Disney: Cooking With Magic: A Century of Recipes: Inspired by Decades of Disney's Animated Films from Steamboat Willie to Wish

by Brooke Vitale, Lisa Kingsley, Jennifer Peterson

Celebrate your love of classic Disney animated films and make your kitchen magical with this comprehensive cookbook, inspired by beloved Disney films from 1937 to now, including Fantasia, Mulan, and more!

Experience delicious dishes inspired by your favorite Disney animated films from 1937 to now with Cooking Through the Decades ! Featuring Disney’s classic films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Encanto , fans will delight in the enchanting, easy-to-prepare recipes in this cookbook, from magical main courses to delectable desserts.

Featuring beautiful full-color photography, helpful cooking tips, and recipes ranging from simple to advanced, this cookbook is perfect for home cooks of all skill levels. Filled with delicious recipes inspired by beloved Disney films over the decades, this cookbook is a must-have for adult Disney fans and is the perfect way to bring friends and family together with a little Disney magic.

BRING THE WORLD OF DISNEY INTO YOUR Relive iconic mealtime moments from Disney films with food inspired by scenes from The Aristocats, Treasure Planet , and more

80+ With over 80 recipes inspired by classic Disney animated films, there’s something to delight everyone

FOR ALL SKILL Perfect for adult home cooks of all skill levels, this book has easy-to-follow recipes and everyday ingredients, making it perfect for every occasion

INSPIRING Full-color photos of completed dishes help ensure success!

DISHES FROM AROUND THE Discover Disney recipes from all over the globe with dishes from Europe, the Middle East, and more!

GREAT GIFT Perfect for every occasion, Disney fans will adore this deluxe cookbook

ADD TO YOUR DISNEY Pair the recipes in Cooking Through the Decades with dishes from Insight Editions’ charming line of Disney cookbooks, including Disney Enchanted Recipes Cookbook , Disney Devilishly Delicious Cookbook, and Disney Healthy Treats Cookbook

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Adult, Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

Published October 24, 2023

About the author

Brooke Vitale is a children's book editor and author. She has written over a hundred books, including The Magic Is in You, The Muppet's Christmas Carol, and The Mandalorian: A Clan of Two, as well as the upcoming Goonies: An Illustrated Classic. Brooke spent more than fifteen years as an editor at prominent publishing companies, including Penguin Books for Young Readers and Disney Publishing. She now does freelance editing to allow time to raise her two young sons. Brooke can be found at BrookeVitale.com or on Instagram @Brooke.Vitale

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhh now THIS is a really neat cookbook - it starts with an timeline of all the films mentioned in the book and then splits the recipes up based on year that the movie was released. I'll first delve into the sections then give my overall thoughts on the cookbook.

Chapter 1 - 1923-1949

Here we can see some truly old school Disney shorts and movies - like Steamboat Willie who has a recipe for Louisiana Fries or The Wise Little Hen with Buttermilk-Honey Skillet Cornbread. Of course we see something from the classic movies like Friendship-Building Peanut Bars (Dumbo), Safe-to-Eat Apple Strudel (Snow White), and Tuscan Roast Chicken (Pinocchio).

Chapter 2 - 1950-1969

The next section focuses on some of my favorite movies. We have Bibbidi-Bobbidi Blueberry Tarts (Cinderella), Tik-Tock Croc Drink (Peter Pan), and Towering Roast Beef Sandwiches (101 Dalmatians). There's also Bare Necessities Banana Muffins (The Jungle Book) and Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts (Alice in Wonderland). I like the variety of recipes chosen, though they definitely do lean towards sweet dishes.

Chapter 3 - 1970-1989

Here we have Smackerel of Honeycakes and Blustery Day Carrot Soup (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) - which were thematically great. For Ariel, there's Mermaid's Kiss (a juice) and Under-the-Sea Curried Crab-Free Dumplings (which is a curry served with dumplings) - both of which seemed a bit off considering the source material. Could Ariel even drink a juice? There's also Coin Cookies from Robin Hood, which are cornmeal cookies dusted with gold which are at least visually on point.

Chapter 4 - 1990-1999

I've noticed that the recipes seem to be themed to the characters or the culture, but sometimes the connection feels tenuous at best. For example, the Three Sisters Succotash is great for Pocahontas but "No Worries" Mashed Potatoes is a bit of a stretch for The Lion King. Most of the recipes are great - like the Happy-to-See-You Porridge for Mulan but others just seem to have less of a connection like the Feast of the Topsy-Turvey Cake for the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Chapter 5 - 2000-2009

Here we have some fun ones from Lilo & Stitch like Lu'au Blue Hawaiian Drink or Polynesian Sweet Potatoes. There's the Best Gumbo You've Ever Tasted, and Big Daddy Beignets (Princess and the Frog). They even hit a few niche movies like Bonzabeast Stew (Treasure Planet) or Nut-Crusted Salmon with Cranberry Relish (Brother Bear).

Chapter 6 - 2010-PRESENT

And at last, we have hit the "modern" era - where we see the Face-Numbing Chicken Wings (Big Hero 6), Magical Arepas (Encanto), Spring Rolls for Tuk Tuk (Raya and the Last Dragon), and Scandinavian Pancakes with Lingonberry Jam (Frozen). This section hits quite a wide variety of dishes - from soups to bread to drink to meals to deserts!

Overall Thoughts

I really liked the concept of this cookbook - it was a lot of fun to see all of the movies in the timeline and the various dishes inspired by the films. The recipes felt well-chosen. I liked the variety of dishes showcased and the varying levels of skill required. Some recipes just required you to mix while others were much more complicated.

Most of the recipes were accompanied by gorgeous photographs which really enhanced the book.

And all of the recipes had stills from the various movies - which was kind of fun but part of me wished there was custom artwork for the cookbook. There were a few times where the stills were a bit blurry, possibly due to when it was made.

Something to consider - the recipes were included according to when the movies were released - so we have a really snappy timeline for everything but the recipes themselves aren't particularly well organized.

For example, in Chapter 2 the order and type of dishes are: an appetizer, two desserts, two drinks, a main dish, a breakfast item, cake, a drink, a lunch item, an appetizer, and a breakfast item. Which is kind of annoying to be honest.

I will say that the book does try to counteract this by including suggested menus at the very end and then a separate table of contents that has the recipes grouped by food-types (i.e. Appetizers, sides, breads, drinks, etc). But...who wants to be constantly flipping to pg 202 to look up your recipes based off of type?

Overall, this is a fun, niche cookbook but not the most practical.

[B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this one in a Goodreads giveaway. While I haven't had a chance to go through and make all the recipes yet, they're simple (not a long prep time, ingredients that are likely to already be in your kitchen, etc.), and they look quite tasty. The connections from recipes to movies and shorts are quite nice and we're looking forward to making the recipes and then watching each show or short to go with them.

[Sara (Sjthroughthelookingglass) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminds me of a whimsical magical cook book I had as a kid that helped plan some epic themed birthday parties.

This is a fun cook book with a Disney through the ages tie in. Nearly all of the recipes have photos which I think are important for anyone to entice them to make something but especially for kids to get excited to pick out a recipe and help.

[Lokita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part cookbook, part history of Disney, part party planner, this book has all the things I expect from a cookbook except pictures with every recipe, for which I deducted one star. Some recipes are so simple you could let the kids do it and some are so gourmet my wallet cringed while reading the ingredient list. Well worth the flip-through for anyone who loves Disney.

[Susan Csoke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Beautiful Colorful hard cover coffee table book full of Disney themed recipes. Beautifully Illustrated scenes from their movies to match their recipes. “Queen of Hearts”, “Jam Tarts”, “ Tic Tok Croc Drink”, to name a few. Thankyou Goodreads for this free book.

[SaraXP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the included art work and the photos of the food are top notch. The recipe names included are great and it was such a delight to look at.

[Nhie Etlart]

wish

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love disney!!!!