• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Book Index
    • Fiction
    • Non-Fiction
    • Top Ten Tuesdays
The Hungry Bookworm

The Hungry Bookworm

reading + eating

  • Recipes
    • Drinks
    • Snacks, Sides & Apps
    • Main Dishes
    • Desserts
    • 5 Ingredients or Less
  • About
    • Meet Megan
    • How I Rate
    • Review Policy
    • Contact

five ingredients or less

Kids Edition: Thank You and Good Night + Peanut Butter Cookies

February 27, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

When Henry was still a very tiny baby, we fell in love with a book I’d never even heard of before — Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell. We insisted on starting a bedtime routine around 3 months old and settled on: bottle, pajamas, book, bed. Almost a year later, bedtime remains the same (except the bottle is replaced with teeth brushing). We also always read two books, and this is often one of them.

Available at Bookshop.org and Amazon

In this book, three friends have a sleepover. Jean the elephant and Alan Alexander the bear spend the night at their friend Clement the bunny’s house. They play and play and eat and play until they are exhausted enough to finally go to bed. 

[Read more...] about Kids Edition: Thank You and Good Night + Peanut Butter Cookies

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, children's, cookies, easy prep, five ingredients or less

Devolution + Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Popsicles

January 19, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Max Brooks’ Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre is a wild ride. It is told primarily through the journal of Kate, a resident of the secluded Greenloop when it was attacked, along with a few post-massacre interviews. It’s both a scientific observation and a horror story, as we first discover Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot) with her and then watch as she and the other residents frantically scramble to protect and defend themselves when Bigfoot attacks.

Devolution by Max Brooks
Available at Bookshop.org and Amazon

This is the kind of book where I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that the book is not what it seems at the outset — which to me, at least, was a far-fetched romp about Bigfoot. Brooks does an excellent job of building his characters and the action. First, it progresses slowly, luring you in, and then aggressively so you can’t help but turn pages faster to keep up. I love seeing how different people cope in a time of crisis, and this is a study in those differences. 

[Read more...] about Devolution + Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Popsicles

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: dessert, easy prep, fiction, five ingredients or less, fruit, quick read

A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow + Strawberry and Cream Cheese Empanadas

January 9, 2021 by Megan 1 Comment

I first heard about Laura Taylor Namey’s young adult novel, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow on one of my favorite book podcasts, All the Books! It was described as delightful and heart-squeezing by Liberty Hardy, and she said the descriptions of food made her so hungry. I knew I had to pick it up, and luckily, I was able to get a copy from the library nearly right away!

A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

Lila is a Cuban-American girl living in Miami. As she graduates high school, Lila knew exactly what was in store for her future, but unfortunately, life had other plans. Newly adrift, she is sent to England to live with her cousin for the summer. Lila doesn’t sulk for long and soon she is getting back in the kitchen (her cousin lives at a bed and breakfast), making friends, and discovering a new future. 

[Read more...] about A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow + Strawberry and Cream Cheese Empanadas

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: books about food, dessert, easy prep, fiction, five ingredients or less, young adult

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School + Alfredo Sauce

November 17, 2020 by Megan 3 Comments

Kathleen Flinn’s The Kitchen Counter Cooking School is not what I expected. I bought it on a whim at a library used book sale (how I miss those!) because it looked food-related, and I love food-related reads. I think I thought it was fiction. Anyway, I recently picked it up as my selection for an alliterative read in my Long Distance Reading Challenge and realized it’s non-fiction. 

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

In it, Kathleen teaches nine women (apparently there was one male participant who ended up dropping out before it started) to cook. She starts by going to their houses to get a sense of what’s in their cupboards and fridges and their level of cooking skill. Then, the group meets weekly in a commercial kitchen, and Kathleen imparts her wisdom. The women make everything from simple vinaigrettes and bread to soups and braised pork. They learn knife skills and how to prepare and use a whole chicken. 

[Read more...] about The Kitchen Counter Cooking School + Alfredo Sauce

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: books about food, easy prep, five ingredients or less, nonfiction, pasta, sauce

Jell-O Girls + Layered Strawberry Jello Cups

January 5, 2019 by Megan 3 Comments

When I went to the library recently, the brightly colored cover of Allie Rowbottom’s Jell-O Girls caught my eye. I took it down to flip through it, and the blurbs proclaiming it as “an artfully crafted feminist excavation of an American legacy” and “an important and honest feminist history for right now” sealed the deal.

Jell-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom

The book is part family memoir and part nonfiction. In turns, it focuses on Allie’s family history and the so-called “curse” that plagued their men -- the family’s fortune earned when her great-great-great-uncle bought the patent for Jell-O for just $450 in 1899 -- as well as Jell-O’s history through a feminist lense.

[Read more...] about Jell-O Girls + Layered Strawberry Jello Cups

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: dessert, easy prep, feminism, five ingredients or less, memoir, nonfiction

Bread & Wine + Bacon-Wrapped Dates

November 25, 2017 by Megan 1 Comment

It’s wonderful to have someone so enthusiastically recommend a book to you one day and then, because they know you’ll love it, present it the next day for you to borrow. I am forever recommending books to others, and often pushing my own copy on them unbidden at the next opportunity, but it’s rare that I have someone do the same to me. I am forever grateful to my new coworker, who upon learning about my loves of reading and cooking (and subsequently my blog), shared one of her favorite books with me during her first week on the job.

Aside from recipes - admittedly, the cover looked delicious - I had no real expectations when sitting down with Shauna Niequist’s popular food memoir, Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes. As the title suggests, Niequist’s essays are overflowing with rich descriptions of food and the community it can help create. The memoir touches on not only her family and friends, with whom she loves to share meals, but also on her relationship with God and how that nourishes her in other ways.

In a memoir peppered with meaningful recipes, it can be challenging to choose the one that most represents it. While so many of them sounded appetizing, I went with the one Niequist had me wondering about from one of the very first chapters. She mentioned bacon-wrapped dates, stuffed with goat cheese, at least twice (and maybe more) before she finally revealed the recipe on page 171. The book is only 288 pages, so I was starting to get nervous it would never appear...when suddenly, there it was!

Niequist herself says in her introduction to the recipe that this appetizer is not the most practical thing to choose, if you’re only going to make one recipe from her book. Thankfully, since my heart was already set on them, she goes on to say that “practicality has never been my strong suit, so I think you should make these.” With her blessing, I did.

She describes them as a “go-to, serve-at-every-gathering, take-to-every-party treat” that people adore, so I decided to share them at Thanksgiving dinner this week. With only 3 ingredients and a strong suggestion to serve at room temperature, they were the perfect no-fuss thing to bring to my in-laws’.

On Thanksgiving morning, I gathered my ingredients - pitted dates, goat cheese, and bacon.

I started by slicing the bacon in half and then slicing the dates open to make little “date books” (pun intended).

I stuffed each date with a proportionate spoonful (using the teaspoon from our flatware set). I recommend using the date itself to help scrape the cheese off the spoon as you close it up.

Finally, I wrapped each date with a half-slice of bacon and placed each one seam down on a foil-lined baking sheet (with sides).

I placed the pan in a 400-degree oven and let them bake for 25 minutes, until they were crispy and brown. I let them cool for a moment before transferring them to a paper-towel lined plate to drain off a bit.

Before we left for our Thanksgiving dinner, I put the still warm bacon-wrapped dates into a serving dish to bring along. Of course, they were served on a much prettier platter (thanks to my mother-in-law), but here they are just before we left the house - looking delicious and tantalizing.

Thankfully, they were as delicious as promised and everyone enjoyed their addition to the appetizer selection. I would absolutely recommend adding these to your repertoire.

I’d also recommend picking up a copy of Niequist’s memoir, so you can read about all of the other recipes that had me drooling as I read. I can’t wait to try more of them myself.

Last but not least, I hope all those celebrating had a Happy (and food-filled) Thanksgiving! If you’re following along with my Thanksgiving Readathon, I’ll be wrapping that up with a post on Monday.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates

  • Servings: approximately 32 pieces
  • Time: 40 minutes
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. package of pitted dates
  • 4 oz. goat cheese
  • 16 oz. bacon

Directions

  1. Slice alongside one side of each date, from the top to the bottom, so you can open it like a tiny book. Scoop a small amount of goat cheese into the center of each one, and then close it back up.
  2. Cut the whole package of bacon in half, so that each long strip is now half as long. Wrap a half-slice of bacon around the outside of each date.
  3. Arrange seam side down in a baking dish or on a baking sheet with sides to catch any grease. A foil pan is really nice for no cleanup.
  4. Bake at 400-degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until well browned and crispy. Drain on a paper towel, and serve warm or at room temperature, but definitely not hot, unless you want to burn the roof of your mouth so badly you don’t taste anything for days.

From: Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist (pages 171-172)

This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: appetizer, books about food, dinner party, five ingredients or less, holiday, memoir, nonfiction, party

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

About

The Hungry Bookworm brings together literature and food. Megan has an insatiable appetite for both.

As C.S. Lewis said, “Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” Enjoy!

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Subscribe

Don't miss out on bookish content, exclusive giveaways, and of course, book club-friendly recipes. Get notified of new posts via email.

Join 2879 subscribers.

Search for Ingredients, Recipes, or Books

Recent Posts

  • Subscriber Box Review: Literati Book Club - Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club
  • Arsenic and Adobo + Ensaymada
  • Review of The Kindred Spirits Supper Club
  • Kids Edition: Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball + "Dirt" Pudding Cups
  • The Midnight Library + Broccoli and Ricotta Toast

Goodreads

Tags

5 ingredients or less appetizer baking book club book list book of the month books about food bread breakfast brunch chicken contemporary cookies cultural dessert dinner dinner party dystopia easy prep favorites fiction fruit historical fiction holiday ice cream linkup lunch meat memoir mini review nonfiction pasta quick read reading challenge science fiction seafood show us your books side dish snack soup TBR list thriller top ten tuesday vegetarian veggies

Archives

Other Great Book Blogs

Literary Quicksand
Never Enough Novels
Death by Tsundoku
Professional Reader 25 Book Reviews
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Footer Widget Header

Megan’s Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Hungry Bookworm