A Literary Tea Party: Blends and Treats for Alice, Bilbo, Dorothy, Jo, and Book Lovers Everywhere

I needed a gift for a friend of mine that loves books and this was perfect! It has a vast array of recipes from a bunch of the classics and it wasn't just the basic stuff you tend to get in some of the themed cookbooks. She's told me that she's tried multiple of the recipes and hasn't found one she didnt like. It's a great cookbook with cute artwork and wonderful recipes.

A Literary Tea Party from Alison Walsh is a fun little cookbook for those who might want to throw a themed party or just want to relax with a themed tea and treat reading break. The book is designed to be relatively accessible for any cook or baker, though admittedly some cooks insist on asserting that THEY would be able to improve on the recipes. Well, yeah, okay, whatever. When you publish your book I'll be interested in reading it. Until then...Yes, as some know-it-alls like to point out, the idea of books at the juncture of literature and food is not brand new. So what. Almost every one of those books have elicited a comment along the lines of "I would love to see this done with [fill in the blank with a genre, a time period, etc], that would be so fun." And it is, except for those who must, simply must, point out the idea is not brand new. Guess what, I just finished a mystery the other day and the protagonist was a detective. That has already been done. Anyway, those people feel so much better now, so, whatever...I first received a copy of this book for review and loved the idea. I thought I had reviewed it already but I hadn't. I bought a couple copies as gifts and that was when I realized my lapse. So, here I am. I obviously thought highly of the book, I bought copies as gifts, so I do recommend it.The recipes are straightforward and easy to follow, the pictures are lovely, and the connections to the stories, whether direct or assumed, were fun as well. As the title says, there are blends, which are the teas. With the advent of the internet finding teas are not that difficult any more and special blends are so much more fun than just a standard blend. That said, unless you have a love of tea you may well find yourself substituting in this area unless you're throwing a party, in which case who cares if it is a little extra work. It is a party. For day to day drinking, maybe try a blend periodically and find some you particularly like. I am personally looking forward to trying my hand at a few of the blends.I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the fun of such a concept. If you're one of those cooks who only like cookbooks that challenge even the best chefs, you'll be disappointed, this is about the joy of gathering together and sharing treats, tea, and literary conversation, not bragging rights about the difficulty of the recipes.As an aside, I recently read another interesting book that combined food and history, The Course of History by Struan Stevenson. It has complete meals from 10 import historical meals/events. Harder to duplicate than these but the history surrounding each meal was fascinating.

I absolutely love planning parties, and I love tea and literature! When I came across this book, I had to have it. When it came, I had a blast looking through it and loved almost all of the recipes! I can't wait to try the Eeyore birthday cake for my Mamaw, who is a HUGE Winnie the Pooh fan. And the Turkish delights! Nor the Rasberry cordial! Oh my, so many recipes inspired by great literary books. I loved them all! And I got to mention the Beorn banana nut bread from The Hobbit! I can't wait to try them and to plan a wonderful tea party.Also, in the back, there are recipes for teas and even hot chocolates and others if you want to pair them with the food. This is perfect and inspirational for anyone who wants a literary or fun tea party or any kind of party!

Ohmigosh. Cutest book ever! And, so inspiring. I wanted a few recipes because I’m planning an Anne of Green Gables tea party for my Twin’s’ first birthday. This does not disappoint. I even found the perfect smash cake recipe. It’s a cupcake they’ve made into a personal layered cake and then frosted & decorated. It would be super cute and so easy to make a couple for the babies! Also, I could either make a lot or just use the rest as regular cupcakes if I run out of time! Haha!

Liked because it centers around literary characters that drink tea, making it a unique experience.

The recipes I've tried have turned out really tasty. Our favorite theme so far was making items that went with murder mysteries, perfect companions to a Father Brown Mysteries marathon.

I went to a local tea shop yesterday for an afternoon of tea and laughter with 3 family members and gave them each this book, as not only are they tea lovers but they're also longtime avid readers. They quickly skimmed through their books after I gave them to them and they were thrilled with what they saw. A win-win!

I'm giving this to my mother-in-law as a holiday gift, but after seeing what's inside, I'm anxious to get a copy for myself! We're both huge fans of cooking, baking, and Children's books with both of us having worked in schools a libraries. It's an amazing addition to our cook book collection, but also an interesting take on what could have been for our favorite characters!

We are really enjoying this cookbook. Recommend it for anyone who loves literary classics and afternoon tea!

Uma das melhores surpresas que podia encontrar em um livro.

For each recipe they name the book and author that inspired it. Good book except for a couple of glaring mistakes, not once but twice they credited Anne of Green Gables to Francis Hodgson Burnett instead if L.M.Montgomery

What a lovely book, i enjoyed reading it on a wet cold afternoon dreaming of making the recipes and serving them in the garden on a hot summers day. Ideal Christmas present for any literary cook.

I’d recommend this book to anyone planning a tea party, picnic or literary feast. Loads of great things to try and I was salivating at the pictures.