Big Apple Hand Pies: An AWR Original Recipe!

Posted April 13, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments

When I was planning this James and the Giant Peach menu, I obviously had peaches on the brain. But while trying to figure out how to include a tribute to NYC in the menu, all I could think of was APPLES! I tossed around a few options until I hit upon the idea of hand pies. I decided to go the savory route and paired them with cheese, resulting in the final product you see here!

These savory hand pies are filled with melted Gouda and apple slices seasoned with thyme. Oooh that cheese—I couldn’t get enough! The buttery, flaky crust toppd with just the right amount of salt brings it all together into a little package with big flavor. Enjoy! 🙂

10 Festive Easter Recipes

Posted April 11, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 1 Comment

Easter is just around the corner, and I’m eager to make some spring-themed Easter recipes for my family get togethers this year. But like most holidays, I run into some problems when deciding what to make for Easter parties.

I usually want something festive and easy to pass around, but I still want it to be unique enough that it’s not just a repeat of what someone else is bringing. Luckily, I’ve developed a repertoire of these sorts of recipes over the past few years of blogging. So I thought I’d share some today! 🙂

Here are my favorite go-to Easter recipes! Enjoy!

Magic Green Worms: Sour Gummy Worms from James and the Giant Peach

Posted April 6, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments

Are y’all ready for a new Book of the Month? I’m really excited about this one. James and the Giant Peach is an old childhood favorite of mine, and when I reread it last year, I couldn’t help thinking what a great menu it would make!

For our first James and the Giant Peach recipe, I’m making an edible version of the “magic green things” he encounters at the beginning of the book. After all, they’re such an iconic part of the story, how could I leave them out?

These sour green gummy worms are my version of a blood orange gummy recipe from Steele House Kitchen. They’re quick to make and actually pretty healthy (they’re sweetened with honey instead of sugar). Plus, you can make them without a special mold! 🙂

Peaches and Cream Tea from James and the Giant Peach

Posted April 4, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 2 Comments

Hi, everybody! Our new book of the month is James and the Giant Peach, and we’re kicking things off with a custom peach tea!

I already have a white peach tea I love (Becky’s Peach Tea from Tom Sawyer), so when it came time to design a tea for James and the Giant Peach, I decided to challenge myself and try something with more oomph.

I’ll admit, I’m kinda picky when it comes to fruit teas. I want them to be light and delicately sweet—not heavy or cloying. As I searched for options, two Adagio teas caught my eye: Rooibos Peach and Honeybush Apricot. Both varieties have what I like to refer to as a “sunny” flavor (bright and somehow warm), so I decided to blend them together and see what I got! I also added some cream tea to make the flavor profile a bit more unique and threw in some dried apricot pieces to make sure the peachy flavor didn’t get lost in the shuffle. The result was a blend with bright peach flavor and just enough cream to mellow things out. Huzzah! 🙂

Mudder’s Milk

Posted March 30, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

In the episode “Jaynestown,” the crew of the spaceship Serenity stumbles upon a poor town of clay farmers (known as “mudders”) who’ve erected a statue to Jayne in their town center.

As it turns out, Jayne committed an accidental act of generosity during his last visit, and the mudders now consider him to be their hero. Now that he’s back, they sing his praises and treat him to unlimited rounds of mudder’s milk—their alcoholic beverage of choice.

Jayne describes mudder’s milk as “all the protein, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma’s best turkey dinner, plus 15 percent alcohol.” Our version is a vanilla protein milkshake blended with a bit of oats, flax meal, and cinnamon—along with a couple shots of hazelnut Baileys. So drink up and get ready to sing another verse of “The Hero of Canton”!

Ice Planets: Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream Balls with Shredded Coconut

Posted March 23, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

Dessert in the Firefly universe is an interesting affair, to say the least. As intergalactic smugglers, the crew of Serenity is used to simple, tinned food, so when they get a chance for something sweet, they go all-out.

In the episode “The Message” we see River eating an “ice planet”—a large ball of what appears to be ice cream extended on a string attached to a stick. It’s problematic to eat, but it sure looks delicious! I knew I wanted it to be my Firefly dessert.

Since we’re never given a description of the ingredients, I had to get inventive. Since the surface of the ball is coarse instead of smooth, I figured it had been coated in something, and shredded coconut sounded like a delicious pairing. And since the balls were white, I figured they were probably made with vanilla ice cream. I didn’t want plain vanilla for the center, though, so I thought it would be fun to toast some marshmallows and mix them in.

Voila! Dessert is served. 🙂

You Can’t Take the Sky from Me: A Firefly Marathon Kit

Posted March 21, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 2 Comments

We’re back with another kit, and boy am I excited about this one! As you may have guessed by the fact that I’m doing an entire recipe menu based around the show Firefly, I’m a pretty big fan of the Firefly/Serenity universe. The Mister and I may or may not have the theme song among our repertoire of lullabies for our baby. #BabyBrowncoat ^.^

So when I started putting this kit together, it was hard not to go overboard. I mean, c’mon, ThinkGeek has a WHOLE SECTION OF THEIR SITE devoted to Firefly paraphernalia. Still, I managed to restrain myself and only selected the Internet’s best Firefly goodies.

Fly on, fellow Browncoats!

Fruity Oaty Bars

Posted March 16, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 10 Comments

In the movie Serenity, Fruity Oaty Bars are a snack food advertised in a bar the characters visit while on the run from the Alliance. Unfortunately, big bad evil government guys plant a subliminal message in the Oaty Bar ad, causing River Tam—a fugitive from an Alliance research facility—to go completely beserk and attack everyone in the bar.

As such, the Fruity Oaty Bar has become an iconic Serenity/Firefly foodstuff. But what exactly is it?

5 Pies for Pi Day!

Posted March 14, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Holidays / 3 Comments

Happy Pi Day, everybody! I wish I could say I had another St. Patrick/Pi Day mashup party in the works this year, but unfortunately it was not to be. The Little Mister has been experiencing a growth spurt, so he’s spent all his waking hours for the past several days eating. Even though it’s difficult to cook anything right now, I can’t seem to feel resentful. He’s just too darn cute! I’m seriously so proud. He’s only 5 weeks old and can already lift his head, roll from side to side, and even smile! We like to joke that someone forgot to tell him he’s a baby. 😉

Still, just because my life’s a little crazy right now doesn’t mean everyone else can’t bake up some Pi Day goodness, right? Here’s a roundup of all the pies I’ve ever made here on AWR, if you’re looking for some inspiration. Almost all of them are savory, which surprised me…but that just means I should make sure to add some sweet pies to future menus this year!

In the mean time, maybe I can convince my husband to swing by a bakery and pick me up a slice of lemon meringue on his way home from work today. Fingers crossed! 🙂

Wash’s Dino Nuggets with Homemade Ketchup

Posted March 9, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

Of all the characters in Firefly, Hoban Washburne is my all-time favorite. “Wash”—as he’s known by the crew of Serenity—is the ship’s pilot and resident goofball. There’s lots to love about Wash, but I think the best thing about him is how different he is from the rest of the crew, who’re all hard-bitten warriors (including his wife, Zoe).

When we first meet Wash, he’s playing with dinosaur toys at the helm of Serenity, acting out a narrative in which a T-Rex horribly betrays a kind-hearted stegosaurus. Like many people, this was the moment when I knew I was going to love his character, so I decided to make a dish in honor of his dinos!

These homemade dino nuggets are made from thin-cut chicken breast cut into shape with dinosaur cookie cutters, coated in bread crumbs, and baked. The ketchup recipe is one I found in a Zagat video, and I LOVE it! It’s more tomato-y than storebought ketchup and super easy to make!