Jennifer Moorman's Blog, page 29

Cooking Through Fiction: Lost Lake's Ham-and-Cheese Puff Pastry

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Thomas Wolfe wrote a novel titled You Can’t Go Home Again in which the main character realizes that although he can literally go home again, his home will not be as he remembers. The phrase “you can’t go home again” has come to represent the idea that once you leave home for bigger and brighter places, every attempt you have to relive youthful memories will fail. Is this true? I say, “Not really. Not for me.” And not for Kate and a slew of others in Addison Allen’s Lost Lake.
In fact, many cha...

Cooking Through Fiction: Snicket’s Lemony Blueberry Sweet Rolls

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What makes a great friend? Someone who is there for you when you need a person to listen to you ask thousands of questions during TV shows (I’m not saying this is me, but this is me.)? Someone who brings you chicken noodle soup when you’re sick? Or someone who doesn’t laugh when you trip over your own feet (Does this person exist?)?

In Snicket’s second novel in the series All the Wrong Questions, Snicket would likely say a friend does these two things: 1) looks for you when you are missing, an...

Cooking Through Fiction: Extraordinary Apple Pop Tarts

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Extraordinary — (adjective) beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly exceptional, remarkable
I am a lover of words (a logophile). I can admit to being so nerdy that I am saddened when a word (especially hundreds of words in a language) dies. The Oxford English Dictionary labels these words obsolete. I bet thousands of words are thinking, Man, I hope I don’t become obsolete—oh, no, there goes hugger-mugger!Hugger-mugger was a real, useable word once. Feel free to bring it back. It means “to act...

Cooking Through Fiction: Snicket's Chicken Pesto Pasta

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There are likely many different types of TV watchers, but I’m going to talk about two kinds today. Type 1: watches TV and doesn’t talk about what’s happening on TV; and Type 2: watches TV and incessantly asks questions about what’s happening on TV. I’m afraid I’m Type 2 (to everyone’s annoyance around me). What can I say? I can’t help it. I ask a lot of questions.

And my questions aren’t always valid. Sometimes there’s a real gem of a question in there, but mostly, I ask questions such as “Why...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Forget-Me-Not Cookies

[image error] There are several legends surrounding the naming of the flower Forget-Me-Not, each one romantic and lovely in its own way. In one German legend, it is said that as God was naming all of the plants, one tiny blue flower did not want to be overlooked, so the flower called out, “Forget me not, Lord.”



Another legend says that wearers of the flower would not be forgotten by their lovers. A medieval legend tells of a knight and his lady who walked along a riverside. The knight leaned down to pick fo...

Cooking Through Fiction: Blackberry Sunrise Scones

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There are many reasons to move to Midnight Gulch, Tennessee. One reason is because the whole town smells like waffle cones because of Dr. Zook’s Ice Cream Company, and who doesn’t love the warm, vanilla scents of baking waffle cones?

Felicity Pickle and her family arrive in Midnight Gulch in their van, the Pickled Jalapeño. They’re each looking for something; Felicity wants a home more than anything. She also wants a friend, but that’s not easy when you see words everywhere the same way others...

"The Baker's Man" Spring Giveaway — Enter Now!

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Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

The American writer Anais Nin said, “Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” In one of the final chapters of The Baker’s Man, Anna has reached a point in her life when she must riffle through the mess and find her dreams. It’s time she tossed them into space.
Anna is lucky enough to have people around her who love her and support her. She has friends and family, and she even has the whole town...

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 livein 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 real...

Cooking Through Fiction: Van Ripper Olykoeks

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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...