Posted April 3, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 1 Comment
Our new Book of the Month is Matilda, and I’m kicking things off with a reading kit! 😀
I was impressed by how many Matilda-inspired fan made items were out there. With a book that was published so long ago, sometimes it can be hard to find stuff that’s specifically themed to that book, but not so with Matilda. It was easy to track down art prints, candles, throw pillows, jewelry, and so much more. Of course, book- and library-themed items are perfect for Matilda as well, so I was sure to include some when I rounded up my favorite items for this reading kit.
Snag some bookish swag for yourself or your favorite reading buddy and sit back with a copy of Matilda. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted March 29, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments
Three cheers for extra Thursdays! Whenever a month has a 5th Thursday, I get to do a bonus post, which is especially exciting this month since this menu was inspired by my son’s birthday party. It was quite the bash! I made deviled eggs, fruit salad, and a giant chocolate chip cookie, and we ordered pizza for our entree. Plus, both the grandmas made delicious desserts too! My mom made cupcakes, and my mother-in-law made crown-shaped sugar cookies with gold sprinkles. Both were delicious, so for my bonus recipe, I decided to pay tribute to both.
These fun cupcakes come in two flavors: chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (just like the ones my mom made). The recipes are easy, and the fun, whimsical decorations are inspired by my mother-in-laws cookies: white and gold sprinkles on some, fruit roll-up crowns on others. It’s a lot of variety without a lot of extra work, and the results were super delicious. Enjoy! ^.^
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Posted March 28, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 3 Comments
With Easter just a few days away, Lent is coming to a close. For my Lenten sacrifice this year, I decided to eliminate as much food waste as possible from my life, and one of the ways I chose to do that was by saving vegetable scraps to make stock. I’m happy to announce that just last week, the ziplock bag in my freezer was FINALLY full enough to make a batch of stock! Yaaay! I’ve provided the method I used in the post below. It’s a slight variation on this method from Serious Eats. It’s super easy and versatile, just right for helping me maintain my low-food-waste goals when Lent is over. Plus, I’m thinking plain vegetable stock and bread would be an appropriate Good Friday meal, since it’s simple while still being healthful. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted March 27, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 2 Comments
My tradition of making a tea to go with each of my menus came in handy at my son’s Where the Wild Things Are birthday party—we had a custom tea to serve with lunch! I don’t normally get to share my teas with such a large group, so I was excited to create something for a crowd.
I’m always on the lookout for chances to use Adagio’s forest berries tea, since it’s such a unique blend, and this looked like a great time to use it. With that as my base, I added blackberry and cream teas for complexity. Throw in some extra dried raspberries, strawberries, and marigold petals for color, and you’ve got yourself a fun, sweet tea blend that’s perfect for a party!
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Posted March 22, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments
Say hello to our Where the Wild Things Are dessert: a giant chocolate chip cookie! This is the dessert I made for the Little Mister’s Wild Thing-themed birthday party. As a one-year-old, cookies are easier for him to grasp than cake, and he seems to prefer the flavor. Plus, a cookie is much faster to decorate than a whole cake, which was a big deal to me since I was already making deviled eggs and fruit salad for the party.
I used the Tollhouse giant cookie recipe in conjunction with my own buttercream recipe to make this dessert. The words are made by dipping Trader Joe’s cinnamon schoolhouse cookies in colored icing. I LOVE how it turned out, especially the Wild Thing in the middle. We ate it up, we loved it so! 😉
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Posted March 20, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 2 Comments
I don’t get to make reading kits for picture books very often, so when I do, it’s a fun change of pace. It’s a chance to get creative, since I can’t use a lot of the items I typically include in kits (candles, scarves, etc.). I love imagining what a young reader would want to have in a kit, and there are tons of book-themed clothes and toys out there for kids! This Where the Wild Things Are reading kit includes plushies, costumes, blankets, and more—all themed after the long beloved children’s book. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted March 15, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
At the Little Mister’s Where the Wild Things Are birthday party, fruit salad was my go-to side dish. It’s always easy to throw together for a party, and it’s a big kid-pleaser too! I assembled mine right before the party without any trouble, and it was a hit. I even had someone ask for the dressing recipe!
At the party I was sure to include the Little Mister’s favorite fruits (apples and grapes) in the salad, but for my blog version of the recipe, I decided to go with a tropical fruit salad. Tropical fruits make me think of the Land of the Wild Things, since so many of them have the whimsical look and juicy flavor of fruit you’d expect to find in an imaginary world. I chose dragon fruit, starfruit, and kiwi for my tropical flavors, then I added clementines and strawberries for some familiarity and extra color. Toss it all in my favorite lime dressing, and you’re set to go!
P.S. Don’t let those awesome, funky dragon fruit skins go to waste—use them as bowls to serve your salad!
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Posted March 13, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 2 Comments
As many of you know, I gave up food waste for Lent to help me develop the habit of using all the leftovers and extra ingredients I always have. I’ve improved in some areas, but I’ve also discovered new challenges (like actually finding time to MAKE the recipes I’ve planned out! lol). Since we’re about halfway through Lent, I figured now was the perfect time for another update, and I’m happy to say the the recipe I’m sharing today was a lot of fun and turned out great!
When I made my Wuthering Heights gingerbread manor, I had a bunch of leftover gingerbread scraps from trimming the baked cookies while they were still hot. As much as I love snacking on them (the Mister and the Little Mister do too!), it’s hard for two full-grown adults and a baby to eat a whole gingerbread house in a reasonable amount of time, even if you don’t count the cookie trimmings. I knew they’d go to waste if I didn’t find a use for them, so the brainstorming began.
I loved the idea of making a gingerbread cookie crust, but of course, you need something to fill the crust, right? Luckily, I also had some spare cream cheese and egg whites that needed using up as well. Thus, the idea of a meringue cheesecake was born! I used this cheesecake recipe and this meringue recipe, and I must say I’m very pleased with the results! The cheesecake recipe was easy, and it came out smooth and delicious. Plus, it looked great with the toasted meringue on top!
I think my favorite part was the balance of flavors. The light, fluffy meringue complimented the rich, creamy cheesecake, and the spice from the gingerbread was welcome without being overpowering. We ate it right up! 🙂
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Posted March 8, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
The Little Mister LOVES pizza, so that’s what we had at his Where the Wild Things Are birthday party last month. There were almost 50 people at the party (we’re a big family), so we ordered out. But if there had been fewer people, I would have made a pizza crown or two! These are really fun for children’s parties, and they come together in a snap. I’m a fan of any party food that makes a lot of servings without a lot of trouble.
This particular recipe comes from a pizza Christmas tree I saw on Pinterest, with a few slight changes. I used pepperoni and fresh basil as fillings, but you can use whatever you want! Just make sure the pieces are small enough that when you seal the pizza ball nothing tears a hole in the dough.
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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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