Bewitchingly Delicious Recipes for Fans of the Halloween Classic – The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook
This cookbook will put a spell on you!
Introducing The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook: Bewitchingly Delicious Recipes for Fans of the Halloween Classic
by Bridget Thoreson [ISBN: 978-1-64604-241-8; $19.95; Ulysses Press; September 2021], a marvelously spooky cookbook featuring delicious recipes based on your favorite cult classic film from 1993.
Hocus Pocus first premiered 28 years ago in the golden age of ’90s cinema- and has since achieved cult-classic fame, with both children and adults as a loyal fanbase. Fans fall in love with the delightful, demonic, and diva-esque Sanderson sisters and the sleepy New England town they torment.
Now, as you plan your annual viewing of the family favorite flick, you can also conjure up your own spooky treats and bewitching drinks to celebrate Halloween.
Whether you’re attending a surprise rave in town or just spending “a quiet evening at home,” you’ll enchant anyone who tastes these frightfully appetizing recipes from The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook, including:
- Baked Witch Casserole
- Bones of 100 Chickens
- William’s Wormy Bed Dirt Cake
- Dead Man’s Toes, Dead Man’s Toes
- Brown Butter Booooook Blondies
- Burning Rain of Death Punch
- Airhead Virgin Mocktail
- And much more!
“I hope you enjoy this homage to Hocus Pocus as much as you enjoy the film itself,” author Bridget Thoreson says. “While blondies are no substitute for Bette and no cocktail is quite as funny as hearing a young girl humiliate her older brother by saying ‘Yabos,’ I hope you’ll find the recipes and references fun, delicious, and delightfully spooky, and you’ll rewatch the film again and again accompanied by the goodies in this booo-ooooo-ooook.”
The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook is the ultimate must have for fans of all ages—but don’t worry, no children were harmed in the testing of these recipes.
Buy The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook!
My Interview with Bridget Thorenson
Q: Besides the movie, what inspired the Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook to come about?
A: The sequel! And a decades-long love of the movie, the deep-seated feeling that it is wildly underrated, and the belief that everyone should see it because there is something in it for everyone.
Q: What is your favorite recipe in the cookbook?
A: That’s a tough one! My favorite to eat is probably Dead Man’s Chungs (crab cakes with remoulade sauce). My favorite one to write was probably A Spell for Flayed and Crispy Breast of Chicken. The headnote is very short, but it is to the tune of Winnie’s curse to turn Thackery Binx into a black cat, so it was very fun to come up with a rhyme to pay tribute to that.
Q: What was your favorite part of creating the cookbook?
A: My favorite part was having an excuse to watch the movie dozens more times! I’ve seen it so many times but once the cookbook was in motion I watched it a handful more specifically to help brainstorm recipes, so every time there was a food mentioned, or a funny line that I wanted to celebrate with a recipe I’d jot it down. Then I watched it through even more times to help inspire the recipe introductions–they’re all related to the movie in some way, whether it’s dedicated to a specific character, scene, or even a single word (“Sistahhhs!”). It was really fun to watch the movie again with a mission!
Q: How long has this cookbook been in development?
A: Just under a year! While I originally had the idea to do some sort of fan project a few years ago, I didn’t talk to anyone about it. Then when the sequel was announced last fall, I was chatting with Casie Vogel, Ulysses Press’ Director of Editorial & Acquisitions. She’s a huge fan of the movie too, and we were talking about the sequel news and our excitement and we both brought up the idea at the same time. I started writing a couple of weeks later!
Q: What were the biggest challenges of creating the cookbook?
A: Definitely testing the recipes to get them right. I’m not a chef–this cookbook starts from a fan perspective and then moves to food, rather than the other way around–but many of these recipes are ones I’ve been making for many years, because they’re classics. But there were definitely more than a few that were new to me that I had to develop and test and figure out, like the Oil of Boil Cocktail and the chocolate bag (Dump Out Your [Chocolate] Sack), so that took some trial and error and tinkering.
Q: What top 3 recipes should everyone try from the The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook: Bewitchingly Delicious Recipes?
A: The Life Potion Soup (zucchini bisque–it won’t make you younger, but it is tasty!), the Brown Butter Booooook Blondies (for one of the iconic lines in the film) and the Black Flame Cocktail (obviously!).
About the Author
Bridget Thoreson is a writer and booklover based in Brooklyn, New York. Her other books include XOXO: A Cocktail Book and consulting for Are You My Wine? Clearly, Bridget is very interested in drinking, eating, and pop culture.
About Ulysses Press
Named one of Publishers Weekly’s “fastest-growing small publishers,” Ulysses Press is reinventing the relationship between reader, author, and publisher. Beyond market-driven, Ulysses Press focuses on highly targeted niche groups that aren’t being offered the books they want by the big, corporate-owned publishing houses.
As pop culture changes at the speed of the internet, books have a powerful role to play in the interconnected world. Above all other media, books offer readers a trusted source for information and a vital escape from our highly connected, digital world.
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