every food in: Nancy Drew #40: The Moonstone Castle Mystery
The Moonstone Castle Mystery by Carolyn Keene
Published 1963
Originally published on Tumblr in 2018, reposted in 2026 with copy edits.
This book was my favorite Nancy Drew book as a child, and also one of my first official antique purchases with my own money. My version is a first edition copy of this book, in okay-ish condition. I remember loving it endlessly and being so interested in her outfits and thinking that we BOTH had “strawberry blonde hair”. However, as an adult, I have to say that this is probably one of the worst written books from the time period. It’s no “Nancy fights a robot”, I suppose, but really what can compare to such a memorable piece of literature? (Oh right., Burt and Bess using actual human remains for a pantomime skit at an archaeological dig. Yikes.)
Nancy spends a lot of time in this one showing up at people’s houses uninvited and jumping to really wild conclusions, and everyone just seems….fine with that, somehow. Normally they’d add some more conflict or character interaction, but nobody seems remotely surprised or bothered by anything she does unless it’s to actually try and fight or kidnap her. Also, she seems to mostly survive on hot cocoa. My thought is that the ghostwriter for this one was trying to capture the tropes of older children’s books a la Enid Blyton, but missed the mark a bit and just kind of went, “eh, you know, we’ll just add in some hot cocoa and copious amounts of kidnapping, close enough”.
Not a lot of food specifically mentioned in this one, which is odd because a good third of the book is spent at a restaurant. They never mention what the restaurant serves, or what type of restaurant it is, either, but all of the characters talk about how good it is. Maybe it was good because it was the only option?
This menu from ‘76 House in Tappan, New York, is also from 1962, and several foods mentioned in the book such as steaks, ice cream, and various salads comprise the bulk of the menu at this restaurant as well.
Chapter 2: Mysterious Threat
Two cups of hot cocoa and an angel food cake
Chapter 7: The Reckless Pilot
A “banquet of tasty dishes” - chicken salad is mentioned specifically
Chapter 8: The Canoeists’ Clue
Hot cocoa and cookies
Chapter 15: An Exciting Photograph
“a long buffet table with tempting salad bowls and platters of snacks. There was a large punch bowl in the center brimming with ice cold punch.”
Steaks
“potato chips, several kinds of salad, vanilla ice cream topped with fresh fruit, and cake”
