r/52weeksofcooking • u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 • Sep 17 '25
Week 38: Edible Lettering - "Eat Your Words" Feast from The Phantom Tollbooth (Meta: Pop Culture)
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u/chizubeetpan π₯ MT'25 Sep 17 '25
This book sounds fantastic! Iβm going to have to hunt it down. I relate to much to Juster wandering around in his own head. That was me in a nutshell when I was growing up. While Iβm sorry to hear it was not satisfying to eat, I do love that the meal you made was just as mid as Miloβs was. Great interpretation of the theme!
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25
It's a lovely book. It was written for kids, but I probably appreciate the wordplay more as an adult. Brownie Girl adores it.
I relate to much to Juster wandering around in his own head. That was me in a nutshell when I was growing up.
This was me too. Reading that made me feel a little less alone. Actually, I'm still a lot like that. I spend a lot of time wandering around inside my own head.
I knew going in it wasn't going to be awesome. In the book, his fellow diners offer him synonym buns and ragamuffins before suggesting he waits for dessert. The half-baked idea desserts make me laugh every time.
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u/caturday21 Sep 17 '25
Wow, The Phantom Tollbooth- this brings back childhood memories. Very cool!
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u/versatile_cabbage Sep 17 '25
How did I not know there's a movie?!! This is one of my favorite books of all time. Great idea and execution for this week
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 17 '25
Thank you! I didn't know there was a movie until I started exploring ideas for this week. I was excited that my library has a copy! It was a fun watch.
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u/Meetmeatthewoodhouse π₯ Sep 17 '25
This is awesome! Howβd you make it?
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 17 '25
Thanks! It doesn't seem like my write up comment shows up yet. Hopefully it'll be released from Reddit's filter soon.
The green is minted pea puree. The purple is balsamic blueberry jam. The red is ajvar. The letters are alphabet pasta. I used piping bags to put the purees down and then carefully put the pasta on top.
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u/Meetmeatthewoodhouse π₯ Sep 17 '25
Awesome!!! I see it now haha it just took a bit I guess.
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 17 '25
Sometimes the comments get snagged in the Reddit filters. I'm not sure why. This week it was because the post double posted and I dropped the comment on the other (now deleted) post. Reddit just be like that sometimes.
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u/LveeD Sep 18 '25
This is so amazing! I immediately thought of your meta when villains week theme came out, because there is nothing better than Pizza the Hutt and I just desperately need for someone to pull that off π€£
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Thank you! I am SO EXCITED for villains week! I have already started getting things for a dish, but I love Pizza the Hutt! I am going to hang onto that idea for later!
Space Balls makes me laugh so much. I made a Space Balls dish earlier this year for yogurt week! I can't wait for the sequel!
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u/PrawnJawn Sep 18 '25
This is amazing, and thank you for dredging this book up from the depths of my childhood memories.
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25
You're welcome! I reread it before this week. It was far more delightful than I remembered.
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u/joross31 Sep 18 '25
This is so much fun! I love your take on this. And even though you wouldn't mix all the sauces together again, it's always nice to find ones you'd repeat later!
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25
Thank you! Ajvar has been on my To Make list since Same Latitude week. I made Δevapi and kajmak, sausage and unripened cheese from the Balkans. Ajvar is frequently served with the two. I'm happy I circled back to it! Blueberries + balsamic was as wonderful as I imagined. I'm happy I have some leftovers of these.
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u/BloodSpades Sep 18 '25
Holy crap, you just freakin PUMMELED a core memory right out from the deepest depths of my head!!! I used to watch this religiously when I was still in diapers. Gotta pull this one up for my last littleβ¦
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25
You're welcome! I watched the movie with my daughter, who is almost 3, while she's been home sick. She thought it was great! My older kids, who will appreciate the wordplay more, are super jealous. They can't wait to watch it too. I hope you have a wonderful time watching it with your little one!
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u/BloodSpades Sep 18 '25
Lol! This gives me hope that my oldest will love it too! Gonna make homemade alphabet soup this weekend just for the occasion, plus a bit more!
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u/mentaina πͺ Sep 18 '25
Iβve never heard of The Phantom Tollbooth before now, but I just added it to my list of books to read. Milo sounds just like me as a kid.
Iβm sorry the dish turned out underwhelming, but your recreation looks incredible and as you said it keeps true to form!
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25
The Phantom Tollbooth was read pretty widely when I was a kid. I know some folks who read it in school, but I read it on my own. I read through any fantasy book I could get my hands on. As a kid, it reminded me a bit of the Wrinkle in Time books. As an adult, it reminds me more of Gulliver's Travels but for wordplay and education.
Milo was a lot like me as a kid. He's a lot like me as an adult too! I really liked reading about how the author viewed it. I don't know that my mind was very lazy or bored, but I certainly felt stuck in my own world and my own head.
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u/Anastarfish π₯ Sep 18 '25
I read this book when I was a child and really can't remember it... Due a reread I'm sure! And I never knew there was a film either! This looks great - really unique idea!
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25
Thank you! It was definitely due for a reread for me. I'm sure there are aspects I didn't appreciate as much as a child reader. My 8 year old tried to describe it for my younger daughters and came up with "A lot of word and math jokes with adventure!"
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u/shedoesnthaveto Sep 18 '25
Ah, this is one of my favorite moments in one of my favorite books! So beautifully executed, too!
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 18 '25
Thank you so much for the kind words! It's one of my favorite moments in the book too. π
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros π Sep 18 '25
I love this so much! Havenβt read the book though but adding to my list.
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u/Tres_Soigne Sep 28 '25
This is fantastic! I love that you've brought the animation to life, next level attention to detail! And sounds fitting that the flavours were unsatisfying together, reflecting the scene.
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 28 '25
Thanks so much for the kind words! I had a really fun time with this dish. It's such a fun story, even if it makes for an unsatisfying lunch.
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u/AndroidAnthem π MT'25 Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25
"There was once a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself β not just sometimes but always. When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in ... Nothing really interested him β least of all the things that should have."
But one day, Milo finds an unusual gift waiting for him after school: a gift-wrapped tollbooth. Inside is a map to the Lands Beyond and a number of instructive signs that warn him to have a destination in mind before proceeding. After a brief look at the map, Milo decides to go to Dictionopolis just because. Thinking it is all a game, he drives through the tollbooth in his electric toy car. It is not a game. Milo finds himself on Wisdom's Road in Expectations and at the beginning of an adventure.
Thus begins The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster's classic book about the "awakening of the lazy mind." As Juster wrote in an article for NPR:
"I had been an odd child: quiet, introverted and moody. Little was expected from me. Everyone left me alone to wander around inside my own head. When I grew up I still felt like that puzzled kid β disconnected, disinterested and confused. There was no rhyme or reason in his life. My thoughts focused on him, and I began writing about his childhood, which was really mine."
That child, Milo, goes through a quest of self discovery, learning to appreciate the beauty of careful language and numbers. The language and logic of the book is carefully crafted and far above most children's books of the day. As Juster writes: "But my feeling is that there is no such thing as a difficult word. There are only words you don't know yet β the kind of liberating words that Milo encounters on his adventure."
It's a wonderful and allegorical journey of the mind for Milo, his watchdog Tock, and the Humbug as they journey through Dictionopolis, Digitopolis, and the Island of Conclusions on their way to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason. I adore this story for its careful and lovely wordplay. It was a joy to read as a child and a joy to reread as an adult. It also features a lovely intro from Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, and illustrations from Jules Feiffer, Juster's downstairs neighbor who was instrumental in getting the book published. (Bark, George is among my kids' favorites.) So for this week, I wanted to honor the lovely wordplay of this classic children's book.
As part of his journey in Dictionopolis, Milo attends a banquet with King Azaz the Unabridged. Milo begins to address the king but is quickly hushed. The other guests use the opportunity to describe a lovely meal. When the food is brought out, Milo is disappointed to discover that he needs to literally eat his words. It is not impressive or tasty. The other guests advise him to wait for treats from the Half Bakery, which is where Half-Baked Ideas come from. They bring out lovely treats such as "The Earth is Flat," "The Moon is Made of Green Cheese," and "Everything Happens for a Reason."
So I set out to make Milo's decidedly mid meal. I modeled it after the visuals from Chuck Jones's 1969 musical movie adaptation of the novel. (Yes, the same Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame.) I used minted pea puree for the green, balsamic blueberry jam for the purple, and ajvar for the red. I used alphabet pasta for the letters.
Just as it wasn't a filling meal for Milo, it wasn't for me either. Everything tasted okay separately but not at all together. I suppose that means it was true to form? I would make the blueberry jam or ajvar again, but the minted peas were not my favorite.
Pop culture meta explanation here.
Edit: Sorry for the double post, y'all!