Book Description About the Author Formerly a professional chef, caterer, and cooking-school teacher, Amy Cotler transitioned in the 1990s to a successful career as a food writer. She has taught at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City and at The Culinary Institute of America. Her other books include The Locavore Way, Wrap it Up: Bold and Bright Sandwiches with a Twist, One Pot Vegetarian Dishes, and My Little House Cookbook. She was the lead recipe developer and writer for two revised editions of The Joy of Cooking, and she hosted the New York Times online “Food Forum” for six years. Read more Customers Review: Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing another cookbook by Amy Cotler, The Little Women Cookbook. This series of cookbooks is based on recipes and foods that the characters of these books might have eaten or that the book mentioned. The Little Women Cookbook was a finalist in the Goodreads’ Choice Awards for 2019. Now we have The Secret Garden Cookbook full of new and delicious recipes to try – and try them I did!!I’ve been baking “biscuits” since I was a tiny girl – young, not skinny, I’ve never been skinny. These, however, are far and away the best that I’ve ever made or eaten!! Okay, so their official name is “Savory Muffins Spiked with Cheese,” but I call them AMAZING. If you live in the US and have eaten the Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits then you will love this recipe! I’ve tried every “knock off” recipe on Pinterest and they all failed. We baked these and TADA – the best cheddar cheese biscuit – ever!There are recipes for a Proper Pot of English Tea, Cucumber Sandwiches for your garden party and so many puddings among them Sticky Toffee Pudding and Yorkshire pudding. Some of you may bake these on a regular basis but just try finding a good recipes for these here in the US. It can’t be done! My favorite, however, was The Best Sticky Gingerbread Parkin! My friends, you have not tasted a proper gingered bread until you have tasted this! It is was to die for and absolutely perfect for cold winter nights!There are simply too many recipes to name them all but I can assure you, as someone who owns a Bed and Breakfast, this is a must own cookbook for those who love to bake as well as anyone who loves The Secret Garden!
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press for this book in exchange for an honest review.Amy Cotler’s The Secret Garden Cookbook is a charming themed cookbook filled with easy and yummy recipes. The book’s lovely layout is great and I love the well-written historical and cultural information about the Victorian era. I like the full-colour pictures but I wish there were more and that they were more relevant to the theme.What a fun cookbook! The book is divided into seven chapters: Yorkshire Breakfasts, A Manor Lunch, An English Tea, From the Kitchen Garden, Dickon’s Cottage Food, A Taste of India, and Garden Picnics. I love the variety of dishes! There are recipes for dinner, breakfast, drinks, snacks, condiments, lunch, and teatime. Cotler shows us how to make currant buns and fruit lassi as well as a proper pot of tea. I cannot wait to try making brandy snap lace cookies, bacon and cilantro pancakes, and Yorkshire pudding! The recipes are clearly written and feature familiar and accessible ingredients. I especially like that the dishes seem easy and that they do not feature an extensive ingredient list.The cute page designs are fun and colourful. But, I really wish they had featured throughout. I like the beautiful and bright full-colour pictures but they are a little generic. They are also very modern and seem as if they could belong to any contemporary cookbook. I wish the pictures were more interesting and more relevant to the theme. Furthermore, a few more pictures of the dishes would really enhance this book.I love the little snippets from The Secret Garden book that are included throughout. I loved reading about the culture and food of Victorian England. It is especially fascinating to learn about the eating habits and daily activities of the rich and poor people of that era. Cotler’s writing is presented in a brief, easy-to-read, and interesting format. Her style is so simple and approachable that I learned a lot of information very quickly and without feeling overwhelmed.The Secret Garden Cookbook is a wonderful recipe collection. This is a perfect gift for fans of The Secret Garden, those who love literary cookbooks, or simply anyone who loves food! I love literary cookbooks and I cannot wait to get my own copy of this lovely collection!
This is such a delightful cookbook! I have read “The Secret Garden” both as a child and then as an adult. When I read the book, I remembered the food that the characters ate fascinated me. This cookbook helps me to bring that imagination of the various foods into life.The book is hard bound, and the pages fall flat. This is great when you’re cooking. The cookbook is divided into different occasions- Yorkshire Breakfast, Manor Lunch, English Tea, From the Kitchen Garden, Dickon’s Cottage Food, Taste of India, and Garden Picnic. The story is set in both India briefly and then Yorkshire, England when Mary Lennox became orphaned. I remember magic was the prevailing theme.Most of the recipes have an enlarged photo alongside it. Each recipe also has a small text about the food and what part of the book the characters may have eaten it. Some of the delightful recipes that I can’t wait to try are Yorkshire Pudding, Cornish Pasties, and English Crumpets. The watercolor illustrations are pretty. I think this would make a lovely gift for Mother’s Day, Birthday, or Teacher’s gifts. Placed in a gift basket with a tea cup set, tea towel, and flower/ vegetable seed packets would be so charming! It would be especially appreciated by fans of the novel like me. |
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