When I first decided to do a Romeo and Juliet menu, I was a little worried about finding a suitable dessert. Anything blatantly romantic seemed too cliche, so I was determined to steer clear of anything heart-shaped. I was so excited when I stumbled across these little Italian sandwich cookies!
Category: Book of the Month Recipes
Star-Crossed Focaccia with Green Onion Parmesan Butter
Considering Romeo and Juliet is based in Renaissance Italy, I wanted to include at least one menu item that the characters would have likely eaten in that time period. Though focaccia has seen a rise in popularity in recent years, the current form of the dish first became popular in Romeo and Juliet’s day. I love this particular recipe because the dough doesn’t need to rise, and it’s got great herbed flavor and fun texture. The star shape, of course, is a tip of the hat to Verona’s famous star-crossed lovers.
Poison-Tipped Daggers: Chicken Kabobs with Pesto Dip (An AWR Original Recipe © )
When I first decided to make a Romeo and Juliet menu, I knew I wanted to include the fateful dagger and poison, but finding a way to do it was tricky. Then I took my cue from our Robber Stakes from last year’s Dracula menu and decided to make dagger kabobs. The preparation is super simple, and the “poison” dipping sauce adds a fun punch of color and flavor. It’s reminiscent of two classic Italian recipes (Caprese salad and Margherita pizza), but I swapped out the tomatoes for red peppers, which are more grill-friendly.
Bacon Roses: A Rose by Any Other Name…
Welcome to February, folks! In honor of Valentine’s Day I decided to make Romeo and Juliet our new Book of the Month (technically a play, but I figure it still counts). Bacon may not be the first thing that springs to mind at the mention of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy. Bacon ROSES, on the other hand, couldn’t be more appropriate.
The Witch’s Hot Chocolate
Yay for bonus recipes! Since January has an extra week in it, we’re finishing up our Narnia menu with a fifth recipe: the White Witch’s hot chocolate, a companion drink to the Turkish delight she presents to Edmund in her sledge. Technically, we don’t know what the Witch gave Edmund to drink, only that it was “very sweet and foamy and creamy, and warmed him right down to his toes.” This homemade hot chocolate recipe developed by Martina at Eat Your Kimchi fits that description to a T.
Lemon Turkish Delight
UPDATE: You can find a new version of this recipe in my cookbook, A LITERARY HOLIDAY COOKBOOK.
You knew it was coming. How could a Narnia menu end with anything else? I can’t be the only person who immediately thinks of the White Witch when I hear the words “Turkish delight.”
The Dwarves’ Scotch Eggs
I’ve been saving this recipe for almost a year now. Scotch eggs have always sounded like such a fun recipe to try, and when I found out they were a favorite traveling snack of the dwarves of Narnia, they secured their place as the side dish in this menu. I’ve said before how much I love dwarves, and I can see why they love scotch eggs so much. These eggs are hearty with just a touch of spice—a truly great snack. 🙂
Fancy Ham Sandwiches: Pesto, Prosciutto, and Cream Cheese Spirals! An AWR Original Recipe ©
Finding a suitable entree for our Narnia menu was surprisingly difficult. Sure, Lucy had three kinds of toast with Tumnus, but that’s not really an entree, is it? The Pevensies ate marmalade roll with the Beavers, but that’s almost a dessert (or at best a breakfast). I was starting to feel like I’d exhausted my options when I finally remembered the ham sandwiches the Pevensies eat after meeting Father Christmas. Sure, it’s simple fare, but this is Narnia—everything’s a bit more special here. Plus, Father Christmas can do magic, so I like to think they settled for more than cold meat on bread. These Fancy Ham Sandwiches are my own recipe—authentic Italian prosciutto with two kinds of bread, sweet cream cheese, and colorful pesto!
Apple of Life Bites
Happy New Year, Wonderlanders! And welcome to our very first 2015 Book of the Month…the Chronicles of Narnia! Yes, it’s technically a series, but each book in the series offers so much that I didn’t want to focus on just one.
Scrooge’s Christmas Humbugs: Mint Hard Candies
Given the classic Victorian theme of our menu thus far, you might have been expecting Christmas pudding for dessert, and I’ll admit I considered it. However, I couldn’t get Scrooge’s favorite exclamation off my mind. I knew I’d probably have many opportunities to make Christmas pudding on the site, but how many books can claim a connection to humbug candies?