Posted November 22, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Can you believe I’ve never written an apple pie post before? I’ve made loads of apple recipes for my classic lit menus (homemade apple sauce, apple rose tartlets, and apple cider crullers—just to name a few) but never pie. Of course, when I decided to make one for my Sleepy Hollow menu, I knew it needed to be more than your average apple pie. I wanted to kick it up a notch!
I started with seasonal flavors, bouncing a few flavor combo ideas off the Mister, and we both agreed that maple and walnut were great seasonal additions to an apple pie. I decided to swap maple syrup for the sugar usually found in fruit pie filling, and since I’m not a big fan of chopped nuts in my pie filling, I decided to grind the walnuts up and mix them in with the pie crust. I used a basic version of the pie crust recipe from my cookbook, and the filling is just a slight variation on my family’s favorite apple pie recipe: the one from “How to Make Apple Pie and See the World.”
The result was a glorious pie filled to bursting with the flavor of sweet-tart apples, rich maple syrup, and a hint of nuttiness from the crust. I brought mine to Thanksgiving, where it was a big hit!
NOTE: This recipe needs at least 4 hours to set.
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Posted November 15, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Since this is a Sleepy Hollow recipe, I had a grand scheme to serve this soup in roasted pumpkin bowls. It would be a perfect nod to the headless horseman’s jack-o-lantern; plus, it would look seriously cool in the photos! Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Every single grocery store I visited in a 20-minute radius of my house sold out of pie pumpkins two weeks ago and won’t be getting any more this season. Ergh!!! So I shelved my dreams for the perfect Pinterest photo and bought a ceramic pumpkin bowl instead. Pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself…but I’m still considering retaking the photos next year when I can get real pumpkins again!
Dashed hopes of inspired plating aside, this recipe actually turned out really well. It’s a variation on the Milady de Winter Soup I made for my Three Musketeers menu. This time, I swapped the butternut squash for pumpkin, the red pepper for carrot and parsnip, the thyme for rosemary, and the store bought chicken stock for homemade. I liked it so much, I’m making another batch to freeze for after the baby is born in January!
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Posted November 14, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Blogging, Book Events and Tours / 0 Comments
Hi, everybody! I’m back again with more updates regarding my cookbook, A Literary Tea Party!
- The final round of the Goodreads Choice Awards started yesterday…and I’m thrilled to say I MADE IT!!! 😀 😀 😀 Many thanks to those of you who have voted so far, and thanks again for your continued support. Since this is the final round, voting is open a little longer this time: until Nov. 26th. Goodreads will announce the winners on Dec. 4th. You can cast your vote for my book, A LITERARY TEA PARTY, in the Food & Cookbooks category here. Here’s hoping for a win, but no matter what happens, I’m just excited to have made it this far! 🙂
- I also have an update on the book signing scheduled for this weekend. Prairie Fox Books in Ottawa, IL, the store that planned to host the event, unfortunately had to cancel due to store renovations being behind schedule. Normally I’d just reschedule for a bit later, but with my baby due January 3rd, that wasn’t really an option for me. I’m really bummed, guys! 🙁 I was SO looking forward to meeting lots of you at the event and bringing treats to share…but don’t worry, all is not lost! My late spring/early summer cooking demo at the same location is set to proceed on schedule. Yay for silver linings!
See you all back here tomorrow for our next recipe!
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a Goodreads win! 😉
Posted November 8, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and with all the preparations ahead, it’s no surprise I’ve had turkey on the brain…though this may also have something to do with the fact that our neighborhood wild turkeys have been out in full force lately. One strolled through the backyard just as I was about to sit down to type this! 🙂
Since this Sleepy Hollow menu is very Thanksgiving-centric, I wanted to be sure to include a turkey recipe. A whole turkey was out of the question (I’ve got an 8-month pregnant belly, an almost-2-year-old, Friendsgiving to host this weekend, and an author event next weekend. Cliche as it sounds, my plate is kinda full.). In short, I needed something simpler and faster than cooking a whole bird. I considered a turkey roulade, but I already made one for my Little Women menu. Then stuffed turkey breasts sprang to mind. They’re a great way to get all the traditional Thanksgiving flavors into a standard-size meal, and the process it quite similar to a roulade, though easier.
Using the roulade recipe as inspiration, I made some key changes to make this recipe unique: wrapping the turkey in bacon, swapping apples for pears and pecans for walnuts, changing bread cubes to Panko crumbs, and adding onion. Plus, I swapped out the seasonings for the thyme and rosemary you’d typically find in stuffing.
By the time all was said and done, it was practically its own recipe—a delicious one at that! The flavors were perfect for the season. They had me wishing Thanksgiving was tomorrow! 🙂
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Posted November 7, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Blogging, Book Events and Tours / 1 Comment
Hi, everybody! I took the Little Mister with me to vote in the midterms yesterday, and I gotta say he was a total champ (the free baggies of candy they were giving out to “future voters” helped too 😉 ). But now I’m ready for some FUN voting. Luckily for me, the second round of the Goodreads Choice Awards has officially begun! And my book, A LITERARY TEA PARTY, is in the semifinals! ???
Many thanks to those who voted in the opening round, and thanks again for your continued support. Voting for this round is open until November 11th. You can cast your vote here. Ten books will be eliminated in this round, so competition is fierce!
Here’s hoping we make it to the finals!
Posted November 1, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
November has arrived and, with it, our brand new book of the month: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow! Normally I save spooky stories like this for October, but as I was rereading Sleepy Hollow in preparation for this menu, I noticed that pretty much all the food was perfect Thanksgiving fare: pies flavored with pumpkin and apples, dressed turkey, cider, and so much more! Thus, I decided to save this menu for November, when people would be hankering for classic autumnal flavors, rather than Halloween-specific recipes.
I’m starting things off with delicious apple cider crullers. When Ichabod Crane describes the delicious food served at the Van Tassel party, crullers are high on the list, as is cider, so I decided to make a recipe that combined the two together. I’d never made crullers before and originally planned to find a recipe online, but when I realized they’re made with choux pastry, I whipped up a batch of the trusty choux recipe from my cookbook, simply subbing apple cider for half the water. The icing was easy to improvise too: just make powdered sugar icing and use cider instead of milk for the liquid. These were scrumptious and fun, a big hit with everyone at our house. They were gone by the end of the day!
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Posted October 31, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 5 Comments
Hi, everybody! Happy Halloween! Our November menu starts tomorrow, but before that kicks off, I have two pieces of exciting news to share about my cookbook, A Literary Tea Party:
- First off, just a reminder that I’ll be in Ottawa, IL on November 17th at Prairie Fox Books for a book signing. There will be fun giveaways, and I’m bringing treats from the cookbook to share! I’ll also be there again in late spring/early summer to do a cooking demo for the grand opening of their new cafe. No exact date set for the second event yet, but I’ll let you know when it’s decided.
- Second, my cookbook has been nominated for the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards!! 😀 😀 😀 Every year, Goodreads.com picks 15 newly published books in 20 different categories and has 3 rounds of voting to determine the winner in each category. If you would like to vote for my book, you can access the Food & Cookbooks category by clicking here (you’ll need to create a Goodreads account in order to vote, if you don’t already have one). I truly appreciate your support. Seeing my book alongside those of Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentiis is mindblowing. To be honest, it doesn’t feel real! I’ll know by Nov. 6th if I qualify for the next round of voting. Fingers crossed! ?
See you all back here tomorrow for our first Nov. recipe!
Thanks again for your support!
Posted October 25, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes, Holidays / 0 Comments
Ghosts are an essential part of the Scooby-Doo cartoon (even if they do usually turn out to be just some guy in a mask 😉), so I thought it would be fun to make a ghost-themed dessert for this month’s menu. I loved the idea of making spook cupcakes, and I decided to tie-dye the frosting for some psychedelic 60’s flair, perfect for Scooby-Doo! I started with my go-to chocolate cupcake and vanilla frosting recipe from my cookbook and gave the frosting an orange, lime green, hot pink, and light blue swirl. Then I used this recipe to make my own homemade marshmallow ghosts (but you can totally go with store bought ghost Peeps, if you want). These sweet little specters are a perfect addition to any Halloween menu or Scooby-Doo birthday party!
Note: The marshmallow mixture for the ghosts needs to set overnight.
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Posted October 18, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments
One of my favorite things about Scooby Doo is its distinctive ’60s aesthetic. Who can forget Fred and Shaggy’s bell bottoms or the Mystery Machine’s psychedelic paint job? Even the iconic color scheme associated with the show—orange, lime green, light blue, and purple—has a fun, hippy vibe to it. I wanted to capture that vibe in today’s side dish: a melon berry fruit salad that would look right at home at a 1960s-themed shindig. I cut cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon into flower shapes reminiscent of those found on the Mystery Machine and added some blueberries for extra color and flavor. To finish, I tossed it all in a homemade lemon honey dressing. The Little Mister was definitely a big fan of this recipe. Most of the watermelon and blueberries didn’t make it past the photo shoot! XD
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Posted October 11, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment
Shaggy and Scooby are famous for their bottomless appetites, especially when it comes to sandwiches. They’ve been known to down two-foot subs in one gulp, and anything they make it always piled high with ingredients. A giant sub sandwich seemed like the perfect entree for my Scooby-Doo menu, but the question still remained: what kind should I make? With virtually endless options, I found myself staring at lists of ingredients in hopes of coming up with that perfect sandwich. I wanted something fun and a little funky to match Shaggy and Scooby’s quirky personalities.
Then I thought about pizza. Shag and Scoob’s abiding love for pizza is a little less iconic than their love of sandwiches, but it’s still a big part of the cartoon. Why not bring the two together? I started with a 2-foot-long sub loaf and added a layer of pizza sauce and fresh basil. Then came smoked ham and two layers of sandwich-style pepperoni and mozzarella. Top it off with oil-and-vinegar dressed tomatoes and red onion, more basil, and more sauce, and you’ve got yourself a pizza sub! It was a big hit at our house. Even the toddler was a fan! 🙂
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