You knew I had to do it. No Anne of Green Gables menu is complete without carrots! Who can forget Anne’s sensitivity to having her bright red hair compared to a popular root vegetable? It drives her to fly into a fury at Mrs. Rachel Lind and break a slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head in school…little did she know, Gilbert was only drawing attention to her hair because he thought it was pretty!
Leave it to Anne Shirley to turn an egg salad sandwich into a feast for the imagination. As I recreated the sandwiches she served to her friends during their “golden picnic,” I resolved to make them as Anne would: with as much extra flair as possible. I started with my own personal egg salad recipe (a close cousin to my deviled egg recipe) and spiced it up from there. After whipping up some croissants (no boring bread here!), I cut the croissants in half, added a layer of watercress for an elegant touch, and sneaked a special surprise into the egg salad. The result: a feast for kings, no imagination necessary! 🙂
Once in a rare while, you come across a book with so much vibrance and life, you read the last few chapters as slowly as possible, just because you don’t want it to end. For me, Anne of Green Gables was one of those books. SO AWESOME. That’s why I chose it for our July Book of the Month!
Eeyore might complain about coming last in the recipe lineup, but we saved him for last because this dessert is extra special: we’re creating his dream birthday cake! Complete with candles, pink sugar, and icing, this cake is everything Eeyore envisions when describing the perfect birthday cake. The blueberry curd filling was my way of adding a little Wonderland uniqueness. And what better way to take advantage of blueberry season than giving our Winnie the Pooh dessert a little blueberry punch?
Tigger presented me with quite a challenge when it came time to include him in the Winnie the Pooh menu. He is a notoriously picky eater, turning up his nose at every food but one (extract of malt). So for this recipe, I drew my inspiration from Tigger as a character, rather than his taste in snacks. The result was a delightful batch of honeyed sweet potato fries with just a little whiskey kick, modeled after Tigger’s iconic stripes. Perfect for a day of bouncing!
Cottleston Pie is a bona fide Winnie the Pooh invention. Until A.A. Milne wrote a poem about it in Winnie the Pooh, it never existed. The playful little poem explains that every creature is unique and acts according to its nature, essentially saying that we’re all what we’re made to be. Simple enough, right?
I’m a huge fan of the original Winnie the Pooh books. I love the humble wisdom at the heart of each story and the timelessness of the characters.
I’m a complete novice when it comes to mixing drinks, but the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is SO cool, I knew I couldn’t finish my Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy menu without it. It’s said to contain Santraginean sea water, Arcturan Mega-gin, Qualactin Hypermint extract, and a host of other wild ingredients. Of course, most of these ingredients aren’t exactly “easily sourceable,” so there are many interpretations of this iconic Hitchhiker beverage, ranging from the very simple to the ultra-accurate. I chose this gin-based rendition developed by Mitch Hutts of Critical Hit Cocktails, because I think it has the best of both worlds. It’s complex and unique enough to be considered its own drink, but it’s not married to authenticity at the expense of flavor. It’s easy to make—even for a newbie like me—and I really love the flavor. It’s refreshing and easy to drink, but not too sweet. And check out that awesome neon color! The “gear lemon” garnish is my own personal touch (I learned the technique here).
In Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Heart of Gold is a state-of-the-art starship that operates on an infinite improbability drive (powered by a “nice hot cup of tea”). However, using the improbability drive can have some unusual side effects. Luckily, these cute, dainty cakes are just the thing to set you right after being turned into a sofa…or a ball of yarn…or a penguin.
Oddly enough, the petunia bowl is practically a character in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s one of the book’s most iconic story elements, second only to the towel. And no wonder! Who can forget that fateful bowl of petunias plummeting through space, consumed by only one thought: “Oh no, not again”?