🥳Happy New Year!🥳 I’m just popping in for a quick update about what the new year will hold for this lil blog. I also want to do a roundup of my top five favorite books from 2023 (because I read sooo many exceptional books and can’t help sharing the crème de la crème). Let’s begin!
Is there a woman in your life you’d like to honor who happens to love books and tea? Consider Mother’s Day sorted. 😀
My cookbook, A LITERARY TEA PARTY, includes a section with themed menu ideas for anyone who needs a little party planning inspiration. It also includes a section at the back with recipes for custom blending your own teas (all book-themed, of course). Since Mother’s Day is just around the corner, I think now is a perfect time for me to share a few of those themed menus. You can use these ideas to host a tea party of your own or make a yummy treat to give as a gift!
Keep in mind, these parties don’t have to be limited to biological mothers. They’re perfect for all the important women in your life. We like to include our kids’ godmothers in Mother’s Day festivities, but you could also do this for a close friend, favorite aunt, mentor, or more!
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So long, 2020! Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out! 😉
I’m SO psyched for the new year. After spending the past four years publishing two books, having two babies, and moving to a new house, 2020 was gonna be my “rest year.” Let’s all take a moment to have a hearty laugh over that one. 😂😂😂
This year, I’m committed to taking it easy. No big project plans (not right now, anyway). However, there is ONE thing I really want to make happen: the return of full menus on the blog! If you’re new around here, you may not know that I used to make a recipe every week (each Book of the Month got a 4-course meal). With all the big projects and life changes that came my way, I decided two years ago to reduce my blogging schedule to 1 recipe/month.
It was definitely the best decision at the time, but now it’s starting to feel limiting. Plus, doing a 4-month recipe series on fiction-inspired cookbooks showed me that I could definitely pull off 2 recipes/month without feeling too stressed.
So here’s my plan: a new recipe every 2 weeks, a new book every 2 months. Each book finishes with a 4-course meal just like it used to, but in 2 months instead of 1. This will give me a chance to return to the format I love while still taking it easy.
Although I have no huge project plans, I’ve got some ideas for smaller changes/additions I’d like to make to the blog. Some are ideas for non-recipe posts that might pop up intermittently when I have time; others are user tools I’d like to add, provided you guys think you’ll find them valuable. I’d love to get your input on the stuff I’m considering, so I’ve shared a survey below. Thank you in advance to everyone who chooses to participate. I love hearing your feedback!
Can you believe Christmas Eve is just TWO WEEKS away? After such a chaotic year, I’m so ready for the cozy familiarity of the Christmas season. For today’s recipe—the final post in my fiction-themed cookbook recipe series—I wanted to make something festive, fun, and chock-full of holiday spices. I found just what I wanted in the delightful LITTLE WOMEN COOKBOOK by Jenne Bergstrom and Miko Osada, co-creators of the blog 36 Eggs.
Their cookbook is a thoughtful, creative compilation of recipes inspired by the Louisa May Alcott classic. Many of the recipes are as close to period-authentic as possible, a detail I appreciated. Today we’re making their recipe for tiny, crunchy gingerbread cookies called “gingerbread nuts!” In LITTLE WOMEN, Jo shares some with some children who are getting antsy on a long train ride to New York. These cookies are super easy and a bit unique too!
I’ve loved the BBC show Father Brown for years, but I only recently got a chance to read the collection of short stories on which it’s based. Like many adaptations, the show diverges from the source material in key ways, but I think it stays true in the ways that matter most.
Arguably the biggest difference is that the literary Father Brown is always traveling. I don’t think you ever actually visit his own parish, which means recurring characters like Mrs. McCarthy, Lady Felicia, and Sid exist solely in the show. But don’t worry—Hercule Flambeau, master thief and Father Brown’s nemesis, is still around to stir up trouble! 😉
When one of my readers requested a Father Brown recipe specifically inspired by the stories, I was intrigued to say the least. To fans of the show, the iconic food is Mrs. McCarthy’s strawberry scones. But no Mrs. McCarthy in the stories means no scones. I was going to have to get creative. And I LOVE getting creative! ^.^
The stories mostly only mention food in passing, but one reference stands out. In “The Flying Stars,” Father Brown has to turn out his pockets, and among a few coins and priestly paraphernalia is a stick of chocolate, heavily implying that he always likes to keep some on hand. After reading that, I knew my recipe was going to be a rich, chocolatey dessert.
“We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!”
– Pope St. John Paul II, quoting St. Augustine
With shelter-in-place measures extended until May in many states (including my own), people all over the country are trying to come up with ways to celebrate Easter from home on short notice with limited resources. At first, making a big deal (or any kind of deal) about Easter this year might feel a little silly. Surely we should just keep our heads down and focus on getting by, right?
But times like this are when celebrations are most important. We need them to “snap us out of it” and remind us that there’s so much more to life than what’s happening right now. And so much more happening right now than what we’re agonizing over. This is especially true of Easter, as it centers on life and hope.
That’s why this year I want to “Alleluia-in-place” by focusing on bringing joyful hope to my family’s Easter celebration, even if that celebration has limitations. We will wear our Sunday best, attend Mass via livestream, hunt for eggs, Facebook video chat with friends and family, and of course FEAST.
Below, I’ve shared my family’s Easter menu (plus a couple extra options) to offer some ideas if you want to make your own special Easter meal without limited ingredients getting in the way. These recipes avoid common shortage items, so they should all be doable if you have grocery pickup or delivery in your area. If you have to make do with what you currently have at home, you can still probably make the deviled eggs, bread rolls, and maybe a couple others (depending on what you have on hand). I’ve also included a link to my cookbook at the end, which offers even more options. Feel free to comment if you’d like advice on substitutions!
Warm up your singing voices, folks. We’ve got an Alleluia to sing! 🙂
With all the school closures due to the virus outbreak, many families have found themselves temporarily homeschooling. Lots of people I’ve talked to are enjoying the extra time with the kids but struggling to come up with educational activities on such short notice. I found myself in a similar position, albeit for different reasons. We started light homeschooling with the Little Mister earlier this year, but I got a nasty case of food poisoning on Sunday and didn’t have anything ready to go for this week, most notably St. Patrick’s Day.
Last night, I scrambled to throw something together last-minute. I did a few quick internet searches for crafts and ran through the house collecting all the Irish stuff we had…then I sat down and banged out this post really quickly, hoping it might help parents who are temporarily homeschooling due to current events. Or just want something fun and Irish-y to do with their kids today! 🙂
One of the things I love about a holiday-themed school day is that it turns education into a celebration. These last-minute St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids are great if you find yourself unexpectedly homeschooling due to school closures or just want to break up the monotony that can come with current social distancing requirements. If you’ve got a library card, a music app on your phone, some snacks in your cabinets, and construction paper, you can throw together a day’s worth of themed activities, no problem!
BOOKS
We’re reading Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato and Fin M’Coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill. If your child is older, you can even read some of The Confession of St. Patrick, which is translated from Patrick’s original writings, or selections from a book of Irish folktales. These and other Irish-themed stories are available in ebook or audiobook format in most online library systems, where you can check them out instantly and access them on your browser.
CRAFTS
We’ll be creating a simplified version of a leprechaun mask craft from Glamamom.com using construction paper, tape, orange paint, and a paper plate. It works especially well when paired with the Jamie O’Rourke book, since kids can have fun waiting for the leprechaun to appear in the story and putting the mask on whenever he speaks. If your child knows how to read, you can have them play the part of the leprechaun as you read together.
FOOD
You’ve probably figured out that I’m usually all about themed recipes. However, given my recent bout of food poisoning, I’m currently all about not upsetting my stomach, so I didn’t do much in this arena. I literally just raided my cabinets for anything green or orange to present to my children as Special St. Patrick’s Day Snacksâ„¢. Green and orange packaging also counted. In the end we wound up with goldfish crackers, dry roasted edamame beans, an apple pie Larabar, and a pumpkin puree pouch (for the baby). A peek in the freezer revealed a bag of spinach muffins I’d forgotten about, so I’m hoping my kids will eat them if I convince them it’s festive.
Another nice way to utilize library ebooks is by checking out Irish-themed cookbooks and discussing the sorts of food you see. If during your quarantine prep shopping you happened to buy the ingredients for something your kid wants to make, go ahead and fire up the stove!
MEDIA
We have Song of the Sea, The Secret of Roan Inish, and Darby O’Gill and the Little People on DVD. All but Roan Inish are available to rent on Amazon, and you may be able to find them through your preferred video streaming service. If not, there are lots of other Irish movies for kids available. The Secret of Kells is a favorite of mine, though the brief scenes with the invaders could be a bit scary for very young children (same goes for the banshee scene in Darby O’Gill). If you’d rather avoid movies, try an Irish folk music station on Pandora or other music streaming service and dance along!
RELIGION & CULTURE
If you are Catholic (our family is), this is obviously a great day to talk about the person of St. Patrick. I like to include other Irish saints too, like St. Brigid or Our Lady of Knock, if we don’t get a chance to observe their individual feast days. We will be praying this shortened version of the St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer and listening to the Shining Light podcast episode about him. If you don’t plan on highlighting the religious significance of the day, it can still be a good time to talk about Irish history and culture in general, especially if your family has Irish heritage.
Hello, folks! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Just checking in to do a post-Christmas update to January blog plans, then I’m off to thoroughly enjoy a relaxing cup of tea and downtime with the kids. 😊
As many of you may recall, I’ve chosen Hans Christian Andersen as my next recipe inspiration, and I’m taking a poll to determine which of his stories I should make recipes for (you can vote here—poll closes January 1st!). I’ll make recipes for whichever 3 stories get the most votes, and I’ll post 1 recipe per month in January-March. Lots of you have been voting, which is amazing! Thank you! 😀
In just a few short weeks, we’ll come to the end of not just another year, but a whole decade. It’s crazy to think how much things change in that amount of time. A decade ago I was 21, halfway through college, and working 3 jobs to pay tuition. I was SUPER busy. Now I’m married with 2 kids, a mortgage, and a food blog. Last year I achieved one of my life goals: getting a book published by the time I turned 30 (though I’ll admit when I first set that goal, I thought I’d be writing fiction instead of cookbooks!). And I’ve got another book coming out next September, so…still super busy. I guess things don’t change THAT much. 😆
These blessings have definitely enriched my life, but they’ve brought a lot of chaos too, which is why I want to close out 2019 with a cozy, soul-nurturing recipe–something to prepare me for Christmas and fortify me for a new decade. This got me thinking about “The Polar Express,” which I’ve wanted to feature on the blog for ages. The kids in the book drink hot chocolate on the train on their way to the North Pole, and NOTHING says “cozy and soul-nuturing” like hot chocolate! ^.^
For my inspiration, I used a hot chocolate I once drank a fancy brunch buffet at Drury Lane Theater in Oak Brook Terrace. Folks, it was downright CHUGGABLE. It was sweet but not too sweet, and even though the chocolate flavor was rich, it was more reminiscent of milk chocolate instead of the dark, intense chocolate flavor I usually shoot for with homemade hot chocolate. It was kid-friendly without compromising quality, and that hit all the right notes for me.
Since the book specifically mentions hot chocolate and not hot cocoa, I used chopped up chocolate bars to make it authentic (I recently learned that “hot chocolate” has actual melted chocolate in it while “hot cocoa” uses cocoa powder. The more you know!). I also dialed back the darkness of the chocolate. Most homemade versions call for 70% dark chocolate or darker, but I kept it at 60% to achieve the mellow, approachable quality I wanted. I kept my flavors simple too: just sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. I didn’t use any coffee or cayenne to intensify the chocolate flavor since we’re keeping this kid-friendly, but you can certainly experiment with them if you’re making this for adults (I’d use coffee or cayenne but not both).
The book doesn’t mention marshmallows, but I just finished a marshmallow recipe for my new cookbook and wanted to experiment with unique flavorings. I threw in some gingerbread spices and voilà –the perfect pairing!
NOTE: The marshmallows need to set overnight.
Hello, folks! Happy 1st day of Advent. My manuscript deadline fast approaches (Jan. 1st—EEK!), so I’m taking a day to relax before crunch time begins in earnest. This morning I’m enjoying the first tea from the Adagio Teas Advent calendar I got for my birthday and basking in the calming glow of a candle I scent-mixed myself at RiverFront Candle Co. a couple months ago while visiting my sister. The candle is a mix of bourbon, burnt sugar, and leather, and I named it “Brûlée and Books.” ^.^ Here’s to one last quiet morning before I dive deep into book edits! * clinks glasses with you from across the internet *
In the spirit of a new season, I wanted to reflect on the year a bit, share blog plans for the future, and give you a chance to weigh in on my first few recipes of 2020.
With a new baby, new house, and another cookbook to finish, this year has been one of blessings and chaos. Although it was my original plan to go back to my old posting schedule next year (1 recipe/week), I think I really need to take a breather. I’ve decided to stick with the new 1 recipe/month schedule for 1 more year. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back to creating full menus after that (there are so many more I’d like to do!).
I also want to take next year to think about the future of the blog as a whole. With two small children and two books to promote, I don’t want to stretch myself too thin, but I also don’t want to abandon a blog that has been a vital creative outlet and skill builder for me for the past 6 years. This may mean changing the focus and format of the blog in the future, perhaps pivoting to focus on integrating cooking into homeschooling or experimenting with historical cooking techniques and ingredients in the modern home. I may create a survey about this next year to gauge your interest on different subjects. As much as I want to take the blog in a direction I’m passionate about, it’s also important to me create content that has value to you. After all, I’m not just talking to myself out here! 😉
But enough seriousness. It’s time for some fun stuff! Do you remember last January when I did a Grimm’s Fairy Tales menu and let everyone vote on which fairy tales to use? Next year, I’m doing it again, but this time with Hans Christian Andersen! I’ve posted a poll below (plus others on Twitter and Facebook) where you can vote on which Andersen tales you’d like to see me make recipes for. The polls will be up the entire month of December, and you can vote in each poll once, giving you a total of 3 votes. At the end of December, I will tally the votes and make recipes from the top 3 winners. Since I will continue posting once a month, the recipes will go up Jan-March.
Cast your vote, dear readers! May the best fairy tale win. 🙂
NOTES:
- It is possible to vote for multiples (but no more than 3).
- If you decide to add a new fairy tale to the list, be sure it's from Andersen and not Brother's Grimm.
- If you change your mind, don't worry! The poll is set up so you can change your vote if you want.
