National Novel Writing Month starts today!!! For those who haven’t heard of it, every November NaNoWriMo provides an online community for aspiring authors. The goal is for each writer to finish a 50,000-word novel by the end of the month. When I did it last year, it was a lot of hard work but super rewarding!
I decided not to do NaNo this year, but it was a REALLY tough decision. I’m already itching to take part, and it’s only day one! Still, I promise I have a good reason for tapping out. I’m actually working on a HUGE blog project right now (which I hope to be able to tell you more about soon!), and I knew I wouldn’t have the extra time to devote to NaNo.
Since I can’t participate this year, I thought I’d show support for the other participants by doing a NaNo-themed post series. Lots of NaNoers use tea and coffee as a reward for reaching their daily word counts, so I thought it would be fun to share a special book-themed tea each week of NaNo. Thus the 5 Teas of NaNo were born!
All Hallows Eve is here, and with it, the end of our Edgar Allan Poe menu! Even though I don’t normally post recipes on Mondays, I thought it would be fun to share one on Halloween…and when I found a “The Raven” cocktail recipe a couple months ago, I knew I’d found the perfect way to bookend our Poe menu.
The recipe below is my interpretation of The Raven cocktail, which was originally developed by Ashley at Smarty Had a Party. The cocktail below is a delicious combo of 3 of my favorite flavors: blackberry, pomegranate, and mint. With a little white rum, it makes for a refreshing, darkly sweet (but not too sweet) drink. Enjoy while reading your favorite Edgar Allan Poe poems!
Back when I first decided to make an Edgar Allan Poe menu, I knew I wanted to include a tribute to The Masque of the Red Death, but there were almost TOO many options for how to include it! Should I make red velvet skull cake? Pan de muerto? A grim reaper cocktail? Then I saw a recipe for skeleton cookies on Pinterest developed by Donna Hay, and I knew I’d found my inspiration!
Instead of using a ginger cookie recipe as my base, I used this awesome chocolate cookie recipe from A Baking Moment and added red food coloring to turn it into red velvet. Once I’d baked my “red velvet men,” all they needed was a little icing to give them skeleton bones. Easy and tasty!
I’m actually really horrible at coming up with creative Halloween costumes, so I commend anyone who can dream up a clever, gorgeous costume all on their own. And if that costume just so happens to be inspired by a book character, then I’m pretty sure I’ve found my new best friend. 😉
Of course there are LOADS of awesome bookish costumes out there, but these are my ten favorites. Some are quick and easy to throw together, others are practically pieces of art. But they’re ALL super creative ways to use Halloween to share your love of reading! 🙂
Today our spooky Edgar Allan Poe menu continues with Moon Phase French Fries! Several months ago I saw a post by Linda from The Baker Who Kerns, in which she described making moon phase cookies. I loved the concept and decided to make a savory version with roasted potatoes. They’re super easy and fun to make: just slice, season, and bake! And the ready-in-seconds spicy ketchup adds just the right kick to balance it all out (the ketchup is an Epic Meal Time recipe I adjusted to my own taste). Talk about a great side dish for a Halloween party…or a salty snack for some late-night reading!
When it came time to design a tea for my Edgar Allan Poe menu, Adagio’s Earl Grey Moonlight immediately came to mind. It’s a twist on the traditional Earl Grey blend, adding creme flavor to the original. But how to make it my own? Blackberry tea is an old favorite of mine, which I thought would complement the creme well and add some dark, sweet notes that would tie in with the Poe theme. All that was left to do was add cornflowers for color, and my Edgar Allan Poe tribute tea was complete!
Today we’re continuing our Edgar Allen Poe menu with Coffin Pizza Pockets! Death features prominently in most of Poe’s works, making these a great snack companion while reading The Premature Burial, The Fall of the House of Usher, Annabel Lee, and a host of other Poe works. Nothing like some festive food to put us in the mood for Halloween, right? 😉
These macabre calzones are filled with steamy homemade pizza sauce and melted mozzarella cheese, brushed with butter and garlic onion seasoning to make them extra delicious. Enjoy!
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! 🙂
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.
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:
