Posted August 1, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 4 Comments
Time to introduce my new Book of the Month: The Man in the Iron Mask! I’m excited for this book because I’ve been planning a menu for it for AGES. I was going to do it back in the spring, but I seriously underestimated how long it would take to finish the book with a brand new baby. Luckily, things are starting to settle down a bit now that the Little Mister is 6 months old. He’s sleeping well, we’re back to a regular schedule, and I’m in the final stretch of cookbook editing. So with the help of audiobook magic, I was FINALLY able to finish The Man in the Iron Mask and create a menu for it.
Today, we’re introducing it with a reading kit! This was a fun one to make, since there’s so much drama and intrigue in Man in the Iron Mask. Since it’s based in the baroque/rococo period, I had fun with the style of things, going for more opulent items with high aesthetic appeal. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted July 27, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
The Mister loves anything almond, so when I decided to make the nutty biscuits (“cookies” if you’re from the US) from Neverwhere, I knew the nut in question had to be almonds. 🙂 I wanted them to be authentic British biscuits, so I started with a recipe from Drizzle and Dip and switched the flavoring to almond extract. Add some toasted almonds on top for garnish, and you’re all set! 🙂
I love how delicate and buttery the cookies are, and the almonds on top add just the right amount of nuttiness. Perfect for our Neverwhere dessert!
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Posted July 25, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Blogging / 16 Comments
Howdy, folks! We’re back with another cookbook update. If you haven’t heard, I’m publishing a teatime cookbook of literary recipes with Skyhorse Publishing, and I’m wildly excited about it. Last month I gave a quick rundown of what we had put together, and today I’m going to be updating you guys on our progress. So here we go! ^.^
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Posted July 20, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Poppadoms are a delightful, crisp mix between a chip and a cracker. Some varieties are super thin and fluffy, while others are more robust (like a pita chip). Originally popular in places like India and Pakistan, they are made with chickpea flour and are both baked AND fried. Sounds awesome, right? I first came across poppadoms while reading Neverwhere, when Door asks for spicy poppadoms to go with her vegetable curry at the Floating Market in London.
I was intrigued by the idea of these unusual little crackers, so I decided to make some for my Neverwhere menu! I tracked down a recipe from wikiHow that adds cayenne pepper to the list of ingredients (since Door specifically requests spicy poppadoms).
Munch on, Wonderlanders. Let’s get cooking! 🙂
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Posted July 18, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 0 Comments
I’ll admit I wasn’t sure how I felt about Serpentine as a character while I was reading Neverwhere. I got the sense that she was manipulative and maybe even cruel, but the air of mystery surrounding her kept me intrigued. I was especially fascinated by the green “restorative drink” she serves Richard when he has a nasty hangover from Islington’s Atlantian wine. So I decided to make a tea time tribute to it here on the blog!
For this tea, I wanted something subtle yet refreshing—and of course green! I whipped up a blend of Adagio’s Citron Green tea and lemongrass. This will definitely help you feel restored—Atlantian wine or not! 😉
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Posted July 13, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
CONFESSION TIME: Before reading Neverwhere, everything I knew about making curry could fit in a matchbox. I’d never eaten it and certainly never made it from scratch. So when my favorite character in the book (Lady Door) chowed down on vegetable curry at the Floating Market and clearly loved it, I knew I had to learn how to make it. I’ll admit, I was pretty intimidated, so I sought out a recipe that was easy enough for little ol’ me but authentic enough to do Neverwhere justice.
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Posted July 11, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 4 Comments
As an Alice in Wonderland retelling set in modern London, Neverwhere offers lots of inspiration for my monthly reading kit! From the iconic key to Lady Door’s namesake, I was sure to include lots of little items devoted to the best parts of Neverwhere. There’s even a Mind the Gap magnet to remind you to watch out for the gap monsters! Happy wandering, fellow Wonderlanders. Stay safe in London Below! 🙂
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Posted July 6, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments
Our brand new Book of the Month is Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, and I’m super excited to get started! It’s hard to find time to read with a new baby, but I MADE time for Neverwhere. It was such a fun read—clever, imaginative, and an Alice in Wonderland retelling to boot! What’s not to love? 🙂
Even though most of the book is set in “London Below,” I decided to start things out with a fancy little dish from London Above: the mushroom vol-au-vents from Jessica’s gala. Vol-au-vents consist of puff pastry stuffed with (in this case) a creamy mushroom filling. They may look complicated, but they’re deceptively easy. Just bake some puff pastry shells, cook your mushroom mix in a pan while they bake, and fill the finished shells!
When I started looking up vol-au-vent recipes, I noticed that parsley was the most common herb people turned to for seasoning. To change things up, I decided to try fresh basil instead, and I loved the way it turned out! The basil flavor rose above the mushroom base without overpowering it, just how I wanted. I also noticed that a lot of people made their base from scratch, but I decided to take a little shortcut: cream of mushroom soup. The results were subtle, perfectly seasoned, and utterly delicious. Perfect for a sophisticated young lady like Jessica!
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Posted July 4, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 4 Comments
As you can probably tell from the focus of my blog, I love making themed recipes. Themed desserts hold a special place in my heart, since they’re a great way to achieve that awesome visual wow factor. So I decided to round up all the red, white, and blue desserts on the blog and do a quick little post for anyone who’d like to whip up something fun and colorful for the 4th of July. Munch on, fellow patriots! 😉
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Posted June 29, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
Last year when I finished my Star Trek Next Generation menu, I posted a Romulan Ale cocktail as my bonus recipe. I loved the idea of ending my Original Series menu with another drink, and I immediately thought of making a multi-colored layered drink as an homage to the different Starfleet divisions.
Turns out, I had no idea what I was signing up for! 😛 My first thought was to make a molecular cocktail in red, blue, and yellow, but I couldn’t get the drink to layer properly. I then decided to try layering plain juices and stumbled across a recipe from Katrina’s Kitchen. She uses juice and Gatorade to make an easy, delicious layered punch in red, white, and blue for the 4th of July. All I needed to do was add a little yellow food coloring to get Starfleet’s signature red, blue, and yellow colors and I was in business! 🙂 The final result was tasty and just plain gorgeous—I couldn’t believe how well the juices kept their layers, even after being jostled around!
Drink up, space travelers! We’ve got a final frontier to explore. 🙂
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