The roast goose or turkey is an icon of Victorian Christmas, and it’s clear that Mrs. Cratchit has a deft hand when it comes to its preparation. A full-size bird would have made a great entrée for our menu, but I could hardly justify roasting 10 pounds of turkey for just the Mister and myself. These roasted turkey legs were a nice compromise. I got the preparation technique from The Pioneer Woman, but I used my own blend of spices to match Mrs. Cratchit’s sage and onion goose. The end result was a set of juicy drumsticks with heartwarmingly homey flavor and crispy skin.
Category: Book of the Month Recipes
Oatmeal to Warm a Cold Heart
Thanksgiving is over and December is here, which means it’s officially acceptable to start thinking about Christmas! As you may have guessed, our new Book of the Month is A Christmas Carol. Seasonally appropriate, yes?
Katniss Cakes
When I first decided to make a Hunger Games menu, I knew I wanted to go all-out on dessert. Cupcakes immediately came to mind, but I wanted more than just Hunger Games decorations. I wanted each cupcake to exemplify a key story element. After tossing around dozens of ideas, I created three kinds of cupcakes…
The Mellark Family Cheese Buns
Buns are a great side dish to accompany a hearty stew, like our Lamb Stew with Dried Plums from last week. Plus, bread in general plays a huge role in The Hunger Games, so it wouldn’t be right to have a Hunger Games menu without it. It was hard to choose between all the great bread recipes featured in the books, but I finally settled on these cheese buns for two reasons:
The Capitol’s Lamb Stew with Dried Plums
In The Hunger Games, the Capitol offers some great dishes—chicken with creamy orange sauce, fluffy dinner rolls, and even pumpkin soup. These all sound delicious, but I knew the best entree for our menu would be lamb stew with dried plums, since it’s Katniss’ favorite Capitol dish…and Cesar Flickerman’s too!
Prim’s Basil and Goat Cheese Bites
So excited for our new Book of the Month: The Hunger Games! I’ve loved both the books and the movies, and since Mockingjay Part 1 is coming out later this month, it seemed like the perfect time for a Hunger Games menu. Luckily, the books feature so many recipes, any difficulty in developing a menu comes from the sheer number of options.
Monster Mash Moon Pies: An Alison’s Wonderland Original Recipe ©
To me, black and white monster movies are the best part of Halloween. I love Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, of course, but The Wolfman also holds a special place in my heart. And don’t even get me started on Frankenstein.
Garlic Fang Fries
If there’s anything more synonymous with vampires than stakes, it’s garlic. I knew if garlic didn’t make an appearance in this menu, I could never again call myself a Dracula fan with good conscience. Luckily, these cheesy garlic potato wedges by Chungah suggested themselves right away. Crispy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside, with a punch of garlic and red pepper to liven them up–they’re the perfect side dish to serve alongside our Robber Stakes!
Robber “Stakes”: An Alison’s Wonderland Original Recipe ©
Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like an author has you in mind when you read a passage in a book. For me, those passages usually involve food. 😉
In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a common Transylvanian dish is robber steak: grilled beef kabobs with bacon, red pepper, and onions. How could I pass up a dish so perfectly tailored for someone like me, looking to include stakes in a vampire-themed Halloween menu? It’s also the perfect entree to accompany our spider chips and salsa!
Renfield’s Spiders: Blue Corn Tortilla Chips & Transylvanian Salsa
I’ve been looking forward to starting this menu for ages! I just read Dracula this past year, and it easily became one of my favorite books. I love the noble characters, gripping suspense, and quietly menacing nature of the Count. I knew right away that Dracula would be the inspiration for my Halloween menu!