Imagine walking into a candlelit dinner party with Caribbean-inspired food spread across an intricately decorated table while the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack plays. Lobster tails, coconut shrimp and Captain Jack Sparrow chocolate rum cupcakes were all part of a themed Disney Dinner made by Katie-Rose Watson ’11.

Katie-Rose Watson’s first cookbook, The Rose Table (HP Custom Content, 2021), published in October. Courtesy of Katie-Rose Watson

Watson, the creator of The Rose Table blog, draws inspiration from Disney classics to craft menus and host dinner guests. She often dresses in the fashion of characters from the films and sets the room accordingly. She shares the recipes, gardening tips and more on her blog.

“Just thinking that people are out there having these magical nights with their friends because of something they saw on my blog really makes me so incredibly happy,” she said.

With a Facebook following of more than 110,000, Watson published The Rose Table: Easy, Elegant Recipes for Entertaining & Every Day (HP Custom Content, 2021) in October.

Watson’s cookbook features meals she has made at her own dinner parties.

“It’s a collection of a lot of my favorite recipes that I feel like I make in my real life for my family and friends all the time,” Watson said.

She said she has been passionate about food and cooking since she was young. When HP Custom Content reached out to her to publish her work in print, she accepted without hesitation.

“This is such a dream come true. I’ve always been such a cookbook person,” Watson said. “Even when I was a little girl I would flip through my mom’s cookbooks and just thought that was the end-all-be-all cool.”