Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry is oh-so-perfect for a late night reading binge, but of course you’ll need the proper equipment to get you through: a cozy cup of tea, some Poe-inspired fashion, a candle to read by, and of course a big book of Poe-try! The reading kit below has everything you need for a night of perfectly spooky reading—no matter how far into the crypt your adventures might take you. Enjoy! 🙂
UPDATE: There is an new version of this recipe available in my cookbook, A LITERARY HOLIDAY COOKBOOK.
Happy October, folks! Since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided to do a spooky literary menu in honor of the season. Our theme this month is Edgar Allen Poe!
For our appetizer, we’re starting with a tribute to Poe’s famous poem, The Raven. These deviled “raven eggs” are a Halloween-y variation on our Cracked China Deviled Eggs. I used the cracked dying technique to create a black, spidery pattern over the eggs. I thought it would be fun to make the insides purple, and to avoid more dye, I used my own variation on a beet and avocado deviled egg recipe from Amazingly Tasty.
If beets aren’t your thing, I still highly recommend giving these a chance. I’m not normally a beet fanatic, but I love the subtle difference in flavor they bring to the filling. Plus, they’re healthier than normal deviled eggs, since they forgo the mayo and mustard—and you just can’t beat that color! 🙂
NOTE: The eggs need to soak for 7 hours before being peeled (this is what helps achieve the spidery pattern in the dye). I recommend hard boiling the eggs the night before you want to make the recipe and letting them soak overnight.
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So it has been raining for almost a week straight. I kid you not. This was SO not what I ordered when I asked for fall to come soon! The fall flowers I planted have all but drowned, and taking blog photos has been tricky with the perpetually darkened skies.
It’s times like this that I need some cozy food in my life, and this month’s menu DEFINITELY delivered. Let’s take a look back before I share our next Book of the Month hint:
I actually made this list a long while back, but I decided to save the idea for an October post, since villains and Halloween go so well together. Then The Broke and the Bookish published a TTT villain-themed prompt for this week—too perfect!
As I put this list together, it got me thinking about the difference between true villains and plain old antagonists. I realized I kinda have a “type” when it comes to my favorite baddies. I love reading about intelligent villains who lie, manipulate, and cheat to get what they want (probably because I consider this kind of villainy to be particularly difficult to overcome). So you’ll probably notice lots of characters on my list who fall into that category.
I also realized that, to me, a character doesn’t have to engage in grand, world-altering schemes in order to be a true villain. I base my judgement on the extent of the damage inflicted on the innocent, rather than the societal/global scope of the villain’s plans. So a character that devotes themselves to personally devastating a single innocent character might be more evil to me than a cold-hearted megalomaniac.
One final note before we get started: This is by no means a definitive list. I had to leave off some pretty famous names since I haven’t read the books that go with them. For example, almost every list of literary villainesses I’ve seen includes Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next, but I can’t include her here since I haven’t read the book.
For our Sherlock Holmes bonus recipe, we’re making a recipe I first heard of when researching this menu: London Fog Lattes. These are lattes made with EARL GREY TEA! And I was so excited to try them. Plus, there’s nothing more British than Earl Grey, so they’re a perfect send-off for Sherlock! 🙂
P.S. The recipe I use here is kind of a mash-up of two recipes I found online: one from Gimme Some Oven and another from The Busy Baker.
AHHHHHHH!!! I’m so psyched to finally tell you guys about this! I’ve been keeping it under my hat for MONTHS. ^.^
Do you remember how in my Harry Potter World post I said I didn’t ride the theme park rides “for health reasons”? And how I had other people help with the development and taste-testing of my Romulan Ale recipe? Well, there’s a good reason for all that. In fact, some of you may already suspect what it is! 🙂
But for those who are still in the dark, the big announcement is * cue drumroll *…
For our Sherlock Holmes dessert, I wanted to make something quintessentially British. I tossed around ideas for all kinds of recipes—jammie dodgers, trifle, Victoria sponge, and various tarts. Then I stumbled across brandy snaps!
Is it just me, or was Sherlock Holmes DESIGNED to have a reading kit? Putting this thing together was a breeze, you guys. I’ve made easy kits before, but seriously—I chose all the items for this one in under 20 minutes. It practically made itself! Maybe it’s the iconic imagery (pipes! deerstalkers! magnifying glasses!), or maybe it’s just the fact that there are so many Sherlock fans out there making awesome stuff. Either way, I’ve pretty much decided that this is already in my top 5 favorite reading kits. Enjoy! 🙂
A Study in Scarlet: the very first Sherlock Holmes case ever! Of course I had to include it in our Holmes menu, but since no specific foods play a big role in the story, I decided to draw my inspiration from the name of the case itself. We’re making a culinary study in scarlet: Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup!
This particular recipe is my take on a soup that was originally developed by Pretty Practical Pantry. This savory, satisfying soup is the perfect side dish to accompany our Sherlock Steak Sandwiches. So stir some up and get to sipping—we’ve got a case to solve! 🙂
Time to premiere our Sherlock Holmes tea! I had a lot of fun developing this blend. As I’ve stated in the past, Adagio Teas already has a TON of unique Earl Grey blends, so I decided not to make an Earl Grey, even though it was the first flavor to occur to me.
Plus, Sherlock actually isn’t the biggest fan of tea in the books—he prefers coffee! So I decided to make a coffee-inspired tea blend. It’s been a long time since I played with Adagio’s mocha-flavored teas (the last time was when I made a Hercule Poirot tea), so I got to step outside my comfort zone a little bit. I knew I wanted something smoky and intense to evoke the feeling of a wood-paneled Victorian study, a roaring fireplace, and pipe smoke. Adagio’s Mocha Nut Mate with a little Gunpowder Green tea did just that! 🙂