Howdy, folks! We’re back for the final few days of National Novel Writing Month, and we’ve got a new literary-themed tea to help you mark your achievement! No matter how high or low your final word count may be, starting a new novel is something to celebrate. ^.^
P.S. What are the 5 Teas of NaNo? Check out my intro post to learn more!
Captain Ahab’s gold coin is such a famous bit of Moby Dick iconography that I wanted to pay tribute to it in our Moby Dick menu. But how?
I decided to save the coin as inspiration for dessert since it’s so special, and I whipped up some lemon butter cookies with vanilla frosting and gold sprinkles: gold coin cookies! I’ve been working on developing a lot of my own recipes for baked goods lately, so I decided to make a lemon version of my own butter cookies and combine it with my new frosting recipe. The results were delicately sweet with just the right balance of lemon and vanilla. The cookies themselves are tender and soft, and the sprinkles add just the right combo of shimmer and texture. A fitting dessert for such a classic book!
A couple years ago, I did a roundup of all my previous dishes that I thought would make perfect Thanksgiving recipes. But since then, I’ve made a lot more, so I decided to write a post with an updated list!
The recipes below all feature classic autumn/Thanksgiving flavors with a bit of a unique twist. To me, that’s always really important when making a dish to pass for a family function.
If your family’s anything like mine, most relatives have a specific dish they’re known for, which they bring to most holidays. This means most classic foods are covered, which can pose a challenge for us young folks who are just getting into the dish-to-pass game. I don’t want to bring the same thing as someone else, but I also want the dish I DO bring to make sense. My solution is to make something that fits the expected flavor profile but isn’t on the list of expected classics. And that’s where these beauteous recipes come in! 🙂
Howdy, folks! We’re back for another week of National Novel Writing Month, and we’ve got a new literary-themed tea to help you through the special challenges you’ll face this week. Cheers!
P.S. What are the 5 Teas of NaNo? Check out my intro post to learn more!
Back in Herman Melville’s day, ship’s biscuits (which later came to be known as hardtack) were common seaman’s food. As such, they’re mentioned regularly throughout Moby Dick, so I thought it would be fun to whip up an authentic ship’s biscuits recipe. I found one at The American Table based on an old Civil War era recipe.
Of course, designed to last forever and travel well, ship’s biscuits are VERY basic fare. They’re virtually flavorless in traditional recipes, so I added a little bit of extra seasoning to make them more palatable. You can also brush the tops with egg whites and sprinkle extra salt on top, but keep in mind that introducing eggs to the recipe would compromise the biscuits’ ability to be stored for months/years.
When I first started thinking about what I wanted to do for my Moby Dick tea, I immediately drew up a list of white teas and went to work on different combinations. I don’t get to play with white teas very often, so a book themed around a white whale was all the motivation I needed to make sure this lesser-known tea gets some love! 🙂
However, most white teas have a very delicate flavor, and I felt like a whaling book would need something with a bit more oomph. I found it in Adagio’s white chai. It combines a hint of tropical flavor with light spice to make a unique take on traditional chai. I added some gunpowder green tea to give it just a hint of smokiness and some extra coconut to balance it all out.
Howdy, folks! We’re back for another week of National Novel Writing Month, and we’ve got a new literary-themed tea to help you through the special challenges you’ll face this week. Cheers! ?
P.S. What are the 5 Teas of NaNo? Check out my intro post to learn more!
There’s no food more synonymous with Moby Dick than chowder. Melville devotes a whole chapter to describing Ishmael and Queequeg’s chowder feast at a little establishment called the Try Pots. The owner serves two varieties (clam and cod). I decided to make clam chowder, since this is the variety Ishmael and Queequeg try first (and I’m a bigger fan of clams than fish).
My chowder (adapted from a Taste of Home recipe) is altered just a bit from the one in the book to allow for more modern ingredients. The chowder in the book is described as containing crushed ship’s biscuits, which I imagine acted as a thickener, so I used flour to achieve the same effect. It also calls for salted pork, which I swapped for bacon, since they’re so similar. I then sauteed some onion and garlic in melted butter and threw in some red potatoes, corn, celery, and—of course—minced clams. The final result was creamy, savory, and salty—just the sort of stick-to-your-ribs meal you need before heading out on a long ocean voyage.
The chill November winds are here in full force. In short, perfect reading weather! So curl up with a copy of Moby Dick and some items from this reading kit. They’re sure to whisk you away on a far off adventure…hopefully somewhere warmer!
Howdy, folks! We’re back for another week of National Novel Writing Month, and we’ve got a new literary-themed tea to help you through the special challenges you’ll face this week. Cheers! 🙂
P.S. What are the 5 Teas of NaNo? Check out my intro post to learn more!
