Tag: Cheese

Corn Fritters

Posted January 6, 2022 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

 

 

Happy New Year, Wonderlanders! The last two months at my house have been a whirlwind of holiday activity, and it looks like I’ll be hustling for at least two months more. My daughter’s birthday was Monday, her party is Saturday, and my son’s birthday/party are a few weeks after that. With so much to do, it was nice to take a Saturday morning and just work on an easy, yummy blog recipe. Say hello to my first recipe from Charlotte’s Web!

These corn fritters are inspired by the county fair the characters visit near the end of the story. Fritters of any kind have a fun fair food vibe, and I was already workshopping a corn fritter recipe for fun with a whole bunch of fresh corn I froze over the summer. Basically, I was just looking for an excuse to make these fritters again. Sorry not sorry! 😉

What makes them so special? Depends on who’s asking. Maybe you’re a cheese person (if so, this recipe’s got you covered). Maybe you like red pepper’s one-two punch of flavor and color. Maybe you’re like me and think all food needs massive amounts of garlic. But I think the real magic is that you can sub in whatever makes you happiest. Green onion, jalapeno, cooked shrimp, sour cream drizzle—go wherever the spirit moves you! I think my favorite addition was a sprinkling of fresh basil on top. I was out of green onion and wanted a pop of green, so I gave it a try…and OH MAN it was amazing! 😀

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Very Hungry Caterpillar Sandwiches

Posted July 1, 2021 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

 

 

I was planning to do a Very Hungry Caterpillar menu next year, but after Eric Carle’s recent passing, I really wanted to do it now. It’s been comforting to spend the past month working on recipes inspired by his most famous character. It’s also given me an opportunity to talk with my 4-year-old about the Carle books we’ve read. I grew up with his books myself, and it fills me with warmth to know I’m passing on his legacy to another generation.

This Very Hungry Caterpillar menu is going to have a children’s party vibe, similar to last month’s Stuart Little menu. I know lots of people like to use Very Hungry Caterpillar as a birthday or baby shower theme, so I’m keeping that in mind as I plan.

Today’s super simple appetizer is just right for any kid who’s ever loved lunchables–we’re making Very Hungry Caterpillar sandwiches! I used spinach tortillas for the bread (don’t worry, you can’t really taste the spinach–at least I can’t). For the filling, I used American cheese and Genoa salami, but you can pick whatever meat/cheese combo your kids enjoy most. It took me less than 5 minutes to cut everything out, and the results were SO. FREAKING. CUTE. 😀

It’s super easy to scale the recipe up or down depending on how many you’re serving. There are about 5 sandwiches per hump in the caterpillar, so if you’re serving a small group, you can made individual caterpillars with one hump (just keep in mind you’ll need extra tomatoes for the heads). If you’ve got a large group and a big enough plate, you can add as many humps to the caterpillar as you want. A giant one would be lots of fun!

P.S. If your kids won’t touch anything spinach related (my 4-year-old is going through a no-green-things phase), you can make the same design using fruit or vegetables. For example, you could make a kiwi, watermelon, and mango body with blackberry feet and half an apple for a head. Or go the Caprese salad route with a cucumber, tomato, fresh mozzarella body and tiny basil leaves for feet. Have fun with it!

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Fried Snowballs: Deep Fried Mashed Potato Balls with Bacon and Cheese (an AWR Original Recipe!)

Posted April 20, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

 

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One group of characters often forgotten from James and the Giant Peach is the Cloud Men (perhaps since they were left out of the movie). In the book, the Cloud Men are responsible for creating such atmospheric phenomenon as rainbows, storms, and snow. When James and companions float past a Cloud Man city in their flying peach, they see Cloud families preparing dinners of fried snowballs.

These sounded delicious, so of course I wanted to make them for the blog! And I knew exactly how I wanted to create my own interpretation: mashed potato balls mixed with bacon and cheese, rolled in panko crumbs, and deep fried. Utterly delicious and fun to make!

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Borrowers’ Soup: Creamy Potato Soup in Boiled Potato Cups

Posted May 5, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

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A few months ago, I read The Borrowers for the very first time, and I couldn’t believe what I’d been missing. It was amazing! Despite being written for a young audience, the characters were nuanced and relatable. The plot, though relatively simple, was engaging. I LOVED Arrietty’s spunk—she quickly became one of my top literary heroines!

We first meet the Borrowers while they are making their evening dinner: potato soup. Of course, since the pot was no bigger than a thimble, only the most delicate slivers of potato and onion were taken from the Borrowers’ stores to make the soup. Nevertheless, the resulting dinner was hearty and delicious, and I knew right away that it would be the appetizer for my Borrower menu.

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The Mellark Family Cheese Buns

Posted November 20, 2014 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments

Buns are a great side dish to accompany a hearty stew, like our Lamb Stew with Dried Plums from last week. Plus, bread in general plays a huge role in The Hunger Games, so it wouldn’t be right to have a Hunger Games menu without it. It was hard to choose between all the great bread recipes featured in the books, but I finally settled on these cheese buns for two reasons:

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Garlic Fang Fries

Posted October 16, 2014 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment

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If there’s anything more synonymous with vampires than stakes, it’s garlic. I knew if garlic didn’t make an appearance in this menu, I could never again call myself a Dracula fan with good conscience. Luckily, these cheesy garlic potato wedges by Chungah suggested themselves right away. Crispy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside, with a punch of garlic and red pepper to liven them up–they’re the perfect side dish to serve alongside our Robber Stakes!

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Ben’s Toasted Cheese Buns

Posted August 21, 2014 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments


If I was marooned on a deserted island for three years, I’d crave cheese too! Ben Gunn flat-out waxes lyrical about it when telling Jim what he misses most about home. If I could dive into the book (a superpower for which I’ve often wished), I’d bake Ben a batch of these heart-meltingly homey cheese buns, developed by Laura at PheNOMenal!

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