Nancy Drew books are often associated with comfort, fond childhood memories, and the wonderful descriptions of the meals that Nancy and her friends partook of throughout the series.

In 1973, The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues to Good Cooking was released. The cookbook is divided into sections, the main ones being Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. There are also sections for the some of the International flavors that Nancy tried throughout the years, a section for parties, and a section of holiday foods. I myself have not tried any of the recipes, but do enjoy looking through my 1973 copy.

This past October, Grosset & Dunlap re-issued the Nancy Drew cookbook in celebration of her 75th anniversary. While at the Nancy Drew convention in New York City back in June, I had the pleasure of meeting the Grosset & Dunlap editor for Nancy Drew, Siobhan Ciminera. After the convention, I was able to correspond some with her via email and asked a few questions about the process of putting the cookbook back in print.

RS: Was there any specific reason why Grosset & Dunlap chose to reprint the cookbook?

SC: We wanted to do something special for Nancy's 75th anniversary, and this classic cookbook, which is legendary among fans of all ages, was a perfect choice.

RS: What was the revision process like?

SC: The first thing we did was to weed out some really bad recipes and make sure that Nancy's nutritional hints were up-to-date. Then we redesigned the book to make it look like a cookbook with a spiral spine and colored tabs separating the chapters. We also laid it out so that it was easier to reference the recipes and follow them while working in the kitchen. We also separated desserts and drinks from the breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner sections because they had previously been somewhat haphazardly placed in these sections. Again, it was about making this an easy-to-use cookbook.

RS: Did you taste-test any of the recipes?

SC: We actually didn't because this cookbook has been out in the market for such a long time that consumers have taste-tested it for decades. Also, we wanted to make this a classic and retro cookbook, so we didn't want to change too much.

RS: If any recipes were cut, how did you decide which ones to cut and which to keep?

SC: We really didn't cut a lot. Our cookbook has 106 recipes and the original had 110. We cut those that were really strange like A Keene Soup, but we really did try to keep this cookbook as close to the original, and as classic as possible.

Depending on your tastes and cooking skills, you may want to vary some recipes and experiment! But, it's still a wonderful addition to any Nancy Drew collection! After all, the books are nearly as famous for their food descriptions as for Nancy's sleuthing abilities.

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