Max’s Boat Deviled Eggs

Posted March 1, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

Early last month, we celebrated the Little Mister’s 1st birthday at his grandparents house. It was crowded, loud, and fun–everything a children’s party should be–as family came from far and wide to celebrate with us. The party had a Where the Wild Things Are theme, which I picked out an embarrassingly long time ago (aka literally weeks after I brought the Little Mister home from the hospital).

I figure there are only so many of his birthday’s I’ll get to make all the design decisions for, so we’re doing book themed parties for as long as he’ll let me! 😉 I thought it would be fun to make a menu based on all the foods we ate at the party, so that’s kind of what we’re doing this month. However, I’d be lying if I said this was EXACTLY what we ate at the party. That would require things going according to plan…and me cooking for almost 50 people…and to that I say HA.

I wound up making regular deviled eggs for the party, but these precious little egg boats are what WOULD have happened if I hadn’t forgotten to dye the eggs before I started filling them. I was kinda bummed that my vision never made it to the real party, but I whipped up a mini batch this week so I could share them with you all here on the blog. Maybe they’ll get a chance to make a little boy smile at one of YOUR parties! 🙂

TTT: 10 Books I Could Re-Read Forever

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!

Wuthering Heights Gingerbread Manor

Posted February 22, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments

I made a gingerbread house last month for my Grimm’s Fairy Tales menu, so at first it felt weird making another gingerbread house so soon. But how could I not when the house of Wuthering Heights is so iconic AND gingerbread is the most prominent dessert in the book? 🙂 Plus, I loved the idea of trying a different look for my next gingerbread project. I didn’t want to just copy and paste the structure and style from my last gingerbread escapade, so I decided to increase the challenge by adding detailed icing work, putting “glass” in the windows, and making the house two stories high. I thought of making it a HAUNTED gingerbread manor, but the ones I looked at for ideas were pretty elaborate. I didn’t think my skill set was there yet (this is still only the second gingerbread house I’ve made as an adult), so I stuck with a more classical design. I loved the thatched roof effect of the Mini Wheats on my last roof, but this time I went with chocolate Belvita Bites for a more traditional shingle pattern.

Like last time, I used a dough recipe from Sprinkle Bakes (this time a double batch) and an icing recipe from Make It and Love It. This time I incorporated Pretty Cake Machine’s advice to use brown icing for all the structural work, and I LOVE how much cleaner all the edges look.

Throw in a gingerbread ghost and a scowling gingerbread Heathcliff, and you’re all set for life at Wuthering Heights!

Chocolate Mocha Frosting: An Update on My No Food Waste Challenge

Posted February 20, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 6 Comments

At the end of January, I posted this year’s plan for my annual Lenten sacrifice: cutting down on food waste. One of my goals in this challenge is to always find uses for leftover ingredients. I had an extra container of Greek yogurt after making orange poppy seed cake, so I decided to use it to make this no-measure chocolate cake from Food 52, in hopes that it would serve as a go-to method for using extra yogurt in the future.

“But this isn’t a post about cake,” I hear you say. “This is a post about frosting. What gives?”

You’re absolutely right. And the reason this isn’t a post about cake is because I managed to majorly screw up what was supposed to be an easy recipe. >.< Pro tip: ALWAYS read ALL the ingredients and instructions before starting a recipe, even if you’ve read them before and think you remember. In short, don’t be like me and just wing it.

First off, the recipe called for full fat yogurt, and mine was fat free. Mine was also two ounces less than what the recipe called for, so I added a couple ounces of sour cream to make up the difference and increase the fat content. The recipe also called for self-raising flour, so I made my own using some instructions I found online, though I couldn’t helping thinking that the suggested 3 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp salt sounded like a lot for one single-layer cake.

When I tasted the batter, it was just…off. Slightly bitter and oddly sharp. I became VERY worried about this cake, but I couldn’t throw it out since the whole point of the exercise was to avoid waste. Once baked, the flavor wasn’t as bad as the batter, but still very weird. It was also WAY too dense and moist on the inside, even though it was thoroughly baked.

This sad fail cake clearly required some buttercream TLC. And that’s where this chocolate mocha frosting comes in! I wanted something rich to mask the weird flavors in the cake, so I experimented with adding cocoa powder and instant coffee to my vanilla buttercream recipe. It was FANTASTIC. I’m definitely adding it to my list of go-to frostings. The Mister even liked it, and he normally won’t touch anything with coffee in it.

At the end of the day, I may have made the most depressing chocolate cake ever, but I came out with a delicious new frosting recipe. So I guess it evens out? Plus, I technically met my goal of using up extra ingredients, so yay for that! 🙂

Balsamic Roasted Turnips

Posted February 15, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

The lowly, modest turnip. I’ll admit I rarely (if ever) give it a second glance in the produce section. I’m guilty of passing it up hundreds of times in favor of more attractive veggies like a bunch of fresh carrots or a head of bright green broccoli.

Yet when I saw that turnips are one of the few prominent side dishes in Wuthering Heights, I knew I needed to find a way to make them enjoyable. For me, this means ROASTING. I am a firm believer that if you’re having trouble getting yourself to eat your vegetables, a little olive oil and salt with some time in the oven goes a long way.

This recipe I found from Kalyn’s Kitchen takes it a step further and adds some balsamic vinegar for extra oomph. She suggests tossing the roasted turnips in a light coating of balsamic at the very end as well, and I highly recommend it. Turnips are mild little guys, so I think they benefit from just a bit of zing from the extra balsamic.

A Wuthering Heights Reading Kit

Posted February 13, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 4 Comments

For the past week we’ve been trapped inside due to family-wide illness and a foot of snow, so putting together this Wuthering Heights reading kit was a nice break from all the tedium. I had a blast reading through Kate Beaton’s six part Wuthering Heights comic series to find just the right print to include in my kit. I also wanted to include at least one of the many wonderful quotes in Bronte’s book, so I made sure a quote is featured in one of the items below. I tried to avoid candles, scarves, and t-shirts this time since I tend to use those a lot in my kits (gotta widen those horizons!). In the end, I like to think I curated a thoughtful list of fun, unique items perfect for keeping close at hand while you read Emily Bronte’s famous novel. Let’s take a look! 🙂

Wuthering Heights Roast Goose with Potatoes

Posted February 8, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

Goose: it’s a dish I’ve put off cooking for years because of the horror stories I’ve heard about how hard it is to make. It’s thrilling to finally step up and tackle something you’ve always found intimidating, and even more so when your first attempt goes really well.

When I decided to make roast goose as my Wuthering Heights entree, I began the hunt for a recipe that was both manageable and reliably successful. This was surprisingly difficult. I saw recipes that insisted you must sear and flip the goose in a roasting pan to get a brown color without overcooking, others that called for multiple extra recipes like glaze and stuffing, and still more that claimed it was impossible to evenly cook a whole goose (and that the only solution was to carve it before cooking). I felt discouraged and more than a little fearful. Goose can cost upwards of $60, and I did NOT want to screw this up.

Then I found this wonderful recipe from The Woks of Life. It had more steps than some of the recipes I’d seen, but it was easier to follow and didn’t require anything weird like searing the bird in a separate pan. It was an orange five-spice goose recipe, which sounded delicious. The seasoning also caused it to roast darker than the average goose, helping to avoid the issue of a finished birth that’s too light on top. The only downside was that the flavor profile was a little inaccurate for Victorian England, but given the circumstances, I think we can overlook it. 😉

The bird turned out beautiful on my very first try. It was seasoned perfectly, and the meat was tender and rich. I felt so proud when I pulled it out of the oven, and although it’s a little pricey for a regular weeknight meal, I would have no problems making this if my family ever wants to give Christmas goose a try!

Midnight on the Moor: A Wuthering Heights Tea

Posted February 6, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 7 Comments

It’s tea time again here at Wonderland Recipes, and our latest blend is inspired by our current book of the month, Wuthering Heights. Naturally, for this tea I wanted something that would capture the dark, dramatic mood so iconic to this famous novel. Adagio Tea’s Earl Grey Moonlight blend was the perfect place to start. From there, I wanted to add a hint of Victorian flair, so I paired it with some classic Summer Rose tea. Throw in some cornflowers and extra rose petals for color, and you’ve got yourself the perfect drink to complement your midnight reading of Emily Bronte’s classic tale of thwarted romance and restless ghosts, staged in the cold, imposing halls of Wuthering Heights.

Orange Poppy Seed Cake

Posted February 1, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments

Last May, I got an email from a reader requesting a Wuthering Heights menu, and I was thrilled. It was the first time anyone had ever contacted me with a menu request, though I’ll admit I was also a little nervous since I’d never read Wuthering Heights before. I was afraid I might not like it, and I have a personal rule of not making menus for books I don’t like. Still, I promised to read it with hopes that all would go well.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it! Gothic romance holds a special place in my heart, and I loved Emily Bronte’s descriptions of the bleak moor and Cathy’s desolate ghost. I finished it quickly and immediately started planning a menu. February seemed like the perfect time to premiere it, what with all the stark, gray weather outside. So here it finally is!

I love the food’s Victorian flair throughout the book: goose, porridge, oatcakes, etc. There are also several references to tea and cake, so I decided to take that as the inspiration for my appetizer. One common form of tea cake is seed cake, a quick bread with caraway or poppy seed mixed through the batter. Although caraway is more traditional, I’m not a big fan of the flavor, so I decided to go with poppy seed. I also wanted to incorporate the oranges that are mentioned in the book, so orange poppy seed cake it is! The recipe I use here is mostly based on this blood orange poppy seed cake from The Whole Bite.

I was definitely eager to get to work on this! One downside of planning my menus so far ahead is that I don’t always get to make what I’m in the mood to cook, but I was SO in the mood for this. The weather lately has been gray and depressing, and a citrusy, not-too-sweet quick bread was just what I wanted. And this bread didn’t disappoint! It was tender without being too delicate, dense without being heavy, and absolutely beautiful. The glossy effect from the glaze is fantastic. And the flavor was perfect—just enough orange and just enough sweetness. Everyone in the house (including the baby) loved it. It was gone is just a few days!

No Food Waste: My Lenten Challenge

Posted January 30, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 4 Comments

Ash Wednesday is just a couple of weeks away, which means I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’d like to give up for Lent this year. As someone who cooks for a living, I always seem to have a surplus of ingredients left over from recipes (a cup of sour cream, half an onion, a partial carton of beef stock, etc.). I know I can and should re-purpose this stuff so it doesn’t go to waste, but I never know off the top of my head what to do with it. Every time I open the fridge, I see them sitting innocuously on the shelf, and I remind myself that I should hunt down a recipe that uses them. Then I shut the door and immediately forget about it, my good intentions resulting in nothing but shriveled onions and waaaaay expired sour cream.

This year for Lent, I’ve decided to tackle my chronic food waste problem. My goal will be to all-but-eliminate food waste from our household in three big ways:

Start saving vegetable scraps to use for stock

Sure, plants are biodegradable, but it just seems like such a shame to throw a way a technically edible part of the plant (like potato peelings or broccoli stalks) when I could save it instead. I have a great vegetable stock recipe that uses veggie scraps, but it takes me a long time to accumulate enough material to make it. I probably should have started a cache of frozen veggie scraps ages ago, but that’s kinda the point of all this: to get me to do what I should already be doing. Hopefully I’ll have enough scraps stored up to publish a post about the stock recipe soon! Added bonus: like many families, we abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, and homemade vegetable stock is a great start to a meat-free meal.
- Subgoal: Learn about (and implement?) urban composting. We rent our house instead of own, so a compost pile for our vegetable scraps isn’t really an option. However, during Lent I’ll be looking into urban composting to see if it’s a good fit for us.

Organize my fridge so leftover ingredients don’t get pushed to the back and forgotten

This is the main culprit of my waste: I forget I have things. Then I clean out my fridge a month later and find containers of food I could have easily used. Right now my organizational method stinks (probably since it consists of NO method), so I need a way to make sure the random odds and ends are always visible.
- Subgoal: ALWAYS find a use for these items. It wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice to pat myself on the back for serving leftover sour cream with tacos once during Lent. Instead, I want to challenge myself to ALWAYS find a use for extra ingredients. If I make a Lenten commitment, I know I’ll be more motivated to find recipes that use them. I’m also planning to make a Pinterest page of any recipes I permanently add to my weeknight cooking repertoire as a result of this challenge (and hopefully right posts for some of them!).

Eat all the leftovers

Since Lent is just as much about sacrifice as it is about making a positive change in your life, I can’t turn a blind eye to my difficulty with leftovers. I easily get bored when my meals are too repetitive, so if it takes more than a few days to finish a dish I made, I start ignoring it in favor of other food (even if I know it will go bad soon). The final part of my Lenten challenge will be to always finish leftovers and prioritize the items that will go bad sooner.
- Subgoal: Give more food away. When I cook for other people, I’m really good about keeping things professional and tidy. I pull my hair back, wash my hands, and NEVER lick my fingers. What I’m NOT good at is maintaining that same standard when I do my blog cooking. You can usually find me at 11 am on a Monday morning, still in my pajamas, with a beautifully finished dish in front of me while I stand there with uncombed hair, licking my fingers after I adjust the garnish for the millionth time. This makes me reluctant to give blog food away. It just feels gross to give away a batch of doughnuts when I know I licked glaze off my fingers as I plated them (or fear a stray hair may have fallen into the batter). This means we sometimes wind up with more food than we can eat, and some of it gets wasted. So from now on whenever I cook for the blog, the hair goes up and the fingers stay clean. No more sad food that I’m too ashamed to send to the office with the Mister!

So that’s my challenge! Starting on February 14th, I’ll be sharing an intermittent blog series chronicling my journey to less food waste. I can’t promise that I’ll post on an exact schedule (since I’m not exactly sure what I’ll consider worth sharing), but they’ll most likely appear 4-5 times throughout Lent, most likely on Tuesdays.

Normally I don’t post about stuff like Lent because it’s not relevant to what I blog about, but this year is a little different. I know there are other people out there who want to cut down on food waste too and might want to see what I learn during this process. I also want to hear from people who are succeeding where I’m failing.