Posted July 5, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 4 Comments
There’s a lot of beauty to be found in the book A Little Princess. So many of the sentences are elegantly crafted with lush descriptions. I found myself reading several of them twice just to enjoy them over again (check out the sunset in Chapter 11—you wont’ be sorry!). But even if the descriptions had been sub-par, it would still be hard not to get swept up in the romanticism of vintage lockets, porcelain dolls, and dainty cakes.
Even so, the real artistry of A Little Princess is in how it showcases the beauty of the human spirit. Sara Crewe is gentle and generous while living in the lap of luxury, but this doesn’t change when she encounters hardship. Instead, she works even harder to live her philosophy that a girl is a princess because of how she acts, not what she has. As a result, she draws out the inner beauty of the people around her—from the baker woman down the stree to the ld man next door.
The reading kit below is designed to revel in the lavish lifestyle described in the book…but in true Sara fashion, remember to share it with a friend! 🙂
Read More
Posted July 1, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Hints / 5 Comments
A
July is here, and with it, summer is in full force! I’m loving how long the sun stays up now, but I could do without the 90° heat, humidity, and mosquitoes (Oh, Illinois, why must you treat weather like an intensity contest?). On the upside, I got to spend all of June making a menu I’ve been looking forward to for AGES! 🙂A
Read More
Posted June 30, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments
Today we’re wrapping up our Star Trek menu with a true trekky classic: Romulan Ale. Easily identified by its distinctive bright blue color, Romulan Ale is said to be highly intoxicating, which is part of why the Federation dubs it illegal through most of the series. This particular recipe was a collaborative effort between myself, the Mister, and our good friend David, who’s a bit of a brewing/distilling enthusiast. We toned it down a little bit from the ale described in the show, so you won’t suffer the same awful hangover as you would after drinking the original. 😉
I knew I wanted to use a blue curacao base to get that iconic blue color, and David gave me suggestions for beers that would pair well with it without diluting the color too much. The Mister was my primary taste tester, and after a couple rounds of testing we had the proportions down just right. The resulting beverage tastes a bit like orange cream soda, with just a little beer flavor thrown in. Three cheers for teamwork! 🙂
Read More
Posted June 23, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deanna Troi’s love affair with chocolate is the stuff of legend. She eats it almost every day, and even has a specific technique for eating ice cream sundaes (Hint: it involves a lot of slow bites and savoring). I always thought her signature sundae looked super delicious, so I decided to make it here on the blog! This decadent ice cream dessert features homemade chocolate ice cream, chocolate fudge, and chocolate chips…plus double chocolate Pirouette cookies, whipped cream, and a cherry for good measure!
P.S. I used the chocolate ice cream recipe that came with my ice cream maker, but feel free to substitute store-bought ice cream if you’re strapped for time. 🙂
Read More
Posted June 21, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 2 Comments
Today we’re continuing our Star Trek menu with a trio of Trek-themed teas. Anyone familiar with the show might be expecting Captain Picard’s signature “tea, Earl Grey, hot,” but Adagio Teas (the site were I blend my teas) has ten versions of Earl Grey that are all super delicious. I honestly didn’t think I could improve them, so instead I decided to make three teas, each dedicated to one of the three service divisions in Star Fleet! The flavor profile of each tea is themed on its division’s signature color: Command Red, Sciences Blue, and Operations Gold.
Ready to boldly go where no tea drinker has gone before? 😉
Read More
Posted June 16, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 11 Comments
When it comes to Star Trek TNG, pretty much the entire cast is near and dear to my heart. I love Geordi La Forge’s head for numbers and Deanna Troi’s weakness for chocolate. And of course I love Captain Picard (how could you not?). But my all-time favorite Star Trek character is Lt Commander Worf, hands down.
I have a soft spot for prickly characters, and Worf is a veritable cactus of a Klingon. He is uncomfortable with affection, hates jokes, and resents having a birthday party thrown for him. What’s not to love? 😉 Worf loves traditional Klingon food that reflects his planet’s warrior culture, and what’s more warrior-like than blood pie? Rokeg Blood Pie is a Klingon staple usually made with real blood, but don’t worry, ours is made of bacon, sausage, beets, and butternut squash!
Read More
Posted June 14, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 10 Comments
Happy Tuesday! I’m prepping for a camping trip this week, so this post is going up a little later than usual. But better late than never, right? Originally I wanted to write a top 10 episodes post (in keeping with my current Star Trek theme), but it proved to be super intimidating. I’ve only seen the whole series once, so remembering what happened in the early episodes was tough. To kick start my brain, I tried to think of my favorite character moments, and I had so much fun reminiscing, I decided to do a post on that instead!
Below are my top 10 funniest character moments from Star Trek: The Next Generation. If you’re a fan of the show, you probably remember these moments. And if you’ve never seen Star Trek, these may inspired you to give it a try! 🙂
P.S. Even though I’m posting this now, I’m going to link it to next week’s TTT prompt, since that’s a freebie week.
Read More
Posted June 9, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Geordi La Forge is one of my favorite characters. He’s the chief engineer on the USS Enterprise, and he’s smart, loyal, and adorably awkward around girls. Plus, his best friend is an android. What’s cooler than that?
One of Geordi’s favorite foods is pasta alla fiorella, so of course it had to be the entree for my Star Trek menu (though he mistakenly calls it “pasta al fiorella”).
As it turns out, pasta alla fiorella is super easy to make and ultra delicious. Traditionally the dish consists simply of plain noodles with ricotta or fiorella cheese, bacon, and asparagus. Clean, simple flavors—and extra delicious with fresh basil. No wonder Geordi loves it so much!
Read More
Posted June 7, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 5 Comments
As noted in last week’s recipe post, we’re departing from our usual book-inspired posts to pay homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation (after 3 months, I figured we were about due for another TV menu). And that means it’s time for another marathon kit! It was tough to narrow down exactly which items I wanted to include in the kit, but after several drafts I think I’ve got the perfect combo of items to help you make it through your next trekky Netflix binge. Enjoy!
Read More
Posted June 2, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 9 Comments
That’s right, folks! Our new Menu of the Month is going to be based on
Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Mister introduced me to
Star Trek after we first got married, and now I’m hooked. Plus, now seemed like a good time to throw in another TV/movie menu, since I haven’t done one since
February. I’ve been looking forward to this menu for MONTHS, so let’s get started! 🙂
Read More
