Product Description

THE BOOK LOVER’S COOKBOOK

Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature
and the Passages that Feature Them

Shaunda Kennedy Wenger and Janet Kay Jensen
Wake up to a perfect breakfast with Mrs. Dalby’s Buttermilk Scones, courtesy of James Herriot’s All Things Bright and Beautiful and Ichabod’s Slapjacks, as featured in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. There’s homey comfort food like Connie May's Tomato Pie, created with and inspired by Connie May Fowler (Remembering Blue); Thanksgiving Spinach Casserole (Elizabeth Berg’s Open House); and Amish Chicken and Dumplings (Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth) . . . Sample salads, breads, and such soul-warming soups as Nearly-a-Meal Potato Soup (Terry Kay’s Shadow Song); Mr. Casaubon’s Chicken Noodle Soup (George Eliot’s Middlemarch); and Mrs. Leibowitz’s Lentil-Vegetable Soup (Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes) . . . After relishing appetizers and entrees, there’s a dazzling array of desserts, including Carrot Pudding (Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol); Effie Belle’s Coconut Cake (Olive Ann Burns’s Cold Sassy Tree); and the kids will love C.S. Lewis's Turkish Delight from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Sprinkled throughout with marvelous anecdotes about writers and writing, The Book Lover’s Cookbook is a culinary and literary delight, a browser’s cornucopia of reading pleasure, and a true inspiration in the kitchen.
Shaunda Kennedy Wenger enjoys creative cooking and writing children’s stories and articles. She is currently working on a novel. Her work has been published in Babybug, Ladybug, Wonder Years, American Careers, South Valley Living, and Short-Short Stories for Reading Aloud (The Education Center, 2000). She is an active member of the League of Utah Writers and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She regards her monthly book club meeting as one life’s essential ingredients.

Janet Kay Jensen is published in Healing Ministry journal and The Magic of Stories. She has received numerous awards for essays, poetry, and short stories, including three ByLine Magazine honorable mentions. A speech-language pathologist, she holds degrees from Utah State University and Northwestern University. She is writing a novel, teaches poetry classes to jail inmates, and is a literacy tutor. Married and the mother of three sons, she is a consultant at Utah State University.

TASTY RECIPES AND THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED THEM

Jo’s Best Omelette . . . Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
No Dieter’s Delight Chicken Neapolitan . . . Thinner by Stephen King
Extra-Special Rhubarb Pie . . . The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas
Grand Feast Crab Meat Casserole . . . At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
Persian Cucumber and Yogurt . . . House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Tamales . . . Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Bev's No-Fuss Crab Cakes . . . Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell
Macaroni and Cheese . . . The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Veteran Split Pea Soup . . . The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Alternative Carrot-Raisin-Pineapple Salad . . . Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Summer’s Day Cucumber-Tomato Sandwiches . . .
Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
Refreshing Black Cows . . . The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Dump Punch . . . Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Not Violet, But Blueberry Pie
. . . Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Innocent Sweet Bread . . . The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Daddy's Rich Chocolate Cake . . . Fatherhood by Bill Cosby


. . . and many other delectable dishes for the literary palate!



From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164556 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-29
• Released on: 2005-03-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
For anyone who has ever wanted to taste the food that plays a role in their favorite books, this charming volume provides the recipes. Wenger and Jensen, both chefs and avid readers, have pored over volumes from Little Women to The Importance of Being Earnest, found food-related passages and devised recipes for each. For example, Catch 'Em to Eat 'Em Chicken and Dumplings was inspired by this passage from Frannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café: "Even at 11, they say she could make the most delicious biscuits and gravy, cobbler, fried chicken, turnip greens, and black-eyed peas. And her dumplings were so light they would float in the air and you'd have to catch 'em to eat 'em." Scattered between recipes and passages are quotations from authors about food and writing. At times, Wenger and Jensen may stretch to link some of their recipes to literature-Baked Stuffed Mushrooms follows a passage from Alice and Wonderland-which seems rather unnecessary given that there are so many books with appropriate food descriptions. Nonetheless, their volume provides a fun read for any bibliophile-cum-foodie.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
“Rich in good food with a lively variety of literary links.”
–Associated Press

“Add a delectable new element to your next book club gathering.”
–Trenton Times

“A cornucopia of authors who have a knack for getting the salivary glands going. . . . you’re sure to find something to satisfy the senses.”
–Chicago Tribune

From the Back Cover
“Rich in good food with a lively variety of literary links.”
–Associated Press

“Add a delectable new element to your next book club gathering.”
–Trenton Times

“A cornucopia of authors who have a knack for getting the salivary glands going. . . . you’re sure to find something to satisfy the senses.”
–Chicago Tribune

Customer Reviews

A good read, and good food, too!
Who would have thought that actually reading a cookbook could be so much fun? My personal preference leans toward cookbooks that offer more than a collection of recipes and this book delights both readers of the classics and contemporary literature, as well as the enthusiastic cookbook collector. I had the good fortune of meeting authors Shaunda Kennedy Wenger and Janet Kay Jensen in a live chat. I was taken by their lively sense of humor and the fun they expressed they had in assembling the recipes to match the excerpts and quotations used throughout the book.

You'll find plenty of comfort food to enjoy while you read some great stories, or revisit old favorites.

A little gimmicky, but nevertheless quite endearing�
I would recommend "The Booklover's Cookbook" as a perfect present for a bookworm who happens to cook (but perhaps not for a cook who happens to read occasionally).

It features 170 recipes with excerpts from various books mentioning that specific food, as well as quotes from authors on writing and books. Some of it seems to be a stretch, but over all the authors did a great job compiling it into this lovely book.

It is very amusing, if anything just to flip through on a slow Saturday afternoon with your friends and reminisce about stories you all read once upon a time (you will definitely hear a lot of "Oh yeah, I remember that book! I read it years ago, when I was in elementary school/just after whats-his-name broke up with me/in college for that horrible lit class/etc, etc"...).

The authors feature a nice variety of different foods spanning eras and book genres - from Ichabod's Slapjacks (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) to Mr. Casabon's Chicken Noodle Soup (Middlemarch) and Tamales (Like Water for Chocolate). Two recipes I was especially tickled by were the Turkish Delight (The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe) and Not Violet, but Blueberry Pie (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) - it brought me back to my frustration with Edmund's greediness and of course the excitement shared with Charlie.

"The Booklover's Cookbook" is indeed an endearing book, meant to be shared in order to be truly enjoyed.

Delightful and Delicious!
This volume combines two of my greatest passions, cooking and reading. With contributions from many famous authors, these two talented women have assembled some great recipes as well as unforgettable descriptions of meals. ... My mouth waters at the descriptions and I am itching to try some of these wonderful recipes. This is a wonderful book to curl up with and then when so inspired, start getting out the pans and and recreating the feel as well as the taste of these wonderful meals.
This book is on my Christmas list to share with others who share my passions and want some good reading as well as eating!