Tag: cookbook

Cookbooks, Ghosties

Food to Die For by Amy Bruni

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Discover tantalizing recipes, spine-tingling stories, and historic photos from the most notoriously haunted locations across America in this fun and fascinating cookbook. Paranormal investigator and Kindred Spirits co-host Amy Bruni leads you through eerie hotels, haunted homes, hellish hospitals, and spooky ghost towns, giving you stories and a recipe from each place.

Whether you’re in the mood for Lizzie Borden’s meatloaf or want to serve up spooky prison stories along with sugar cookies from Alcatraz, Food to Die For is your guide to ghoulish gastronomy.

One of America’s favorite ghost hunters, Amy Bruni takes you to mysterious hotels, eerie ghost towns, and possessed pubs in this delightfully sinister collection of stories and recipes. Each of the nearly 60 locations in Food to Die For includes:

  • Vintage photographs and charmingly creepy stories rooted in history
  • A noteworthy recipe associated with the people or place
  • Full-color, captivating, and hauntingly styled food photos to inspire a killer kitchen experience

This terrifyingly tasty cookbook will bewitch anyone who:

  • Has a taste for the paranormal and a hunger to try new foods
  • Loves history, travel, and culinary curiosities
  • Enjoys entertaining guests in unique and memorable ways
  • Would get goosebumps making a recipe written 300 years ago

History buffs, thrill-seekers, and foodies will all get shivers seeing the past come to life with every enchanted recipe and delicious tale from Food to Die For.

My Thoughts

Creepy and delicious – the best words I can think of to describe this highly unusual and well-written book. Amy Bruni brings years of experience exploring the paranormal together with historic recipes that represent some of the most haunted locations in the country to produce one of the most entertaining cookbooks I’ve read this year.

Bruni is a born storyteller and communicates the ghost stories associated with the chosen locations in a way that induces shivers and delight at the unusual details, such as Marilyn Monroe appearing in mirrors at the Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles. The accompanying recipes are carefully chosen to complement the ghost story and include some really delicious offerings.

Fans of the paranormal will thoroughly enjoy this as will cooks and bakers who enjoy a little scare with their culinary experiences.

Advance Praise

“It turns out that Amy Bruni’s curiosity and creativity don’t just make for great TV, they make for a great meal as well… Food to Die For is the ultimate companion piece for anyone who has tuned in to her many incredible adventures. All others will just have to settle for an unbelievably great cookbook.” — chef Robert Irvine, host of Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible.

“This deliciously stylish cookbook will have you longing for a dark and stormy night. Taking us on a culinary tour through America’s paranormal past, Amy sets a sumptuous table where more than the eggs are deviled. An indispensable collection of recipes for this life and the next.” —Josh Gates, explorer and host of Expedition Unknown

“Amy Bruni does something that almost feels like magic in this day and age: She pairs fascinating historical storytelling with real, visceral context. The results, I’m happy to report, are absolutely delicious!” —Aaron Mahnke, creator of the Lore podcast

Publication Date: July 30, 2024
Published By: Harper Celebrate
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Cookbooks

Summer Foodie Books

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Acquacotta by Emiko Davis
Publication Date: March 2023

Discover the cuisine of a secret part of southernmost Tuscany, known as La Costa D’Argento — the silver coast, in the second edition of Acquacotta. In this cookbook, Tuscan-based, Australian-born writer and photographer Emiko Davies has compiled and adapted her Italian family’s best-loved recipes from Capalbio, Monte Argentario, Giglio Island and inland to the hot springs of Saturnia and the ancient Pitigliano.

These are hearty, sometimes complicated recipes that rely heavily on fresh ingredients and plenty of time to cook. The book is divided into sections based on where the main ingredient is sourced, and includes delicious things like Crostini di Polenta con i Funghi (mushrooms on top of crispy polenta planks), Acquacotta Maremmana (a casserole rich with summer vegetables, bread and eggs), and Sformato di Cipolloti (a spring onion gratin). While the recipes are blended with some useful cooking tips and lovely photos, this is not a book for the beginning cook. This experienced cook found some new favorites!

The Herb Gardening Handbook by Andrew Perry
Publication Date: March 2023

The Herb Gardening Handbook gives you the know-how of what herbs to buy, what to plant them with, how to use them and even how to make herbs look good, no matter the space available. Beginning with a simple guide of how to get started and the best growing conditions for herbs, The Herb Gardening Handbook is a stylish guide to 12 herb projects that will suit everything from indoor window ledges to balconies and gardens. From the cocktail herb garden, which focuses on the botanicals that will make summer cocktails and drinks all the more fragrant to the Pizza Pantry Garden where readers will grow everything needed to create delicious pizza toppings.

This handy little book takes some of the mystery out of growing herbs by grouping types of plants together based on how you want to use them. Looking for herbs to make your pizzas tastier or wondering how to infuse herbs into your adult beverages? All that is here and more. Includes tips and advice on how to grow in multiple places – pots vs. in-ground, how much sun, how much water, when to prune and so on. It’s all here in one handy guide.

One-Pot Healthy by Sabrina Fauda-Role
Publication Date: March 2023

Bringing together classic dishes and fresh recipe ideas, One-Pot Healthy teaches you how to cook 80 delicious and hearty meals in just one pot. From weeknight essentials to gatherings and celebrations, there’s something for every occasion. Start your day with a Tomato and Herb Omelette, try your hand at a speedy Chicken and Butternut Broth, ready in just 15 minutes and cook up a rather impressive Eggplant and Fig Casserole. Filled with inspiration for simple, healthy and delicious meals, One-Pot Healthy contains a wide variety of ingenious recipes, perfect for any night of the week.

This is a downright beautiful book! I love a cookbook that includes luscious, full-color, glossy photos of the finished dishes, and this book more than delivers on that front. You eat with your eyes, right? The photos in this book will encourage you to try new recipes using ingredients you might not otherwise pick up. The cooking techniques used here, from knife cuts to the whole “one-pot” method are suitable for all levels of cooks. Give this one a try if you’re looking for new ideas.

All books published by Hardie Grant Books
Thanks to the Publisher for review copies