story-inspired recipes

One of the great pleasures of reading for me is having the chance to do some vicarious eating. My husband and I often read at bedtime, and we've discovered that many of the books I read mention food but very few of his ever do. (Hm!) My earliest memory of food in books was Ramona Quimby talking about how her father used to bring home a white paper sack of gummy bears as a treat, and of course reading about Mrs. James Wilder's groaning feasts just encouraged this fixation on food further.

As such, it was only natural that our little children's swap group would do a trade for recipes inspired by children's books. I printed mine at home and included recipes for Anne Shirley's raspberry cordial, Ma Ingalls' vanity cakes, and Mary Poppins' thin, crisp gingerbread cookies.

I've always loved the anecdote in Mary Poppins when the children are taken to a gingerbread shop, where they choose cookies wrapped in paper gilt stars. Later on that night, Jane and Michael see Mary standing on a tall ladder pasting the silver stars to the sky with a bucket of glue...amazing! If you watch the film and pay attention to the scene when Mary and the children are headed out for errands, there's a mention of stopping by the gingerbread store, although they don't actually show it in the movie.

I also included a recipe for Chicken and Almond Mousse, a recipe I adapted from the Ginnie and Geneva Cookbook. The Ginnie and Geneva series is one of those gems like the Betsy-Tacy books that I'm surprised more people haven't read. Set in the idyllic 1940s and 50s, the books were similar to the Beverly Cleary books in that they are just everyday stories about a girl growing up and her place in the world. Along the way, Ginnie discovers a love for the kitchen in Ginnie and the Cooking Contest  and runs into various trials and tribulations with deciding what recipe she wants to submit.

When I read the book, I dearly wanted to taste what's described as a "rich, succulent concoction" with "tender white meat of chicken, whipped cream, olives, almonds, and flavoring." It wasn't until 20 years later that I discovered that the author had written a cookbook, and I was so happy to find the recipe for chicken loaf in it. I've posted a slightly altered version below in case you'd like to try it out.

Ginnie Fellows' Scrumptious Chicken and Almond Mousse

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks

1 cup chicken broth

unflavored gelatin

1 tablespoon cold water

1 chicken breast, poached and shredded

1/2 cup almond flakes, lightly toasted

salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 pint heavy cream

pimento olives, roughly chopped

Directions:

Beat the egg yolks in a medium heat-proof bowl with a whisk. Add in the chicken broth.

Bring a pot of water (filled 1/3 of the way) to boil and set your bowl on top for a double boiler effect. Cook the mixture until it thickens, stirring every so often.

Dissolve gelatin packet into a small dish with a tablespoon of cold water. Take your egg mixture off the heat and stir in the gelatin. Add the chicken to the mixture, and season with salt and paprika. Let the mixture cool to room temperature using an ice bath, stirring every now and then so it does not set.    

Using a stand or electric mixer, whip the cream until it’s thick and firm and fluffy. Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture along with the chopped olives, but don’t mix too much or the whipped texture will be destroyed. Pour the mousse into a loaf pan sprayed lightly with vegetable oil.

Chill the mousse for several hours until very firm. To unmold, run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn it carefully over onto a serving plate. 

Adapted from the Ginnie and Geneva Cookbook by Catherine Woolley.

This is a really delicious dish that's easy to do but elegant enough for company, and I highly recommend trying it if you're intrigued. With warm weather coming up, it'll be just the thing for a summer evening with a crisp salad and a glass of white wine. Enjoy!

a poem for your pocket

April is National Poetry Month! And April 14 is Poem in Your Pocket Day, when you're encouraged to carry around a poem with you all day long.

I joined a swap recently in which you were to send a children's poem to your partner for this occasion, which is good timing since I recently found these amazing old Junior Classics books at a library sale for a dollar each. One of the books was a volume of Poetry for Young Readers, so I went through and chose "A Seal's Lullaby" by Rudyard Kipling and "The Moon's the North Wind's Cooky" by Vachard Lindsay, both of which I really liked. I also picked a funny Shel Silverstein poem called "How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes" since my partner loves his books.

I thought it'd be fun to make a mini accordian-style poetry book instead of sending just one poem, so I printed everything out onto nice stationery, glued extra end papers and pretty cardstock for covers, and sewed on a bit of ribbon to tie it together. I left a blank page in the middle so my partner can add her own poem if she likes, too! I like the idea of knowing someone will be carrying this with her all day long in a couple of weeks. It'll be fun to see the poem I receive in return, too.

free download: cassandra clare + madeleine l'engle bookmarks

I hosted a handmade bookmark swap for my children's lit group recently, in which you were to send one bookmark tailored to one of your partner's favorite books and one bookmark featuring something you liked. As it happened, my partner DeidreArt likes several of the same authors I do, so this one was a particular pleasure.

Deidre's a big fan of Madeleine L'Engle, so I chose two quotes and book covers for the bookmark, including my favorite L'Engle book, A Ring of Endless Light. I've always loved the Austins, and in this book Vicky meets Adam Eddington, a marine biology student who teaches her to swim--and communicate--with dolphins. Whenever I see a dolphin now, I think of how L'Engle described their skin as "resilient pewter."

Deidre also enjoys Cassandra Clare's books. It was the easiest thing in the world to find a number of great Jace quotes from The Mortal Instruments, but I particularly love this swoony one. Who could resist a boy who hunts demons and says stuff like that? I also made a bookmark for Clockwork Angel, too. This was my absolute favorite YA book from 2010, and it tells the story of Tessa, who crosses an ocean to to seek her brother in Victorian London...and who finds that she has a mysterious past and unbelievable powers she'd never dreamed of. I love how Tessa learns to use her gifts to overcome her enemies, and I love all the characters that populate this dark, enthralling world. I'm dying for the sequel to come out, but it's a long way until December 2011. *sigh*

I backed the Cassandra Clare bookmarks with fantastic thin metallic cardboard from an Entertainment Weekly ad that I'd been saving. Do you collect bits and pieces of interesting material for your crafting, too? My supplies closet is bursting to the gills with all kinds of things that I just know will come in handy someday.

Anyway, if you'd like to print out these bookmarks for yourself, feel free to download a copy here. Just remember that they're for personal use only, not commercial, so no funny business, please! Consider it my version of a fan tribute. ;) Hope you enjoy.

3 handmade postcards

A quick break from all the hearts and flowers today.

Here is the postcard I made for a swap using vintage book paper and some of that lovely washi tape from West Elm. My partner loves children's books and Pooh in particular, so it was an especial pleasure to do. Since the card will have to travel through the postal system, I sealed the top with some clear acrylic spray as well...hopefully that will do the trick.

I sent my partner a couple of extra postcards made from Where the Wild Things Are and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny as well. I'm always on the lookout for inexpensive/damaged books at thrift stores to use in crafting, and I especially like the ones that have yellowing, brittle pages--it speaks to both their age and how much they were loved.

Postcards are such an easy and cheery thing to make, too. One day I'd like to do a really, really big postcard to send through the mail, but I'll have to look up the dimensions and such first. Hallmark used to sell those really giant (2 foot?) cards and envelopes, so I would think that postcards would probably go by the same standards of measurement.

bookish valentines

When you were little, did you decorate shoeboxes and paper bags for Valentine's Day? I fondly remember how much fun it was to make them with construction paper and glue and to watch the pile of thin white envelopes and little candies accumulate.

That was the idea behind the Sweets to the Sweet: a box of bookish valentines swap that I hosted. I thought it'd be fun to decorate and fill a box with cards signed by children's book characters, so everyone was asked to pick cards and write short messages that might've been chosen by characters they liked.

I wrapped and glued a cracker box in pretty red and white wrapping paper and then put on a few graphics so it looked sort of candy box-ish. I then printed out vintage cards or images that I found online, and embellished some of them with bits of glitter and ribbon.

I found a penny valentine with a worm on it that was perfect for Ramona Quimby to send to Henry Huggins, since of course she proposed to him with a worm wrapped around her finger; I printed out a Nancy Drew silhouette and pasted it to a doily for a card from Ned; and more penny valentines from Joe Willard to Betsy Ray, from Sheila Tubman to Peter Hatcher, and from Jules to Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family. The only two that weren't real "cards" were the one from Harriet the Spy to Sport and the card to Emily Byrd Starr from Teddy Kent, because he would of course send her something he'd painted himself. I always loved that Teddy had "the trick of putting [Emily] into every portrait that he painted," so I took the liberty of attributing A Meadow Flower to him. (Apologies, Mr. John White Alexander!)

I also used a few cards I scanned and printed from the box of 100-year-old valentines my mother-in-law sent me, including ones from Gilbert Blythe to Anne Shirley, from Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet, and from Peter Pan to Wendy Darling. It actually made me really sad to re-read the end of Peter Pan again; it'd been years since I read it, so it brought tears to my eyes when Wendy tells him she doesn't remember how to fly. Such a bittersweet ending.

Anyway...I put everything in the box with some candy, and I hope my partner will enjoy opening it. I'm looking forward to getting some bookish valentines of my own to read, too!

valentine cupcake toppers + download

I make way more cupcake toppers than I do cupcakes. That's probably a good thing, though sometimes it's hard to remember the need for moderation when you have so many cute toppers lying around.

I hosted a Sweetly Vintage Valentine Toppers swap on Swap-Bot recently, and here are the ones I sent to my partner. I love this assortment of sized-down old penny valentines, which includes a mermaid and a veggie since my partner is a fan of both.

I'm also including a link where you can download a copy of these cupcake toppers and print onto cardstock if you'd like to make your own.  They are easy to embellish with glitter, ribbons, lace, or whatever you'd like!

fairies and rabbits

A few lovely handmade items sent to me from mmilesesq for a Children's Lit Paper Goodies swap I hosted recently:

-- set of 8 Beatrix Potter tags cleverly adorned with butterflies and picket fences
-- a selection of Winnie the Pooh cards
-- a set of bookplate labels
-- sweet personalized Pooh swap card
-- set of 8 glittered fairy tags with envelope pockets
-- wonderful books!

This was meant to be a lightweight, inexpensive swap consisting of at least 5 paper items, but my partner went well above and beyond what was required with her thoughtfully chosen and generous package. I'm always touched when people take my likes and dislikes into account, but it's especially nice when people make things especially with you in mind!

happy pooh day!

Today is A.A. Milne's birthday, so it's also Winnie the Pooh Day. Pooh Bear is a long-time favorite of mine, and I've been lucky enough to see both the dear animals that belonged to Christopher Milne last year and the original book manuscripts at Trinity College at Cambridge University. Someday I'd love to go to Ashdown Forest and play Pooh Sticks, too.

In honor of Edward Bear, I hosted a little Pooh candygram swap using this idea from Inchmark. I just lined the bottom of a stationery box with E.H. Shepard illustrations and filled it with candy, gift tags made from vintage book paper backed with card stock, and wee Pooh picks that should be perfect for tea sandwiches.  All wrapped up in blue ribbons and good cheer.

There are more photos of the original Pooh animals on the honeybee Facebook page if you've a hankering to see them. And if you need some Pooh urgently, don't forget you can also download the Pooh bookmark I made last year, too! Happy Pooh Day--and may your day be filled with lots of honey...

vintage Christmas bookmarks + free download

I can't seem to wrap my brain around blogging in a timely manner...I have photographs and projects stored up, but it's been so busy this holiday season that it's been hard to sit down at the computer for any length of time!

I thought I'd share a project I made a few weeks ago for a A Very Vintage Christmas Bookmark swap, whose guidelines were simply that the bookmarks needed to be made with a vintage holiday theme. I printed old-timey Christmas images onto card stock and paired them with quotes from traditional carols. They were then laminated and embellished with vintage paper lace I acquired from the flea market, which was really easy to affix using a Scotch adhesive dot roller.

I have made other kinds of bookmarks, but I find these paper ones such a quick and satisfying project to do--and it's so nice to spoil your partner a little bit by sending four instead of the required one. I have fancy metal bookmarks and fabric ones and  leather ones, but it's really the paper ones that I use the most.

If you'd like to make your own set for stocking stuffers or to mark a favorite passage in a book you're giving as a gift, feel free to download your own set of Vintage Christmas Bookmarks. A reminder to print them for your personal use only, not for commercial purposes, please!

little house christmas stockings

There are many books I re-read every year during the holiday season, but none that embodies the spirit of Christmas to me more than the Little House series. I mention Laura Ingalls Wilder all the time here on the blog, but if only you knew how often I think of her...especially during the cold winter months! I learned so much from Laura as a child, and I feel I learn from her still.

This is my favorite Christmas passage, from On the Banks of Plum Creek:

(Then) Ma told them something else about Santa Claus. He was everywhere, and besides that, he was all the time. Whenever anyone was unselfish, that was Santa Claus.

Christmas Eve was the time when everyone was unselfish. On that one night, Santa Claus was everywhere, because everybody, all together, stopped being selfish and wanted other people to be happy. And in the morning, you saw what that had done.

"If everybody wanted everybody else to be happy, all the time, then would it be Christmas all the time?" Laura asked, and Ma said, "Yes, Laura."

Isn't that just the loveliest way of thinking about the holiday season? It makes my little heart grow three sizes bigger whenever I read it, I swear it does.
As such, the Little House Christmas swap I hosted recently meant a great deal to me. It was a chance to put together some of the things I see in everyday life that remind me of Laura and of the true spirit of Christmas and to share it with a partner, and I've been so happy to work on it these past few months. I actually had two partners for this swap, one that was randomly assigned and one with my friend Naomi for obvious reasons.

Every month this fall, we've gone back to various flea markets and antique malls, and I've been especially vigilant because I was searching for Little House items. I was thrilled to find vintage cross-stitched gingham aprons, vintage handkerchiefs (which were of course tucked into the apron pockets), a small heart-shaped tin pan along with a card with Ma's heart-shaped cakes recipe, and even an old crock of bear grease! Just what Pa used to use to slick down his hair when he was courting Ma. I love the old paper label on that container, which is mercifully empty now, but would still be very nice for holding little bits and bobs.

Naomi is a teacher, so I thought she'd appreciate a copy of McGuffey's First Reader, which Laura might've used as a teacher--this volume was originally published in 1867, and this particular copy is dated 1920, as well as an old autograph album. The album is dated 1952, but it's filled with great handwritten messages, and is especially appropriate because the owner was a girl named...Mary!

I also made a few things that were Laura-related, including small gift tags collaged with quotes from the books (stamped with Christmas horses, little houses, and a bright-burning candle), Little House postcards, fashionable calling cards that could double as swap cards, and small paper and tin ornaments (made with vintage book pages, a miniature sleigh bell, vintage lace and buttons, a flat peppermint candy, and striped bakers twine).

No Christmas is complete without Christmas candy, of course, so there was also a big peppermint candy cane, thin striped ribbon candy (I was *so* pleased with myself for finding those!), little "Victorian" chocolates, and old-fashioned caramels. Plus a shiny penny in the toe, just because the Ingalls always seemed to manage that somehow. I wrapped everything up in red and white striped tissue paper (like the kind Ma used so her packages would look extra festive) and plain brown waxy tissue with colored string (just how the presents were wrapped when the Boasts paid them a surprise Christmas Eve visit) and packaged them in embroidered stockings I made from wool-blend felt and vintage lace, one of which is adorned with a heart and the other with a little house in the big woods.

For this swap, it was important to keep true to the spirit of the Ingalls family, so all of the items had to be handmade or relatively inexpensive, but this turned out to be a very easy to do. The stockings were so fun to put together, because it was not only the perfect mix of vintage shopping and hand-crafting, but because it was also hugely sentimental undertaking as well. Naomi in particular is so well-versed in children's literature, and I just knew that every single thing I made or chose was something she would understand the reason behind and appreciate. I really think I got just as much joy out of making this as I hope she did in receiving it.

vintage holiday cupcake toppers: tutorial + free download

For those of you hosting holiday parties (or who need one-of-a-kind hostess gifts!), why not dress up your baked treats with cupcake toppers? I've made a few sets this year and it's a very quick, rewarding craft...and it's so much less expensive to make your own than to purchase them. Since the two previous cupcake topper swaps I'd hosted this year got such a great response, I decided to start a Dress that Cupcake! group.

Our first swap was a holiday themed lucky parcel. My partner HoneyBunny is a really creative cook (she shared a delicious recipe for clam-stuffed shrimp with me recently that is now one of our favorites) so I was looking forward to making something for her. Since she is a fan of vintage, I thought it would be nice to make toppers that looked very old-fashioned using images from vintage Christmas cards.

I really like how they turned out, since the crinkly tissue paper adds to the impression that you might have just found them in a box in the attic somewhere. Except they're much less dusty and iffy for your dessert table.

If you'd like to make your own, I've posted a simple tutorial below and uploaded a copy of the cupcake topper images as a pdf here. Just be sure to use them for good (your own personal use) not evil (commercial use), please!

Vintage Holiday Cupcake Toppers Tutorial

Materials & Tools:

1 sheet of vintage holiday images
scissors
tape
1 sheet of tissue paper in a coordinating color
glue stick
blank cardstock ovals

Directions:

1. To make the cupcake toppers, print out a copy of the vintage holiday images onto cardstock and cut around them.

2. Center a toothpick with approximately a third of the stick on the back of the each topper and firmly tape it in place. Smooth out air bubbles with your fingers and make sure it's fastened tightly.

3. Fold tissue paper a few times and cut into long 1/4 inch strips.

4. Flip your toppers over and working from the back, accordion-pleat the tissue strips around the edge of the cardstock. Carefully tape them down every inch or so, and snip off the excess tissue when you reach the end.

5. Cut cardstock ovals of approximately the same size as the vintage images. Using a good glue stick, cover the plain ovals with paste and place onto the back of each topper. Firmly press into place with your fingers, taking care to smooth around and above the toothpick.

Voila! Easy peasy craft with very pretty results.

I packaged the toppers up in a glassine bag and also made a little cake banner using the "Wishing you the sweetest holiday" greeting along with two short bamboo skewers. Since it was a lucky parcel, I also included a batch of candy buttons I made using a Bake it Pretty mold, some snowflake cupcake wrappers, a set of "Baked With Love By..." labels, and a few little trinkets and candies for additional decor. I put then everything into a recycled plastic container that I decorated with striped paper and cupcake-themed deco tape. I hope HoneyBunny enjoys her package...and that you'll enjoy making these toppers, too!