HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Review: The Geeky Chef Strikes Back by Cassandra Reeder

Title: The Geeky Chef Strikes Back: Even More Unofficial Recipes from Minecraft, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Twin Peaks, and More!
Authors: Cassandra Reeder
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 15th 2017
Source: Publisher


Book Description:

The Geeky Chef is back with even more delicious, real-life recipes from your favorite sci-fi and fantasy books, movies, TV shows, and video games. Discover the foods you've always wanted to taste from realms like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to The Legend of Zelda, Firefly, Minecraft, Final Fantasy, and more.

In the Geeky Chef Strikes Back, author Cassandra Reeder has imagined the delicious foods in these faraway worlds and created recipes that are sure to transport you to galaxies far, far way. So if you've found yourself craving Pumpkin Juice from Harry Potter, Lingonberry Pancakes from The Big Lebowski, Norma's Cherry Pie from Twin Peaks, Wife Soup from Firefly, or the White Dragon Noodles from Blade Runner, then look no further. With easy step-by-step instructions and fun theme photos, these creative recipes are perfect for your next big viewing party or your standing reservation for a party of one. Fantasy foods are fantasy no longer!

Review:

★★★★

Cooking? Awesome. Fandom cooking? Even better. I'm really grateful I got to read this.

The book is divided into sections based on type including an introduction, non-alcoholic drinks, alcoholic drinks, appetizers snacks and sides, soups and stews, main courses, cakes and cupcakes, pies and tarts, and other desserts. It makes it easy to navigate, based on what sort of food you're in the mood for.

Let's talk about the good first. I really like that under each recipe title, it tells you whatever video game or show that the recipe came from. Beneath that, for every recipe there's a little paragraph that explains the context such as what episode in what season, or why the food is relevant to the plot, things like that. The recipes are in short, concise, numbered steps and for almost all the recipes there's a color photograph of the finished project. They're themed to the show/fandom, which is pretty cute. There's also adorable little doodles in the empty white spaces that fill the book out a bit more and make it seem a bit more whimsical. There's a mix of recipes from video games, television, and film.

I also really appreciated that when a recipe called for meat or animal product, the author offered up substitutions on how to make it vegetarian friendly. There's also a bunch of tips sprinkled throughout the recipes.

It's really a good book for beginners. First, you have the numbered, easy steps and all the photos. But quite a few of the recipes are also a bit of a "cheat", like using canned cherries or Cocoa Puffs.

At times this book kind of had a weird tone at times (I know it's a cookbook, hear me out!). There's a recipe from Doctor Who, in which the author explains in a way that makes it sound like she's annoyed, how many fans ask her for a Jammie Dodger or Jelly Babies recipe. Like, THESE THINGS ALREADY EXIST! ...So? So do a few of the other recipes in the book (Pumpkin Juice, for example). That doesn't mean you can't make your own version; my Pinterest feed is filled with "homemade" versions of Oreos and Poptarts. It just seemed a weird thing to put in there. It was also a little weird when she talked about My Little Pony and how a show for little girls turned into a show for adults... But then she only really talks about bronies. I mean... Little boys watch it, and so do adult women. Just weird.

Anywho, back to the good. Some of the recipes that I'm most excited to make include Ambrosia (The Sims), Herring and Pumpkin Pot Pie (Kiki's Delivery Service), and Dauntless Chocolate Cake (Divergent).

Other than the weird nitpicks that I've mentioned, this is a pretty good cookbook. For me personally, it was a bit video game heavy, but it's impossible to nail everyone's fandoms exactly. From Breaking Bad to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there's recipes here you're bound to get the reference to, and that you'll want to eat. It's approachable for any cooking level. It's great if you host viewing parties, or a theme party, or even Halloween (which is why this is included in my Halloween countdown!). It's a book for the nerd cook in your life, and it's one that I'd use in my kitchen.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.