4.5 Stars

The Secret Garden Cookbook by Amy Cotler is such a fun companion to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. There are so many unique and interesting recipe ideas that are all connected to the classic children’s story. The book is so much more than a book of recipes, as it contains historical facts, quotes from the story, and beautiful images.

Recipe books that are based off of my all-time favourite childhood stories are quickly becoming some of my most treasured books. The Secret Garden Cookbook is one that really immerses you into the world of Mary and Dickson. There are so many descriptions of food in the novel that this book really pulls the themes and the ideas behind Frances Hodgson Burnett’s writing together.

❀ PERFECT LESSON PLAN EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Cotler has divided the recipe book into sections that fit with the novel and would really make perfect extension activities to a lesson plan for the classroom or at home. Each section includes a bit of history from the era of the story, beautiful illustrations, and a quote from the book that fits with the recipes. The offerings include:

Yorkshire Breakfasts

A Manor Lunch

An English Tea

From the Kitchen Garden

Dickson’s Cottage Food

A Taste of India

Garden Picnics

❀ SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS

I was most drawn to the recipes for An English Tea, as Cotler provides instructions for a Proper Pot of tea and Warm Cranberry Scones With Orange Glaze. The instructions were simple and and easy to follow, providing some tasty results. Definitely a book that will inspire some young chefs to create some of the food featured in the story.

If you, or someone you know, is a fan of The Secret Garden, this is one book to add to your collection. It is such a pretty book that is packed full of interesting information and food ideas to accompany the story. It will help make the wait for the new film a little bit easier as well!

I love The Secret Garden, particularly for its descriptions of food and the range of gardens full of produce, so when I saw this book title I was keen to read it.

This was a charming book full of facts about traditional Yorkshire fare and very short snippets from the original novel amongst wonderful homely recipes to reflect life at the time of writing.

Split into chapters around different themes such as breakfast, summer picnics and a taste of India, we are taken back to the well known story and the foods that would have been so familiar to the children. Each chapter begins with an explanation of the traditions and available produce during the 19th Century and the recipes are accompanied by photographs of delicious looking food and drink. I can't wait to find the time to give some of these recipes a go!

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Has a great deal of context and history. I was hoping that it would be a bit longer and the food photography did not seem up to par with other cookbooks I've read. Almost would have preferred the food to be illustrated.

The Secret Garden Cookbook: Newly Revised Edition is a charming cookbook, full of lovely food photography, whimsical illustrations, and lots of historical context for the recipes being offered. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as The Little Women Cookbook, probably due to both preferring that original book better and also to feeling like the recipes were more closely tied to the original text of the novel. With The Secret Garden Cookbook, the author gave plenty of context for why the included recipes would have been appropriate to the story, and I really enjoyed the cultural and food history of the time and place in which The Secret Garden is set. But I didn’t feel like the book mentioned many of the recipes specifically, so making a themed cookbook from the original story was a bit of a stretch. It could as easily have been a cookbook about the food of several novels set in this time and place. So basically, it was interesting reading, but didn’t blow me away. Additionally, the text, at least in the advanced digital copy I received from NetGalley, was small black lettering on a white background, and not particularly easy on the eyes.

I am also sad because, as befits recipes from this era and region, there’s not many of them that would suit my dietary restrictions. You will find hardly any gluten free recipes, and most recipes are also heavy on animal products. While I’d love to try a jam roly-poly, I just don’t think it’s going to happen for me. I did find two recipes I’d like to try, a raspberry vinegar (similar to our modern vinaigrette, but thicker and sweeter, and apparently used as a common condiment at the time) and pease pudding. but not much else. Many of the rest sounded tasty, and I don’t want to discourage someone who is truly an omnivore from checking this cookbook out. But if you have dietary restrictions on gluten, dairy, meat, or eggs, I wouldn’t suggest reading this book in search of useful recipes.

Instead, read it for the historical tidbits. They really could be fascinating, from the varying diets of the social classes and ages, to gardening and cooking practices among the social classes. I was especially struck by the mention of an ochre-red liquid being placed on the tops of garden walls that would stain the hands of anyone who climbed over the wall, to keep out hungry or mischievous intruders. I presume this is where the phrase “caught red-handed” got its origin.

In short? This is a charming little cookbook, and a quick fascinating glimpse of culinary and gardening and social life in the era and region of The Secret Garden. If you read it with that in mind, prepared for a lovely and interesting book, I think you will enjoy it too.

Thank you to #NetGalley for giving me access to an #advancedcopy of #TheSecretGardenCookbookNewlyRevisedEdition . This is my honest opinion.

Adding this beautiful addition to my bookish cookbook collection! The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books to read while I was growing up, and this cookbook definitely brings back the magic! Such creative and fun recipes, inspired me to have a tea party with my niece. With so many recipes, there's something in here for everyone, although the desserts are my favorite options. A wonderful treat for fans of the story!

Amy Cotler’s The Secret Garden Cookbook is a charming themed cookbook filled with easy and yummy recipes. The book’s lovely layout is great and I love the well-written historical and cultural information about the Victorian era. I like the full-colour pictures but I wish there were more and that they were more relevant to the theme.

What a fun cookbook! The book is divided into seven chapters: Yorkshire Breakfasts, A Manor Lunch, An English Tea, From the Kitchen Garden, Dickon’s Cottage Food, A Taste of India, and Garden Picnics. I love the variety of dishes! There are recipes for dinner, breakfast, drinks, snacks, condiments, lunch, and teatime. Cotler shows us how to make currant buns and fruit lassi as well as a proper pot of tea. I cannot wait to try making brandy snap lace cookies, bacon and cilantro pancakes, and Yorkshire pudding! The recipes are clearly written and feature familiar and accessible ingredients. I especially like that the dishes seem easy and that they do not feature an extensive ingredient list.

The cute page designs are fun and colourful. But, I really wish they had featured throughout. I like the beautiful and bright full-colour pictures but they are a little generic. They are also very modern and seem as if they could belong to any contemporary cookbook. I wish the pictures were more interesting and more relevant to the theme. Furthermore, a few more pictures of the dishes would really enhance this book.

I love the little snippets from The Secret Garden book that are included throughout. I loved reading about the culture and food of Victorian England. It is especially fascinating to learn about the eating habits and daily activities of the rich and poor people of that era. Cotler’s writing is presented in a brief, easy-to-read, and interesting format. Her style is so simple and approachable that I learned a lot of information very quickly and without feeling overwhelmed.

The Secret Garden Cookbook is a wonderful recipe collection. This is a perfect gift for fans of The Secret Garden, those who love literary cookbooks, or simply anyone who loves food! I love literary cookbooks and I cannot wait to get my own copy of this lovely collection!



💮💮💮💮 ½ flowers out of 5!

With 50 recipes related to this favorite children’s book, Amy Cotler has dedicated her revised selections to “good appetite, good food and good health.” I loved the overall visual appeal of the book. The recipe pictures look tasty and I found the other graphics simply charming and very well fitting to the theme of this cookbook. As for the recipes, there is a nice variety included. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and sweets are all covered. Plus you get recipes that are specific to an English, tea, from the garden, cottage foods, picnic pleasers and even a section that provides a taste of India.

I thought that this was a very good cookbook. This is a particularly excellent choice for a cookbook collector or a devoted fan of The Secret Garden book. I loved the overall visual appeal of the book. The recipe pictures look tasty and I found the other graphics simply charming and very well fitting to the theme of this cookbook. As for the recipes, there is a nice variety included. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and sweets are all covered. Plus you get recipes that are specific to an English, tea, from the garden, cottage foods, picnic pleasers and even a section that provides a taste of India. Some of my favorite recipes are the warm cranberry scones with orange glaze, the Cornish pasties, the little sausage cakes and the lemon curd tartlets.

A lovely book with wonderful illustrations, quotes from The Secret Garden and great recipes inspired by the book.
It was an excellent read and I want to try some of the recipes.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Such a beautiful cook book, each page invites you in and makes you want to try all the recipes. As a huge fan of the secret garden I was so interested to read this and I really wasn’t disappointed at all. Recipes are well presented, easy to follow with very clear instructions. It’s broken down into chapters that include areas such as Yorkshire Breakfasts, A Manor Lunch, An English Tea and From the Kitchen Garden plus more. This book and recipe really emote the world of a Secret Garden and if you’re a fan I really recommend this, if you’re not a fan it’s still a really great attractive cook book.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Secret Garden (1993) is a movie that I found comforting yet vaguely scary to watch as a child - it being a gateway piece of gothic media, I guess- and I loved the novel once I read is as an adult, then with an all-new perspective of the story. So, being a massive fan of Mrs. Crocombe, I of course I would dip right into a cookbook with recipes either found inside or inspired by the novel that is the epitome of coziness to me. Almost every page provides trivia and simplified insights into the culinary world and household customs of 19th century Britain, including tea traditions, so-called Anglo-Indian cuisine, and picnic suggestions. With adorable illustrations and mostly beginners' level dishes, it's a cute present idea for children who are just experiencing their Victorian period drama phase (I wasn't the only one, was I?).

This is the perfect gift for any secret garden fan. It is a gorgeous cookbook with a wide varied of recipes. The directions are simple to follow and are accompanied with beautiful pictures.

Truth: I've never read The Secret Garden. *gasp* I KNOW. Crazy. I have seen the movie. Or one of them. Not the newest one. One that was made in the 1990's, I think. So I do know the gist. And this was a fun cookbook, much like the [book:The Little Women Cookbook: Tempting Recipes from the March Sisters and Their Friends and Family|44429515] I read and reviewed last year. These cookbooks are good for fans of those books or just for fans of cooking old-fashioned recipes. I liked a few of the recipes in this book and the little snippets about The Secret Garden and the quotes from the book made me want to read it so I will have to add it to this year's reading list!

The Secret Garden Cookbook, Newly Revised Edition Inspiring Recipes from the Magical World of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden by Amy Cotler is a wonderful treat for those who loved the Secret Garden. I had always wondered what was in some of the foods that Mary, Colin and Dickon's ate. Now through a very well researched book Ms. Cotler explains many of the dishes created in the Manor and in the cottages. I love the photos and the lengthy explanations of certain English food and customs. The book also describes certain hierarchy with relation to those who prepared and grew food. It is a very interesting read and the vast majority of the recipes are on my list to try. Well Done.

I would like to thank the author, Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A cute cookery book to accompany the novel The Secret Garden, so includes 42 recipes from each of the main characters and settings plus excerpts from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

It contains seven chapters:
- Yorkshire Breakfasts
- A Manor Lunch
- An English Tea
- From the Kitchen Garden
- Dickon's Cottages Food
- A Taste of India
- Garden Picnics

The book contains mainly basic traditional English dishes such as Porridge, Yorkshire Puddings, Jam and Crumpets to name but a few. Whilst the book generally has the feel of an English cookery book, it does contain at least one American term for an ingredient and the descriptions of Yorkshire or the dishes themselves have a feeling of being from outside the UK.

Some of the recipes have accompanying photographs. Each recipe comes with an introduction, ingredients and steps to follow. The recipes include both imperial and metric terms.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

SO CUTE!!! A must-have for any Secret Garden fan. I plan on gifting this book this holiday season.

The Secret Garden Cookbook is absolutely beautiful inside and out. The photographs are lovely and the recipes look wonderful. I can't wait to try them out!

The Secret Garden Cookbook would make a wonderful gift for lovers of the book. The recipes are well laid out and the ingredients and instructions are not so difficult to prevent me from actually cooking from the book. The photographs alone make me want to get in the kitchen and cook everything!

A lovely cookbook that is sure to make a great companion to the original novel. These recipes are inspired by The Secret Garden's settings, characters, and situations. To me, the best part of this cookbook is the historical tidbits that give you a glimpse into Victorian life. Most recipes look fairly simple to make, and I appreciate that it provides the measurements in grams. I can't wait to try a few of these recipes myself, especially the hot chocolate one and the oat bars. I think this would make a wonderful present for any The Secret Garden fan.

This cookbook is beautiful inside and out. The cover is one that can be on display in the kitchen. I found recipes to be easy and delightful to try. Recommend this cookbook to all.