Posted November 23, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments
Sheriff Hopper loves him a good doughnut, so there was no doubt in my mind that they’d be the dessert in my breakfast-themed Stranger Things menu. And I knew exactly what kind I wanted to make: apple cider doughnuts! I got the idea while watching the very first episode of Season 2. When Hopper walks into the police station in the morning, he goes straight for the doughnuts, but the secretary takes it out of his hand and swaps it for an apple. Hopper spits it out and tosses it after the first bite. So I thought it would be fun to use apples in a way he’d actually enjoy: doughnuts! Plus, they’re super festive, considering today is Thanksgiving! (Don’t worry, I’m not slaving over my blog today. I’m off visiting family and enjoying having a restful holiday. Yay for scheduling posts in advance!)
I’m kinda new to cake doughnuts (though I’ve made raised doughnuts before), so I used a recipe for apple cider doughnut holes by Lori from Recipe Girl. I decided to go with doughnut holes instead of full-on doughnuts because I lack both a doughnut cutter and doughnut baking pan, and I didn’t feel like buying one. Plus, making holes meant more surface area per bite would be covered in cinnamon sugar, which—c’mon, let’s be honest—is half the fun of apple cider doughnuts.
So fry up some festive goodness! These are perfect for dunking in your morning coffee as you contemplate the mysteries of the Upside Down. 😉
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Posted November 16, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
Pumpkin plays a key role in Season 2 of Stranger Things, so I knew it needed to make an appearance in my menu. I wanted to continue my breakfast theme, and pumpkin hash sounded like the perfect side dish to pair with my Fried Chicken Waffle Cones and Bacon Stuffed French Toast.
Pumpkin hash is a little unusual, but I managed to track down a recipe by Eat the Gains to use as inspiration. Like the original, mine starts with crumbled sausage, cubed pumpkin, and chopped onion (though I used red onion for a little extra color). Then I added a little garlic and sage since I’ve got Thanksgiving on the brain. Stir in some green onion for a pop of color and add some fried eggs on top, and you’ve got a hash Hawkins, IN would be proud to call its own.
P.S. Can I just say that I’m inordinately proud that, in the three recipes I’ve made for this menu so far, I’ve included FOUR kinds of protein? Chicken, bacon, sausage, AND eggs! Whew, I may need to go on a run when this is all over.
P.P.S. That’s a hilarious joke because I have, in fact, NEVER gone on a run.
P.P.P.S. Don’t worry, I won’t be putting meat in the dessert. 😉
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Posted November 9, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments
The secret’s out: This whole Stranger Things menu is gonna feature breakfast foods! We started out with Spicy Maple Fried Chicken Waffle Cones, and now we’re moving on to rich, fluffy french toast.
This recipe is inspired by the French toast Sheriff Hopper serves to Eleven in Season 2. Granted, the version he made was a little more basic, but you know me—I can resist playing with my food! Stuffed French toast seemed like the way to go, and the bacon stuffed variety was perfect for health-food-hating Hopper.
This was my first time making French toast, so I took inspiration from several recipes: The Kitchn’s basic French toast, Spicy Southern Kitchen’s Bacon French Toast, and Bon Appetit’s tips for avoiding French toast mistakes. Although I’m not the biggest fan of French toast (hence why I’ve never made it before), I feel like this is a really solid recipe. It starts with thick slices of challah soaked it a lightly sweetened custard, filled with fried bacon and cooked in butter until golden. The texture on the inside was rich, faintly sweet, soft, fluffy, and moist without being wet. In fact, the inside of the bread reminded me a lot of a soufflé. It contrasted so well with the salty bacon in the very center. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar and a healthy drizzle of syrup, and you’re all set!
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Posted November 7, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 2 Comments
We’re continuing our Stranger Things theme this month with a marathon kit! So throw on your AV Club T-shirt, heat up some Eggos, and fire up your Netflix—we’re about to take a trip to the upside down. And if you think I wasn’t able to find a way to tie books into all this, you’re in for a surprise! 😉 Read More
Posted November 2, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments
Normally, I try to stick to classic books around here, but sometimes I like to shake things up and make a menu for a TV show or movie. Even then, I try to stick to the classics. Still, every once in a while a show comes along that is clearly an instant classic, destined to remain in our minds and hearts for years to come. Stranger Things is one of those shows.
I loved Season 1, so when Season 2 premiered a few days before Halloween, I watched eagerly with a pen and paper in hand, ready to write down anything and everything the characters ate. There was no way I was letting another season go by without making a Stranger Things menu!
To start things off, I wanted to serve a tribute to the food Hopper leaves for Eleven in the woods at the end of Season 1. He places what looks like chicken wings in a Tupperware container along with some plastic-wrapped Eggos on top. Instead of making straight up chicken and waffle, I decided to try a fun new version. I’ve seen fried chicken in waffle cones popping up on Pinterest, so this is my interpretation of that trend.
I started with the breading from my fried catfish recipe and used it to bread some cubed chicken breast. Then I fried them up, glazed them with a mix of maple syrup and sriracha, and scooped them into some waffle cones. Easy and delicious—perfect for the strangest of season premiere parties! 😉
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Posted November 30, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Hints / 2 Comments
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Can you believe Advent is already here? I haven’t even used up all my Thanksgiving leftovers yet! Still, despite the chaos of the holiday and weekend baby shower travels, I managed to find an hour or so on Sunday night to do most of my Christmas decorating. I set the lights low, turned on some instrumental Christmas hymns, and set to work. Believe it or not, it was super cathartic. I feel SO READY for Christmas now, which is great, considering my January baby is probably gonna make this the last Christmas I decorate for in a loooong time! 🙂
But you probably wanted to hear about the blog, didn’t you? We wrapped up our very last Moby Dick recipe on Thanksgiving day. It featured delightful lemon cookies with white icing and gold sprinkles, inspired by Captain Ahab’s gold coin. I gotta admit, I’m pretty proud of them. They’re my own recipe, and developing baking recipes is HARD (at least for me). It feels really good to have a cookie recipe to call my own! ^.^
Let’s take a look back at the rest of our posts for the month, shall we?
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Posted November 8, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 2 Comments
The chill November winds are here in full force. In short, perfect reading weather! So curl up with a copy of Moby Dick and some items from this reading kit. They’re sure to whisk you away on a far off adventure…hopefully somewhere warmer!
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Posted November 2, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment
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Wow! Maybe it’s because I’ve been cooking like a madwoman all month, but I feel like October just zipped by. One minute I’m just finishing up my London Fog Lattes for Sherlock at the end of September; the next I’m posting a Poe-themed cocktail for Halloween.
…but the zippiness may also have something to do with the fact that this month we had a wedding, Friendsgiving, the Mister’s grad school graduation party, and a friend stay the weekend. Busy as it was, it was SO GREAT to spend our weekends with family and friends, especially since schedule conflicts have made it hard for us to visit ANYONE the past few months.
But anyway, on to food! Let’s take a look back at our October menu before I share our next Book of the Month hint…
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Posted November 19, 2015 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments
In Divergent, Tris associates two foods with her home faction of Abnegation: plain peas and chicken breast. When she’s feeling homesick, she finds herself drawn to these foods in the Dauntless lunchroom. She doesn’t realize it at the time, but the reasons Tris feels so torn between Abnegation and Dauntless is because she’s a blend of the two. Today, we’re paying tribute to Tris’ Divergent nature with a side dish fit for both factions: Abnegation Pea Pod Fries, simple roasted peas-in-the-pod with just a little Dauntless cayenne kick, inspired by a recipe by The Smart Cookie Cook. A fitting side dish for our Dauntless Burger!
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Posted November 17, 2015 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Link Up / 6 Comments
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen me post TONS of tweets about how I’m writing a novel for NaNoWriMo, but I haven’t really said much about WHAT I’m writing. At the start of November, I wanted to link up to Paper Fury’s Beautiful Books NaNo post series, in which I’d share a little bit with you about my novel…but I’m a crazy person who planned to do this in addition to writing 1.6k+ words every day, regular blogging, keeping up with my reading, moving (that’s right, MOVING), balancing my work schedule, AND completing regular household/life responsibilities. Oh yeah, and I got the stomach flu (I’m not saying it was in the plan, but it happened).
So…I’m just now getting around to the first post in the series, even though most people are already starting the second one. Excuse me while I cringe at my own unreliability. Better late than never, I guess? Either way, here we go!
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