Books in Real Life, Episode 4: Nowhere But Home

Rachel & I have yet another collaborative feature to share with you all! Every so often, we're going to be drawing inspiration from some of our favorite novels, whether it's in the form of activities or events or places, and making them happen in real life. It's our way of making these books come to life, challenging ourselves to be more active and, of course, encouraging you to read these books!

The idea for this edition of Books in Real Life came up unexpectedly, almost right after I had finished reading Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer earlier this year. There are many reasons to love Nowhere But Home (seriously, just check out my review), and that's a given. But there's one element of it that stood out to us both - the Number One. It's a recipe that was created by Queenie & Merry Carole's mom, and one that people come from all over to have - and a dish that we both wished we could get a taste of. Do you see where this is going?

On the night before Rachel & I left for Apollycon, we decided to get down and dirty in the kitchen and make ourselves a Number One (based on this recipe). Rachel had already went grocery shopping for the ingredients, so all that was left to do was actually do the cooking. Now, y'all know I'm no cook, but I was happy to help with the preparation and the documentation. (And there's proof I did attempt to cook things in the photos below!)

How was the Number One? It was delicious! It's comfort food, tasty and filling, and it reminded me immediately of Nowhere But Home and how significant this was in that novel. We were actually stuffed pretty quick because it was so dang filling, but no complaints, because everything left my stomach utterly satisfied.

1. Would I do this again? I definitely would give this one another go! I actually want to try making it at home for my husband and my sister. It will be an interesting experiment to see if I can manage without Rachel's expertise...

2. What was your favorite part or a memorable moment? I personally love that Rachel encouraged me to jump out of my comfort zone. As many people know, I don't normally cook (except for the basics). So to try my hand at a recipe without any prior experience? A little scary. Thankfully, it was fun, turned out great and now Rachel and I have a fun memory of me jumping, yelping and grabbing pots off stoves.

3. Anything you wish you'd known beforehand? I wish I'd known not to eat lunch? I loved all the stuff we made, but I was pretty full from lunch that I didn't get to eat as much of it as I would have wanted to.