by Alissa Lee Dornink Hawes

I have two hobbies—baking and watching superhero/fantasy/sci-fi movies—and during the last year have found myself with even more time for those. I would pick a type of dessert and make variations on that for a month or until I ran out of recipes that looked interesting in a particular cookbook. I baked my way through America’s Test Kitchen’s ‘The Perfect Cookie: Your Ultimate Guide to Foolproof Cookies, Brownies, and Bars’ looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie and moved on to making pies from scratch using their ‘The Perfect Pie: Your Ultimate Guide to Classic and Modern Pies, Tarts, Galettes, and More.’ I would run Marvel and Star Wars movies in the background to keep me company and help pass time as I was baking.

One day at work when I was cataloging new cookbooks ‘Marvel Eat the Universe: The Official Cookbook’ by Justin Warner came across my desk, and I realized someone had found a way to combine both of my interests. Based on Warner’s YouTube series ‘Eat the Universe,’ this is a collection of recipes he created for the show inspired by Marvel characters. You can try your hand at Deadpool’s chimigangitas, Venom’s pad se ‘us,’ or Thor’s meat Mjolnir and then sit down to watch your favorite Marvel movie with Nova Space Cop doughnuts for dessert.

I was curious after seeing that book and wondered what other fandoms had cookbooks that I could pair with my baking and binge watching. I was excited to discover that we have no shortage of cookbooks that tie into my nerdy interests. The library has two Star Wars ones, ‘The Star Wars Cook Book: Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes’ by Robin Davis and ‘The Star Wars Cook Book II: Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes’ which provide no shortage of recipes to get me through my rewatch of all the Star Wars movies and TV shows in chronological order.

Game of Thrones fans also have two cookbooks to choose from, both which offer a variety of recipes from appetizers to desserts and drinks. Alan Kistler’s ‘The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook: From Direwolf Ale to Auroch Stew—More than 150 recipes from Westeros and Beyond’ will have you eating like a Stark and drinking like a Lannister in no time. The George R. R. Martin endorsed ‘A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook’ by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer is a compilation of recipes inspired by all the kingdoms in Westeros, from the Wall to Dorne. This cookbook is extensively researched and even includes a guide to entertaining and dining in the styles unique to each of the kingdoms, so you will know where they properly set the silverware for the Red Wedding.

‘The Wizard's Cookbook: Magical Recipes Inspired by Harry Potter, Merlin, the Wizard of Oz, and More’ by Aurélia Beaupommier has a recipe for fans of almost any fantasy world, from Harry Potter to the Legend of Zelda, Aladdin, and Lord of the Rings. There is a detailed who’s who of sorcerers in the beginning with an index to recipes related to them so you make sure you are enjoying the right recipe with the right movie or book.

Fans of Narnia can be inspired by Dinah Bucholz’s ‘The Unofficial Narnia Cookbook: From Turkish Delight to Gooseberry Fool—Over 150 Recipes Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia.’ From tea with Tumnus (soft boiled eggs and sugar dusted tea cakes) to snacks with the White Witch (Turkish Delight, definitely not worth selling out your family), you will be able to bake and eat your way through several of the movies with no trouble.

There’s even a Dungeons and Dragons cookbook—‘Heroes'  Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook’ by Kyle Newman—with recipes for delicious hand pies, potions of restoration, and Trolltied candied apples to help fuel your RPG sessions and get you ready for the movie coming out in 2022.

Best of all, you can check them all out for free from the Library, but you’ll have to provide the ingredients and movies.