A Guide to Dark Shadows Memorable Culinary Moments

This is a listing of Dark Shadows episodes involving specific food references or scenes that featured eating and drinking.  It does not include the numerous donuts and coffee served at the Collinsport Inn diner, drinks at the Blue Whale or tea served at Collinwood.  If you kindly inform me of any omissions or errors I will be happy to add or to correct them.

Episode number and description

1 Victoria orders a rare roast beef sandwich and coffee with apple pie on the house at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.  Elizabeth serves Victoria tea (with choice of lemon or cream) in the Collinwood drawing room.

3 Roger has a cup of coffee and a piece of pie at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.

5 Carolyn and Victoria have breakfast in the Collinwood dining room.

6 Burke has donuts and coffee with Victoria at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.

13 Matthew serves Victoria tea and blueberry muffins at his cottage.

19 Joe and Carolyn have hamburgers at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.

21 Victoria and Carolyn have breakfast in the Collinwood dining room.  Burke has breakfast in his room at Collinspoert Inn.

24 Constable Jonas Carter goes to the Collinsport Inn coffee shop where Maggie asks him, "Would you like some lunch?  Today's special is lobster roll, cole slaw and fried potatoes."  Joe and Carolyn have a lunch date at the Inn where they order hamburgers "medium" and coffee.

25 Constable Carter phones his deputy and orders a ham on rye for lunch.  It comes with mustard to his dismay. 

26 Constable Carter asks his assistant Harry to get him a ham on rye (with no mustard) and coffee.

28 At the Collinsport Inn coffee shop Maggie makes David and ice-cream sundae.  Burke Devlin asks about a lobster roll.

29 At his room in the Collinsport Inn Burke prepares "the Burke Devlin Special" for David.

34 Carolyn makes coffee and a sandwich to cure Joe's hangover.  At the Collinsport Inn Burke orders two steaks, medium rare, salad and coffee to be delivered to his room where he is entertaining Victoria.

38 Carolyn meets Burke for breakfast at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.  Burke has bacon and eggs.  Carolyn has coffee and a donut and pretends to have accidentally left her ring on the table for Burke to discover when she leaves.

41 Victoria promises David two desserts, ice-cream and chocolate cake,  if he will tell her and Dr. Guthrie what he knows about Laura.

42 Carolyn serves coffee and Danish pastry to Dr. Guthrie in the Collinwood drawing room.

50 Roger has a cold chicken sandwich with a glass of milk for a late night snack at Collinwood.

53 Victoria makes breakfast for David in the Collinwood kitchen.

55 Maggie serves her father Sam an English muffin and a cup of coffee at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.

57 Victoria goes to the Collinsport Inn coffee shop for lunch and Maggie suggests "Clam chowder, lobster rolls or hamburgers; we have it all."

60 Sheriff Patterson takes a bite out of good looking sandwich.  Victoria is invited to dinner at the Evans' cottage where she helps Maggie peel the potatoes.

68 Roger describes eating lobster and clams on the Maine coast above Collinsport to Victoria.

71 Roger takes Victoria to breakfast at the Collinspost Inn coffee shop.

72 Mrs. Johnson stops at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop and orders a well done roast beef sandwich with well washed lettuce and fresh mayonnaise and finds it unsatisfactory.  Carolyn joins her and orders pie and coffee.

73 Maggie makes David another ice-cream sundae at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop but this time he doesn't stay to eat it.

79 Mrs. Johnson orders vegetable juice and whole wheat toast with butter on the side at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.  Burke buys David a cup of hot chocolate.

92 Victoria orders a grilled cheese sandwich and coffee at the Bangor Pine Hotel dining room.

98 Mrs. Johnson brings David a ham sandwich and milk in the Collinwood drawing room.

102 Burke takes Carolyn to dinner at the Blue Whale.

113 Burke makes David another "Burke Devlin Special" in his room at the Collinsport Inn.

119 Elizabeth offers coffee and sandwiches to Burke and Joe in the Collinwood drawing room.

132 Roger, Elizabeth, David and Victoria have breakfast in the Collinwood dining room.

139 Victoria brings breakfast to Laura at Matthew's cottage.

140 The Collins family have dinner together in the Collinwood dining room.  David asks for more dessert.

147  Burke makes coffee in his kitchen for Victoria.

151 Roger and Elizabeth are having a breakfast of toast and coffee in the Collinwood dining room.

152 Laura serves tea to Victoria in her cottage.

153 Frank Garner and Victoria have dinner at the Blue Whale.

154 Mrs. Johnson serves coffee to Roger and Laura in the Collinwood drawing room.

161 Victoria and Carolyn have lunch in the Collinwood dining room and Dr. Guthrie joins them.

189 Burke takes Victoria to dinner at the Blue Whale where hey have grilled steaks.

195 At the Collinsport Inn coffee shop Jason McGuire asks for lemon peel to put in his coffee as he enjoyed in Europe.

203 Jason describes Mrs. Johnson's warm apple pie with cheddar cheese to Willie.

204 Carolyn and Victoria have coffee in the Collinwood dining room and are joined later by Roger and Willie who asks for two eggs, sunny side up, toast and a small steak.  Later that evening, Victoria has dinner with Burke at the Blue Whale.

214 Roger brings Aunt Catherine Collins' recipe for Indian pudding back from Boston for Mrs. Johnson.

220 Victoria brings a tray with orange juice and hot soup to Willie in his room where he is weak from the vampire bite.

239 Willie serves Maggie and Barnabas a romantic dinner by the fireplace in the old house drawing room.

247 Burke brings Sam a ham and  Swiss cheese sandwich trying to get him to eat something.

256 Willie brings Maggie some food in the basement cell of the old house.

280 Barnabas serves claret cup to his guests at a costume party in the Old House.

308 Carolyn and David return home to Collinwood from Bangor after David has eaten hot dogs, popcorn and ice-cream, but he goes to the kitchen to prepare a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

316 David eats a sandwich in bed after being rescued in the cemetery by Burke.

344 Carolyn brings David a sandwich and a glass of milk for lunch in his room after Dr. Woodard's funeral service.

360 Maggie serves Joe a home made cake in the Evans' living room.

387 Nathan Forbes is caught by Angelique smuggling a bundle of food to Victoria who is hiding at Collinwood.

492 Mrs. Johnson brings David some broth to his bedroom because he is not feeling well.

495 Barnabas brings Adam a mug of soup for his dinner in the basement of the Old House.

500 Willie teases Adam with a chicken leg.

509 Timothy Stokes serves Tony Peterson Sherry wine and cheese.  Tony poisons Stokes' glass but the glasses are switched.

583 Victoria and Maggie Evans are having tea on the terrace at Collinwood and are interrupted by Barnabas.

662  Nathan Forbes is drinking at the Eagle Tavern when Barnabas enters.

666 Willie brings Julia a tray with a bowl of soup in the Old House drawing room.

680 Mrs. Johnson brings David his dinner on a tray (a sandwich and a glass of milk) in his room.

684 Carolyn and Chris Jennings enjoy a bottle of champagne.

704 Beth is intercepted by Quentin while carrying a covered tray of food to Jenny in the tower room.  Later she brings a bowl of consomme to Edith Collins in her bedroom.

724 Magda serves soup to Sandor in the Old House drawing room.

743 Dirk brings Jenny a bowl of soup for supper in her cell in the Old House.

767 Jamison dreams of a birthday party dinner for David.

926 At the antique shop Philip asks Megan if they are having spaghetti again tonight.

981 Hoffman prepares a chafing dish supper for Maggie and Quentin in the Collinwood drawing room.

Joe and Carolyn have hamburgers and coffee at the Collinsport Inn diner

A favorite episode of many Dark Shadows fans in #19 when Joe and Carolyn stop at the the Collinsport Inn diner late one evening for hamburgers and coffee.  Maggie is out on an errand so Joe does the cooking and waits on Carolyn.  Sadly they have a disagreement which is a turning point in their ill-fated relationship, but the hamburgers and coffee look good and always make a restorative and satisfying snack.  Here are mine prepared with grass fed beef for you to enjoy.  I like them best with chili sauce but anything you like to put on yours is the way you should have them.

Maggie makes David an ice-cream sundae

A toothsome moment in episode #28 is when Maggie Evans fixes an ice-cream sundae for David Collins who disappeared from Collinwood.  She is aware that his father is looking for him and tries to keep him occupied.  We made our version with the same home-made hot fudge sauce that maggie used combined with some pineapple topping and roasted and lightly salted pecans.  Squirting the whipped cream from the can is more fun than making your own.  I'll call this sundae the "Collinsport Special" and hope that you will try one soon.

Magda's Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Episode #724 set in 1897 had one of Dark Shadow's most interesting culinary moments when Magda Rokosi so lovingly told Sandor to "sit down and eat your soup."  I immediately remembered that soups are an important part of Hungarian cuisine and mushroom soup in particular is standard fare on Hungarian tables.  Guessing that this is what Magda had prepared that evening I consulted Susan Derecskey's fine Hungarian Cookbook published in 1972 for a classic recipe.  This is a simple combination of chopped onion and sliced mushrooms gently sauteed in butter.  Hot beef stock is added and the soup simmers for just a few minutes.  Off the heat I stirred in sour cream and chopped parsley so that the cream would not curdle.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with a dusting of Hungarian paprika.  The flavor is superb and you'll probably find yourself going back for another bowl.  No wonder Sandor devoured it.  Cooking was an art enjoyed at home by Grayson Hall who played the role of Magda and somehow I think she would have approved of this tasty and authentic recipe.

The Burke Devlin Special

During episode #29 David Collins pays an unannounced visit to Burke Devlin at the Collinsport Inn. Burke's luxury suite includes a kitchenette where he fixes each of them a drink he calls "the Burke Devlin special" which David remembers as a combination of several different fruit juices producing a "concoction you'll never forget."  Not knowing exactly what Burke had on hand in his refrigerator I decided to try one myself and came up with a mixture that I think Burke and David would have like and I know you will too.  This is a blend of orange, pineapple, mango and apricot juices that works beautifully.  The color is like a Collinsport sunset and the taste is rich and slightly tropical yet refreshing.  Great for kids and grown ups can add a shot of their favorite rum.  Bravo Burke!