Cooking With A Serial Killer

My cousin surprised me with a little gift she knew I would love. In the mail, I received a cook book. Now, if you know me, you know that I really don't like to cook, but this book is a little different. It's called Cooking with a Serial Killer: Recipes from Dorothea Puente. The facts are these: Dorothea Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, CA and she had quite a reputation for the meals she cooked for her borders. As one tenant put it, "Every dinner at Dorothea's was like Thanksgiving dinner."

Only one problem, much like Amy Archer-Gilligan (the true murderer behind the movie Arsenic and Old Lace), Dorothea Puente was convicted of murdering her tenants, burying them in the back yard, and cashing their social security checks.

In the late 80's Puente was sent to prison where she was eventually befriended by Shane Bugbee. I can only guess that he is a collector of serial killers memorabilia. To be fair, he describes himself as an artist. The friendship between the two developed through letters and phone calls- some of which Bugbee transcribes in the cook book- and Bugbee encouraged Puente to publish, with his help, a collection of her recipes. The cook book is illustrated by Puente with drawings that she sent to Bugbee.

This is an odd little book that would fit nicely in the Christmas stocking of your odd friend. Puente learned to cook from her grandmother, and many of the recipes have that down-on-the-farm sensibility. They're not going to blow you away with any kind of culinary genius, but I have been tempted to try a few just to say that the recipe came from a serial killer. The cook book is divided into the typical snacks, soups, main courses, desserts style with the added bonus of the transcripts of letters and phone calls between Puente and Bugbee.

This book is not for everyone, but I have a feeling you know someone that would find it as humorous as I do.