Posted August 16, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 5 Comments
Oh, Studio Ghibli. Not only are your stories amazing, but your characters are such a perfect combo of magic and true human spirit that they’ve become synonymous with childhood itself for many of us.
Making a marathon kit for Studio Ghibli movies was simultaneously one of the most difficult and most rewarding kits I’ve ever made. On the one hand, there are SO MANY options for what to include that it was downright intimidating. But all the Ghibli movies are so awesome, how can you possibly go wrong? 🙂
In the end, this kit turned out a little bit longer than some of my others, but I’m satisfied that I managed to include the very best. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted August 11, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
Our entree today comes from Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, a retelling of The Little Mermaid. I love Ponyo’s preoccupation with food in the film, especially ham! Her reaction when Sosuke’s mom serves pork ramen soup is adorable!
This ramen soup recipe is a recreation of the one in the movie, featuring classic ramen noodles, hard boiled eggs, green onions, and of course ham! It’s a savory, salty, satisfying dish—sure to make you feel nice and cozy on a stormy night. 🙂
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Posted August 9, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 2 Comments
Intimidating books. No matter how deeply rooted our love of books may be, we’ve all encountered a daunting book at some point. Sometimes it’s a book big enough to rival the dictionary, or maybe the language is so complicated as to be overwhelming. Sometimes it’s just a genre we’re not sure we’ll like!
But all books were made to be read, even the intimidating ones, so I’ve resolved to read the ten books that intimidate me most. Here they are! 🙂
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Posted August 4, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments
I’m proud to announce the start of a menu I’ve been looking forward to for ages: A STUDIO GHIBLI MENU! For those who are unfamiliar, Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki worked with Studio Ghibli to make films like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Ponyo. I’ve been a huge Hayao Miyazaki fan for years, so I thought it would be fun to make a menu for his movies! Since it would be impossible to choose just one film, I decided to base each dish after a different movie. Today’s recipe is from Spirited Away!
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Posted August 2, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 9 Comments
Unlimited money for books. It’s what every book lover dreams about, right? Just last month I published a post describing my dream library, so I was all set to continue fantasizing about more books when this Top Ten Tuesday prompt came up. In fact, I’ve been saving books on my Amazon wishlist for ages, so I just had to pop over and see which ones I wanted most. Here’s my dream book haul master list!
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Posted August 1, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Hints / 2 Comments
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I’m not sure what the weather is like by you, but here in Chicago it’s HOT HOT HOT! I’ve been hiding shamelessly inside with my air conditioner all month and cooking up all kinds of yummy goodness to take my mind off the oppressive heat. Let’s take a look at what we made this month!
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Posted July 28, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
We’re wrapping up our Little Princess menu with the very first food Sara ever shares with her close friend Becky: sweet, delicate, delicious cake!
I love the friendship that develops between Becky and Sara. And I think it’s no coincidence that it all develops around food! 🙂 At first, Becky the maid is shy and uncertain around the well-to-do Sara, and Sara is lonely in an unfamiliar country.
But when Sara sees how hungry Becky is, she shares all kinds of foods with her, starting with this cake (which I modeled after the rosy dress Becky says she once saw on a real princess). Becky is touched by the generosity and soon gets over her shyness, opening the door for a friendship that both girls desperately need.
I always knew cake had the power to change lives! 🙂
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Posted July 26, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 5 Comments
One of the many things that make books magical is how they expose us to worlds, cultures, and lifestyles we might never have known about. A truly great book can get us so excited about the lives of the characters that we want to live that way too!
As a kid, I DEFINITELY spent a lot of time pretending to live in different time periods and countries, but I often overlooked how books piqued my interest in new activities. Looking back, there were TONS of subjects I got passionate about after reading about them…and it still happens today! Here are my top ten things I wanted to learn/do after reading books about it. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted July 21, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
         
In A Little Princess, Sara and Becky wake up in their attic room to find that a succulent feast has mysteriously appeared. The delicious dishes appear for many days, and a “spicy Indian soup” is said to be among them. Though the soup is not described, I like to imagine it was mulligatawny soup—filling and savory, with a perfect fusion of English cooking and Indian roots, heralding back to Sara’s background.
This particular recipe (developed by Emily from Favorite Family Recipes) is super complex and delicious. I love how the salty flavors play off the sweet and the creamy flavors play off the savory, creating a truly balanced dish!
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Posted July 19, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Uncategorized / 4 Comments
If you follow me on Pinterest, you may be familiar with my Lovely Libraries page, where I pin pics of all the beautiful libraries I come across in my blog research. I’ve always loved the idea of having a private library of my own, but it wasn’t until I started the Pinterest page that I started thinking about what it might look like.
It didn’t take long for me to discover I have a very distinct style when it came to libraries. I love the old-timey “power libraries” with ornate wood paneling, floor-to-ceiling shelves, and plush reading chairs. I started making a mental list of all the things I’d like to include in my dream library, so I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you!
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