Barbara Frum District Blog

Last week, much to my four year old daughter’s delight, I brought home the adorable Disney Princess Cookbook, which features recipes such as, magic carpet roll-ups, seven dwarfs' soup and Tiana's Baked Caramel French Toast.

She was so thrilled with the book that I went in search of other cookbooks featuring famous characters. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many there were, and I wondered how I had never discovered the literary cookbook genre before! Great for a fun rainy day activity, or to use for children’s (or adult) bookclubs to add another element to the gatherings.

As a child I remember wanting more than anything to
try Turkish Delight because of the way it is described in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, "The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle onto the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious." Any food that would make you betray your family and fall under the spell of an evil queen must be pretty amazing. The Narnia cookbook claims to have the recipe for this mouthwatering treat.

And who could resist the Harry Potter Cookbook? The books always made me hungry with the detailed descriptions of the magical feasts, chocolate frogs and even Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Jelly Beans. Hopefully the cookbook sticks to the more appetizing recipes.

Who could forget poor Diana mistakenly drinking current wine instead of Raspberry Cordial in Anne of Green Gables? Contained in the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook is the recipe for the non-alcoholic Raspberry Cordial Anne and Diana should have consumed. There are also recipes for other traditional early Canadian foods.

 

Read your favourite nursery rhymes and then make recipes such as Peter Pumpkin's Pumpkin Muffins, Miss Muffet's Cottage Cheese and Fruit Topping, or the Queen of Heart's Fruit Tart. This is a great one for toddlers and preschoolers as the recipes are easy and they'll be familiar with all the characters.

Also check out these other favourites for kids:

And For Adults:

Interested in joining a book club? Barbara Frum's Adult Book Club meets monthly from September to June to discuss books over tea. And NEW this summer, the Barbara Frum Summer Reading Club Book Club for children ages 8-12 will meet weekly on Monday afternoons! Call the branch at 416-395-5440 for more information.