Food to Die For caught my eye immediately when it popped up on my horror releases radar. Sure, I’ve never reviewed a cookbook before, but I do love them. One based on haunted places written by Amy Bruni? I had to check it out. Bruni has decades of experience in the paranormal field, hosting “Kindred Spirits” and being part of the “Ghost Hunters” team. It makes sense Harper Celebrates would work with her for a collection of recipes like this. If by the end of this you want to try your hand at making some yourself, you only have to wait until July 30th.
Now, before I get into the recipes, I want to address the non-cooking part of this book. As I just mentioned, Amy Bruni knows her history. Every single recipe is accompanied by a description of the location, the reported haunting, and the story. Even if you don’t cook, it’s a fun book. I had a lot of fun flipping through this while looking for recipes to make. And if you do cook—automatic conversation starter. The organization of the cookbook also lends to this idea, with recipes grouped together around a theme to make a menu.
Now, let’s get into the cooking.
First and foremost, I am not a professional chef. But I do cook. A lot. I chose two recipes to try my hand at. First, the “Cripple Creek Crab Cakes” from Cripple Creek, Colorado, because I’m a Marylander and had to choose the crab recipe. Since I needed a side to go with them, I went with “Legendary Potatoes” from the Lighthouse Inn. To tie it all together, I asked my boyfriend for help with the cocktail. The most qualified “chef” in this review, he’s been a bartender for nine years whose current job has him doing some R&D for cocktails. As big King fans, I really just wasn’t trying this cookbook without the recipe from The Stanley Hotel: “The Ghostly Vieux”.
First up, those crab cakes. Now, since they are from Colorado and not Maryland, they don’t have Old Bay in them, which I accepted but it felt wrong. They turned out pretty delicious, but I did have to double the mixture that acted as the binder. Recipe as written, they kind of just fell apart. Another big difference—the serving size. This recipe said it makes four servings. Now, it doesn’t say how many a serving is, but this definitely yielded at least double that. Two crab cakes per person for four nights. Maybe my hands are just small (they are) but I was not complaining about the extra food. Crab is pricey! I do think with the modifications I made, and some different seasoning, I’d definitely make these again.
Now the potatoes, the legendary potatoes. Apparently these potatoes were so popular that the community made sure everyone could cook these when the Inn closed. That’s a beloved recipe. Making the potatoes is about when I said, “I am prepared to order pizza.” I underestimated the transformative power of baking soda. The casserole dish I placed in that oven contained potato soup—and not the “Potato Dijon Soup” from the Copper Queen Hotel. It was potato chunks in cream covered by a floating breadcrumb mixture. And it turned into something delicious. Paranormal and cooking do have an overlap: sometimes you just have to trust the process.
Lastly, the cocktail. I may not have made it, but I did drink it. Of note, I am grateful Bruni did not choose the Redrum Punch, as I do not enjoy rum. And the name is a fun play on words. The recipe is based on both the traditional New Orleans cocktail, The Vieux Carré, and a cocktail from the The Stanley Hotel Whiskey Bar. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe their Dunraven Manhattan. Anyway, I asked my boyfriend what he thought about the recipe from a professional standpoint. The ratio of ingredients was a little odd, but it ended up working out fine. I don’t think it’s something we would make again, though. Case in point, we have not yet had the drink again.
And there you have it, a meal created entirely from the Food to Die For cookbook. We both did not grow tired of the food, even though we ate it four days in a row. The extra information is a lot of fun and provides a new lens to view food history. As long as you have somewhat of a basic knowledge of cooking, the recipes shouldn’t be too difficult to make work. I think this will find a happy—hopefully not haunted—home on many shelves.
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
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