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Literary Holiday Cookbook: Festive Meals for the Snow Queen, Gandalf, Sherlock, Scrooge, and Book Lovers Everywhere
For fans of Little Women, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Christmas Carol, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and more, a literature-inspired cookbook for voracious readers during the festive holiday season.
Some of the most famous instances of fictional fare have become synonymous with the holidays. Who can forget the plentiful food surrounding the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol? The simple but generous and joy-filled Christmas gatherings at the Marchs' in Little Women? Or the Van Tassel’s autumnal feast in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Finally, these literary meals can become a reality on your table with A Literary Holiday Feast.
From Christmas and Thanksgiving to Halloween and New Year's, this seasonal cookbook offers 17 full four-course holiday meals from 25 classic books—each including an appetizer, entrée, side dish, and dessert. Additionally, whip up festive sips and delectable edible gifts to share with loved ones. As you curl up by the fireplace to reread one of your favorite literary classics, learn to make:
Mouse King Cheese Bites and Sugar Plums from The Nutcracker for Christmas
Turkey Roulade and Jo's Gingerbread from Little Women for Christmas
Skillet Cornbread with Homemade Butter and Venison Pot Roast from The Little House on the Prairie for Thanksgiving
Deviled Raven Eggs and Coffin Pizza Pockets from Edgar Allen Poe for Halloween
The Queen of Hearts Tomato Tart and Eat Me Cakes from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for the New Year
and many more!
Finally—whether you love Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Redwall, or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—book lovers can enjoy full menus of literary delicacies from their favorite books for all of their favorite holidays!
Some of the most famous instances of fictional fare have become synonymous with the holidays. Who can forget the plentiful food surrounding the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol? The simple but generous and joy-filled Christmas gatherings at the Marchs' in Little Women? Or the Van Tassel’s autumnal feast in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Finally, these literary meals can become a reality on your table with A Literary Holiday Feast.
From Christmas and Thanksgiving to Halloween and New Year's, this seasonal cookbook offers 17 full four-course holiday meals from 25 classic books—each including an appetizer, entrée, side dish, and dessert. Additionally, whip up festive sips and delectable edible gifts to share with loved ones. As you curl up by the fireplace to reread one of your favorite literary classics, learn to make:
Mouse King Cheese Bites and Sugar Plums from The Nutcracker for Christmas
Turkey Roulade and Jo's Gingerbread from Little Women for Christmas
Skillet Cornbread with Homemade Butter and Venison Pot Roast from The Little House on the Prairie for Thanksgiving
Deviled Raven Eggs and Coffin Pizza Pockets from Edgar Allen Poe for Halloween
The Queen of Hearts Tomato Tart and Eat Me Cakes from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for the New Year
and many more!
Finally—whether you love Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Redwall, or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—book lovers can enjoy full menus of literary delicacies from their favorite books for all of their favorite holidays!
272 pages, Hardcover
Published September 8, 2020
26 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Alison Walsh
3 books44 followersAlison Walsh first began cooking as a way to stretch her post-college paycheck, and her love of cooking grew. In 2014, she combined her love of food and books into Alison's Wonderland Recipes (WonderlandRecipes.com), a food blog dedicated to book-inspired recipes. She guest writes for Real Life at Homeand her recipes have been featured on MuggleNet, the number one Harry Potter fan website.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
November 6, 2025
Oh gosh. I feel conflicted over this.
BECAUSE this book is above-and-beyond 5 stars BUT at the same time, I just can't justify giving it any stars.
To break this down:
This book (on its own) is completely and utterly amazing... but there was something off.
The more I read, the more bothered I became...Then I realized.
The recipes were repeats.
This is the same author who wrote A Literary Tea Party which has various literary snacks and drinks & was published in 2018.
This book (Literary Holiday Cookbook) was published in 2020 and contains recipes that are copy-pasted from the Literary Tea Party book.
I first noticed this with one of the Narnia recipes. In one book it was labeled "Turkish Delight" but in the other there was "Lemon Turkish Delight"...and yet both recipes looked almost word-for-word the same, including identical photos.
The more I read, the more common this became. Here's both cookbooks' versions of the turnip and potato pie from the Hobbit:
Giving the author the benefit of the doubt (after all, perhaps she just reused titles/photographs)...And because I'm a grad school student without any free time...I literally spent an evening reading and comparing the books...
And realized: over 10% of Literary Holiday Cookbook has already been already been published in the Literary Tea Party book.
And after concluding my research...I will admit there are SOME differences. For example, below are both versions of a tart for the phantom of the opera.
Literary Tea calls them "Phantom's Savory Apple Rose Tartlets" (p. 39) and the Holiday book has "Apple Rose Tartlets" (p. 197). The literary quotes differ by 6 words, one recipe says "Continued on next page" and the other doesn't. Tbs vs tablespoons. Tsp vs teaspoons. Minor font/spacing differences as well.
But I feel like we can all agree that the recipes are the same.
An important note: I cannot find the author acknowledging this in the introduction nor does she mention it in the recipe (i.e. "this was reprinted from...") thus leading me to believe that the author just hoped we wouldn't notice?
Like...correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like if someone bought your book and was such a fan that they'd want to buy another one by you...a basic underlying assumption is that they aren't paying for the stuff that is already in book 1.
Like the goal of buying your second book isn't to get an extra copy of stuff from book 1.
Stephenie Meyer didn't just go - Hmm...First 10 chapters of Twilight were great. Let me put that in New Moon.
I can kinda get behind the idea of "wow. This recipe I made was absolutely perfect for this my new cookbook."
But why the copy-paste opposed rather than taking the essence of your original recipe and shake it up a bit?
I've seen authors do this before - Ina Garten's Modern Comfort Food had one or two recipe repeats BUT she:
A) told us it was a repeatIt was actually kinda cool to see that Ina is still tweaking her recipes as she's learning & growing as a cookbook writer.
B) edited the recipe enough so there wasn't an exact replica (thus people who bought her new cookbook could try out this new spin on an old classic).
I really wonder how hard would it have been for Walsh to add a new flavor to the turkish delight (she mentions that rosewater used to be a common one) or edit filling of the hobbit pie enough so that the recipes look different? Or at the very least use a photo from a slightly different angle?
And this frustrates me so much cause this Literary Holiday Cookbook is just so above-and-beyond beautiful.
And then to find out that 10 of the 85 recipes are the same as her first book.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk
So. I was slightly debating if I should include this but at the same time, I did love this book (before I made the copying connection).
And if you only want to buy one of these books, here's my review to help make that decision:
The Original Review
This book is incredible. It has everything I could want in a literary cookbook and more.
The book begins with an intro, briefly goes into cooking tips and then delves into the recipes. The recipes are organized by holiday, and then by meal.
For example, under "Christmas" you can choose to make a Christmas Dinner like the March Family in Little Women, the Cratchit's in A Christmas Carol, the Beaver Family in the Chronicles of Narnia, a fancy meal centered around the Nutcracker or a rustic meal based on White Fang.
From there, each "meal" consists of an appetizer, main dish, side dish and dessert. For example, the Little Women meal plan has Rustic Whole Wheat Bread, Turkey Roulade, Baked Apples and Jo's Gingerbread.
Each recipe is accompanied by a beautiful photograph, quote from the text and a little blurb about how the recipe fits in with the holiday.
The other holidays covered in this cookbook are:
"Thanksgiving" - The Hobbit, Little House on the Prairie, Redwall, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Winnie the PoohIn addition the book has "Festive Sips" which are drinks based on a few of the meals from earlier and "Delectable Gifts to Suit the Season" - which are little treats you can make to give to friends/family.
"Halloween" - Dracula, Tales of Edgar Allen Poe, Sherlock Holmes & Wizard of Oz
"New Year" - Alice in Wonderland, Phantom of the Opera, the Snow Queen
I was absolutely blown away by the sheer level of research and dedication taken to make this book.
I love that we get meal-plans rather than random recipes from various books.
Some of the recipes are directly from the literature (i.e. Maple Candy from Little House or Eat Me Cakes from Alice in Wonderland) and some are just themed around the book (i.e. Smashed Pumpkin Soup from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or garlic rolls from Dracula). I feel like since all of the recipes had SOME literary connection that it worked really well on a whole.
The recipes themselves are a mixture between easy-to-make and this-is-gonna-take-a-while (with the book leaning slightly towards the more complex recipes)...though I don't mind it.
After all, the premise is to make fancier-than-normal faire because of the holidays.
I'm really excited to try Jo's Hot Chocolate, or Sherlock's blood orange scones or Beorn's honey nut banana bread or whip up a batch of honeycomb candy to hand out at Christmas.
Overall, this is an absolutely gorgeous book. And if I had to choose one of the two, this one would be my choice.
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November 16, 2020
A Literary Holiday Cookbook: Festive Meals for the Snow Queen, Gandalf, Sherlock, Scrooge, and Book Lovers Everywhere by Alison Walsh is a 2020 Skyhorse publication.
Every year, as the holidays descend, I cringe at the thought- but the one thing I look forward to is the food. We tend to indulge in many dishes, drinks, and desserts during the months of November- January that is seldom served outside of the holidays.
As much as I appreciate the variety of traditions we enjoy now, I have often been fascinated by the various holiday feasts depicted in books and movies.
That is why, when I came across this book, I knew I had to check it out. I thought it might be fun to re-create the holiday scenes in some of my favorite books, plus, it might be a creative way to liven up one’s holiday feast- and maybe lead to a few fun, lively- and safe- socially distant- conversations.
While the cover of the book suggests the recipes are those featured in Christmas themed novels exclusively, to my great delight, I found the book also included recipes for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and New Year’s. There is also a gift giving section at the end of the book, along with references, a conversion chart, and an index.
Each book featured has a menu, and every recipe has a photo of the finished product, a quote from the book the recipe was featured in, or inspired by, the ingredients, and instructions.
I didn’t find any recipes that called for super hard to find ingredients, and the instructions, are thorough enough, and easy to follow.
I thought this collection of literary themed menus and recipes was a great idea!! While most of the recipes come from classic novels, they will seem fresh to us because they are not as common. There are also many fun party foods, especially the ones for Halloween, although many of these were not actually featured in the book- such as Dracula’s Dinner Rolls, for example.
The presentation is simple, straightforward, and organized and has given me plenty of ideas to try all throughout the holiday season- plus, it was fun to reminisce about the books these recipes were derived from.
Not only did I find these recipes tempting- I was also tempted to re-read some of these great classics and add those I have yet to enjoy!
4 stars
Every year, as the holidays descend, I cringe at the thought- but the one thing I look forward to is the food. We tend to indulge in many dishes, drinks, and desserts during the months of November- January that is seldom served outside of the holidays.
As much as I appreciate the variety of traditions we enjoy now, I have often been fascinated by the various holiday feasts depicted in books and movies.
That is why, when I came across this book, I knew I had to check it out. I thought it might be fun to re-create the holiday scenes in some of my favorite books, plus, it might be a creative way to liven up one’s holiday feast- and maybe lead to a few fun, lively- and safe- socially distant- conversations.
While the cover of the book suggests the recipes are those featured in Christmas themed novels exclusively, to my great delight, I found the book also included recipes for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and New Year’s. There is also a gift giving section at the end of the book, along with references, a conversion chart, and an index.
Each book featured has a menu, and every recipe has a photo of the finished product, a quote from the book the recipe was featured in, or inspired by, the ingredients, and instructions.
I didn’t find any recipes that called for super hard to find ingredients, and the instructions, are thorough enough, and easy to follow.
I thought this collection of literary themed menus and recipes was a great idea!! While most of the recipes come from classic novels, they will seem fresh to us because they are not as common. There are also many fun party foods, especially the ones for Halloween, although many of these were not actually featured in the book- such as Dracula’s Dinner Rolls, for example.
The presentation is simple, straightforward, and organized and has given me plenty of ideas to try all throughout the holiday season- plus, it was fun to reminisce about the books these recipes were derived from.
Not only did I find these recipes tempting- I was also tempted to re-read some of these great classics and add those I have yet to enjoy!
4 stars
January 13, 2022
Alison Walsh is a blogger http://wonderlandrecipes.com/ who makes recipes inspired by her favorite books like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, Little Women, etc. etc.
This cookbook has recipes for fancy foods to impress your guests based on literary classics for the holidays. The book is divided by holiday:
Christmas, which includes
A Christmas Carol inspired recipes, of course. Goose makes sense because it's iconic the story. Turkey would be too. Walsh reinterprets the Christmas pudding as a chocolate profiterole which sounds yummy but misses the point of what the Christmas pudding is and what it mean to the Cratchits.
The Chronicles of Narnia
It's been too long since I read these books but the one standout I know is Turkish Delight. Walsh includes a very simple recipe for a sweet that isn't exactly Turkish Delight but if you tell your guests it is, they probably won't know the difference.
Little Women The only section that features kid-friendly recipes.
Baked apples makes perfect sense for the story and the Alcott family. Walsh notes kids will enjoy pouring in the molasses, omitting the fact most kids probably don't like molasses. You can use brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup or a mixture. No need to go fancy.
The only recipe I adore is the March sisters gingerbread people! This is a cute idea and something kids will have fun making. I suggest cutting and baking the figures and leaving the kids to decorate the girls by themselves. Older girls will delight in making their favorite sister. However, I lack the skills to make the people look as nice as they do in the photograph! This recipe makes perfect sense for the story as well because it's mentioned several times in the book.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King This one misses the mark with all savory recipes and a weird recipe for Byzantine sugar plums. The puff pastry Christmas tree looks complicated but will impress guests. However, they'll never associate it specifically with The Nutcracker. The mouse king cheese bites are cute but I only know one kid who would eat them and many adults who would be confused why the cheese and crackers have faces and crowns.
Hearty Wildness Fare from White Fang doesn't sound very holiday to me. The recipes seem to make sense for the story, especially the salmon dish but S'Mores Baked Alaska for a story about the Yukon? It sounds delicious though.
Thanksgiving brings up dishes from The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. These make sense give the nature theme in the story. The only mistake is including a chooclate chip cookie decorated to look like a hobbit door. It's a cute idea and chocolate chips were invented in the 1930s but don't scream Hobbit to me.
Holiday on the Homestead from the Little House books Laura Ingalls Wilder kind of misses the mark. Skillet cornbread sounds good for everyday and like something they'd make on the prairie, sweet potatoes and venison pot roast don't scream Thanksgiving to me but do seem appropriate for the story. The missed mark here is the inconic maple candy. In this recipe, Walsh makes fancy leaf shaped candies and not the simple boiled syrup on snow candy featured in the book.
An Autumnal Redwall Feast is the one she got perfectly right. (The The Redwall Cookbook has excellent recipes inspired by things made and eaten by the woodland creatures in the books). I smiled when I saw Alison Walsh included Deeper 'n ever turnip n' tater beetroot pie. This is an iconic dish from the stories. Damson Plum and Pear Crumbles with Meadowcream and Mint sound about right too. To be super nitpicky though, all the recipes need to include ONLY items found in nature. No cow's milk allowed. In the first book a farmer's cow is mentioned but after that humans disappear from the story and only woodland beats and vermin are present.
This scection also includes Dinner at the Van Tassel Mansion from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories. I can't speak to the accuracy of the recipes other than the quotes provided. Apple cruellers sound like a fancy version of the iconic apple cider doughnut. I believe doughnuts are Dutch and make sense for the time and place. Smashed pumpkin soup is a clever idea. Guests would probably not imediately guess what it was supposed to represent though.
Winnie-the-Pooh, obviously one of my favorite books and Walsh totally goes off the rails. Missing the mark completely is Haycorns Winnie-the-Pooh (Asiago and Swiss cheese wedges ringed with crushed almonds). What kid eats smelly cheese? Only ONE recipe features honey.
The one section that works is Halloween. This section is geared towards adults-only parties. I do know of some libraries that have done themed parties with some of these books. Some of the recipes sound fussy and feature fancy decorating.
Dracula
Edgar Allen Poe
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is also included with some very adult recipes.
Emerald popcorn featuring tumeric, matcha, pea crisps wasabi peas. Really? I know one kid who would love that actually. Maybe make this for a Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West themed party instead.
New Year's themed parties include a Mad New Year's Party inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass. Besides the "eat me" cakes nothing stands out as Victorian or mad or kid-friendly. The cupcakes sound easy enough to make but the decorating doesn't look super easy and I don't think some of those so-called edible decorations are actually edible.
A New Year's Masqurade from The Phantom of the Opera includes weird things like devils on horseback (bacon wrapped dates) and savory strawberry eclairs. The other two recipes make sense like apple rose tartlets (super hard to make look nice) and chocolate strawberry opera cake. Opera cake is a much more modern cake than the setting of the book but makes sense.
Winter Wonderland Dainties from The Snow Queen don't make sense. Why are snowballs savory? The only recipe that looks good - and she ruins it with the amaretto filling-are mirror shard mini ice cream cakes. Just make normal cupcakes, add a scoop of ice cream and the mirror shard (Jolly Rancher) and call them Elsa's cupcakes and serve them to 4-6 year olds. They LOOK like Elsa cupcakes.
I question a lot of her choices. I read and loved these books growing up and would never in a million years eat any of the savory things she's dreamed up. Neither would any of the kids I know, except for oldest niece.
Also includes "Festive Sips" like Jo March's Hot Cocoa Mix (eith gingerbread marshmallows); Delective Gifts to Suit the Season (this is where she includes honey); references and index.
She's made elegant foods for holidays but how people are supposed to know that these foods are based on books and which ones, I don't know and why there aren't more kid-friendly recipes. She has two young boys. Surely they aren't excluded from the holiday menu? Sure the kids in my family have their own menu but it would have been nice for the editors to include more kid-friendly recipes and ones kids can help make.
As always, the photographs are absolutely gorgeous.
This cookbook has recipes for fancy foods to impress your guests based on literary classics for the holidays. The book is divided by holiday:
Christmas, which includes
A Christmas Carol inspired recipes, of course. Goose makes sense because it's iconic the story. Turkey would be too. Walsh reinterprets the Christmas pudding as a chocolate profiterole which sounds yummy but misses the point of what the Christmas pudding is and what it mean to the Cratchits.
The Chronicles of Narnia
It's been too long since I read these books but the one standout I know is Turkish Delight. Walsh includes a very simple recipe for a sweet that isn't exactly Turkish Delight but if you tell your guests it is, they probably won't know the difference.
Little Women The only section that features kid-friendly recipes.
Baked apples makes perfect sense for the story and the Alcott family. Walsh notes kids will enjoy pouring in the molasses, omitting the fact most kids probably don't like molasses. You can use brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup or a mixture. No need to go fancy.
The only recipe I adore is the March sisters gingerbread people! This is a cute idea and something kids will have fun making. I suggest cutting and baking the figures and leaving the kids to decorate the girls by themselves. Older girls will delight in making their favorite sister. However, I lack the skills to make the people look as nice as they do in the photograph! This recipe makes perfect sense for the story as well because it's mentioned several times in the book.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King This one misses the mark with all savory recipes and a weird recipe for Byzantine sugar plums. The puff pastry Christmas tree looks complicated but will impress guests. However, they'll never associate it specifically with The Nutcracker. The mouse king cheese bites are cute but I only know one kid who would eat them and many adults who would be confused why the cheese and crackers have faces and crowns.
Hearty Wildness Fare from White Fang doesn't sound very holiday to me. The recipes seem to make sense for the story, especially the salmon dish but S'Mores Baked Alaska for a story about the Yukon? It sounds delicious though.
Thanksgiving brings up dishes from The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. These make sense give the nature theme in the story. The only mistake is including a chooclate chip cookie decorated to look like a hobbit door. It's a cute idea and chocolate chips were invented in the 1930s but don't scream Hobbit to me.
Holiday on the Homestead from the Little House books Laura Ingalls Wilder kind of misses the mark. Skillet cornbread sounds good for everyday and like something they'd make on the prairie, sweet potatoes and venison pot roast don't scream Thanksgiving to me but do seem appropriate for the story. The missed mark here is the inconic maple candy. In this recipe, Walsh makes fancy leaf shaped candies and not the simple boiled syrup on snow candy featured in the book.
An Autumnal Redwall Feast is the one she got perfectly right. (The The Redwall Cookbook has excellent recipes inspired by things made and eaten by the woodland creatures in the books). I smiled when I saw Alison Walsh included Deeper 'n ever turnip n' tater beetroot pie. This is an iconic dish from the stories. Damson Plum and Pear Crumbles with Meadowcream and Mint sound about right too. To be super nitpicky though, all the recipes need to include ONLY items found in nature. No cow's milk allowed. In the first book a farmer's cow is mentioned but after that humans disappear from the story and only woodland beats and vermin are present.
This scection also includes Dinner at the Van Tassel Mansion from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories. I can't speak to the accuracy of the recipes other than the quotes provided. Apple cruellers sound like a fancy version of the iconic apple cider doughnut. I believe doughnuts are Dutch and make sense for the time and place. Smashed pumpkin soup is a clever idea. Guests would probably not imediately guess what it was supposed to represent though.
Winnie-the-Pooh, obviously one of my favorite books and Walsh totally goes off the rails. Missing the mark completely is Haycorns Winnie-the-Pooh (Asiago and Swiss cheese wedges ringed with crushed almonds). What kid eats smelly cheese? Only ONE recipe features honey.
The one section that works is Halloween. This section is geared towards adults-only parties. I do know of some libraries that have done themed parties with some of these books. Some of the recipes sound fussy and feature fancy decorating.
Dracula
Edgar Allen Poe
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is also included with some very adult recipes.
Emerald popcorn featuring tumeric, matcha, pea crisps wasabi peas. Really? I know one kid who would love that actually. Maybe make this for a Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West themed party instead.
New Year's themed parties include a Mad New Year's Party inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass. Besides the "eat me" cakes nothing stands out as Victorian or mad or kid-friendly. The cupcakes sound easy enough to make but the decorating doesn't look super easy and I don't think some of those so-called edible decorations are actually edible.
A New Year's Masqurade from The Phantom of the Opera includes weird things like devils on horseback (bacon wrapped dates) and savory strawberry eclairs. The other two recipes make sense like apple rose tartlets (super hard to make look nice) and chocolate strawberry opera cake. Opera cake is a much more modern cake than the setting of the book but makes sense.
Winter Wonderland Dainties from The Snow Queen don't make sense. Why are snowballs savory? The only recipe that looks good - and she ruins it with the amaretto filling-are mirror shard mini ice cream cakes. Just make normal cupcakes, add a scoop of ice cream and the mirror shard (Jolly Rancher) and call them Elsa's cupcakes and serve them to 4-6 year olds. They LOOK like Elsa cupcakes.
I question a lot of her choices. I read and loved these books growing up and would never in a million years eat any of the savory things she's dreamed up. Neither would any of the kids I know, except for oldest niece.
Also includes "Festive Sips" like Jo March's Hot Cocoa Mix (eith gingerbread marshmallows); Delective Gifts to Suit the Season (this is where she includes honey); references and index.
She's made elegant foods for holidays but how people are supposed to know that these foods are based on books and which ones, I don't know and why there aren't more kid-friendly recipes. She has two young boys. Surely they aren't excluded from the holiday menu? Sure the kids in my family have their own menu but it would have been nice for the editors to include more kid-friendly recipes and ones kids can help make.
As always, the photographs are absolutely gorgeous.
September 28, 2022
A pretty hardcover edition that makes you want to have that fancy, cozy winter meal. Photos of each recipe to accompany. Yes, thank you! Four recipes to accompany each novel with a quote and recipe note of each. Most were a bit too fancy for my taste, some were cute. What a way to pull up a chair and end a book club night.
August 26, 2020
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Enjoy treats from favorite literary classics such as A Christmas Carol, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Little Women, Winnie the Pooh, and more with this delicious holiday-arranged (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and New Year) recipe collection. I especially loved Beorn’s Honey Nut Banana Bread (from The Hobbit), Walsh’s interpretation of the bread and honey Beorn serves Thorin’s company when they stay at his home on the edge of Mirkwood Forest. This cookbook would be a great addition to anyone’s kitchen and would also make a great holiday gift!
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest
Enjoy treats from favorite literary classics such as A Christmas Carol, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Little Women, Winnie the Pooh, and more with this delicious holiday-arranged (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and New Year) recipe collection. I especially loved Beorn’s Honey Nut Banana Bread (from The Hobbit), Walsh’s interpretation of the bread and honey Beorn serves Thorin’s company when they stay at his home on the edge of Mirkwood Forest. This cookbook would be a great addition to anyone’s kitchen and would also make a great holiday gift!
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest
November 18, 2023
LOVE LOVE LOVE this one! Read through again for recipes for all the upcoming winter seasons.
November 17, 2021
To find out why I am so far behind in posting, rating & reviewing books on Goodreads, you will have to read my review of CHRISTMAS BY THE BOOK here on GR. Right now, I have 19 other books to try to get to, so I will simply get down to it! I am not "writing chronologically," as in which backed-up books I read first. I am going to get through this backlog in whatever order that feels best at the moment. And for the next three books, it means beginning with holiday/seasonal-cookbooks I purchased, read and hope to find useful and fun to work with soon! And since Christmas is just around the corner, this review is about a lovely, fun book titled A LITERARY HOLIDAY COOKBOOK: FESTIVE MEALS FOR THE SNOW QUEEN, GANDALF, SHERLOCK, SCROOGE, AND BOOK LOVERS EVERYWHERE created by Alison Walsh.
First of all, I don't add cookbooks to my GR's list unless I really do read all the important data - the commentary, the ingredients needed, etc. These is the needed data that gives a book its "plot" & "flavor." I happen to own, between actual cookbooks and other food-related publishings, over 300 books. I am quite happy to be adding A LITERARY HOLIDAY BOOK to that "stash!" Of course, not all of the recipes grabbed me, but there are enough to hold onto this excellent tome. I also happen to love that I've read, or at least broused through, so many of them in the past, several of them being classics!
There was also a reminder for me that, while I own it, I have yet to read THE HOBBIT (although the only recipe in that section that I might try out would be "Bag End Orchard Salad." What I starred as a possibility for the upcoming holidays falls into the "Festive Sips," category according to its place in the cookbook: It is titled "The White Witch's White Chocolate Chai Latte" and it was inspired by C. S. Lewis's THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE - sounds yummy and only contains only 4 ingredients!
SO... if you're looking for a new holiday cookbook, this one covers Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Years, as well as honoring several literary favorites of mine.. and perhaps some you have enjoyed as well. The recipes sound delicious and most would not be problematic re ingredients or difficulty in cooking or baking. The author "knows of what she creates and hath brought forth yumminess" (the latter is not a quote - just a corny statement by yours truly). I have rated A LITERARY HOLIDAY at 5-stars because it's a fun read and am expecting that it will be useful for a few holidays as well! Perhaps it would be for you!
First of all, I don't add cookbooks to my GR's list unless I really do read all the important data - the commentary, the ingredients needed, etc. These is the needed data that gives a book its "plot" & "flavor." I happen to own, between actual cookbooks and other food-related publishings, over 300 books. I am quite happy to be adding A LITERARY HOLIDAY BOOK to that "stash!" Of course, not all of the recipes grabbed me, but there are enough to hold onto this excellent tome. I also happen to love that I've read, or at least broused through, so many of them in the past, several of them being classics!
There was also a reminder for me that, while I own it, I have yet to read THE HOBBIT (although the only recipe in that section that I might try out would be "Bag End Orchard Salad." What I starred as a possibility for the upcoming holidays falls into the "Festive Sips," category according to its place in the cookbook: It is titled "The White Witch's White Chocolate Chai Latte" and it was inspired by C. S. Lewis's THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE - sounds yummy and only contains only 4 ingredients!
SO... if you're looking for a new holiday cookbook, this one covers Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Years, as well as honoring several literary favorites of mine.. and perhaps some you have enjoyed as well. The recipes sound delicious and most would not be problematic re ingredients or difficulty in cooking or baking. The author "knows of what she creates and hath brought forth yumminess" (the latter is not a quote - just a corny statement by yours truly). I have rated A LITERARY HOLIDAY at 5-stars because it's a fun read and am expecting that it will be useful for a few holidays as well! Perhaps it would be for you!
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December 29, 2023Many of the recipes have no actual reference within the mentioned books, for example, “London Fog” cookies for Sherlock Holmes, “Moonpies” for Dracula, “Rabbit salad” for The House at Pooh Corner, “Witch punch” for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. But it was the tone-deaf foreword that was most off-putting, about how great quarantine during a pandemic was because some privileged family got to bake and read. Nevermind the death, gut-wrenching grief, and life-altering destruction being experienced by others, it’s so cozy to cook!
October 5, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book so much that I'm asking for it as a Christmas present! The whole idea of taking popular books and creating imaginative recipes is brilliant! I can't wait to have a literary Christmas celebration!
November 24, 2021
Not enough imagination in these recipes.
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March 15, 2023Love the concept, I want to try a few recipes. Though I’m a bit shocked that she spelled “Digory” incorrectly.
December 2, 2023
This would make a great gift for any book lover who loves to cook!
July 8, 2021
If you don't like apples, don't grab this cookbook. This is a great idea for a cookbook, because a lot of nostalgia comes with the childhood favorite books. The overall spirit of the book - of festivity, family, feasting and tradition, was much appreciated.
Some of the recipes were a stretch from the stories, from relatively simple/straightforward, to more ambitious ones. Some steps are just not my style - too complex.
Some of the recipes were a stretch from the stories, from relatively simple/straightforward, to more ambitious ones. Some steps are just not my style - too complex.
December 30, 2020
I thought this was a great idea for a cookbook, and a way to enhance the holidays. A lot of nostalgia came with the childhood favorite books. The overall spirit of the book - of festivity, family, feasting, and tradition, was much needed and appreciated.
There were a decent mix of recipes, from relatively simple/straightforward, to more ambitious ones. Some steps are just not my style (e.g. I am not going to melt jolly ranchers into different shapes, when merely putting a jolly rancher on top of a cupcake will achieve the same taste). On the other hand, I cooked both my Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey with a recipe from this book. It was my first time cooking a turkey and it came out great, which is a credit to this cookbook! Clearly, the steps are well laid out and well explained.
A couple of minor quibbles: why weren't the holidays listed in chronological order? I couldn't understand why Christmas came before Halloween.
Additionally, I try to cook seasonally. Meaning, I will generally avoid things like tomatoes, blueberries, and strawberries in the dead of winter. Yet many of these recipes call for them. This doesn't invalidate the book - I will simply keep it out year-round and cook with it in the summer too (even better!). But anything calling for fresh tomatoes is not, to my mind, a New Year's recipe (but we'll enjoy it this summer).
There were a decent mix of recipes, from relatively simple/straightforward, to more ambitious ones. Some steps are just not my style (e.g. I am not going to melt jolly ranchers into different shapes, when merely putting a jolly rancher on top of a cupcake will achieve the same taste). On the other hand, I cooked both my Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey with a recipe from this book. It was my first time cooking a turkey and it came out great, which is a credit to this cookbook! Clearly, the steps are well laid out and well explained.
A couple of minor quibbles: why weren't the holidays listed in chronological order? I couldn't understand why Christmas came before Halloween.
Additionally, I try to cook seasonally. Meaning, I will generally avoid things like tomatoes, blueberries, and strawberries in the dead of winter. Yet many of these recipes call for them. This doesn't invalidate the book - I will simply keep it out year-round and cook with it in the summer too (even better!). But anything calling for fresh tomatoes is not, to my mind, a New Year's recipe (but we'll enjoy it this summer).
December 19, 2020
A Literary Holiday Cookbook is Alison Walsh’s follow up cookbook to A Literary Party and this book is a true delight for a bookworm! Covering such classics as The Hobbit, Little Women, A Christmas Carol, Sherlock Holmes, and many many more, the recipes cover meals for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!
There’s a delightful range of recipes to make, from sweet and savory to simple and challenging along with clear instructions and an ingredients list that is easy to find or substitute if necessary.
Some recipes that caught my eyes especially a few for gift ideas—Honey Nut Banana Bread, Sugar Plums, a few really appealing turkey recipes (and I’m not even a fan of turkey!), mini pork pies, Jo’s Gingerbread and her Hot Cocoa Mix, Pooh’s Honey Lemon cookies, Deviled Raven’s eggs, Chocolate Strawberry Opera Cake, Candies Walnuts, The White Witch’s White Chocolate Chai Tea Latte...so many tasty treats to try out!!
December 10, 2023
Oh what a lovely book this is! The recipes are all inspired by famous literary works and are divided among the yearly holidays. All of the recipes have pictures and seem easy enough for novice cooks to make. For Christmas there are wonderful recipes from A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker . The applesauce from A Christmas Carol looks amazing and the Sugar Plums from The Nutcracker are on my “to do” list. For the Autumn season, Redwall: An Autumnal Abbey Feast includes Damson Plum and Pear Crumbles with Meadow cream and mint. Yum!!! From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: A Mad New Years Party there are Eat Me Cakes and The Queen of Hearts Tomato Tart. All of these delectable treats and many more can then be washed down with so many wonderful drinks in the Festive Sips chapter which includes Jo March’s Hot Cocoa Mix, Drink Me Punch, Poe’s Nevermore Cocktail and many more. This book should be on all book lover’s shelves. Oh, and it would make a lovely gift!
May 21, 2021
Enjoyed the author’s previous book, so checked this out from the library to see if it was worth purchasing. Dinner parties based on books sounds good. At first glance, it was very promising, with beautiful photography and sections for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. But quite a few of the recipes are repeats from the previous book. And very few of the new recipes are things I would actually make. Or...already have a tastier, simpler recipe for. There’s actually a recipe for salsa and another for guacamole, both with the same cookie cutter shaped chips made from tortillas. The shapes are different, and she varied the color of the tortillas, but really? Disappointed.
March 27, 2021
More fun recipes, but this book mirrors the format of Alison Walsh's website, where she presents a group of recipes related to a particular book or author. Some of the recipes appeared in her previous book, but it makes sense with this format, which is also geared to celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. The final section of the book has recipes for gift-giving. I've made some of the recipes with good results, but I also love just looking at the beautiful illustrations.
November 28, 2020
I really enjoyed this! Great match-ups and has recipes for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and the New Year, too. I also appreciated that it was a good mix - not too hard for the average kitchen tinkerer, like myself, but also a little fancier than what I would normally do. It was definitely recipes that are not in my normal rotation but things I. Oils see myself making. I also really liked the section in the back for things you could make as gifts.
December 24, 2021
I'll be honest - there is no way I will make any of the recipes in here, because they are all way too incredibly complicated.
But, I still loved reading this because of the creativity behind it. I've read almost every book referenced in here, and seeing the food inspired by those works was really cool.
This book was just visually beautiful, and definitely worth a look if you're a book lover.
But, I still loved reading this because of the creativity behind it. I've read almost every book referenced in here, and seeing the food inspired by those works was really cool.
This book was just visually beautiful, and definitely worth a look if you're a book lover.
December 12, 2020
This is a very readable cookbook. Great recipes lifted from the pages of great literature. Christmas breakfast with the Little Women, quick bites from Dracula, pumpkin cider from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, you get the idea. It´s witty and the recipes sound delicious. Every dish is beautifully photographed.
December 26, 2020
I have reviewed this cookbook cover to cover and prepared a few of the recipes. My book club chose this book as our selection for December. All of us have made prepared different menu items from the book. It was an interesting discussion as to how we chose the recipes we wanted to try. My kitchen is a place of solace for me and this book was food for my soul.
May 22, 2021
This book was delightful! It has quotes and recipes imagined from classic literature. I had a cup of tea ... maybe more than one and read it start to finish! I loved the quote on Mrs. Beaver’s Potatoes. (Page 33) “The potatoes are boiling and the kettle’s singing and I dare say, Mr. Beaver, you’ll get us some fish.”
November 13, 2021
I adore nerdy themed cookbooks. This one is a definite treat! The recipes evoke the feelings I associate with the books beautifully. Also, there is a good range of recipe difficulty. If I want a challenge, I can find one. If I want something easier, even waaaay easier, I can find that, too. Lovely!
December 13, 2021
A beautiful book but it's not likely that I will make any of the recipes. A lot of the recipes require special equipment to make that I don't have. A three inch spider cookie cutter anyone? It was still fun to read.
December 14, 2023
This is a cookbook that you will want to read the inspiration behind the recipes. This is a beautiful cookbook with a full-page picture of each recipe. There are 85 recipes for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.
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January 1, 2024This was cute, especially if you are a fan of any of the 17 books featured. I thought it was all cute. I was surprised to see another reviewer point out that 10 of these recipes are re-published almost verbatim from her prior book. 😮
December 6, 2020
This will work for a niche audience- which is me. Some of the recipes do seem more difficult than others, but overall I can't wait to have themed meals around favorite books.
January 5, 2021
Really fun. I made the Pooh Honey and Lemon cookies for our solstice dinner. Looking forward to trying some other recipes.
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March 6, 2021khalid
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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