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So far the weather has teased us with a few deliciously crisp days, but mostly it’s been muggy and rainy. Words cannot express how ready I am to be done with this ungodly heat! Plus, autumn is my favorite time of year (changing leaves! Oktoberfest! Pumpkin stuff! Halloween!), so I’m impatient for it to get started. Luckily, I’ve already started work on my September menu, which is making it easier to wait. But first let’s take a look back at what we did in August!
Normally I feel like March drags on FOREVER (perpetually gray skies are NOT my thing), but this year I had loads of exciting blog stuff to keep me busy!
Our Three Musketeers menu went off without a hitch. Five shiny new recipes are now tucked safely away in the archives. This month, I made my very first copycat recipes, and I did them back-to-back: 3 Musketeers candy bars and Cafe Angelina’s French hot chocolate! I made mini versions of the candy bars for my family’s Easter party, and they were a big hit. And my oh my, the French sure know their hot chocolate! For a chocoholic like me, it was like drinking liquid happiness. Milady de Winter’s Soup
I also premiered a delicious new tea. While we’re on the topic of 3 Musketeers bars, I should probably mention All for One and One for All Tea: my new chocolate caramel tea from Adagio. I designed it to taste like a 3 Musketeers bar, and I daresay I succeeded. It’s super chocolaty and sweet enough to make a perfect dessert tea with a some milk and sugar. You can order it here.
On a more embarrassing note, I had my very first blogging snafu this month. For some reason I cannot fathom, I thought it would be a good idea to schedule my Drunken Ham post before it was finished…and I accidentally scheduled it to publish a day early! The post was up for an ENTIRE HOUR before I realized the mistake, and although all the text was ok, the pictures were all placeholders from old posts (I hadn’t uploaded the edited pics yet). YIKES! Lesson learned.
The Mister and I went to C2E2, a Chicago comic con, where we had a blast. There were babies dressed up as BB-8, steampunk cosplayers selling tea, and SO MUCH FAN ART. It was perfectly awesome…though I may have dropped the ball and forgotten to get us tickets for some key YA fiction panels, which would have been perfect for the blog. * sigh * C’est la vie, I guess? Anyway, I promise to plan better next time! 🙂
We also threw a Daredevil party to marathon Season 1 before Season 2 came out on Netflix. I didn’t have time to make a post about it, but I shared the food in some tweets. We made Kingpin Omelets (which were basically the Aramis Omelets I made earlier this month), Anatoly Applesauce (this recipe from Taste of Home), Avocados at Law (aka Epic Meal Time Guac Grenades), and World on Fire Cupcakes (which are the same as my Girl on Fire cupcakes from The Hunger Games). All the food was well-received, but I think I had the most fun with the Avocados at Law! 🙂
But now it’s time to bid March adieu and turn our gaze towards April. Ready for your photo hint? Take a guess at what our next Book of the Month will be:
Happy December, folks! How was your Thanksgiving? I was home sick from mine 🙁 , but I was able to send the Mister with a batch of homemade applesauce I froze a few weeks beforehand. Yay!
In much more pleasant news, I FINISHED MY NOVEL FOR NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH! Not gonna lie, I spent almost 20 minutes last night dancing around and singing. I’m extra excited because this was my very first time doing NaNo. It was tough, but I made it!!! I definitely want to try it again next year. I already have an idea for the book I want to write! 😀
Of course, since we’ve come to the end of our November menu, we also have a new tea blend available through Adagio Teas. In honor of our Divergent menu, I created Tori’s Peppermint Tea. It’s the perfect blend of peppermint, spearmint, and lemongrass with a lemon balm and marigold inclusion: refreshing and full-flavored without the menthol sensation being too overpowering. I love it both hot and iced. In fact, it’s been one of my few comforts while I’ve been sick (nothing like mint tea with a touch of honey to soothe a sore throat). Totally my new favorite green tea!
What have we got planned for our December Book of the Month? Here’s a hint:
Howdy, folks! I just got back from ringing in July in the best way possible: 5 days of cabin camping with old college buddies! It’s a summer tradition that started 5 years ago. Now that we’re scattered across 3 different states, it’s the most important way we keep in touch. Despite the mosquitoes and lack of cell reception, it’s the highlight of my summer. There’s just something magical about age old inside jokes, ice cream cone s’mores, and late-night discussions about how The Lego Movie is basically The Matrix.
On our way to get groceries for the cabin, we stopped at a Mickey D’s for wi-fi so I could post our final Tom Sawyer recipe: Tom’s Whitewashed Jelly Doughnuts. I brought the leftover doughnuts with me to share at the cabin, and my oh my were they popular, especially with blackberry jam (possibly more so than the original raspberry jam I used). If you’re looking for a drink to go along with your own jelly doughnuts, we just released our Tom Sawyer tea from Adagio: Becky’s Peach Tea! Click here or the image below to visit our tea gallery!
But you’re REALLY here for your Book of the Month photo hint, right? No worries, I’ve got it right here:
Any guesses?
We jumped outside of our comfort zone last month and made a classic MOVIE menu: Star Wars! It was crazy fun to make AND eat, especially the May 4th foray into molecular gastronomy: Raspberry-Mango Planets and Lemon Clouds. I definitely plan on doing more movie menus in the future, but for now we’re back to classic books. Can you guess what our June Book of the Month will be? Here’s your photo hint:
If you think you know, take a guess below! Either way, swing back around on Thursday (June 4th) for the answer…and our first recipe of the month!
P.S. I’d also love to hear if you have any ideas for future movie menus!
I make no apologies for the punny title. PUNNY TITLES FOREVER!
April was definitely a fun month for food. The Pineapple Ticking Crocodile was a particularly rewarding leap outside my culinary comfort zone. But now it’s time to say goodbye to Neverland and set our sights on somewhere even farther away…
I’ve provided the photo hint for our May menu below. NOTE: In keeping with my blogging goal for this year of including a few classic movies in our menus, this month’s menu will be based around a movie, rather than a book.
If you need a final dose of Peter Pan before we head into the realm of sci-fi, swing by the book blog 101 Books to learn some Fascinating Facts about Peter! 🙂
P.S. We wrapped up our April menu yesterday by premiering our new Alison’s Wonderland Teas page (so feel free to order some if your teacup looks lonely).
February was such a busy month! Between trips downstate, the start of Lent, and crazy weather, March managed to sneak up on me. I was editing pictures for my first March recipe when I realized I hadn’t posted the new Book of the Month hint yet. For shame!
Fear no more, for your photo hint is finally here. And judging from the view outside my window right now, it couldn’t be more seasonally appropriate. 😉
I had so much fun making the Hunger Games menu this past month, especially the lamb stew (it’s one of my favorite recipes now). Last week’s Katniss Cakes marked the end of the menu, so it’s time to welcome December with a new Book of the Month! Your photo hint is below. Can you guess it?
I had so much fun making Rum-Soaked Ribs and Key Lime Coins for our Treasure Island menu! Alas, August is drawing to a close, so it’s time to end this Book of the Month. If you like, you can give Treasure Island a farewell toast with our exclusive Long John Island Tea at Adagio.com!
