The Book Lover's Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them

Book Synopsis: THE BOOK LOVER'S COOKBOOKRecipes 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 is author of two YA/MG novels: The Ghost in Me and Reality Bites, Tales of a Half-Vampire (2012 Book of the Year Award Finalist, ForeWord Reviews), as well as an award-winning chapter book: Little Red Riding Hood, Into the Forest Again. Her newest cookbook, From Rivets and Rails, Recipes of a Railroad Boarding House Cookbook, is based on the cookery journal of her great-grandmother. Her work has been published in Babybug, Ladybug, Wonder Years, ByLine, and Short-Short Stories for Reading Aloud (The Education Center, 2000). She regards her monthly book club meeting as one life's essential ingredients.

Janet Kay Jensen is author of Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys (Cedar Fort) and the upcoming Gabriel's Daughter's (Jolly Fish Press). 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.