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The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide by Lauren Wilson

What's It About?

Warning: spoilers (and slightly graphic content) ahead!

The Walking Dead is knee-deep in its 8th season, with Rick and the gang finally making some headway in fighting back against Negan. This season is delivering so far, with an all-out war and more creepy zombies than ever. But what we’re really interested in right now is the food. Just how do these survivors manage to run for their lives while still eating  width=quality meals that give them enough energy to fight the undead? Luckily, The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide came out on October 10th, ready to answer all of our burning apocalyptic food questions.

When you think about it, The Walking Dead is really all about food, whether it’s the zombies trying to chomp down on some brains, or our ragtag group of survivors hunting for their next meal. Still, when we first heard about a cookbook featuring ‘recipes’ from the show, we were skeptical at best. From what we’ve seen, the characters mostly eat cold food out of cans, or big vats of scavenged pudding, or the rare potato when they land somewhere long enough to plant crops. But, as the cookbook quickly reminds us, food is so much more than what’s on the plate in front of you – it also helps create memories, tying people to both the past and the present.

On that note, The Walking Dead cookbook offers tons of unique recipes, from traditional meals that the characters ate well before the apocalypse, to the cobbled-together dishes they make later on (anyone up for Carol’s Beet and Acorn cookies?). It’s also more than just a simple recipe book, also offering some extremely practical tips for how to eat and survive in an apocalyptic situation. It covers how to create a bug-out bag, how and where to forage for food, how to preserve meat, and so much more. If you’re looking for recipes that are both practical and fun, we highly recommend this new zombie-inspired cookbook.

 

In honor of both the show and the recipes you’ll be dying to try, here are 5 meals from the book to make when you’re faced with a life altering experience – Walking Dead style, of course.

When Zombies Eat Your Mom

Make: Lori’s (Not So) God-awful Pancakes

It’s safe to say that Lori was no one’s favorite character, but it was still pretty devastating when she died. Not only does she pass away during childbirth, but her son Carl is the one who’s forced to cut out his baby sister and then stab his mom in the head to keep her from turning. It doesn’t stop another zombie from coming along later and devouring her corpse, though. We’re not sure there’s any meal that will make up for that kind of insane trauma, but Lori’s pancake recipe is probably a good start. Here’s hoping that the memories of better times are enough to tide Carl over when the nightmares start.

When Your Sister Dies Tragically in Your Arms

Make: Amy and Andrea’s Campfire Fish Fry

Think what you want about Andrea (we all know she stinks), but it was pretty tragic watching her sister Amy die slowly in her arms after being bitten by a zombie in an early episode of Season 1. It was one of the first major deaths in the series, and showed us that TWD was not playing any games when it came to who was going to make it out alive. It took hours for Amy to finally go, so presumably Andrea caught a quick bite in there somewhere. And why not make the dish she and her sister enjoyed so much together? It probably wasn’t much of a comfort, but fresh fried fish is pretty delicious.

When You Get Stabbed in the Eyeball While Trying to Protect Your Zombie Daughter

Make: The Governor’s Pickled Peppers

The Governor was creepy for many reasons, but his captive zombie daughter was probably the worst one. When he and Michonne fight near her corpse, Michonne is finally able to stab him in the eye. It doesn’t kill him, unfortunately (he still has plenty of havoc to wreck), but it certainly ruins his day. He’d probably want familiar food after such an ordeal, so why not make his famous pickled peppers. Just spicy enough to be distracting, we can definitely see the Governor crying into a big jar of these peppers.

When the Kid You’ve “Adopted” Murders Her Sister

Make: Granny’s Candied Pecans

“The Grove” remains one of the most haunting episodes of TWD, which is definitely saying something on a show this dark. But when Lizzie finally snaps, killing her sister and threatening baby Judith, Carol has to do the only thing she can – tell Lizzie to “look at the flowers” while she ends it for good. Considering this all goes down in a pecan grove, the last thing Carol probably wants to eat is the candied nut. But maybe later on she finds comfort in the sweet dessert, or at least uses the recipe to never forget what happened that day. 

When Your Favorite Character Dies by Blunt Force Trauma

Make: Maggie’s Forkless Apple Pies

*CRIES ALL THE TEARS*

We’re still not over it. When Glenn is killed by Negan at the beginning of last season, it broke our hearts in a way that will probably never fully heal. We can only imagine how Maggie felt, pregnant and alone and heartbroken. If anyone ever needed pie, it’s her in that moment. Plus these don’t even need a fork! You can just pop them in your mouth, not even slowing down to chew. After all, in a world crawling with zombies, time is pretty precious.

For even more delicious recipes and survival tips, make sure to pick up a copy of The Walking Dead cookbook!

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The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide by Lauren Wilson
Genre: Potpourri
Author: Lauren Wilson
Rachel Carter

Rachel Carter grew up surrounded by trees and snow and mountains. She graduated from the University of Vermont and Columbia University, where she received her MFA in nonfiction writing. She is the author of the So Close to You series with Harperteen. These days you can find her working on her next novel in the woods of Vermont.

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