Posted September 27, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Uncategorized / 16 Comments
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 *…
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Posted September 22, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 13 Comments
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!
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Posted September 20, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 4 Comments
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! 🙂
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Posted September 15, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
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! 🙂
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Posted September 13, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 1 Comment
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! 🙂
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Posted September 8, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments
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Sherlock Holmes is famous for having a sparse appetite, but cold beef sandwiches seem to be a weakness of his. He indulges in them several times throughout the books, mostly while traveling on a case. I can see why! What could be better brain food that hearty bread, protein that sticks to your ribs, and some choice toppings to wake your taste buds?
The recipe we’re making today features toasted whole wheat bread, seared steak, arugula, and homemade horseradish sauce (it’s an interpretation of an appetizer I saw at The Kitchen Alchemist). It’ll set your brain cells whirring in no time!
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Posted September 6, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 4 Comments
Whenever I find out one of my favorite books might get a movie or TV adaption, I’m filled with a mix of elation and fear. I’m told this isn’t unusual; most people have mixed feelings about adaptions. Maybe it’s because there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground. We might get to see our beloved books come to life in new and exciting ways…but we might just as easily see the source material butchered beyond recognition.
Whenever news of the latest adaption comes along, my greatest comfort is the long list of truly wonderful adaptions that have been made in the past. Here’s a list of my top ten favorites!
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Posted September 1, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 8 Comments
Say hello to our new Book of the Month: Sherlock Holmes! I’ve been wanting to making a Sherlock menu since Day 1 of this blog, but one of the struggles I ran into is that Holmes just doesn’t eat a lot. He subsists mainly on coffee, pipe smoke, and music—which is cool to read about, but doesn’t make for an appetizing dinner.
So up until a few months ago, I had Holmes on the back burner. Then a friend of mine specifically requested a menu for him, and I renewed my search. I tried a Holmesian recipe hunt once more, but just couldn’t find enough to make a full menu. When I expressed my frustrations to another friend, she had a great idea: make recipes inspired by the names of the Sherlock Holmes stories! Before long, we were chatting about how fun it would be to have an orange-flavored recipe for The Five Orange Pips, something ginger for The Red-Headed League, and so on. So, at long last, my Sherlock Holmes menu is FINALLY ready to premiere! 😀
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Posted August 31, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Hints / 5 Comments
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So far the weather has teased us with a few deliciously crisp days, but mostly it’s been muggy and rainy. Words cannot express how ready I am to be done with this ungodly heat! Plus, autumn is my favorite time of year (changing leaves! Oktoberfest! Pumpkin stuff! Halloween!), so I’m impatient for it to get started. Luckily, I’ve already started work on my September menu, which is making it easier to wait. But first let’s take a look back at what we did in August!
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Posted August 30, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 2 Comments
Considering I couldn’t choose just one Studio Ghibli movie for my menu this month, it’s not that surprising that I couldn’t make just one tea either. I mean, I felt I HAD to make a Totoro tea since Totoro is so awesome, but I also couldn’t stop thinking of how fun it would be to make a tropical Ponyo tea…or a tea based on the cake from Kiki’s Delivery Service! But which one to choose?
All of them. I chose all of them. And I’m not even a little bit sorry. 😉
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