For quite some time, Brayden has been fascinated by the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook that Nicole was given by Gigi years ago. Being a HUGE Dr. Seuss lover, Brayden will randomly read through the cookbook and find a particular recipe or two that look good to him ...and then beg me to make it. I typically decline because most of the recipes use unusual ingredients (at least in my pantry), but last week I suggested that we mark Saturday as Dr. Seuss Food Day and eat completely from the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook all day. That's right -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with snacks, drinks, and desserts -- all from the GE&HC! Suffice it to say, Brayden thought that was the best idea ever.
NOTE: the GE&HC was created by cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan. She and her young daughter, Frankie, dug through all 44 of Dr. Seuss' books to identify wacky foods that she could then bring to life in her own way. These recipes are meant to produce a dish that mimics food found in the books ...but, in my humble opinion, there are clear hits and misses. Some recipes were great, some were not -- I'll give you my opinion of them as we move along, as well as the books from which each recipe was inspired.
So on we went, bravely into the GE&HC first thing Saturday morning. And although there are many breakfast options, how could we choose anything other than green eggs and ham?! So our breakfast inspiration, as if it isn't obvious, comes from Green Eggs and Ham.
We cooked up the ham (already sliced, the kids weren't interested in the large show-ham from the book) and the eggs and voilà!
After breakfast, we set to making the drink of the day. Again, there were many options from which to choose, but the kids' favorite recipe came from If I Ran the Circus -- "Circus McGurkus Lemonade." This drink is a basic scratch-made lemonade blended with black cherry juice. It was a bit tart, but they chose to drink it all day!
For lunch, the kids picked what I thought would be a crowd-pleaser, "The Cat's Mac and Cheese" from The Cat's Quizzer (this book was new to me). However, after executing what turned out to be a highly involved recipe, I was very disappointed. In an attempt to make this kid-friendly, I believe the author simplified the flavors so much that it became tasteless. I think we'll definitely stick with my own mac and cheese recipe ...but I digress. The kids loved the idea of it, even if they didn't think it tasted great!
Our afternoon snack came to us courtesy of Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book -- "Biggel-Balls." Now these were fantastic!! They were basically bite-sized cheese balls. Think about that yummy cheese ball your mother or grandmother always makes as an appetizer at Thanksgiving or Christmas -- and now think of them as little, single bites. Soooo good!! Brayden picked all the components, so we used sharp cheddar and rolled them in a mix of almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, but you could use any seed or nut you like. I'm hoping Brayden can make these for a holiday meal this year!
Now it's confession time... I'm out of pictures. Sorry! I can tell you, however, that for dinner, we ate "Jedd's Bed of Shrimp" from Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. They were simply popcorn shrimp, and the kids LOVED them! So much, that we've already eaten popcorn shrimp again since Saturday. For dessert, I was very excited to make the "Katroo 'Happy Birthday to You' Cake" from Happy Birthday to You! But my excitement was short lived because the cake was a big flop. Not only was the basic chocolate cake recipe too dense, but it didn't rise at all. It was hardly a cake! In the end, it looked like a brownie with buttercream icing. Not bad to eat, just not at all what it could be!
All in all, it was a fun day of eating! If you have any questions about the GE&HC or the recipes, let me know.
NOTE: the GE&HC was created by cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan. She and her young daughter, Frankie, dug through all 44 of Dr. Seuss' books to identify wacky foods that she could then bring to life in her own way. These recipes are meant to produce a dish that mimics food found in the books ...but, in my humble opinion, there are clear hits and misses. Some recipes were great, some were not -- I'll give you my opinion of them as we move along, as well as the books from which each recipe was inspired.
So on we went, bravely into the GE&HC first thing Saturday morning. And although there are many breakfast options, how could we choose anything other than green eggs and ham?! So our breakfast inspiration, as if it isn't obvious, comes from Green Eggs and Ham.
We cooked up the ham (already sliced, the kids weren't interested in the large show-ham from the book) and the eggs and voilà!
After breakfast, we set to making the drink of the day. Again, there were many options from which to choose, but the kids' favorite recipe came from If I Ran the Circus -- "Circus McGurkus Lemonade." This drink is a basic scratch-made lemonade blended with black cherry juice. It was a bit tart, but they chose to drink it all day!
For lunch, the kids picked what I thought would be a crowd-pleaser, "The Cat's Mac and Cheese" from The Cat's Quizzer (this book was new to me). However, after executing what turned out to be a highly involved recipe, I was very disappointed. In an attempt to make this kid-friendly, I believe the author simplified the flavors so much that it became tasteless. I think we'll definitely stick with my own mac and cheese recipe ...but I digress. The kids loved the idea of it, even if they didn't think it tasted great!
Our afternoon snack came to us courtesy of Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book -- "Biggel-Balls." Now these were fantastic!! They were basically bite-sized cheese balls. Think about that yummy cheese ball your mother or grandmother always makes as an appetizer at Thanksgiving or Christmas -- and now think of them as little, single bites. Soooo good!! Brayden picked all the components, so we used sharp cheddar and rolled them in a mix of almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, but you could use any seed or nut you like. I'm hoping Brayden can make these for a holiday meal this year!
Now it's confession time... I'm out of pictures. Sorry! I can tell you, however, that for dinner, we ate "Jedd's Bed of Shrimp" from Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. They were simply popcorn shrimp, and the kids LOVED them! So much, that we've already eaten popcorn shrimp again since Saturday. For dessert, I was very excited to make the "Katroo 'Happy Birthday to You' Cake" from Happy Birthday to You! But my excitement was short lived because the cake was a big flop. Not only was the basic chocolate cake recipe too dense, but it didn't rise at all. It was hardly a cake! In the end, it looked like a brownie with buttercream icing. Not bad to eat, just not at all what it could be!
All in all, it was a fun day of eating! If you have any questions about the GE&HC or the recipes, let me know.
