Posted April 5, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments
One of the most iconic moments in Matilda is when a student puts a newt in Miss Trunchbull’s water jug, and Matilda tips it over with her mind. Not only is it an exciting scene, but it’s also how Matilda discovers her powers. It’s one of my favorite parts of both the book and the movie, so I reeeeeally wanted to pay tribute to it here on the blog. Of course, when you picture appetizing recipes, newts don’t exactly come to mind, but then I remembered a recipe I made from another Roald Dahl book: my magic green sour gummy worms from James and the Giant Peach. How fun would it be to make newt gummies?
Using an easy recipe I found on Tastemade and some lizard candy molds I found online, I whipped up a batch of delicious gummy newts to start our Matilda menu. With the help of some lime and peach jello, I made mine green and orange like the newt in the book (my grocery store was out of orange flavored jello, which would have paired better flavor-wise, but peach and lime still tasted good). You can choose whatever flavor/color combinations you like—get creative! This makes a great after school snack or fun favor at a children’s Halloween party. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted March 29, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments
Three cheers for extra Thursdays! Whenever a month has a 5th Thursday, I get to do a bonus post, which is especially exciting this month since this menu was inspired by my son’s birthday party. It was quite the bash! I made deviled eggs, fruit salad, and a giant chocolate chip cookie, and we ordered pizza for our entree. Plus, both the grandmas made delicious desserts too! My mom made cupcakes, and my mother-in-law made crown-shaped sugar cookies with gold sprinkles. Both were delicious, so for my bonus recipe, I decided to pay tribute to both.
These fun cupcakes come in two flavors: chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (just like the ones my mom made). The recipes are easy, and the fun, whimsical decorations are inspired by my mother-in-laws cookies: white and gold sprinkles on some, fruit roll-up crowns on others. It’s a lot of variety without a lot of extra work, and the results were super delicious. Enjoy! ^.^
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Posted March 22, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments
Say hello to our Where the Wild Things Are dessert: a giant chocolate chip cookie! This is the dessert I made for the Little Mister’s Wild Thing-themed birthday party. As a one-year-old, cookies are easier for him to grasp than cake, and he seems to prefer the flavor. Plus, a cookie is much faster to decorate than a whole cake, which was a big deal to me since I was already making deviled eggs and fruit salad for the party.
I used the Tollhouse giant cookie recipe in conjunction with my own buttercream recipe to make this dessert. The words are made by dipping Trader Joe’s cinnamon schoolhouse cookies in colored icing. I LOVE how it turned out, especially the Wild Thing in the middle. We ate it up, we loved it so! 😉
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Posted March 15, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
At the Little Mister’s Where the Wild Things Are birthday party, fruit salad was my go-to side dish. It’s always easy to throw together for a party, and it’s a big kid-pleaser too! I assembled mine right before the party without any trouble, and it was a hit. I even had someone ask for the dressing recipe!
At the party I was sure to include the Little Mister’s favorite fruits (apples and grapes) in the salad, but for my blog version of the recipe, I decided to go with a tropical fruit salad. Tropical fruits make me think of the Land of the Wild Things, since so many of them have the whimsical look and juicy flavor of fruit you’d expect to find in an imaginary world. I chose dragon fruit, starfruit, and kiwi for my tropical flavors, then I added clementines and strawberries for some familiarity and extra color. Toss it all in my favorite lime dressing, and you’re set to go!
P.S. Don’t let those awesome, funky dragon fruit skins go to waste—use them as bowls to serve your salad!
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Posted March 8, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
The Little Mister LOVES pizza, so that’s what we had at his Where the Wild Things Are birthday party last month. There were almost 50 people at the party (we’re a big family), so we ordered out. But if there had been fewer people, I would have made a pizza crown or two! These are really fun for children’s parties, and they come together in a snap. I’m a fan of any party food that makes a lot of servings without a lot of trouble.
This particular recipe comes from a pizza Christmas tree I saw on Pinterest, with a few slight changes. I used pepperoni and fresh basil as fillings, but you can use whatever you want! Just make sure the pieces are small enough that when you seal the pizza ball nothing tears a hole in the dough.
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Posted March 1, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments
Early last month, we celebrated the Little Mister’s 1st birthday at his grandparents house. It was crowded, loud, and fun–everything a children’s party should be–as family came from far and wide to celebrate with us. The party had a Where the Wild Things Are theme, which I picked out an embarrassingly long time ago (aka literally weeks after I brought the Little Mister home from the hospital).
I figure there are only so many of his birthday’s I’ll get to make all the design decisions for, so we’re doing book themed parties for as long as he’ll let me! 😉 I thought it would be fun to make a menu based on all the foods we ate at the party, so that’s kind of what we’re doing this month. However, I’d be lying if I said this was EXACTLY what we ate at the party. That would require things going according to plan…and me cooking for almost 50 people…and to that I say HA.
I wound up making regular deviled eggs for the party, but these precious little egg boats are what WOULD have happened if I hadn’t forgotten to dye the eggs before I started filling them. I was kinda bummed that my vision never made it to the real party, but I whipped up a mini batch this week so I could share them with you all here on the blog. Maybe they’ll get a chance to make a little boy smile at one of YOUR parties! 🙂
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Posted February 22, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments
I made a gingerbread house last month for my Grimm’s Fairy Tales menu, so at first it felt weird making another gingerbread house so soon. But how could I not when the house of Wuthering Heights is so iconic AND gingerbread is the most prominent dessert in the book? 🙂 Plus, I loved the idea of trying a different look for my next gingerbread project. I didn’t want to just copy and paste the structure and style from my last gingerbread escapade, so I decided to increase the challenge by adding detailed icing work, putting “glass” in the windows, and making the house two stories high. I thought of making it a HAUNTED gingerbread manor, but the ones I looked at for ideas were pretty elaborate. I didn’t think my skill set was there yet (this is still only the second gingerbread house I’ve made as an adult), so I stuck with a more classical design. I loved the thatched roof effect of the Mini Wheats on my last roof, but this time I went with chocolate Belvita Bites for a more traditional shingle pattern.
Like last time, I used a dough recipe from Sprinkle Bakes (this time a double batch) and an icing recipe from Make It and Love It. This time I incorporated Pretty Cake Machine’s advice to use brown icing for all the structural work, and I LOVE how much cleaner all the edges look.
Throw in a gingerbread ghost and a scowling gingerbread Heathcliff, and you’re all set for life at Wuthering Heights!
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Posted February 15, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
The lowly, modest turnip. I’ll admit I rarely (if ever) give it a second glance in the produce section. I’m guilty of passing it up hundreds of times in favor of more attractive veggies like a bunch of fresh carrots or a head of bright green broccoli.
Yet when I saw that turnips are one of the few prominent side dishes in Wuthering Heights, I knew I needed to find a way to make them enjoyable. For me, this means ROASTING. I am a firm believer that if you’re having trouble getting yourself to eat your vegetables, a little olive oil and salt with some time in the oven goes a long way.
This recipe I found from Kalyn’s Kitchen takes it a step further and adds some balsamic vinegar for extra oomph. She suggests tossing the roasted turnips in a light coating of balsamic at the very end as well, and I highly recommend it. Turnips are mild little guys, so I think they benefit from just a bit of zing from the extra balsamic.
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Posted February 8, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
Goose: it’s a dish I’ve put off cooking for years because of the horror stories I’ve heard about how hard it is to make. It’s thrilling to finally step up and tackle something you’ve always found intimidating, and even more so when your first attempt goes really well.
When I decided to make roast goose as my Wuthering Heights entree, I began the hunt for a recipe that was both manageable and reliably successful. This was surprisingly difficult. I saw recipes that insisted you must sear and flip the goose in a roasting pan to get a brown color without overcooking, others that called for multiple extra recipes like glaze and stuffing, and still more that claimed it was impossible to evenly cook a whole goose (and that the only solution was to carve it before cooking). I felt discouraged and more than a little fearful. Goose can cost upwards of $60, and I did NOT want to screw this up.
Then I found this wonderful recipe from The Woks of Life. It had more steps than some of the recipes I’d seen, but it was easier to follow and didn’t require anything weird like searing the bird in a separate pan. It was an orange five-spice goose recipe, which sounded delicious. The seasoning also caused it to roast darker than the average goose, helping to avoid the issue of a finished birth that’s too light on top. The only downside was that the flavor profile was a little inaccurate for Victorian England, but given the circumstances, I think we can overlook it. 😉
The bird turned out beautiful on my very first try. It was seasoned perfectly, and the meat was tender and rich. I felt so proud when I pulled it out of the oven, and although it’s a little pricey for a regular weeknight meal, I would have no problems making this if my family ever wants to give Christmas goose a try!
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Posted February 1, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
Last May, I got an email from a reader requesting a Wuthering Heights menu, and I was thrilled. It was the first time anyone had ever contacted me with a menu request, though I’ll admit I was also a little nervous since I’d never read Wuthering Heights before. I was afraid I might not like it, and I have a personal rule of not making menus for books I don’t like. Still, I promised to read it with hopes that all would go well.
And I thoroughly enjoyed it! Gothic romance holds a special place in my heart, and I loved Emily Bronte’s descriptions of the bleak moor and Cathy’s desolate ghost. I finished it quickly and immediately started planning a menu. February seemed like the perfect time to premiere it, what with all the stark, gray weather outside. So here it finally is!
I love the food’s Victorian flair throughout the book: goose, porridge, oatcakes, etc. There are also several references to tea and cake, so I decided to take that as the inspiration for my appetizer. One common form of tea cake is seed cake, a quick bread with caraway or poppy seed mixed through the batter. Although caraway is more traditional, I’m not a big fan of the flavor, so I decided to go with poppy seed. I also wanted to incorporate the oranges that are mentioned in the book, so orange poppy seed cake it is! The recipe I use here is mostly based on this blood orange poppy seed cake from The Whole Bite.
I was definitely eager to get to work on this! One downside of planning my menus so far ahead is that I don’t always get to make what I’m in the mood to cook, but I was SO in the mood for this. The weather lately has been gray and depressing, and a citrusy, not-too-sweet quick bread was just what I wanted. And this bread didn’t disappoint! It was tender without being too delicate, dense without being heavy, and absolutely beautiful. The glossy effect from the glaze is fantastic. And the flavor was perfect—just enough orange and just enough sweetness. Everyone in the house (including the baby) loved it. It was gone is just a few days!
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