end with this dessert: Mrs. Hall’s shortbread! Although Mrs. Hall is known for dozens of delicious dishes, her shortbread is iconic. In fact, PBS even published an official recipe for these cookies! Naturally, that’s the recipe I used in today’s post (though I did spruce it up a tiny bit with a cookie mold!). The snowflake cookie mold used here is made by House on the Hill and was gifted to me by a family friend. This was my first time using a cookie mold, but it was super easy and fun. Definitely planning on using it again to make make Christmas cookies later this month.
I love how the finished cookies turned out. They’re super buttery, and the snowflake pattern shows up perfectly! My husband and son are especially big fans. Three cheers for Mrs. Hall and her shortbread! 😀
When I first decided to make a menu inspired by ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, I knew it had to include Yorkshire pudding. For one thing, the show is set in the Yorkshire Dales. Plus, main character Jim “eats [his] weight in Yorkshire puddings” at the Dobsons’ farm after he helps them out with their cows.
Making Yorkshire pudding is a bit of an art. I wanted to be sure I got it right, so I turned to this recipe from The Spruce Eats. The final results were amazing! The only major change I made was increasing the rest time. When I let the batter rest for several hours like the recipe suggests, I found that the finished puddings had a nice texture but not a strong flavor. I saw some recipes that called for an overnight rest, so I gave that a shot with the same batter as before. The final product was sooo rich and eggy—something special, truly worth the extra time!
Today’s recipe from ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL is inspired by my favorite character—Tristan! In the show, Tristan is the younger brother of local veterinarian Siegfried Farnon. He is first presented as a potential rival for fellow vet Jim, but the two soon become friends and frequently get each other into (and, thankfully, out of) mischief. Tristan’s character arc is so heartwarming. Watching him grow from an impish flirt into a responsible, empathetic young man (all while maintaining his signature sense of humor) is one of the highlights of the show.
Today we’re making individual shepherd’s pie, which Tristan makes for the housekeeper, Mrs. Hall, to welcome her home after she’s had an emotionally exhausting day. Since this episode was Tristan’s first time cooking, I kept my recipe simple: ground beef and mixed vegetables simmered in beef stock with onions and herbs, topped with mashed potatoes. I made my favorite mashed potatoes for the top: red potatoes coarsely mashed and mixed with garlic and cream cheese. Divine!
This is such a comforting, satisfying dish, exactly what Mrs. Hall would need after a hard day. I hope you enjoy it too!
I’ve been craving comforting TV shows for the past few months. I’ve had lots of health issues lately, and it’s got me feeling weary in body and soul. When I feel like this, I just want to curl up on the couch and watch something cozy. For me, peak comfort television is ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL. It’s a PBS Masterpiece show about a Yorkshire countryside veterinary practice in the 1930s-40s (based on the memoir of the same name). I just rewatched all three seasons, and the lovable characters, wholesome story, and cute farm animals soothed me to the depths of my heart. Season Four recently released in Britain, but since I’m in the U.S., I have to wait until January. As I eagerly await Season 4, I’m biding my time by making a menu inspired by all the delicious food in the show.
Today’s recipe is sausage rolls, a staple appetizer at every Skeldale House Christmas party. Since the show’s season finales are always set during Christmas, sausage rolls appear in each one. Sausage rolls are especially prominent in the season three finale, where Jenny desperately tries to force a plate of rolls on Gerald to keep him from leaving the party early.
The filling for these sausage rolls is heavily inspired by Rapunzel’s Braided Pastries in my e-cookbook, A LITERARY PICNIC. However, I also took a lot of inspiration from this Jamie Oliver recipe, since I wanted the rolls to be authentically British.
They turned out AMAZING. I love a good sausage roll, and these are top tier (if I do say so myself! 😉).
P.S. If you haven’t read the memoir the show is based on, I highly recommend it. My husband got it for me as a birthday present a couple years ago, and it’s sooo good!
Today I’m bringing my EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES menu to a close with the iconic mini cakes the Ljoslanders serve throughout the story. This dainty dessert is sometimes described as being spiced and sometimes as being glazed, but it’s ALWAYS delicious. What’s most intriguing to me is that both the humans and the faeries eat variations of this dish, making it a regional delicacy that spans species and dimensions.
I couldn’t find any recipes for mini cakes specific to Ljosland (or Norway, where Ljosland is located), but I did find recipes for Swedish mini almond cakes. I combined recipes from Food and Journeys and Adrian Roselli to make the cakes below, topping them with a simple powdered sugar glaze to make them true to the story.
These cakes were a fun new experience for me. I had never used almond paste in a cake batter before, but I love the effect it had on the final product. The cakes were fluffy and soft in the middle with a firmer exterior, very nutty, and delicately sweet.
Needless to say, my kids gobbled these up. They’re great for feeding a crowd if you want something a little different from standard cupcakes or cookies. They’re also an amazing gift if you want to thank a professor for reviving the ancient tree in which you’ve made your faerie home. 😉
In EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES, a brownie named Poe gifts Emily with bread in exchange for her help. But this isn’t just any bread. This is faerie bread made with magic! Emily describes it as “perfectly golden and soft,” a welcome delicacy when she accidentally offends the nearby villagers, who start giving her burned bread and seaweed relish to eat. Poe’s bread appears frequently throughout the story, so I knew I had to try my hand at this magical loaf.
Almost every time Emily mentions Poe’s bread, she reminds us of how soft it is. This in mind, I hunted for the softest bread recipe I could find and decided on this Asian Milk Bread from A Day in the Kitchen. The recipe requires making a roux, but don’t let that scare you. The dough is still relatively easy to make, doesn’t require hand-kneading, and makes a delightfully soft and fluffy bread. I was nervous when I started, but I found the recipe easy to follow and pretty forgiving.
My kids LOVED this, especially my son, who is a major bread enthusiast. He ate a whole mini loaf for breakfast and ate another for a snack. I think I did Poe proud!
“Oh, WOW! This broth is unreal!” These are the words that flew out of my mouth after tasting this stew for the first time—a rich, hearty Norwegian stew inspired by EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES.
In the story, an innkeeper named Ulfar is best known for his dark, meaty stew, which Emily Wilde eats throughout the story. The book doesn’t describe the ingredients of Ulfar’s stew in detail, so I had lots of room to get creative.
Since the story is set in Norway, I made a stew inspired by fårikål, Norwegian lamb and cabbage stew. However, what we’re making today isn’t true fårikål, which consists almost exclusively of lamb, cabbage, and seasoning. For one thing, my stew uses beef, since none of my local grocery stores have lamb on hand at the moment. I also added some extra ingredients, drawing inspiration from the groceries Emily picks up at the supply shop: carrots, leeks, and cabbage.
I browned the beef, cooked the leeks until soft in the remaining beef fat, and threw everything together to simmer until the veggies grew tender. As is my habit with soups and stews, the broth was my favorite part. I couldn’t believe how rich it was! I’ve already made it a second time, and I think a third batch is in my near future. 😀
I finished reading EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES a couple months ago, and guys. GUYS. It’s sooo good! If you’re a fan of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL, you’ll love this book. It’s my favorite read this year, and I think it’s made dark academia/historical fantasy my new favorite genre combo. Once I finished it, I knew I had to make a menu for it.
Wendell Bambleby is definitely my favorite character. He’s a comfort-loving, clutter-hating dandy who finds himself increasingly dragged into acts of heroism, much to his chagrin. He reminds me so much of Howl from HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE, and the curmudgeonly Professor Emily Wilde is 100% the Sophie to Bambleby’s Howl. I love them both so much! So today we’re starting our menu off with Bambleby’s Marinated Mushrooms.
In EMILY WILDE, the villagers give Bambleby a giant basket of mushrooms when they aren’t sure how to thank him for his help. He isn’t thrilled by the gift, but I doubt he’d let good food go to waste. Instead, I think our ease-loving Bambleby would find the simplest way to prepare them, and nothing’s easier than tossing some mushrooms in some seasoned olive oil!
For today’s post, I drew from recipes from three different sources (No Spoon Necessary, Cooking LSL, and Dish ‘n the Kitchen), cobbling them together to create something new. I loved the flavor of the finished mushrooms—herby and garlicky with a meaty texture—but I’ll admit I didn’t care for them cold. I think they would be perfect warmed up just a little, especially as a side for steak!
Today’s dessert from RONIA THE ROBBER’S DAUGHTER is the perfect ode to summer. After all, what could be more summery than fresh berries and cream? Ronia often mentions wild blueberries and strawberries during her rambles through Matt’s forest, so when it came time for me to plan this menu, I went hunting for a berry-themed dessert.
I chose a recipe for Swedish krem (cream) and berries I found on The Kitchen Magpie, which ties in beautifully with the book’s Scandinavian setting. Swedish krem is a breeze to make and SO delicious! The cream is rich and just sweet enough, while the berries offer a touch of tartness. I’m definitely making this next time I cook for a crowd. It’s the perfect make-ahead treat for a party!