Review: The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory--More Than 150 Magical Recipes for Wizards and Non-Wizards Alike

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory--More Than 150 Magical Recipes for Wizards and Non-Wizards Alike by Dinah Bucholz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this a few Christmases ago from my sister in law, who also loves Harry Potter.

This is a great book, that's filled with very interesting, mainly English recipes. Some of them are a bit unusual, to someone like me, who's not used to eating them.

There are a well balanced mix of complex dishes as well as really basic ones. This book is good for novice and expert cooks alike. It would be an interesting book to use with a kids cooking class, to help them engage with learning recipes, and possibly trying new foods.

I also love the headers of the uses of food throughout the Harry Potter books. It's also got some great tidbits of history, and how food was introduced and used in the past.

What's one food from the Harry Potter series that you would love to try?

Review: Taste of Home Baking with Bake Sale Bonus: Fresh-Cooked Fun! 125 Bake-Sale Favorites!

Taste of Home Baking with Bake Sale Bonus: Fresh-Cooked Fun! 125 Bake-Sale Favorites! by Taste of Home
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Melissa's Musings:

My sister bought me this book about 5 years ago for my birthday. I decided I should finally read it all the way through.

It's got a lot of excellent recipes. I love that it's sectioned off into type of baking item. At the beginning of each section, there are tips on how to deal with issues for each kind of item that you're making.

This has pictures that accompany almost every recipe, and small anecdotes from the people who submitted them.

I also love that this is in a binder, so I could easily remove a recipe if I wanted to use it rather than lugging the whole book to the kitchen. I made a list of recipes I really want to try as I was going through this so I see some baking in my immediate future.


I love to bake. Ironically, I hate cooking. I don't remember when I got into it, but at some point in my 20's I realized that I liked baking, and was often creating recipes to bring to work and share with my family. I don't bake quite so much now, as the oven in our current apartment is very finicky and things often end up with burned edges and bottoms.

I  also love my kitchenaid mixer that my former coworkers got me as a bridal shower gift about 4 years ago. It's a godsend when baking.

Do you bake? What's your favorite treat to make or to eat?