I was cleaning out the pantry this past weekend, when a book literally fell on my head. A bit dazed, I looked on the ground to find one of my favorite memories as a child laying by my feet; Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes cookbook! I stopped what I was doing (nice excuse to not keep cleaning!) and flipped through the colorful recipes. The memories of all his wonderful books filled my head as I scanned over each recipe; The BFG, The Witches, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and of course Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember when my mom first bought the book for me, I was so jazzed (yes, jazzed!) that we could make some of the treats that I had read in his books. Even though Taylor isn’t old enough to really grasp how freakin’ cool it will be to try some ‘Lickable Wallpaper’ or taste the delicious yet evil chocolate cake from Matilda, I’m beyond excited to have found the book for future cooking adventures. There are so many colorful children’s books that have the possibility of becoming delicious recipes; The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Give a Mouse A Cookie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs are some that come to mind. Mixing delicious food with fun books is a great way to get your child interested in nutrition and reading! Reading and cooking? Count me in!
Below I’ve added one of my favorites straight from the book, and if you make this fun creation…let me know how it turns out!
Lickable Wallpaper
(from Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes)
(This wallpaper needs to be made a day or two before serving to allow it to dry out. It keeps easily for a week and can be rolled up for storage)
You Will Need:
food processor
small Pyrex bowl
Small saucepan
plastic wrap
rolling-pin
wire rack
5 oz. dried apple chunks
1/2 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon gelatin
Apple Wallpaper:
1) In a food processor, puree the apple chunks with the brown sugar until the mixture resembles chopped nuts
2) Put the water in the small Pyrex bowl and sprinkles in the gelatin. Let stand for 5 minutes, then set the bowl in a small saucepan filled with a little simmering water and let the gelatin dissolve.
3) Once the gelatin has dissolved, slowly add it to the apple puree and mix well.
4) Shape the puree into a ball and place it on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Gently flatten it with your hand into a square shape.
5) Now place another sheet of plastic wrap on top and gently roll out the puree into a thin squarish sheet about 1/16 of an inch thick. (you should be able to see through it when it is held up to the light)
6) Rest the wallpaper on a wire rack and carefully remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place to dry out.
7) After eight hours or so turn the wallpaper over, gently remove the bottom sheet of plastic wrap, and let dry again.
8) To decorate, cut each sheet of fruit into long strips of equal width and decorate with fresh fruit, melted chocolate, icing, etc.
{Steph}
Have you made any recipes that correspond to your favorite books?
It was always great fun to do activities around books in the preschool I worked at. We made pancakes for “If you Give a Pig A Pancake.” And we also asked each kid to bring in a vegetable for “Stone Soup.” We would even clean and run through the dishwasher a few times a stone so it could be in there as well. I love this recipe! “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is a book I need to read!
The Stone Soup idea is so cute!! I swear it makes eating nutritious so much more fun when it relates to a book
No cool recipes to share, but I am so saving this one for when my kids are old enough to read this book–this is awesome!