Posted April 25, 2024 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
At the beginning of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, the characters enjoy breakfast in an Icelandic village before traveling to Snäfell (a dormant volcano) to begin their descent into the Earth. Curious about what they may have eaten there, I started to research Icelandic breakfasts and discovered that skyr (high-protein yogurt) is a popular breakfast item. I’ve made homemade yogurt in the past, and I thought it would be fun to try a new variety. But what to pair it with?
I decided to do a breakfast-y baked apple topped with skyr and granola. Instead of baking the apples whole and stuffing them with filling, I decided to make them hasselback style, cutting them in half and cutting thin slices into the tops. This way, the toppings can slip between the slices, allowing each bite to be more balanced. I developed my own hasselback apple recipe loosely based on the baked apples in my cookbook, A LITERARY HOLIDAY COOKBOOK. The granola is a crunchy, pared-down version of the granola bars in my latest book, A LITERARY PICNIC. For the skyr, I started with a recipe by the Jules Food blog and tweaked it to suit my experience.
These apples turned out delicious! They have just the right balance of sweet, savory, soft, and crunchy. The best part is, even though they’re super healthy, they actually eat like a dessert. So you could have them for breakfast, a special treat, or both!
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Posted April 27, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 0 Comments
Since there’s an extra Thursday this month, I get to do a bonus post! Usually I make a cocktail for my bonus recipe, but since Captain Nemo doesn’t keep alcohol on the Nautilus (much to the distress of Ned Land), I decided to take the opportunity to create a new tea blend.
If you’re new around here, you may not know that I have a set of custom tea blends on Adagio Teas. I used to make a new one for almost every menu, but now I have over 50 blends! So these days I only make a new tea if I feel truly inspired.
I loved the idea of an ocean-themed blend, so I started with White Tropics, which is a white tea flavored with pineapple and coconut. Those fruits are perfect since they’re both mentioned in the book and also have distinct flavors that come through even in a delicate white tea. For added depth, I mixed in my favorite green tea: Citron Green, which has notes of lemon and orange. I love how the citrus plays off the tropical flavors without completely overpowering them. For a flavor boost, I added dried coconut, dried pineapple, and lemon balm.
I always recommend serving herbal and white teas cold since the flavors are so delicate. This one is SO delicious! The lemon hits you first–smooth and soothing–followed by hints of the juicy tropical flavors at the end. Just the thing to calm your nerves after defeating a giant squid!
Sound delicious? You can order it here!
Posted April 13, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
You knew it was coming: the iconic giant squid! After all, this wouldn’t be a TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES menu without a recipe inspired by one of literature’s most famous sea monsters. 😉
From day one of planning this menu, I knew I was going to include an homage to the giant squid. The big question was HOW. I thought about making sauteed octopus tentacles as the entree, but I was really excited to make tuna steaks instead. Then I considered fried calamari, but I couldn’t get calamari rings (which turned out for the best, because it meant I got to make mock turtle soup, which was delish).
That left dessert as my only option. While hunting for inspiration on Pinterest, I saw these adorable jellyfish lollipops by TheSweetStoryLine. I loved how the height from the stick allowed for long, dangling tendrils. This reminded me I have a killer recipe for cake pops, so I set to work designing a cake pop version of the iconic giant squid from TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES.
And here it is! Say hello to the cutest, sweetest, angriest squids you’ve ever met. These grumpy little guys are stylized versions of giant squids because I like the juxtaposition of a cute yet dangerous sea monster. These squids are blue since it makes the “suckers” on the tentacles more visible, and I had loads of blue candy melts left over from a previous recipe. I also had giant candy eyeballs left over from my other ocean-themed dessert, Colonel Brandon’s Curse Cupcakes. Which also happens to feature a too-adorable-to-be-scary sea monster.
My kids adored these, and I hope you do too. Eat them up fast . . . before they eat you! 😉
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Posted March 30, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
There are so many unique foods and ingredients in TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, I couldn’t help but throw a funky recipe in this menu. Seaweed stood out to me in the story because it’s a bit unusual but still pretty easy to source (I got my seaweed at H-Mart, but you can also buy it online).
I decided to make seaweed salad since it pairs well with this menu’s entree: Sesame Soy Tuna Steaks. I made a variation on this sunomono salad recipe from My Kitchen. In my version, I use two types of seaweed–wakame and hijiki–for some added variety in flavor and texture.
This was definitely a fun experience. I highly recommend this salad if you want to experiment with seaweed recipes, since it’s so quick and easy (though I’d make a half batch if you’re not sure you like the flavor of seaweed). I enjoyed the springy bite of the wakame, and I also liked how tangy the cucumbers got after absorbing the dressing. However, after eating this, I decided that cold preparations of seaweed aren’t for me. I love it dried and in soup, but I’m not a fan of the texture when it’s rehydrated and cold.
Luckily, a little dried seaweed goes a long way, so I still have some leftover. I’ve heard it’s great in soups, and I still have some leftover miso and gochujang from making Spicy Eel. Maybe I should make some spicy miso seaweed soup!
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Posted April 15, 2021 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Dessert time! And I am SO ready. Though to be honest, I’m always ready to dessert. 😉
Given the carrot-y theme of today’s recipe, I was hoping to have this published by Easter, but alas, twas not to be. It seemed like to no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT make it to the store soon enough! But that’s ok, because this is fun to make for Mother’s Day too, especially if your mom is as big a fan of marzipan as mine is. 😀
While planning what to make for today’s HEIDI recipe, I took my inspiration from the tiny cakes Clara sends for Grannie to have with her coffee. The book gives no description as to the flavor of the cake, which left lots of room to get creative. I decided to make a mini version of traditional Swiss rüeblitorte, lightly sweetened carrot cake topped with little marzipan carrots.
In terms of taste and texture, the cake itself is more reminiscent of a breakfast bread. It’s the sweetness of the marzipan that really pushes it into the realm of dessert. I love the versatility of it!
The recipe I’m using today is a muffin-sized version of one by Thahn from Eat, Little Bird (the marzipan recipe comes from The Spruce Eats). My 4-year-old helped me mix the batter, a testament to the ease of the recipe, and also faithfully taste tested the results. Turns out he has something in common with my mom—he loves marzipan too! 🙂
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Posted April 1, 2021 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
When planning my HEIDI menu, it was very important to me that at least one recipe include goat cheese. Heidi and her grandfather are always drinking goat’s milk and eating cheese, and, along with soft white rolls, these are the foods mentioned most frequently in the book.
I toyed with the idea of making my own goat cheese, but most stores carry ultra-pastuerized, which is no good for making cheese. Instead I decided to incorporate store bought cheese into my side dish. I already knew I wanted to make a potato/cheese side dish, since Heidi eats them in the winter in Dörfli, so I started researching and discovered potato rosti.
Potato rosti are a traditional Swiss side dish (Heidi lives in the Swiss Alps). They’re essentially hash brown patties, sometimes made with fillings or toppings. I don’t need much of an excuse to make fried potatoes, and I was extra pleased when I found a potato rosti recipe with goat cheese and leeks by Serena from Domesticate Me. The only big change I made was swapping out the thyme for oregano, since I had some leftover from making baked walleye. It turned out amaaazing! I loved how the oniony sweetness of the leeks and creaminess of the warm cheese offset the oil of the fried potatoes.
With a few key tips, this recipe is really easy to make:
- If using cast iron, make sure it’s very well-seasoned. Otherwise your potatoes will fuse to the pan, and there’s NO WAY you’re flipping that thing in one piece.
- When adding your layers, move fast. Each side only needs to cook for a few minutes. You don’t want it to burn while you’re arranging leeks.
Enjoy!
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Posted April 19, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments
When Matilda goes to visit her teacher, Miss Honey, she’s served a simple snack of brown bread with margarine and tea. It’s the first time Matilda visits her beloved teacher’s home, and she’s understandably distressed that Miss Honey lives in a bare-bones cottage with little food. However, the thing that stood out to me most wasn’t Miss Honey’s dire living situation; it was her reaction to it. She has no refrigerator or real stove but doesn’t seem to mind. She serves Matilda but eats nothing herself, cheerfully insisting she’s not hungry because she eats a large lunch at school every day.
This seems a little sad at first, as if she’s just putting on a brave face for Matilda’s sake, but when we learn what the cottage represents to her, we realize that it’s truly precious, even with its shortcomings. As she and Matilda have tea, Miss Honey explains that she rented the cottage to get away from her cruel aunt. We get the impression that her freedom is so important to her that her circumstances don’t bother her as much as they might. Deep down, she feels the pain of privation, but her current life is the first step into something better. In this moment, we see that Miss Honey is made of sterner stuff than we might have imagined, and it only makes us love her all the more. And at the end of the book when Miss Honey’s inheritance is finally returned to her, we see her and Matilda having tea—with real butter and jam on their bread!
Miss Honey’s bread is one of my favorite aspects of the book, because it’s used as a symbol of both difficulty and triumph. I knew it would be the perfect side dish for my Matilda menu. The bread in the book isn’t described in much detail (beyond being brown), so I decided to go with something simple and hearty with a touch of honey: this whole wheat honey oatmeal bread from Girl Versus Dough. It’s one of the easier breads I’ve made, and the hint of sweetness made it just right. Serve with butter and tea, and you’re all set! 🙂
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Posted April 12, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments
Several entrees feature fairly prominently in the book Matilda: Mr. Wormwood’s breakfast, TV dinners, fish and chips, and the school’s sausage and bean lunch. Although the Wormwood family’s TV dinners are the most iconic to the book, they’re technically a full meal and would be pretty time consuming to re-create. Plus, I was much more intrigued by the idea of fish and chips. I’d never made them before, so I was eager to try my hand! And since we observe meatless Fridays at my house, I’m always on the lookout for new meatless recipes to try. 🙂
This particular recipe comes from Tide and Thyme. The beer batter for the fish is easy and flavorful, and the copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce recipe I found on Simplee Thrifty was the perfect condiment. The chips were easily my favorite part—I’m a sucker for a good ol’ french fry!
However, I will admit that slicing, soaking, and frying all the potatoes in addition to the fish was pretty time consuming. They both tasted good, but I think I’ll treat them as separate recipes and pair them with more low-maintenance dishes in the future. After all, beer-battered fish pairs perfectly with lots of easy side dishes (we’re having it again this Friday, and I’m planning on serving roasted broccoli on the side). And next time the Mister wants to grill burgers, I can be inside making some delicious homemade fries!
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Posted April 5, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments
One of the most iconic moments in Matilda is when a student puts a newt in Miss Trunchbull’s water jug, and Matilda tips it over with her mind. Not only is it an exciting scene, but it’s also how Matilda discovers her powers. It’s one of my favorite parts of both the book and the movie, so I reeeeeally wanted to pay tribute to it here on the blog. Of course, when you picture appetizing recipes, newts don’t exactly come to mind, but then I remembered a recipe I made from another Roald Dahl book: my magic green sour gummy worms from James and the Giant Peach. How fun would it be to make newt gummies?
Using an easy recipe I found on Tastemade and some lizard candy molds I found online, I whipped up a batch of delicious gummy newts to start our Matilda menu. With the help of some lime and peach jello, I made mine green and orange like the newt in the book (my grocery store was out of orange flavored jello, which would have paired better flavor-wise, but peach and lime still tasted good). You can choose whatever flavor/color combinations you like—get creative! This makes a great after school snack or fun favor at a children’s Halloween party. Enjoy! 🙂
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Posted April 3, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 1 Comment
Our new Book of the Month is Matilda, and I’m kicking things off with a reading kit! 😀
I was impressed by how many Matilda-inspired fan made items were out there. With a book that was published so long ago, sometimes it can be hard to find stuff that’s specifically themed to that book, but not so with Matilda. It was easy to track down art prints, candles, throw pillows, jewelry, and so much more. Of course, book- and library-themed items are perfect for Matilda as well, so I was sure to include some when I rounded up my favorite items for this reading kit.
Snag some bookish swag for yourself or your favorite reading buddy and sit back with a copy of Matilda. Enjoy! 🙂
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