If I were going to do this book, I'd go through all the shows and write down the foods that were referenced, like the chicken that got the chopped eggs put on it, or the disastrous kidney souffle. Although there seems to have been a souffle at every dinner, there was not one in this book, and I really couldn't find recipes that referred to episodes at all. They simply seem to be recipes from the period that the author liked. I was disappointed. ( )

I am so happy that I received a copy of this book in time for the spring holidays; my menu has all but planned itself!

Fans and non-fans of PBS series Downton Abbey will both find something to love in the Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook which deftly combines rich foods inspired by the landed gentry of the series as well as “simpler” eats that recall their working class servants. Author Emily Ansara Baines includes dozens of decidedly English dishes such as scones (several kinds of scones, to be exact), clotted cream, lobster thermidor, and shepherd's pie to name just a few. In addition to its mouth-watering recipes, the book also includes tidbits of information about eating, etiquette, and the evolution of cooking making the text not only a recipe book but a mini-history lesson as well. It’s very rare that a cookbook both delights the taste buds and is a pleasure to read; The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook is just such a book. ( )