Blaire's Hug in a Bowl

Or broccoli cheddar soup!

Blaire's time as Girl of the Year is coming to an end, and before she rides off, I wanted to try my hand at at least one more of the recipes American Girl released to celebrate her time in the sun. She might make the occasional appearance around these parts the same way Grace does, but the odds of American Girl producing any other Blaire content moving forward is pretty slim, and I have to admit, this recipe caught the interest of this cheese loving blogger from the moment I read her books. Read on to learn how to make Blaire's famous Hug in a Bowl yourself!

Blaire's Awesome Sauce

A sauce that's chock full of veggies and pretty easy to make!

In April, I shared the official recipe for Blaire's dairy-free chocolate chip brownies with you, and spoke about how this year's Girl of the Year has to deal with the frustration of developing lactose intolerance, which means a lot of adapting for this aspiring chef. In her second book, Blaire Cooks Up a Plan, her primary theme makes a pretty big shift, from adapting to food intolerance (and a sort of half hearted attempt at discussing screen addiction) to confronting food insecurity by helping those in need. 

This recipe is inspired by Blaire's community service project, and is featured as a recipe in the back of Blaire Cooks Up a Plan the same way the brownies were. Read on to find out more about this recipe, as well as how to make it yourself!

The Blaire Wilson Tea at American Girl Place

A special event to celebrate 2019's Girl of the Year!

One of the projects I picked up in grad school was doing a deep dive into the history of American Girl programming and marketing to see how the brand has changed over time in hopes of publishing my results in a journal or as an actual monograph. Whether or not that's ever going to happen is still up in the air, but a fun benefit of tackling this has meant I've had a perfect excuse to attend a lot of neat American Girl themed or sponsored events as "research". 

Being close to an American Girl Place has made that even easier, and so when I saw the announcement that AG Place DC was going to be hosting a series of Blaire themed teas, I jumped at the chance to go! Read on to see our pictures of the event and our review - is it worth attending?

Blaire's Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Brownies

Or more accurately, Eli's Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Brownies!

I don’t often devote blog posts to the Girl of the Year dolls, mostly because this is meant to be a historical cooking blog, and current food history isn’t always as exciting as trying out Abraham Lincoln’s favorite cake. Sometimes exceptions are made, though, and so today’s recipe is inspired by and from Blaire’s second book Blaire Cooks Up a Plan. 

Blaire Wilson is the Girl of the Year for 2019. She’s from a fictional town in upstate New York, and lives on her family farm with her parents, younger brother, and grandfather. She’s recently discovered she’s lactose intolerant and trying to figure out how to cope with that, while also helping a family friend plan a wedding and learning about food insecurity, or when people are in the position of not being sure when, where, or what their next meal will be. 

It’s a lot to cover in two books, and I have some thoughts and opinions on how well it’s tackled. Read on to find out more, as well as a review of the dairy free brownie recipe featured in her books!