Delicious Reads: Book Club Food Ideas

Thursday, May 25, 2017

"Kids of Appetite" Book Club Food Ideas

There are so many good ideas in this book. They talk about food all the time. We chose some of our favorites to eat at book club but I am sure there are many more you could have chosen from. This was a night full of good food and lot's of ice cream.

"The Boys in the Boat" Book Club Food Ideas

The rowing boys in this book are constantly hungry and so we knew that the food should be an important part in our book club night. But these boys also grew up in the Great Depression where food was really scarce. We though it would be perfect to have the Breakfast of Champions which was perfect for our Boys in the Boat. Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner too!

"Anne of Green Gables" Book Club Ideas Part 1

We have been wanting to read this book for a while now and we finally get to discuss it. Check out these book club food ideas for Anne of Green Gables. Robin put together the perfect menu for our book club night. We hope that this will inspire you also.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Book Club Ideas

"There is nothing like the silence and loneliness of night to bring dark shadows over the brightest mind."
— Washington Irving

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seemed like the perfect choice for an October book club read. Surprisingly, few of us had read the book, so we didn't know much about it except it was short and about a headless horseman. Or course, we all learned so much more about this Gothic tale and had a great discussion about how the short story came to be!

Harry Potter Book Club Food Ideas

As always, food is really important to us but it was ESPECIALLY important for our 10 year Harry Potter retreat!
Our menu was based off food mentioned through out the books and prepared by Hogwarts house elves. We had two different menus. One for our dinner feast and one for our English style breakfast. And we had a HUGE dessert and sweet shop bar we could graze from during the evening!

Dobby aka Erika, was in charge of our Food Committee and she did such a fabulous job. Thank you so much Erika and everyone who was on the food committee!!

"Ready Player One" Book Club Ideas Part 1

We finally read the highly rated book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and I am so glad we did. This book was published in 2011 and I don't know why I didn't hear of it back then but now I recommend it to anyone who asks for a book suggestion. This was such a fun book and having grown up in the eighties I truly appreciated all the 80's references.

In the book Percival (the main character) went to a world where there was an exact replica of Happy Time Pizza, a favorite pizza joint with arcade games that James Halliday (the super smart gazillionaire who died and set up a treasure hunt to win all his money) went to as a kid. So what a perfect idea for the food for book club. I decided to have build your own pizzas. I provided the dough and had it ready to go for when people started to show up.

Delicious Dish : My Best Clam Chowder

Okay, so I fibbed. It's not completely MY best clam chowder recipe but I did made several modifications after this month's book club for Orphan Train (by Christina Baker Kline) to make it worthy of the chowders I remember back home in Southern California (you can find the original recipe here).

...and I know what you're thinking. Clam chowder? Whoa there. Red light. That's where some of your eyes go glossy and you head over to another recipe.

I get it.

Any new recipe that has seafood or meat has my heart pounding and all sorts nervous too. I'm more of a banana-zucchini bread/oatmeal chocolate chip/pumpkin pie kind of girl myself.

But maybe you're trying to get out of your comfort zone, away from your old boring recipes, or even getting more of an adventurous palate...there's every reason to make this chowder. It's not "fishy" at all (if you have an aversion to seafood) and it is an insanely easy recipe that no one can screw up...except if you don't follow the most important golden rule below:

"Orphan Train" Book Club Ideas Part 1

Have you read this incredible story about our history in America? I had no idea that this happened with orphans in America.Some of the food ideas are from the book like the "Terry's Famous Chowder" but most of this book took place during the great depression so food was scarce and there was no way I was eating squirrel as the main dish. So we improvised. How perfect was it to put the toy train around the food! Read on to see what we put together.

Delicious Dish: Creamy, Cheesy Potato Soup

Fall and winter are the perfect months for a good 'ol hearty soup and this one is one of my favorites. You can't go wrong with potatoes and cheese! We had this soup at our Illuminae book club night and it was the perfect addition to our salad bar. The great thing about this soup is that you can make it ahead of time and stick it in a slow cooker to keep warm or just reheat right beforehand.

Edenbrooke Book Club Ideas {Part 1}

We read the super awesome Proper Romance book Edenbrooke this last month and I think that every single one of us loved it. Some loved it so much they kept reading more of her books like Heir to Edenbrooke (a short kindle only novella) and Blackmoore (which has nothing to do with Edenbrooke but some said was even better). So if you are looking to read Edenbrooke for your book club check out our yummy food ideas.

Book Club Ideas Part 1 for "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" {by C.S. Lewis}

“To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy the Valiant. To the great western woods, King Edmund the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to the clear northern skies, I give you King Peter the Magnificent. Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Food Ideas for "Murder on the Orient Express" {by Agatha Christie}

We had SO much fun reading and discussing Murder on the Orient Express, we highly recommend reading it for yourself or in your book club! I promise, you WON'T guess who the murderer is!

Food Ideas for "Shutter" {by Courtney Alameda}

This month's book club we read the YA Thriller Shutter by Courtney Alameda.

We thought this would be the perfect time of year to read a scary book with Halloween just around the corner. The food table was positively spooky with the bloody table cloth and dry ice fogging over everything.

Delicious Dish: Sunday's Brown Sugar & Bacon Baked Beans Recipe

My mom has been making these beans for almost 40 years, tweaking my grandmother's recipe here and there and making it her own. I have not had one recipe that has even come close to tasting as good as hers. I think that's my opinion with all family recipes so I was excited to share this nostalgic dish for our book club party for Station Eleven.

Kellie had little individual jars and tin cans to serve these in and it was the perfect post-apocalyptic menu item.

The secret is the long bake time which allows all the flavors to meld together making the beans soft, creamy, and perfectly sweet and rich. I have a terrible sweet tooth, so this satisfies that craving, plus it's dairy and gluten free and rich in protein. Comfort food at it's finest!

Food Ideas for "Station Eleven" {by Emily St. John Mandel}

We read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel this past month.

The whole idea behind this menu was to think organic camping food. In the book there is a group of traveling actors and musicians that go from town to town performing for the people and bringing art and music to help lift their spirits. They are called "The Traveling Symphony". So I wanted to do the food based around them. What would "The Traveling Symphony" eat while on the road. I wanted everything to be homemade, organic from a garden or scavenged from a house.

Food Ideas for "Wonder" {by RJ Palacio}

We have finally read the thought provoking, charming, cry worthy book,

"Wonder" by RJ Palacio

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face

Wonder was published in 2012 and has had so many rave reviews and has been discussed by many book clubs and hundreds of classrooms and schools. What better way to represent "Wonder" than by to make the food themed around elementary school!?

Food Ideas for "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" {by Jules Verne}

This month we read, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne.

Food Ideas for "The Devil in the White City" {by Erik Larson}

The Book we read this month was "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. Many of us started reading this book without knowing what it was about. About a third of the way through it some of us thought, "Is this fiction or non fiction?" The H.H. Holmes plot was like something out of a fiction novel, truly an unbelievable story that unfortunately, really happened.

Food Ideas for "My Life in France" {byJulia Child}

How can you read a book about food and not go all out on the menu for book club night?
We certainly didn't scrimp on anything and brought our "A food game!"

Whitney did such a great job picking the food for tonight and put a lot of thought into which dishes she wanted to highlight while making sure not to choose recipes that were over our head.

I mean, have you read this book and all the food they talk about?? You can gain 5 lbs just reading about it all because it makes you so hungry!

(PS. I'm loving this Eiffel Tower)

{Food}

Julia wrote this book with her two French friends. She spent many years perfecting the recipes and deciding which ones to put into the book. You should buy it if you want to Master French cooking OR if you're like me and just LOVE how darling it looks on your bookshelf.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking

I was so inspired I wanted both of her books so I bought them in this set. Aren't they beautiful?

We did a fuzzy drink with Fruit Puree but if you are not opposed to alcohol Julie talks extensively about Wine, well her husband Paul talks a lot about Wine and the different types and which ones to eat with each food type.

French Bread