every food in: The Clue of the Dancing Puppet by Carolyn Keene

The Clue of the Dancing Puppet by Carolyn Keene

Originally published 1962 (using first edition copy for review)

In this book, Nancy joins a local theatre troupe, meets a lot of overdramatic (heh) actor side characters, and discovers the secret to lithium ion battery production inside an automaton from the 1800s. Yeah, I have no idea either. At least the food content is plentiful and relatively normal.

I wanted to try and figure out my favorite “what the hell???” part of this book but it’s genuinely hard to decide - every single part is weirder than the last. And that’s coming from someone who just finished reading a story where Nancy travels to Japan to defeat a pearl smuggling ritual cult. (Stay tuned for that one.)

I do particularly enjoy the portions of this where Nancy is cooking for the boarding house full of other actors, because I’m reasonably sure the author has never actually met an actor before. Maybe never even seen a play. Maybe not familiar with the concept of plays? Characters enter the kitchen loudly quoting Shakespeare, even though the play is…. a musical? I think. Bizarre.

It’s notable as well that to my memory, this is maybe the only book in which they not only actually mention Nancy’s mother, but explain how she died. (A sudden illness, when Nancy was three, apparently.) I have a feeling this isn’t a consistent detail, since Nancy’s dog changes breed and size almost every single book, so I’ll try and keep an eye out in future posts.

Also, Bess cooks a LOT of eggs. 

Let’s dive in, shall we? [insert shakespeare quote here.]

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Chapter 1: The Mysterious Dancer

Roast, strawberry shortcake with all the trimmings

Apple snow pudding with thin custard sauce (”Bess is dieting”)

Chapter 2: A Startling Call

Bouillon and crackers on a tray

Chapter 3: An Enlightening Scene

Bottles of soda

Ham and eggs

Chapter 4: Stage Gossip

Fruit salad, canned tomato soup, broiled hamburgers, and a “cake from a River Heights bakery”

Chapter 5: Moonlight Sleuthing

“cookies - or cake - and milk”

Chapter 7: An Actress’ Threat

Toast and scrambled eggs 

Chapter 8: The Alarming Rehearsal

Broiled steak and macaroni and cheese

Chapter 12: Puppet Snatcher

Scrambled eggs

Chapter 13: A Surprising Command

Sliced oranges and bananas, crisp bacon, and muffins

Chapter 14: Nancy’s New Role

Unspecified type of salad

Chapter 18: The Hollow Laugh

An entire jar of mayonnaise (?!?!? ????)

Roast beef, lettuce, and tomato (for sandwiches, presumably)