Jennifer Moorman's Blog, page 20

Cooking Through Fiction: Stubborn Chicken Pie

If you had a train ticket to any place, where would you choose to go? Unfortunately, seventeen-year-old Avery Ross doesn’t have much of a choice concerning her destination. Due to a scribbling of obscenities on her forehead, she’s sent across the country to North Dakota. She’s probably wondering what I’m wondering: Does anyone actually live in North Dakota? I’m kidding. I know at least five people who call ND home.Avery’s punishment involves working at her aunt’s boarding house, but is it rea...

Cooking Through Fiction: Frankenstein's Cake

When most people hear the name Frankenstein, they immediately imagine the monster depicted in the movies. The tall, grotesquely built lump of flesh given life by whom….? Victor Frankenstein.Frankenstein isn’t the monster stitched together with human remains; he’s the monster’s creator. After reading the novel many times and even watching the movies, I think people are right in thinking that Frankenstein is the monster in Mary Shelley’s novel, but only if they’re referring to Victor.He becomes...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Forbidden Forest Butterbeer Cake

Mystic Water loves celebrating the holidays, and with Halloween just around the corner, Anna O’Brien has created loads of Halloween treats perfect for the season.During Halloween, books containing spooky stories and haunted fictional tales are checked out of the local library, and you would be hard-pressed to find your favorite. Every copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has been checked out, and one copy sits on the counter of Bea’s Bakery. Anna used it as inspiration for her late...

Cooking Through Fiction: Van Ripper Olykoeks

In The Wishing Thread, the Van Rippers live in Tarrytown, and they don’t live there unnoticed. In fact, there are some who say they are angels and some who say they’re swindlers. Why? Because the Van Rippers are thought to be able to weave magic into their yarn designs.Need a new job? Maybe you could ask them for a new sweater to wear to an interview. But beware—in order to receive this gift, you’ll have to relinquish something very precious to you. What, might you ask? Only you can answer th...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Frankenstein's Cake

Mystic Water is a Southern town full of interesting people. In fact, they pride themselves on being eclectic, a little bit eccentric, a lot enchanting, and full of love and heart.So like any good Southern town, they celebrate holidays with all the fixings. Halloween is no different. Children trick or treat dressed in their favorite costumes. Townsfolk hand out candies, homemade or wrapped in colored papers. Pumpkins crowd front porches, and mums decorate nearly all available spaces.Anna O'Bri...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Evelyn's Sugar Cookies

Mother, Mama, Mom, Mum, Ma—a few of the names we use for our mothers. Every mother is unique. Some are great, and we say they were “born to be mothers.” They nurture us, discipline us, hold our hands when we cry. Other mothers break our hearts, abandon us, disappoint us, and we never understand why they make the choices they do.In chapter sixteen of The Baker’s Man, titled Sugar Cookies, Anna needs the one person who can make her feel as though even if her entire world is ending, she’s not al...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Firecracker Bundt Cake

Fireworks were documented as being used in China in the seventh century. They were created to accompany festivities, and eventually, the use of these spectacular, aerial displays spread to other countries.To me, fireworks are beautiful, resembling colorful, exploding stars–magic in the skies. Animated cartoons use fireworks to represent the excitement and passion of kisses. People describe feelings akin to “fireworks going off” when someone grabs another’s hand.But as lovely as fireworks can...

Cooking Through Fiction: Levi's Carrot-Apple Hash

One of my favorite parts of having a favorite book (or series) is finding someone else who shares the same love and devotion to the literary work, finding someone who talks about the same characters with as much excitement, irritation, and admiration as I do. This is what makes fandoms so amazing.Fandoms connect people all across the globe so they can share their mutual love of fictional worlds. For fandoms, even after the original authors have finished the novels, even after the TV series ha...

Cooking Through Fiction: Boone Crowe's Beef Stew

I learned how to ride a horse when I was young. I’m by no means an expert, but I feel okay about saddling up and taking a ride. I’ve ridden trails through the deserts in Arizona and across mountains (way too close to a ravine) in Montana. At the top of the mountain in Montana, my family and I settled in for a “cowboy dinner.”While we ate steak and potatoes, I’m not sure how many of us actually felt like cowboys. I think we were just glad to be away from the “ravine of death” and probably than...

Cooking Through Fiction: Honeysuckle Hollow Jelly

One of my favorite heralds of summertime is honeysuckle. It’s like one morning, the shrubs decide it’s time to show off and welcome honeybees and butterflies, and they burst into bloom overnight.The hills and sides of the road and backyards are covered in honeysuckle, either planted or wild. The air outside is full of the sweet scent, and I can’t help but open the windows and let it all into the house.The smell of honeysuckle reminds of when I was a little girl, and my family and I strolled d...