Posted May 29, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 7 Comments
Howdy, folks! Sorry about the mix-up earlier today. Those of you who were paying close attention probably already know what I’m talking about. I’ve been trying to work ahead on my posts and accidentally scheduled next Tuesday’s post for today! EEP! >.< It was only up for 10 minutes before I caught the mistake, but those of you who follow through email probably still got an update about it….so I guess you got a sneak peak at next month’s menu! I can trust you to keep it a secret until June for everyone else, right? 😉
Anyway, THIS is the post that was supposed to go up today: my Top Ten Tuesday linkup! Below I’ve shared a list of my top 10 favorite fictional worlds. Hopefully they’re all worlds that are forgiving of bloggers who try to work too far ahead and get their wires crossed! 😉
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Posted May 8, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 0 Comments
Every book lover has a weakness for beautiful books, and I’m no exception. There’s just something about a hardbound illustrated edition with lush cover art and gold-fringed pages that draws me in every time. Over the years, my mom has bought me several beautiful editions of the classics, including a few Barnes & Noble hardcover classics and an Anna Bond illustrated Alice in Wonderland. I’m doing my best to preserve these precious volumes from the destructive grasp of the Little Mister, who has a penchant for tearing paper. So far I’ve been successful, but I don’t think I’ll breath easy until he’s fully grown out of his whirlwind tornado phase (which should be in about 10 years >.<)
When I saw that this week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt involved book covers, I decided to do my own spin on it and write a post devoted to beautiful book collections. Below you’ll find some of the more famous editions—like Barnes & Noble and Penguin—including a few unexpected treats. Feast your eyes on the rich colors and elegant designs, then let me know your favorites in the comments below! 🙂
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Posted April 17, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 0 Comments
A few weeks ago, I did a Top Ten Tuesday post with 10 quotes about the power of reading. Instead of just typing them up in a post and calling it a day, I decided to make graphics for them…and I so much fun hunting down the quotes and making the pictures that I decided to do it again for this week’s freebie Top Ten Tuesday post! After all, I couldn’t possibly narrow down the best reading quotes to just ten, could I? 😉
It’s oddly soothing picking out my favorite book pictures (I get them from two creative commons sites: Pexels and Unsplash) and pairing them with the perfect font. I think it’s just nice to make something pretty every once in a while. 🙂 I may do more of these kinds of quote posts in the future, though with different themes, so let me know if you’d like to see more in the future!
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Posted March 6, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 8 Comments
Making this Top Ten Tuesday post was both easy and difficult. There are so many great book quotes out there, but that’s just it: there are SO MANY. How do you choose? I did quite a lot of searching to find the quotes that resonated most with me. The GoodReads quote page was a huge help, since they had a lot of lesser known quotes as well. I made graphics for my favorites and posted them below. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted February 27, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 4 Comments
Rereading old favorites is one of the many joys of being a bookworm. It’s hard to make time for it when there are always so many shiny new books being added to my TBR, but there are times when you just want the cozy familiarity of a book you KNOW you’ll love, especially when life gets hectic.
I loved putting this Top Ten Tuesday list together because it reminded me of all the good times I’ve had with my favorite books. Many of them come from my childhood or middle school days, and I think the reason I love revisiting them is because they remind me of a time when life was simpler (and certainly less busy). I’m really excited that I’ll be able to introduce the Little Mister to some of them soon. Maybe one or two will end up on HIS list of life-long favorites!
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Posted January 23, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 1 Comment
If you haven’t already heard, we’re all in for something crazy this February: Valentine’s Day this year falls on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. In Christian tradition, Lent is a time marked by prayer, penance, and reflection geared towards spiritual growth. Lots of people give up something as a Lenten sacrifice (like chocolate or social media), and Ash Wednesday in particular is a day of fasting and prayer.
This will obviously make Valentine’s Day 2018 a bit tricky for those of us observing Lent. I’m pretty sure my brain short-circuited when I realized I couldn’t give my husband ANYTHING involving food (unless I wanted to make him wait a whole day to enjoy it), and I’m pretty sure he was worried about what to get me too. Luckily, I’m a reader, which makes me super easy to buy for even in the midst of a 40-day penance. This inspired me to make a list for other gift givers who might be looking to wow the reader in their life while still honoring the spirit of the Lenten season. Here are my 10 Lent-friendly Valentine’s Day gifts for book lovers—sure to blow their minds!
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Posted January 16, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 4 Comments
Are we already halfway through January? Things have been so crazy around here, I feel like the new year blew right by. The holidays always go fast, but this year it was wrapped in with cookbook writing for added excitement. I just submitted the last round of edits to my cookbook editor, so I should have an progress update for you all soon. In the mean time, I’m taking a little extra time to relax and think about my goals for the upcoming year.
Read More Books is ALWAYS on my to-do list, but I decided not to create a specific reading goal this year. My busy baby (almost toddler! he’s pulled himself to standing a few times!) doesn’t leave much room for reading goals. Example: I’ve been trying to read a friend’s manuscript for several months, but as great as it is, it’s hard to make headway when the Little Mister shreds the dust jackets of my books and tries to eat a screw he pulled up from the transition strip in the kitchen doorway (both true stories).
So instead of goals, I found myself fantasizing about how lovely it would be to find a quiet corner to read in fictional places like Hobbiton, Redwall Abbey, or Mr. Tumnus’s cozy cave. Before long, I had a list of 10 fictional places I’d like to curl up with a good book! They’re all quiet, soothing places because that’s what I need in my life right now, but whose to say the list won’t change some day to include the deck of a pirate ship or a haunted manor at midnight? 😉
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Posted November 14, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 10 Comments
My little boy turned 9 months old earlier this month, and I can hardly believe it. When I look back at pictures of him when he was born, it blows my mind that the teeny baby in the pictures is the same adorably chunky kiddo currently zooming around the house on all fours with a floof of brown hair and a grin that’s equal parts charming and mischievous. He’s already an industrious little guy, packing as much activity into his day as possible (Crawling! Trying to chew computer cords! Dumping entire plates of rice on the floor when Mommy isn’t looking!).
He may seem like the sort of kid who’d never sit still to read a book, but story time is among his favorite activities. I tucked a few stacks of books around the house when I baby proofed, and we pull one out a few times a week for reading. And he loves to look at (and chew) them on his own.
I did a post before he was born about the books I wanted to read to him as a baby, but I recently got to thinking about the books I’d like to introduce him to in the years to come. Of course, he’ll have his own favorite books, but there are some I want to be sure to squeeze in there because they’re just too important to pass up. I figured it’s probably a reasonable goal to introduce one of these books each year, so I sat down and made a list! So here are the 10 books I want to read to my son before he’s 10!
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Posted October 31, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 4 Comments
A lot of bibliophiles love a bit of seasonal reading, especially around Halloween time. There’s something about curling up with a big blanket, a mug of cocoa, and a super spooky read that turns the early darkness of chill autumn nights into something cozy and fun. I always like to save recipes from books like this for my October blog menus, because this is just the right time of year for them. Some of my fondest blogging memories are of making recipe posts for books like Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, various Edgar Allen Poe titles, and most recently The Phantom of the Opera. They allow so much room for creativity, and I often get to use fun colors and plating styles that normally wouldn’t fit the tone of other books.
Below are my Top 10 Bookish Halloween Recipes, a roundup of my favorite blog recipes from Octobers past. I hope you all enjoy them and that they make the spookiest day of the year just a little bit sweeter! 😉
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Posted October 17, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 5 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt—“Ten Yummy Foods in Books”—seemed tailor made for my blog. After all, food in books is what I DO. As excited as I was to tackle the prompt, it only seemed fair to up the ante and make it a bit more challenging. So instead of ten yummy foods, I chose ten books (some of them are series) that all have iconic dishes associated with them. In the end, I got closer to 20 foods than 10, but everything’s better when there’s more food, right? Hope y’all enjoy! 😉
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