Bluey’s Pavlova

Posted December 19, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes, Pop Culture Corner / 0 Comments

Here she is! The pièce de résistance, the crown jewel, the recipe you’ve all been waiting for. . . pavlova! Of all the foods featured in BLUEY, this one seems to hold the most fascination for fans of the show. Maybe it’s because pavlova originated in Australia, or maybe because the animators’ cartoony rendition of it looks so inviting and whimsical. Either way, this dish definitely received the most votes from my kids when I was deciding what to make for my BLUEY menu. So let’s get started!

If you’re unfamiliar with pavlova (as I was), it’s a large baked meringue topped with whipped cream and fruit. The meringue has a thin, crunchy exterior and marshmallowy interior and should be white to off-white in color. I started with my go-to meringue recipe and the baking instructions from this Blackberry Cardamom Pavlova recipe from Adventures in Cooking. Then I tweaked it all as I refined the results. It took a LOT of experimentation (I lost count somewhere around 8 pavlovas), but I finally found the right combo of ingredients, bake temp/time, and cool time to get the right color and texture. I might play with it some more at a later date, but I’m happy with where it’s at right now.

I’ve got to say, eating pavlova is a truly magical experience. The outside has a delicate crunch, and the inside is soft and fluffy. Adding the whipped cream and fruit adds extra freshness and lightness, preventing the meringue from being too sweet. I love that pavlova has so many flavors and textures and that they all work together instead of competing with each other. I’m planning to make it again for my daughter’s Bluey-themed birthday party next month.

I’ll see you all for another recipe (and a new menu) in a couple weeks. Until then, have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Bandit’s Spring Rolls

Posted December 5, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes, Pop Culture Corner / 0 Comments

When I decided to make a Bluey menu, I consulted my local experts on iconic Bluey food: my kids! They asked for several items (including the meat pie from “Tradies”), but the one my daughter advocated for most was spring rolls from the episode “Takeaway,” which is the first episode we ever watched.

In keeping with the show, I decided to make my spring rolls in the style of Chinese takeaway. Since we never see the filling inside Bandit’s spring rolls, I made a variation of this Chinese pork-filled spring roll recipe by Sugar Salt Magic, since we know Bandit likes his meat. You could also make these in the style of the Chiko roll, a popular spring roll-inspired snack unique to Australia.

Originally, I tried to make these with rice paper wrappers, but I had trouble getting them to brown nicely (even after brushing them with sugar water, a suggestion I found online). My grocery store had “eggless egg roll wrappers,” which sounds a lot like flour spring roll wrappers to me. That’s what I wound up going with, so I hope it’s true to what you’d find at an Australian Chinese takeaway restaurant.

In the end, I loved these, especially with sweet Thai chili sauce! They were so satisfying, and I loved the crispy exterior combined with the soft interior. This recipe makes twenty rolls—perfect for the legendary appetite of Bandit Heeler!

Rhaenyra’s Lemon Cakes and Arbor Gold Wine from THE OFFICIAL WESTEROS COOKBOOK

Posted November 28, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours, Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Hi, everybody! Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fun to share a special bonus post: a recipe from THE OFFICIAL WESTEROS COOKBOOK by Cassandra Reeder, creator of The Geeky Chef blog. I’ve been a fan of Cassandra’s work since my early days of blogging, and I’ve shared her recipe for Miruvor here in the past. I’m super excited to share an all-new recipe from her latest cookbook with you today. Let’s get started!

Sparky’s Meat Pies

Posted November 21, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Today’s recipe is inspired by my all-time favorite BLUEY episode: Tradies! In this episode, some tradesmen (called “tradies” in Australia) come to Bluey’s house to install a fish pond in the backyard, and Bluey and Bingo spy on them. They learn that a tradie called Sparky loves meat pies, but someone called “me missus” (who they believe is his enemy) won’t let him eat them. So the girls leave a meat pie with a ketchup smiley face out for him as a surprise.

This recipe mostly comes from Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats. I made a few minor tweaks to the pie filling to suit my tastes and used my own pie crust recipe for the pie base. The original recipe calls for store bought, which is definitely a viable option (it’s certainly faster), but I decided to include a from-scratch crust option if you want to go that route.

These turned out amaaazing! The filling was rich and satisfying, and the pastry was flaky and delicious. My son especially loved these! However, these pies take quite a while to make, so if you’re planning on making these for a crowd (like for a Bluey-themed birthday party), I recommend making the filling a couple days ahead and chilling it. Then you can make the pastry, assemble, and bake the day before. These pies can be reheated in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy! 🙂

Bluey’s Pumpkin Seeds and Bingo’s “Edna-damee” Beans

Posted November 7, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

I have a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old, so of course Bluey is extremely popular at our house. If you’re a fan too, you’ve probably noticed there are lots of delicious foods in the show. I’ve been compiling a Bluey menu in the back of my mind for almost a year now, waiting until enough episodes came out that I could get a good sense of the most iconic Bluey foods. Now it’s time to bring them all to life! Let’s start with an appetizer.

Coming up with an appetizer was probably the hardest, since I wanted to stick with kid-friendly finger foods, like you would have a Bluey-themed kids’ party. I decided to do a combo recipe of two foods mentioned in the show: Bluey’s pumpkin seeds and Bingo’s edamame beans. Both foods are ones that the girls are reluctant to try at first but wind up enjoying.

In the episode “Granddad,” Bluey is unwilling to eat the pumpkin seeds her mom gives her as a snack until her granddad helps her realize how important it is to take care of your body, especially as you get older. In the episode, Bluey’s pumpkin seeds appear to be plain, but I decided to toast mine with honey, brown sugar, and sesame seeds—inspired by my favorite Sahale snack mix.

In the episode “Pavlova,” Bingo is reluctant to try edamame beans, the name of which both she and Bluey struggle to pronounce. The girls always call them something different, such as “eda-mommy” and “edna-damee.” Bluey and Bandit create a pretend French restaurant to try to encourage Bingo to try the beans, but despite all their efforts, she doesn’t try them until they get distracted and she can do it without pressure. Since my pumpkin seed recipe was sweet, I decided to take my edamame beans in a savory direction, toasting them with garlic and ginger.

These are both super quick and easy, perfect appetizers for a Bluey birthday party!

BEATRICE’S DIRT: Pudding Cups with Marzipan Mushrooms, Edible Moss, Frog Gummies, and Pumpkin Candies

Posted October 24, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

When we meet Beatrice’s bluebird family in OVER THE GARDEN WALL, her mother continually reminds everyone to “eat some dirt,” even going so far as to spoon feed it to Wirt. It’s never explained why she fixates on this, though it could be a reference to the fact that some birds eat sand and grit to help grind up their food. I loved the idea of making pudding and Oreo dirt cups for my OTGW dessert, but of course I wanted to jazz it up a little bit!

Instead of topping the cups with gummy worms, I decided to decorate them with stuff from the show: gummy frogs and candy pumpkins! Originally I did chocolate rocks too, but I decided they made it all look too busy in the pictures (you can definitely add the chocolate rocks to yours though!). To make the top of the pudding cups look more like the forest floor of the Unknown, I added a bed of edible moss and some morel mushrooms sculpted from homemade marzipan! I got the idea for the moss from a cake I saw by Must Love Herbs (you should seriously check out all her cakes—they’re sooo beautiful!).

My kids loved these pudding cups! My son, a big marzipan fan, especially loved the mushrooms. These were so fun to make, and I love that all the decorations are little throwbacks to the show. Perfect for an OVER THE GARDEN WALL watch party!

Autumn Popcorn: Apple Pie Popcorn with Maple Candied Walnuts

Posted October 10, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

It’s time for the next installment in my OVER THE GARDEN WALL menu! My original plan was to make the banana nut duck bread from the show. I baked my go-to banana bread recipe in a set of 3D duck ice molds, which tasted good but came out looking reeeeeally ugly. * sigh * Ain’t that just the way?

I panicked a little at that point, because I didn’t have a backup plan. I scoured the internet, searching for other food references in the show. I came across a reference to a character called Corn on the Cob, who is literally an anthropomorphized corn cob. He appears in TOME OF THE UNKNOWN, the short film that preceeded OVER THE GARDEN WALL and is set in the same world with most of the same characters. Corn on the Cob plays in a band in the Big City, but he has to stop playing when he starts to feel ill and pops into popcorn. I loved the idea of making an autumn-themed popcorn inspired by the seasonal aesthetic of the show, so Apple Pie Popcorn was born!

I started with my standard popcorn recipe, adding a bit of apple pie spice. Then I made some apple chips using the recipe from my Treasure Island menu. Then I threw in some maple candied walnuts, a variation on the walnuts from my butterscotch chocolate cake recipe. I love how it all combined together. I think my favorite part was the walnuts. I just love the crunch and sweetness they add!

P.S. I just learned that this is the 10 year anniversary of OVER THE GARDEN WALL, and Cartoon Network is planning something to celebrate (to be announced Nov. 3rd). I’m so excited! Any guesses what it will be? I’m thinking another short like TOME OF THE UNKNOWN.

Pottsfield Pumpkin Waffles with Apple Cider Syrup

Posted September 26, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

In the second episode of OVER THE GARDEN WALL, Wirt and Greg visit is a village called Pottsfield, which is populated by what appear to be people with corn husk bodies and pumpkin heads. These pumpkin people are celebrating their annual harvest festival. They become suspicious of the boys, who say they are “just passing through.” According to the pumpkin people, no one passes through Pottsfield.

Their eery and overbearing leader, Enoch, gives the boys the task of digging in a barren field. When they accidentally dig up some skeletons, Wirt is convinced they’re being made to dig their own graves, but then the skeletons become animated and joyously join the pumpkin people, who welcome them. Wirt and Greg realize all the pumpkin people are actually skeletons in costume. They are invited to stay in Pottsfield but insist they must continue on through the forest. Many fans of the show consider Pottsfield to be an allegory for purgatory, partially because Enoch assures the boys as he bids them goodbye, “you’ll join us one day.”

Pottsfield is one of the most iconic locations in OVER THE GARDEN WALL, so I knew I had to make a pumpkin recipe for this menu! Pumpkin waffles immediately came to mind, maybe because I’ve never made waffles for the blog before (I’m not sure how that happened, because I LOVE waffles). This particular recipe is mostly based on a recipe by Sally’s Baking Addiction, but I tweaked it a bit to make it my own.

For some extra fun, I made a special syrup to go with it: apple cider syrup! It took lots of experimenting to get the recipe just right, but it was worth it! It’s sooo easy and delicious, and perfect for fall. The perfect tribute to the people of Pottsfield.

Story Crumbs: A Review

Posted September 19, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours, Book of the Month Recipes, Uncategorized / 0 Comments

This post is sponsored by Story Crumbs. I was given two free cookie mixes in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I recently stumbled across an Etsy shop called Story Crumbs, which sells cookie mixes inspired by fictional characters. Not only do they have mixes inspired by classic lit like LITTLE WOMEN and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, but they also make mixes for newer books like CINDER and THE CRUEL PRINCE. You can even design and name your own custom mix, perfect for authors wanting to promote an upcoming book!

I emailed the owner, Amanda, and asked if she would be willing to do a co-promotion, and she said yes! A couple short weeks later, I was in my kitchen making two of her classic lit cookie mixes: the Alice and the Jo. I chose these because I have menus inspired by ALICE IN WONDERLAND and LITTLE WOMEN in my most recent cookbook, A LITERARY PICNIC. I also wanted to try these two mixes because the flavors are very different from each other, offering a good example of the range of flavors available.

Now let’s review some cookies! 😀

Potatoes and Molasses: Molasses and Soy Glazed Potatoes

Posted September 12, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Last year I watched OVER THE GARDEN WALL and loooved it. If you haven’t heard of the show, it’s a cartoon mini series aimed toward adults in which two young brothers, Wirt and Greg, are lost in an eerie, magical forest called the Unknown. Considered by many to be a modern retelling of Dante’s INFERNO, the show follows the boys as they try to find their way home, encountering danger, monsters, and new friends along the way. OVER THE GARDEN WALL is known for its strong use of symbolism and old-timey art style (which reminded me of the 1929 Walt Disney short Skeleton Dance), as well as its autumnal aesthetic, muted color scheme, and hauntingly beautiful folk Americana music. It’s an annual autumn rewatch for many fans like me, so I decided to make a menu for it!

There’s lots of food in the show, but perhaps the most iconic dish is potatoes and molasses, which is served during Episode 3 in a schoolhouse attended by small animals. Greg sees how sad the animals are eating plain mashed potatoes every day for lunch, so he comes up with the idea to add some molasses and sings them a song about it.

Lots of food blogs have already made film-accurate versions of potatoes and molasses (I especially like this recipe by Feast of Starlight), so I decided to make a re-imagined version. I liked the idea of doing fried potatoes with a sweet and salty glaze, kind of in the style of Korean gamja bokkeum, so I went in that direction. I coated my potatoes with cornstarch to give them a delicate crispness when fried, then tossed them in a glaze of molasses, soy sauce, and garlic.

They’re sooo satisfying: sweet and salty on the outside with a warm and tender center. The perfect snack to sustain you as you travel through the Unknown in OVER THE GARDEN WALL!