Book Review

The Unofficial Wednesday Cookbook:
Recipes Inspired by the
Deliciously Macabre TV Show

by Iphigenia Jones

Publisher: Ulysses Press

144 Pages

Release Date: August 29, 2023

 

 

 

 

My inner child is Wednesday Addams. So when I was offered the chance to review The Unofficial Wednesday Addams Cookbook, how could I refuse? First, the book is in purple and black; those are so my colours. It is entertainingly written. It is not too cutesy, but kitschy enough to be cool. It’s almost too much to hope that the recipes are any good…

The recipes are fantastic. They are presented in a simple, straight forward manner (so easy, a child could manage these – with supervision) and the results on the recipes I made are simply sublime, and are fit to set before company. With so many of these types of cookbooks, the results are either bland or ho-hum. Not here. I barely had to make any adjustments in seasonings or ingredients.

I made a recipe from each section, and they were scrumptious. With the Pitted Dates and The Pendulum, I substituted Feta for the Bleu Cheese, as no on in my house likes Bleu Cheese. They were sweet-savory and salty. Easy to make, and I could see serving them at parties. I am looking forward to trying the Ravens Wings next.

The Honey-Soy Chicken Thighs are sticky, but delicious. Make sure to have plenty of napkins. They are flavourful, not too salty, not too sweet, and the toasted sesame seeds add a nice nuttiness. The green onion gave a nice pop of crunch and contrast. I served this with rice and sautéed mixed vegetables. There were no left overs.

The Quad Espresso Milkshake and the “Secret” Ginger Snaps were especially well received. Anyone who can make a milkshake using espresso is already a few steps ahead in my book. The gingers snaps were spicy enough without being too much. They also tasted really good dipped into the milkshake… so there is that.

And to wash it all down, we had Mary Shelly’s Monstrous Sangria. This is an absolute delight for hot weather. It was crisp, light, and sweet, but not too cloying. The fresh mint leaves really brought up the taste of the fruit. I made a pitcher on Friday and it barely lasted till Sunday. For a kid friendly version, substitute red wine with cranberry-pomegranate juice, the Triple Sec with blood orange juice, and the brandy with two teaspoons of vanilla extract.

All in all I found this to be a very worthwhile book, and would recommend for the ghouls and goths in your life… or for yourself even. Bon appétit!!

About the Author:

Iphigenia Jones has seen every episode of The Addams Family and has only been accused of witchcraft thrice. She enjoys cats, blackberries, and chatting with ghosts.

 

 

The Unofficial Wednesday Cookbook on Amazon

 

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About the Author:

Skarlett

I’ve been a practicing pagan and witch for over 20 years. I was raised Catholic (in such that my parents sent me to Catholic school as they believed it would give me a better education..my parents were agnostic at best) and got over it quickly enough. It never touched me, but the school library had really good books on mythology and divination, so there was that. I began my path at the age of 14 after seeing The Occult Explosion on late night TV and then raiding the occult section at B Daltons with a pocketful of babysitting money and allowance.

Paganism made sense to me. I started out Wiccan as that was what was available on the shelves and grew from there. At 16 I was handed a copy of the Principia Discordia and well… I added chaos magic to the mix. I was a solitary who occasionally attended discussion groups and rituals when living in Chicago. I then moved to Ohio (Gods know why). Through a series of interesting coincidences I ended up with Three Cranes Grove and made wonderful friends and learned a lot. Though I have wandered off again, I still consider myself a Crane..albeit an out dwelling one.

My path can be best described as Discordian-Eclectic Kitchen Witch. Heh. You have been warned…