Roald Dahl Book Celebrations: James and the Giant Peach; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
I remember reading James and the Giant Peach in upper elementary school and feeling it was the oddest book I had ever encountered. It was a story that stuck with you for a variety of reasons. So, of course, I had to have my own children experience this weirdly wonderful story.
To celebrate we watched the movie and made some delicious (and simple) food. Let's start with the main dish: Peach Chicken.
This is the simplest recipe, with a shortcut if you need it! My children called it "amazing" and "so sweet."
Ingredients:
3 - 4 large chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons with butter
2 tablespoons flakey sea salt
1 can of peaches (no syrup) or 3 - 4 ripe peaches (peeled and sliced)
3 tablespoons of honey
Directions:
Melt butter in the pan
Season the chicken with chili powder, salt, and Italian seasoning
Sear chicken in a pan for about 2 - 3 minutes per side
Remove chicken and add peaches to the pan - let simmer for 3-4 minutes
Add chicken to the pan and drizzle with honey
Cover the pan and cook on medium for about 15 minutes
Uncover and flip the chicken - cook for an additional 5 minutes
Slice the chicken in the pan (cut breasts into 3 large pieces) and let simmer for another 5 minutes
Remove from heat and serve! It is wonderful to use the left-over peach mixture as a pour over for the chicken or on salad, as a dressing
As a fun treat, I made Nilla Wafer ladybug cookies using red icing, melted chocolate, and mini chocolate chips. If I did it again I would use Junior Mints for the ladybug heads. I also used Oreos, pretzel sticks, and silly candy eyes to make Miss Spider treats!
The last two items were even simpler! The centipedes were just grapes on a skewer and I used a little melted chocolate to make eyes. And then I threw some pretzel sticks in a bowl to represent fishing poles, for when they were in the ocean. You could also call them grasshopper legs. If you wanted to add a salad (I didn't have time), you could call it grasshopper greens!
Another fun book, which brought lots of nostalgia for me, was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Wonderfully weird is how my children describe this tale. We really didn't do a lot for this celebration. We just made some chocolate candy bars and picked some of our favorite candy to throw on top of popcorn. It is okay to be simple. My kids love it regardless of how complicated the snack, dinner, or tea time is.
These chocolate peanut butter bars are so addicting, and my children cannot get enough of them. We called them candy bars for the purpose of the movie. Grab the recipe below.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar (I have omitted this before and it's still yummy and better for you)
3/4 cup of peanut butter (if you use natural, you'll need to keep it in the freezer or fridge or it'll get too soft)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of rice cereal (like Rice Krispies - you can buy organic puffed rice also)
12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (can omit but makes the melting and spreading of chocolate much easier)
1 - 2 tablespoons of flakey sea salt (up to you)
Directions:
In a saucepan melt the first three ingredients over low
Once melted, remove from the heat and add rice cereal
Spread in 8x8 pan (I line mine with parchment)
Let cool in freezer for about 20 minutes
Melt chocolate and shortening
Cover bars and sprinkle with sea salt
Freeze for one hour or refrigerate overnight
I cannot even tell you how yummy they are!
Happy Reading!
Jenna
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