Recipe: Raspberry Coridal (Anne of Green Gables)

Diana poured herself out a tumblerful, looked at its bright-red hue admiringly, and then sipped it daintily. "That's awfully nice raspberry cordial, Anne," she said. "I didn't know raspberry cordial was so nice."

Review: Anne of Green Gables

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Independent Reader and older
B & B Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Recipe: Roast Chicken (Cornish Hen) and Corn Pudding

Our dinner went remarkably well. I had a chicken-- a great treat for us in those days-- stuffed with oysters, boiled potatoes, corn pudding, some of Momma's canned beans, rolls, and a hot peach cobbler.

Review: Jacob Have I loved by Katherine Paterson

Title: Jacob Have I Loved
Author: Katherine Paterson
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Independent Reader and older
B & B Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Update: The truth about pickled limes

Okay, so let me fess up to something.  I haven't been completely ignoring this blog, I promise.  I had a recipe in the works-- the famous pickled limes from Little Women.  Yes, those same pickled limes that were Amy's downfall.  I couldn''t find a specific pickled lime recipe anywhere, so i just sort of did a bit of this and a dash of that and modified some other pickled fruit recipes I found.

This was not a good idea.

I tasted my first lime and my face nearly turned inside out.  It wasn't sour.  That wasn't the problem.  It was bitter. I mean Miss Havisham-bitter.  The pickling liquid was actually rather delicious (a mix of rice vinegar, sugar, ginger, and whole cloves), but the limes themselves were very... angry.  They would probably work if I removed the peels and then pickled them, but I am, at the moment, rather dispirited.  CURSE YOU, PICKLED LIMES!

Now let's leave that behind us and move on to happier things.  Like a review!

Recipe: Muffins with Candied Orange Peel (Little Women)

"Merry Christmas, little daughters! I'm glad you began at once, and hope you will keep on. But I want to say one word before we sit down. Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children are huddled into one bed to keep from freezing, for they have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy came to tell me they were suffering hunger and cold. My girls, will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?"

They were all unusually hungry, having waited nearly an hour, and for a minute no one spoke, only a minute, for Jo exclaimed impetuously, "I'm so glad you came before we began!"

"May I go and help carry the things to the poor little children?" asked Beth eagerly.

"I shall take the cream and the muffins," added Amy, heroically giving up the article she most liked.

Recipe: Blancmange (Little Women)

"That looks too pretty to eat," he said, smiling with pleasure, as Jo uncovered the dish, and showed the blancmange, surrounded by a garland of green leaves, and the scarlet flowers of Amy's pet geranium.

"It isn't anything, only they all felt kindly and wanted to show it. Tell the girl to put it away for your tea. It's so simple you can eat it, and being soft, it will slip down without hurting your sore throat. What a cozy room this is!"