Beyond Delicious Cookbook: Recipes & Stories from the Original Ghost Whisperer

by Mary Ann Winkowski, David Powers

Overview

Savor this collection of more than 100 recipes, shared with the Ghost Whisperer by the spirits of several great cooks.

We cook because our connection to food is ever-present. We cook for sustenance and joy. For a culinary experience that’s completely unique, the Beyond Delicious Cookbook tickles your tastebuds while making your paranormal senses tingle. It is half cookbook and half ghost story—two ingredients needed to create meals that are tasty and chillingly unforgettable.

Mary Ann Winkowski (aka “The Ghost Whisperer”) has been communicating with earthbound spirits for most of her life, and she learned that our connection with food is not broken after death. In fact, she has received countless recipes from spirits of great cooks who have passed on. Co-written by David Powers, the Beyond Delicious Cookbook features more than 100 of these recipes, each paired with the ghostly tale of how Mary Ann learned about the dish. The book is divided into sections about soups, sides, main dishes, desserts, and more.

As Mary Ann notes, these recipes are the best home-cooked meals you can find because they came from the kitchens of families who prepared and perfected them over a lifetime. The meals are so beloved that the living asked Mary Ann to get them or so meaningful that a spirit asked her to record them for those left behind. The stories that go along with the recipes are often sweet, sometimes spooky, and always transfixing.

Book Features:

• More than 100 recipes passed to Mary Ann from beyond the grave
• Ghost stories that explain where each recipe came from
• Sections that feature main dishes, sides, desserts, and more
• Family favorites that have been handed down from previous generations

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578604296
Publisher:	Clerisy Press
Publication date:	09/09/2025
Series:	America's Haunted Road Trip
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Mary Ann Winkowski was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her earliest memories include talking to earthbound spirits and helping them cross over into the White Light. Mary Ann’s reputation has spread worldwide. She has been a consultant to the CBS hit television show Ghost Whisperer, has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs, and has spoken at countless lectures, all while raising two daughters and foster parenting. Her abilities have offered solace to countless people, either by reuniting them with loved ones who have died or by removing unwanted spirits and negative energy. In early 2024, Mary Ann semiretired. She no longer conducts personal visits for clearings or does phone consultations. She is limiting her time to select appearances and personal Zoom consultations, which can be booked on her website.

David Powers earned a degree in creative writing from Ohio University. He has since worked as a freelance music critic; a section editor at an alternative newsweekly; and a technical writer, creating help files for a leading software developer. His fiction has appeared under the name David Christopher. He launched OH Hellmouth, a fictional accounting of “weird” Ohio presented in a blog format.

Read an Excerpt

Blanche’s Braised Beef Short Ribs

I was invited to a private party by Nancy. It was a potluck luncheon put on by a group of nurses who all worked together, and I was asked to do one of my “ghost chats.” I give these private talks to allow for a more personal interaction with the guests, but I don’t do any kind of collective “ghostbusting” for them. I’d be there all day if I spoke with everyone individually and helped them with their issues! This party was no different—I saw five spirits attached to guests the moment I walked in, and this being the party room of a condo complex, other ghosts came and went over the course of the afternoon.

There’s always an exception, of course. Being nurses, Nancy and her friends had a lot of ghost stories to share, and they were a really nice and fun bunch, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to help with just one ghost, especially because this ghost had caught my eye and I just had to know what her story was. She’d been poring over the potluck dishes all afternoon, tutting at some of them and shaking her head at others. She was about 50 and had come in with one of the guests.

“There are a few ghosts here now,” I admitted to the group. “But there’s one in particular I’d like to know more about.” I caught the ghost’s eye and asked her—privately—if she minded being “outed” and she rushed right over to me, all smiles.

“Not at all!” she said.

“Well, what’s your name?”

“Blanche,” she said. “They all know me. I died of breast cancer. I was one of the dumb nurses who was always giving everybody else advice, then ignoring it myself. By the time I got myself checked, it was far too late.”

“And what’s with the food?” I wondered. “Why are you turning your nose up at all of it?”

“Oh, it’s just all the same old food these girls always made for our parties,” she said. “Now, ask them why, with all of them who got the recipe from me, no one made braised beef short ribs?”

So I turned my attention back to the group of nurses and explained who it was. They all gasped, then were overjoyed and started sharing stories about Blanche, even though I had just gotten done telling them she was standing right there and could hear every word they were saying! Then I got to the question of the braised short ribs, and everyone got quiet and guilty.

Finally, Nancy spoke up and said that it was true, someone always wanted the recipe when Blanche made it for their potlucks, but she admitted that, speaking for herself, she ended up losing the recipe later. A lot of other heads nodded in agreement.

“Will she give it to us again?” Nancy asked. “And this time I promise I won’t lose it!”

Blanche agreed to give them the recipe, but she said that the real reason she’d been hanging around “the girls” was to make sure they didn’t make the same mistake as her, and that they followed their own advice to their patients and got regular checkups and all that. It was an easy deal for them to make, and I think Blanche crossed over happy at having passed on a very important message.

Blanche’s Braised Beef Short Ribs

1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 pounds beef short ribs
Salt and black pepper to taste
All-purpose flour
2 medium-size onions, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 whole cloves
0.5 teaspoon thyme
1 cup canned tomatoes
1 cup red wine
Beef broth (optional)
Prepared horseradish sauce

Heat oil in an oven-safe skillet. Season ribs with salt and pepper, and roll in flour. Place in hot oil and brown on all sides. Remove ribs and keep warm.

To the same skillet, add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, cloves, and thyme. Saute until vegetables are soft. Stir in tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. Return ribs to pan; add wine, cover, and bake for 1.25 hours or until tender. If sauce becomes too dry, add beef broth, if desired. Place ribs on a serving platter. Season sauce with additional salt and pepper; strain over ribs. Serve with horseradish sauce.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Bess's Nut Roll

Soups

Vegetables and Sides

Main Dishes

Desserts

Miscellaneous

Final Thoughts

A Better Way to Present a Fish

Index

Photo Credits

About the Authors