The Book Lover's Cookbook

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.