Books, movies, somewhere to visit and a recipe too! All featuring Louisa May Alcott and Little Women!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and if you decide to make a purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please read our disclosure for more info.
So, apparently Louisa May Alcott was a runner! Yup, long before fitness was a thing, and it was even considered dangerous for women, the writer and author of Little Women would go for a run!
Her forward-thinking parents encouraged physical exercise and It gave Louisa May stamina and de-stressed her.
I bet she would have loved a pair of good leggings as opposed to running in petticoats!
Louisa May Alcott wrote under two pen names before committing to writing and using her own name. Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard were her two pen names!
Louisa May Alcott was a remarkable woman and very much ahead of her time.
She was a brilliant writer and her strength and independence are just a couple of her other qualities that made her legendary.
Did you know that Little Women has never been out of print? Pretty remarkable!
According to the Thriftbooks blog, approximately 1,000 copies are sold every month!
My first adventure with Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was when I opened a beautiful hard-covered edition one Christmas.
I spent the next day in our family's plush rocking chair reading page after page about the March sisters.
I was about 10 years old when I first met Jo, Meg, Amy & Beth between the pages of this classic book. I had brothers, so this book was interesting for a bunch of reasons!
I always wondered what having sisters would be like and Little Women spoke to that part of my curiosity.
The day-to-day conversations, happenings, challenges and happiness of the March sisters have appealed to decades of girls and continue to draw in fans!
Years later, it's the history that holds me to the pages of Little Women.
Back when I was a young girl, I think it was the whole sisters thing that kept me turning the pages!
Now, I'll confess that I was not a super fan of Little Women as a kid, and even as an adult it has taken me a bit of time to really come around.
Two things have changed this:
The first was visiting Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts
And the second was watching the Little Women movie that was released in 2019 directed by Greta Gerwig. It was truly a work of art and so, so good!
Life Magazine has a gorgeous magazine inspired by the latest movie containing behind the scenes of both the movie and Louisa May Alcott.
This Movie Companion has everything you want to know that goes along with the latest big screen adaptation!
This great photograph (below) is from the Movie Companion for the 2019 release of Little Women!
Our friend and neighbor kindly gifted her copy of Little Women to my daughter. It's from the 1940's and has gorgeous full color illustrations!
Louisa May Alcott wrote many books! Here are just some of the titles that she authored:
To see a complete list of Louisa May Alcott's other works, click here!
Fun Extras to go Along with Little Women!
1. Visit the Orchard House
See inside Louisa May Alcott's home and learn more about the place and people that inspired Little Women!
If you're unable to get to Concord, Massachusetts in person, don't dismay! You can take a Virtual Tour here!
Louisa May Alcott's dad, Bronson Alcott, hung out with the hip thinkers and writers of the day: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were neighbors and friends of the Alcott family.
If you go to visit the Orchard House, you can also check out the other writers' homes, The Old Manse as well as the Old North Bridge while you're there!
It was super interesting to visit Orchard House and the grounds! We had visited in July and it was really hot!
2. Run Like Louisa May Alcott!
Want to run in Louisa May Alcott's footsteps?
The Orchard House hosts an annual 5K/10K to benefit Orchard House's public education and historic preservation! Click here to find out more!
2. Create Some Art
Wilson Webb/SONY Pictures
Whether you love watercolors, sketching or doing embroidery, the March sisters can inspire you to learn some skills!
The sisters were always creating and each one excelled at their chosen art!
Whether it's painting, music, writing or embroidery, trying out one or more of these is a fun way to see what it would have been like to spend time like one of the March sisters!
These embroidery patterns look super cute and have a nice variety of patterns!
Watercolors are an affordable and fun way to try your hand at painting!
3. Be Like Jo March and Write Something
Louisa May Alcott created Little Women based on her real life experiences and family. Like Louisa, her character Jo was a fabulous and prolific writer!
Writing in a journal is one way to enjoy the process and the perfect solution for coming up with ideas to put down on paper!
4. Cook Like Meg, Joe, Amy and Beth!
The Alcott family embraced a largely vegetarian lifestyle.
Louisa May Alcott's father, Bronson Alcott, avoided animal foods and as a result, the family's meals were centered around vegetables, fruits, grains and breads.
So, the meals of the time period reflected in this cookbook are what the March family ate in the novel.
Louisa May Alcott's family avoided meat, and their meals would have included eggs, but not meat.
5. Make An Apple 'Slump'
This Apple Slump is based on Louisa May Alcott's personal recipe with just a few adjustments! Enjoy making the same dessert that Louisa would have prepared!
Prep Time: 10 Minutes for apples / 5 minutes for topping
Total Time: 55 Minutes
Servings: 4
Equipment Needed:
8 inch round cast iron skillet --or similar size baking dish
Large mixing bowl
Whisk, measuring spoons, wooden spoon, spatula
Ingredients:
4 tart apples
Scant 1/4 cup sugar (if using optional maple syrup below, reduce sugar by 50%)
Optional: 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (optional, but wow, it tastes good with it!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, well-beaten
1/4 cup milk (we used almond milk --any milk of choice will work)
1/4 cup melted butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Peel, core and slice the apples. (or if you're like me, don't bother coring, just slice around the core!)
Grease your pan or baking dish with butter or butter substitute.
In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, sugar, opt. maple syrup, cinnamon & salt.
Pour into skillet
Bake apples until softened - about 20 minutes.
For Topping:
While apples are baking, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
In liquid measuring cup, pour in milk and add egg. Beat together (I do this by hand using a beater or whisk.
Add melted butter and mix well.
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients in bowl - stir gently, just until blended and then 5 more stirs.
Spread this mixture over the apples and bake until top is golden like a cake or muffin - approximately 25 minutes.
A Couple of Notes...
The original recipe called for brown sugar - I didn't have any, so I did the regular sugar + maple syrup option!
The orriginal recipe used nutmeg--I'm a big fan of cinnamon, so I doubled that and left out the nutmeg.
It's a mildly flavored topping. Some bloggers have included vanilla to zip it up a bit! I really liked the maple syrup flavor and wanted that to shine through, so I didn't add vanilla!
Voila! Apple Slump!
Enjoy your slump as is or add some ice cream, whipped cream or other decadent addition!
My husband loved this recipe! He is a big fan of any fruit-related desserts- especially apples!
He asked if I could make a cornbread topping for it. Not a bad idea-if anybody tries it, let us know how it tasted!!
Love easy baked goods? Be sure to check out our Strawberry Scone and Double Chocolate Scone recipes! Seriously yummy!
We hope you enjoyed our Louisa May Alcott inspired post!
Did you read Little Women? Who was your favorite character? Let us know in the comments below!
Know someone who might enjoy this post? We'd love it if you'd share!
Enjoy!
April & Cenzia
Check out our Shop for all of our fun printables to keep kids busy and having fun!
updated 1/28/2024 originally published 03/06/2020