About The BryonySeries: Turkey Delight

Timothy, who devises the story concepts for The Adventures of Cornell Dyer (a BryonySeries subseries) is a huge fan of C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series.

That's why Timothy wanted to create a fun Narnia parody for the "Cornell Dyer" series, which we did .

The book is called "Cornell Dyer and the Whispering Wardrobe" and this is the synopsis:

While investigating a home with mysterious whispers, supernatural super sleuth Cornell Dyer stumbles upon its source: an antique wardrobe in a room all by itself. But when Cornell steps inside, he discovers the wardrobe is more than a wardrobe and a whisper is more than a whisper. Even if Cornell solves the mystery, will he ever go home?

"Cornell Dyer and the Whispering Wardobe" pays all kinds of homage to the original book, including Turkish Delight, a sweet treat made with a base of sugar and starch.

One of the Narnia children loves Turkish delight, so much that he betrays his siblings for the treat.

Modern children reading the Narnia series for the first time might not be familiar with Turkish Delight or crave it the way Edmond did in the Narnia series. 

And in "Cornell Dyer and the Whispering Wardrobe," Cornell (who loves to eat) was actually scornful of Turkish Delight.

Cornell scampered back to the wardrobe, as fast as his frozen feet could take him. He wasn’t running away from the whispers. Supernatural super sleuths never run from supernatural mysteries.

            No, Cornell was running back to the guest room and back to his motor home. Because he kept all his magical supplies in that motor home. He kept warm, dry clothes there, too. And he would bring those items back with him.

            “OW!”

             Cornell stubbed his toe on something hard and tripped. He fell flat on his face in the very cold, very wet snow.

            He quickly jumped up and wrang the snow out of his nightshirt. What did he trip on? He picked it up.

            It was a can studded with colorful sparkling jewels. The can had a label with just two words: Turkish Delight.

            Cornell had heard of this chewy, sweet, gel-like candy with pistachios inside it. But he didn’t care about Turkish Delight. Cornell liked giant chocolate bars. The bigger the bar, the better Cornell liked it.

            “Turkish Delight?” Cornell grumbled out loud. His toe throbbed from the stubbing. His cold, wet face burned from falling in the cold, wet snow. “Who eats Turkish Delight anymore? Why, the last time I saw anyone buy Turkish Delight, I was in…”

            Then Cornell stopped himself. “Who cares about Turkish Delight? I should care about getting out of the cold and into dry clothes!”

            Cornell tossed the can aside and dove into the fur coats.

But to keep with the Narnia spirit and Cornell's obsession with good food, we created "this" instead:

When Cornell finally woke up, Mrs. Beaver was bringing his dinner tray. On his plate was a heaping mound of sandwiches.

“These are yummy,” Cornell said, talking with his mouth open as he chewed, which is very rude. He was also eating his fifth sandwich. “These are the best sandwiches I have ever eaten.”

Mrs. Beaver blushed.

“Thank you,” she said. “It’s my own recipe. I call it ‘Turkey Delight.’

So to wrap this up (could be a turkey wrap), here's a question only you can answer.

What ingredient, ingredients, or manner of preparation might turn an ordinary turkey sandwich into Turkey Delight for you?

Sue's Diner: Turkey and Dressing

This week's recipe for Turkey and Dressing is part of the Thanksgiving menu that's featured in the BryonySeries cookbook: Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony," which is a permanent fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

The recipe is referenced in the novel Bryony. 

The entire Thanksgiving menu is included in the cookbook: Steve’s Roast Turkey, Stuffing, and Dressing; Roasted Root Vegetable Medley; Traditional Cornbread; Biscuits, Homemade Salad Dressing; Darlene's Trifle; Darlene's Pumpkin Roll; and Sausage Gravy (to top the leftover biscuits for Friday's breakfast). 

Here is the explanation from the cookbook:

For the Marchellis’ first Thanksgiving in Munsonville, Melissa’s little brother Brian shows off the depth of his newly acquired culinary skills, under the direction of his mentor, Steve Barnes, the village maintenance man.

You can try our Turkey and Dressing recipes on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. 

But try the recipes this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place.

If would you like all the recipes for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, the cookbook is available immediately on Kindle from Amazon. 

If you have any troubleshooting questions or comments, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at bryonyseries.com.

Sue's Diner: Turkey and Dressing

 Good morning!

I shared the following "Thanksgiving" story last week (and the week before that).

But for those who missed it, I'm sharing it again - along with a new recipe.

Why am I sharing the same story again?

Because someone who isn't celebrating a "traditional" Thanksgiving might feel encouraged by it.

Because Thanksgiving happens more in the heart than on the table.

Feast well, dear readers!

When our family delivered thousands of newspapers each night in the middle of the night, Thanksgiving week was the most challenging week of the year.

The newspapers themselves were enormous, which took longer to prepare for delivery, and often required multiple trips for delivery.

Because the holiday season would officially begin with that publication (at least in the newspaper world), newsroom deadlines were right and we had more pre-stuffing of ads for us and the kids customers, for other newspaper carriers would pay my children (at the rate of $5 per hundred) to do the stuffing for them.

This meant we had more work as a family while simultaneously losing the help of one member (me) for part of the time.

For many years, we arrived home too late and, quite frankly, too tired to cook a proper Thanksgiving dinner, since we would be back on our feet again in a few hours.

So we created our own tradition: poor boys, kettle chips, raw vegetables platter, and pumpkin pie. That dinner is still part of our Thanksgiving weekend tradition.

But a few years ago, with those midnight days behind us, we began a new tradition: building our Thanksgiving dinner around the recipes in the BryonySeries cookbook: Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."

Like the recipe I'm sharing with you today.

Each week for the next three weeks, I'll share one of those recipes with you on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. 

This week's recipe for turkey and dressing is actually two recipes, submitted by two different contributors for the cookbook.

If you want to keep it, copy and save it. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place. 

Of course, it would you like all the recipes, order the cookbook from the BryonySeries store or Amazon. 

All proceeds are donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.