Sakuraco Snack Box: A Review

Posted April 8, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Uncategorized / 0 Comments

 

This post is sponsored by ICHIGO Inc. I was given a free box in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

A few months ago, I got an email from ICHIGO Inc. asking if I’d like to review one of their Japanese-themed subscription snack boxes. I’ve seen promotions for their boxes before and thought they looked fun, so I decided to give it a try. Plus, Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and a box like this is a great gift!

ICHIGO makes multiple snack boxes, so I got to choose which one I wanted to review. I chose the Sakuraco box, which highlights traditional Japanese snacks and treats with a different theme each month. Most of the items are artisan snacks made by local family-owned businesses. Many don’t ship outside Japan unless it’s part of a subscription box like this, making it a truly special experience. Each box always comes with a tea and a small piece of tableware, such as a tea cup. I’m a HUGE tea fan (I even design my own tea blends), so of course I chose Sakuraco!

The theme for this box is A Night of Sakura, in honor of yozakura, the Japanese tradition of viewing sakura (cherry blossoms) at night. The box is filled with 12 different snack items—some savory, some sweet. Most of them are sakura-flavored, which can be described as delicately floral and sweet. Some of the snacks are even made with real sakura blossoms or leaves.

But I’m sure you’re eager to hear about all the fun treats you can find in the box. Let’s get started!

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Bauernfrühstück: German Ham and Potato Omelet

Posted March 28, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

 

 

I’ve made French omelets many times before, so when I saw that the characters in JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH enjoy ham omelets for breakfast in Germany, I decided to try something different. After some research, I learned that there is a traditional German potato omelet called bauernfrühstück, which often includes ham. Instead of folding the fillings into a disk of cooked egg like you would with a French omelet, the egg is poured around the fillings in the pan, creating a hearty, one-pan breakfast.

There are lots of variations, so I got general inspiration from several recipes for basic bauernfrühstück (including recipes from America’s Test Kitchen, Kitchen Stories, and SBS Food). I changed the proportions to suit me and added a few small changes of my own (like mixing a bit of water with the egg to make it super fluffy).

I’m not usually a big egg-and-meat breakfast person, but I really loved this. It’s simple and satisfying without being too heavy. I think the eggs were my favorite part. Adding water to the egg helped achieve a delightfully light, fluffy texture. I also loved the kick of freshness from the green onion I sprinkled on top!

P.S. In the story, the narrator says the omelet was “garnished with spiced sorrel.” At first I thought this meant sorrel leaves, but when I looked it up, it turns out spiced sorrel is a beverage made from sorrel flowers! I didn’t make any for my omelet since I wasn’t able to source sorrel flowers (and I honestly have no clue why or how you would garnish a food with a drink). I’m wondering if the word “garnish” may have been a mistranslation of Jules Vernes’ original French text. If you know anything about spiced sorrel, traditional German omelet garnishes, or the French language, let me know! This is a mystery I’d love to solve.

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Mediterranean Roasted Grape Salad

Posted March 14, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

 

 

Have you ever read a book where you know you would be best friends with the main character in real life? That happened to me when I read JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Jules Verne. The book is narrated by a young man named Axel, the nephew and research assistant of Professor Lidenbrock, a German geology professor. We find out Axel’s attitude toward food at the beginning of the book, and it endeared him to me immediately.

The first scene begins at dinner time, when the professor rushes in with a runic Icelandic manuscript and skips dinner to start translating it. Axel and the housekeeper are shocked, since the professor never misses meals (Axel eats his uncle’s plate of food as well as his own, since it’s so delicious). After this, Lindenbrock gets so excited about the manuscript that he insists neither one of them will sleep or eat until they translate it. Axel silently rejoices that he ate two dinners.

While the professor is out of the room, Axel accurately translates part of the manuscript, realizing it gives instructions for how to journey to the center of the Earth (roll credits!). Certain the trip would be fatal–and equally certain his uncle would want them both to go anyway–he doesn’t tell the professor he figured out what the manuscript says. Stealing his nerves, he resolves to miss breakfast AND lunch in the name of avoiding a crazy subterranean expedition (spoiler: the professor figures it out anyway 😆).

I laughed SO HARD when I read the first scene, and from that moment on, Axel was my new best friend. That’s when I decided to make a menu for JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH!

Today’s recipe is inspired by the part of the book when the characters are on a Mediterranean island surrounded by fruit trees, including grapes and pomegranates. Drawing inspiration from the region, I decided to make a roasted grape salad, sticking primarily to Mediterranean ingredients. Starting with a spinach base, I added crumbled feta and toasted almonds, topping it all off with fresh pomegranate arils and homemade pomegranate vinaigrette. For the finishing touch, I added some balsamic roasted grapes I made using a recipe by Beautiful Eats & Things.

This Mediterranean roasted grape salad is easy, healthy, and super refreshing. The perfect pick-me-up after a journey to the center of the Earth . . . or a long night of translating an Icelandic manuscript! 😉

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February Cookbook Update

Posted February 29, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours, Uncategorized / 2 Comments

 

 

Hi, everybody! Just wanted to give you an update on how things are progressing with the extended edition of A LITERARY PICNIC:

  • THE ROAD SO FAR. I’ve already finalized several recipes, including some that I thought would be really difficult. I’m loving my progress so far! Right now I’m mostly working on bread recipes, since I can freeze them for use in picnic pictures when the weather warms up. Check out these beautiful potato rolls I made:

  • HOW BIG WILL THE EXTENDED EDITION BE? Hopefully 50 recipes (double what it is right now). However, I may have to cut some if I can’t get copyright permissions. Four of the books I’m making new menus for are public domain, but I’m considering two different copyrighted books for the final menu. I’ve contacted the publishers, but it can take months to hear back (and I don’t know how much the permissions will cost). Fingers crossed that I hear back in time and can afford the fee!
  • PRINT FORMAT NEWS. I got some good news regarding printing! As you may recall, my book will be printed/distributed by IngramSpark. I thought for sure I’d have to reformat my whole book for print, since I doubted they offered an 8.5″x11″ option. As it turns out, they do! I’m so relieved! I expected to spend at least a few weeks reformatting, but now I won’t have to do that at all. 🥳
  • MY PIE-IN-THE-SKY SUMMER DEADLINE. Does the time I’ll save on formatting mean I’ll achieve my dream of a summer publication date? Maybe, but it’s still very uncertain. Some of you might remember that I made a menu for ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL last year because I was having health issues and craved comfort TV. My symptoms have improved but could show up again soon. My doctor has me on some new medication that may help, but I’ll need to take it easy and go in for extra appointments to monitor the situation. Since I don’t want to push myself, I’m still treating a summer publication date as possible but not exactly probable.
  • NEW COVER? I totally love the book’s original cover, but I’m toying with idea of having one professionally done. This will heavily depend on the cost and how long it would take. Hopefully I’ll have an update on that next month. If you know any cover artists who you think would be a good fit, share their name and website/socials in the comments!
  • Also check out this funny little quiche I made with leftovers from a pastry recipe!😆

 

I’ll post another update in a month or two,
hopefully with more pics to share! See you then!

Chili and Cinnamon Infused Chocolate Bonbons with Horchata Caramel Filling

Posted February 15, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

 

 

Time to wrap up my first menu of the year with a dessert I’ve been looking forward to for months: chili-cinnamon chocolate bonbons with horchata caramel filling, inspired by MY FINE FELLOW! When I first read the book, the descriptions of elegant gourmet food floored me, and this was one of my favorites. The idea of chili-cinnamon chocolate sounds amazing all on its own, but throw in caramel flavored with horchata and you’ve got something downright decadent.

To make these bonbons, I added ground cinnamon and chili powder in a pot with some chocolate and melted it down, letting the chili and cinnamon infuse into the chocolate. I used this chocolate to line some candy molds (I decided to use a crown mold since, in the story, these are made for the Royal Culinary Exhibition). For the filling, I started with an horchata recipe I found on AllRecipes and subbed out the milk for heavy cream (this helps cut down on the water being added to the caramel later, which helps control consistency). I caramelized some sugar in a pan, then added in some butter, a bit of the horchata cream, and a touch of chili powder.

These. Bonbons. Are. INREDIBLE! I can’t get enough of them. The chili lends a savory warmth that is accentuated by the horchata, and it helps cut the intense sweetness of the caramel. Interestingly, the individual flavors of the chili, cinnamon, and horchata aren’t easy to isolate. Instead, they come together to make a new, warm, rich flavor, which is balanced by just a touch of bitterness from the chocolate. My four-year-old tried one, and when I asked her if she liked it, she sighed and pretended to faint on the floor. I’d say that’s high praise!

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Queso Fresco Strawberries: Homemade Queso Fresco Colored with Powdered Beets, Studded with Black Sesame Seeds, and Topped with Basil

Posted February 1, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

 

 

It isn’t often that I make a recipe and say, “That was fun! I’ll probably never make it again.” 😆 This is one of those rare recipes: fun, whimsical, easy, and pretty tasty . . . but also a little too “out there” for regular use. I had a feeling that might be the case when I decided to make it for my current blog menu, but I was so intrigued when I read its description in the book MY FINE FELLOW, I couldn’t help but make it!

In MY FINE FELLOW, main character Elijah enters the Royal Culinary Exhibition and makes this recipe as one of his competition dishes. It’s not really meant to be something you’d make at home. Instead, it’s supposed to showcase Elijah’s gourmet cooking skills. The book describes these cheese bites as homemade queso fresco colored with beet powder and dotted with nigella seeds, each with a strawberry stem on top.

I had a LOT of fun puzzling out how to bring a dish like this to life! First, I dried my own beets in my dehydrator and ground them down to a powder. Then I mixed them in with queso fresco I made using a recipe from Goodie Godmother. Rather than dotting the outside with nigella seeds, I decided to use black sesame, which I already had on hand and looks similar. Since strawberries aren’t in season, I topped the finished cheese bites with basil leaves instead of strawberry stems. The final flavor combo was a bit different from the story but still really delicious. I was pleasantly surprised that you could really taste the beets!

While I probably won’t be making beet-dyed, sesame-studded queso fresco strawberries again soon, I DO intend to use the methods I learned again in the future. The basic queso fresco recipe will become part of my regular cheesemaking at home, and I’m looking forward to experimenting with more powdered fruits and vegetables as natural dyes and flavor enhancers.

I’ve been having so much fun learning knew recipes and techniques as I make this menu. It’s been such a refreshing challenge. I can’t wait to see where it takes me next!

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Helena’s Jägerschnitzel

Posted January 18, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

 

 

Today we’re continuing our international menu of dishes inspired by MY FINE FELLOW with Helena’s jägerschnitzel recipe!

In the beginning of the book, Helena asks Penelope to taste test three different versions of jägerschnitzel to guess which is the most authentic. One version uses venison, the second uses boar, and the third (the authentic one) uses pork. Every version sounded delicious, but since things like venison and boar are harder to source, I decided to make the authentic version as the entrée for my MY FINE FELLOW menu.

I don’t have a go-to recipe for jägerschnitzel (especially not one I would consider super authentic), so I went internet hunting. I really like this recipe from All Tastes German because it uses all the ingredients referenced in Helena’s recipe (including the red wine), and the post offers lots of details about the dish’s background and regional variations.

The final dish turned out AMAZING. I was actually a little nervous, since I’d never eaten jägerschnitzel before and the recipe calls for coating the pork cutlet in a mustard/paprika mix before breading it (mustard and I have a tenuous relationship). After the schnitzel and mushroom sauce were plated, I took a small taste just to make sure the recipe turned out . . . then plopped myself down at the table and ate a whole serving! The fried pork and mushroom sauce complement each other so well—a savory, salty, satisfying combo—and I was pleasantly surprised by the mustard. It’s not super strong, instead lending a subtle complexity to the pork. It wound up being my favorite part of the whole dish!

I will DEFINITELY be making this again soon! 🙂

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Faraway Pasties: Elijah’s Empanadas

Posted January 4, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

 

 

Welcome to a new year! May your 2024 be filled with joy, adventure, and (of course) lots of delicious food—just like the inspiration for today’s menu, a delightful book I read last year called MY FINE FELLOW.

MY FINE FELLOW is a gender-swapped version of MY FAIR LADY with a few other notable changes. In this version, instead of a phonetics professor passing off a flower seller as a fine lady at a ball, a young pair of gentlewoman chefs hope to pass off a talented street food vendor as a gentleman chef. Naturally, the book is full of delicious food, and since the main characters come from a mix of cultural heritages, many of the dishes come from around the world. Reading about so many creative dishes ignited my imagination, and I relished the idea of starting the new year with a challenging menu. So here we go!

Today I’m making one of the book’s most iconic recipes: Faraway Pasties. These are Elijah’s signature dish, which catch the attention of Helena and Penelope, setting off a chain of events that lead to Elijah competing in the Royal Culinary Exhibition. Throughout Penelope’s first conversation with Elijah, we get little bits of info about the pasties—enough for us to know that Elijah’s Faraway Pasties are fried Salvadoran empanadas with paprika mixed into the masa dough and filled with beef, potato, and oregano. They sounded SO good, so I knew they had to be the first dish in this menu.

I’m very new to making empanadas, so for today’s post I combined recipes from Jonathan Melendez and Hank Shaw, making a few tweaks for the sake of accuracy to the story. Oh man did they turn out good! They were a huge hit with my kids. My son loved the crisp fried masa dough exterior, and my daughter especially enjoyed the savory, beefy filling. They ate a half batch in one sitting!

I can just imagine how satisfying one of these empanadas would be on a cold, rainy night at the Convent Garden Market, just like when Penelope eats them at the beginning of the story!

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Mrs. Hall’s Shortbread

Posted December 14, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

 

 

A meal inspired by ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL can only end with this dessert: Mrs. Hall’s shortbread! Although Mrs. Hall is known for dozens of delicious dishes, her shortbread is iconic. In fact, PBS even published an official recipe for these cookies! Naturally, that’s the recipe I used in today’s post (though I did spruce it up a tiny bit with a cookie mold!). The snowflake cookie mold used here is made by House on the Hill and was gifted to me by a family friend. This was my first time using a cookie mold, but it was super easy and fun. Definitely planning on using it again to make make Christmas cookies later this month.

I love how the finished cookies turned out. They’re super buttery, and the snowflake pattern shows up perfectly! My husband and son are especially big fans. Three cheers for Mrs. Hall and her shortbread! 😀

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