Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook

Ad Astra

The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook

Edited by

Cat Rambo and Fran Wilde

© 2015 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.

Cover design by Sherin Nicole.

Cover art by Kirsty Pargeter.

Ebook design by Neil Clarke.

SFWA®, Nebula Awards®, and Writer Beware® are registered trademarks of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Print ISBN: 978-0-9828467-1-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9828467-2-8

SFWA, INC.

P.O. Box 3238

Enfield, CT 06083-3238

With thanks to:

Progenitors: Greg and Astrid Bear

Testers: Beth Cato, Cynthia Felice, Lee Hallison, Megan Hutchins,

Steven H Silver, Alexis Latner, Rachel Kleinsorge, Christian Klaver

Above and Beyond: Sean Wallace and Paula Guran

Proofreading: Jennifer Melchert

Dedication

To:

Anne McCaffrey

Jeanne Gomoll

James Tiptree, Jr.

Greg & Astrid Bear

and all the cooks

In memoriam:

Jay Lake

Eugie Foster

Ann Crispin

Contents

Foreword

Editors’ Notes

Charles Brown’s Advice on Cooking - via Connie Willis

Hosting a Cocktail Laboratory - Carrie Vaughn

Irish Coffee - Larry Niven

Throwing a Pig Roast - Jennifer Stevenson

Hosting a Prancing Pony Party - Ken Schneyer & Janice Okoomian

A Philosophy of Cake - Esther Friesner

Celebrations for One - Ricia Mainhardt

Homebrewing - Michael J. Martinez

Savory Snacks

Ajvar - K.V. Johansen

Anouchka’s Grandmother’s Salmon Pâté - Cat Sparks

Bastilla - Erin M. Hartshorn

Big Bang Brussels Sprouts - Sean Williams

C3PO - Ef Deal

Chilly Sauce - Nancy Springer

ConFederation Salmon Mousse - Mary Mason

Corn Bread - Jaime Lee Moyer

Cracker Snackers - Vylar Kaftan

Creamed Spinach with Jalapeños - Sharyn November

Dukkah - Liz Argall

Emergency Salsa - Sarah Goslee

Former In-Law Party Crackers - Charlaine Harris

Gogi Wanja Jeon (Pan-fried Meat and Tofu Cakes) - Yoon Ha Lee

Momos - Jay Lake

Nuts & Bolts - James Sutter

Ricotta Cheese - Mary Rosenblum

Seared Peaches with Prosciutto and Basil - Rebecca Gomez Farrell

Salmon Puffs - Julie Czerneda

Spinach Artichoke Dip - Mary Vigliante Szydlowski

Tuna Salad - Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Whaturwantin’ - Cie Adams

Wizard’s Piglets in Blankets - Rosemary Jones

Sweet Snacks and Desserts

Apple Crumble - Chet Gottfried

Apple Fritters - Gail Carriger

Apricot Mascarpone Poppers - Julie Jansen

At the Fruitcake of Madness - Esther Friesner

Carrot Pie that Nisi Invented - Nisi Shawl

Cadbury Egg Brownie - Beth Cato

Cardamom Bread - David Brin

Cheating on Croquembouche - Brenda W. Clough

Doom Cookies - Steven Saus

Falling Cloud Cake - Fran Wilde & Miriam Weinberg

Fresh Ginger Cake - Lee Hallison

Grandma’s Cream Cheese Crackers - Pat Cadigan

Grandma’s Magic Almond Cookies - Stina Leicht

Graveyard Pudding - JG Flaherty

Joyce’s Pralines - Victoria McManus

Lime Pie - James D. Macdonald

Love & Romanpunk Macarons - Tansy Rayner Roberts

Mars Colony Cake - Connie Willis

MoonBucks - Toni Weisskopf

Miss Murder’s Black Forest Trifle - Mercedes Yardley

Oatmeal Cake - Vylar Kaftan

Peanut Butter Bars - Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

Peanut Butter Dip with Apples - Rosemary Claire Smith

Princess Alethea’s Famous Baklava - Alethea Kontis

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread - Nancy Kress

Ricotta Pears and Apples - Sarah Pinsker

Roasted Cherries - Jaym Gates

Salty Pirate Balls - Jeanne Cavelos

Schadenfreude Pie - John Scalzi

Soft Oatmeal Cookies - Jaime Lee Moyer

SFWA DIY Fortune Cookies - Scott Edelman

Teatime Tassies - Mary Robinette Kowal

Teddy Graham S’Mores - Mary E. Lowd

Toasted Cake - Tina Connolly

Victoria Sandwich Cake - Rachael Acks

Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake - Cat Sparks

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies - Kyle Aisteach

Beverages: Non-Alcoholic

Ginger Beer - Nalo Hopkinson

Ginger Horchata - Alaya Dawn Johnson

Hot Buttered Rum Fantasy - Aly Parsons

Morning Beverage - Talia Gryphon

Scurvy Cure - Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Strawberry Smoothie - Chuck Wendig

Wholesome Fruit-Veggie Smoothie - Jennifer Stevenson

Beverages: With a Kick

The Algonquin Cocktail - Gregory Frost

Dandelion Wine - Natalie Luhrs

Dark and Stormy - John P. Murphy

Dragon’s Breath - David Glen Larson

Feuerzangenbowle - Larry Constantine

H. Beam Piper’s Katinka - John F. Carr

Honey Badger - Andrew Penn Romine

Hot Toddy Classic - Eric J. Guignard

Maurice’s Vodka Special - Maurice Broaddus

Mint Julep - Stephanie Osborn

The Miriam Negroni - Chuck Wendig

Muddle in the Middle Mojito - Kay Kenyon

Ouzo: The Indigenous Greek Liquor - John Walter

A Perfect Gin and Tonic - Laura Anne Gilman

Persephone Takes the A Train - Elizabeth Bear

Sister Mint, Sister Dark - Andrew Penn Romine

Vampire Sunrise Cocktail - Carole Nelson Douglas

Whimsy Division Cocktails - S. Lynch, S. Brust & J. Melchert

Woodchopper Drinks - Jennifer Stevenson

Zombie Brain - JG Flaherty

Brunches

Alien Scones - Elaine Isaak

Almond-Oat Muffins - Kathy Tyers

Butter Rolls Breakfast - Eric J. Guignard

Crème Brûlée French Toast - Patrice Sarath

Migas - William Gibson

Rebel Fire Omelette - Spider Robinson

Portuguese Sweet Bread - Steven H Silver

Potluck Dishes

African Chicken Peanut Stew - Lawrence M. Schoen

Alternative Dairy Manicotti - Catherine Lundoff

Ashbless Pasta Salad - Tim Powers

Bea’s Sometimes Vegan Black Bean Chili - Maria Lima

Black Bean Salad - Anna D. Allen

Boozy Beef - Joe & Gay Haldeman

Caldo de Pollo - David Lee Summers

Champagne Chicken - Vonda N. McIntyre

Chicken Curry - Ann Leckie

Chicken Mole Poblano - Greg & Astrid Bear

Chickpeas With Basil, Tomatoes, Parmesan & Garlic - Fraser Sherman

Chili Con Carnage - Charles Sheffield

Chow Fun Noodles - Wesley Chu

Country Pumpkin Chicken Chowder - David D. Levine & Kate Yule

Cream Cheese Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts - Russell Davis

Crockpot 15 Bean Soup - Larry Dixon & Mercedes Lackey

Crockpot Red Beans & Rice - Nicole J. LeBoeuf

Cucumbers with Cinnamon - Barbara Hambly

Ga Xao Dam Gung Sa - Aliette de Bodard

Gazpacho Two Ways - Walter Jon Williams

Gluten-Free Corn Bread, Dressing & Gravy - Jerry Pournelle

Grandma’s Goetta - P. Andrew Miller

Grillades and Grits - James L. Cambias

Guinness Stew - Talia Gryphon

Hungarian-Style Fra Diavolo Sauce - Steven Brust

Jack’s Bolognese Sauce - Jack Dann

Kicharee (Food of the Gods) - Jeffe Kennedy

Lou’s Lasagna & Garlic Bread - Lou Antonelli

Lemon Garlic Chicken - Marta Randall

Metaphysically Areferential Chicken - Marianne Porter & Michael Swanwick

The Meaty Mess - Mark L. Van Name

Multitudinous Vegetable Soup - Ellen Klages

Mystery Meatloaf - Brent Weeks

Pineapple Fried Rice - Leslie Howle, for Octavia E. Butler

Ratatouille - Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Real Maryland Crabcakes - Ann Crispin

Saimen & Jamaican Jerk Rub - Ru Emerson

Shrimp Étouffée - Gregory Frost

Shrimp de Jongue - Mike Resnick

Sonoran Chopped Salad - Catherine Wells

Sopa Anasazi - Dean Ing

Timeless Beer Bread - Eugie Foster

Turkey Turkey Turkey - Charles N. Brown

Welsh Rarebit - Cat Rambo

Tight on Time or Budget?

Jack’s Jewish Chinese Chicken Soup - Jack Dann

Lentil Soup - Russ Galen

The Perfect Lunch - Michaela Roessner

Real Fast Meals for Deadlines - C.J. Cherryh

Shortcut Dinner - P. Andrew Miller

SFWA Specialities

Barbequed Elf Ribs - Jim C. Hines

How to Stew an Alien - Mari Ness

The Hordes Pleasure - Bud Sparhawk

Klingon Toasts - Lawrence M. Schoen

About the Contributors

Badger Artwork throughout by Ursula Vernon and M.C.A. Hogarth

Foreword

Within the science fiction and fantasy community, writers work wherever they can find a table, often among friends, virtual and face to face. It’s a blend of friendship and business, of celebration and craft. It’s messy sometimes. It’s beautiful.

In celebration of fifty years of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook has collected recipes old and new from writers across the span of its membership. But this is more than just a cookbook. What you hold in your hands is a historical document. You’ll find a history of SF/F entertaining that goes back more than fifty years. Some of it is funny; some (like the bash cake/Mars colony cake), is itself a historical document; some of it is conversations between multiple writers. Some of it is written in fanciful, or . . . colorful language.

Here be Dragons.

Not everyone we wished to include are within these pages. But many are. We hope many more are to come in future cookbooks.

We are happy to have been part of the long tradition of science fiction and fantasy cookbooks. All proceeds from Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook will go towards the SFWA Legal Fund, supporting writers in need for many years.

Editors’ Notes

You hold in your hand something very special: Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook. It holds a wealth of recipes from our community, including some who are, sadly, gone but certainly not forgotten. It is a diverse range, but all of them have something in common: they have been contributed as much from a love for SFWA as any love of cooking (or eating).

Our loose theme is Party!; it was a natural choice for a 50th anniversary cookbook, but it also seemed appropriate because of something else I know well: writers know how to party. They know how to celebrate, how to take a threadbare moment and make it a splendid occasion, how to cobble together a party from a pan of brownies and a candle. They know that a party isn’t just props—it’s an attitude as well.

And our members provided their favorite party dishes for this cookbook—whether the party is for one or for a horde: divided into sweet snacks and savory, drinks of all kinds, brunch food (for the morning after the party), potluck dishes, and more.

Some are economical, some not so much.* Some are easy to make, others a bit more complicated, but many are favorites of their contributors—and they may well become favorites of yours as well.

Some of the recipes were collected by Astrid and Greg Bear as part of an earlier cookbook that never made it to the printer; I’m happy to see them presented here for the first time. And the cookbook itself, of course, is an homage to the two cookbooks edited by Anne McCaffrey in earlier years, Serve It Forth and Cooking Out of This World.

In all of this effort, I had a fabulous co-conspirator, Fran Wilde. This cookbook, which wouldn’t be here without her, is our invitation to you—celebrate SFWA with us this year, and in years to come. Good appetites to you all.

Cat Rambo, Seattle, 2015

*All recipes are certified fairy-free.

Putting a cookbook together is a bit like throwing a party: you plan, you try to stay organized, and you look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Sometimes things go off-plan, sometimes you find a piece of cake or a spare guest pressed between the sofa cushions a few days after.

Similarly, working with someone else on a party or a cookbook makes everything more fun. Many thanks to my co-editor Cat Rambo for all the late-night, cross-country conversations it took to pull this cookbook together.

One thing I’ve learned from three years of hosting the interview series Cooking the Books (franwilde.wordpress.com/cooking-the-books/) is that the unexpected adds spice—both in food and in conversation. You’ll find within these pages both the familiar and the unexpected. Several of the recipes within come from Cooking the Books, and I want to thank those authors for agreeing to share their thoughts again here. Thanks as well, and in no little part, to everyone who sent in a recipe, offered to help in the kitchen, and to you, who are taking the time to use the book. We hope you find it delicious.

Fran Wilde, Philadelphia, 2015

Charles Brown’s Advice on Cooking

via Connie Willis

The most valuable cooking advice I ever got was from Charles N. Brown, the editor of Locus, who said you can be a great cook by starting with a very simple recipe or something you eat in a restaurant, figuring out why you like it, and then adding more of that.

We were eating some of his terrific asparagus at the time, which he made by microwaving it, then drizzling a little sesame seed oil and some soy sauce over it. Best asparagus ever!

I took his advice to heart, and use it on everything from spaghetti sauce (take a jar of Blue Parrot sauce, add crumbled fried Italian sausage and fresh garlic) to salsa (take a jar of grocery store salsa and add fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes, and chopped green onions) to my favorite guacamole (mash up a bunch of avocados and squeeze the juice of an orange into it). I’m not kidding. Best guacamole ever, and my Primeval-watching buddies agree with me. (Note: Did you honestly think I’d get through this without a reference to my favorite TV series ever? BBC’s Primeval, starring Andrew-Lee Potts and Ben Miller. Dinosaurs in modern-day London. Oh, and since all this great food advice came from Charles Brown, I guess I should plug his favorite TV series ever: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though Primeval is better. But only because the show has such a great ending!)

Anyway, Charles’s food advice was terrific, just like all the advice he gave me on writing and writing careers and life in general, though you’d expect him to be especially good on the subject of food. He loved to eat and loved food! Bon appétit!

Cocktail Laboratory

Carrie Vaughn

We’re living in something of an alcohol golden age—dozens of varieties of wine are available from all over the world, the craft beer movement has matured and expanded, and craft distilleries are on the rise, making small-batch and vintage liquors. Vintage cocktails like the Aviation are coming back into vogue, and infused alcohols are expanding what’s possible in the world of mixed drinks. What’s a budding connoisseur to do, especially when the only drink you’ve ever ordered is a gin and tonic?

The answer is: Cocktail Laboratory.

This isn’t about drinking for the sake of drinking, this isn’t about drinking to get drunk: this is realizing that there’s a lot more to liquor than rum and Cokes. For almost all of human history, people have fermented or distilled just about anything that was possible to ferment and distill, and the resulting possibilities in flavors and effects are pretty much endless. In a word, this is all about SCIENCE. And fun parties. But mostly science. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

"The difference between screwing around and science

is writing it down."—Adam Savage

How to Conduct Cocktail Laboratory

The experiments: Make a list of drink recipes you want to try. This will determine your shopping list of base liquors, mixers, and garnishes. Go shopping.

The lab bench: Clear counter space near a sink. A big bucket of clean ice for drinking should be handy. There should also be a place to dispose of juiced lemons and limes and other detritus.

Good tools to have on hand: shakers, jiggers, measuring cups, stirrer, juicer, ice tongs, a grater for garnishes like nutmeg, and a towel to dry up messes. The tools don’t have to be fancy, they just have to work. Bowler hat and curly mustache are optional.

IMPORTANT: Plastic shot/taster cups. I first encountered these at a distillery tasting—little disposable taster cups. They’re available at many large liquor stores. By limiting portions, you can limit alcohol intake and prevent overindulging when you really do only want a taste. Mix one serving of a drink, split it out among five or six taster cups, and imbibe a fraction of the alcohol you would otherwise. And when you’ve mixed a drink that everyone ends up despising, you haven’t wasted a bunch of ingredients making that drink several times over.

It’s best to have just one or two people involved in the actual mixing—it keeps things neater and reduces the chaos.

Write each recipe on an index card. On the back of each card, everyone who tries that recipe notes their opinion. This is very important, because this is the whole point of the experiment: what do people like? What do they not like? Which recipes should you throw out, and which should become part of your repertoire, to memorize and take to other parties and impress people during games of stump the bartender? At our first Cocktail Laboratory, we were saved from disaster several times when we flipped over an index card and realized that not only had we already made that drink—everyone hated it. And remember, writing it down means SCIENCE.

Taking notes also makes this a social activity—participants discuss what they’ve been drinking, clarify their opinions, argue (politely), and discover that the reason there are dozens of different liquors and thousands of different drink combinations is because there are about that many different palates and tastes. (And if someone doesn’t like gin, there is absolutely nothing you can do to it to make them like it. Trust me, I’ve tried.)

As always, drink responsibly. Have a designated driver.

Variations

Focus on one kind of liquor. Do side-by-side tastings of different labels of rum, gin, vodka, scotch, or absinthe, for example. Choose one cocktail—gin and tonics, vodka martinis, brandy Alexanders—and make the drink with different brands of liquor. You might be amazed at how different the same ingredients can taste when the formulation of the base alcohol is just a little different.

Choose a theme. Pirate rum punches. 1920s Speakeasy with Prohibition-era cocktails (this is when the cocktail really came into its own—they had to make that bathtub gin palatable somehow). Tiki bar drinks. Cocktails of the future. Have everyone mix their own version of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

Non-alcoholic alternatives: Those among us who don’t drink alcohol can still have fun, because the varieties of possible non-alcoholic mixed drinks are also endless. Use every kind of fruit juice imaginable, including more exotic varieties like pomegranate juice, guava, and so on. Mix with tonic, club soda, other kinds of soda. With a blender and frozen fruit, you can add smoothies to the repertoire. Discover the joys of ginger syrup, or floral syrups like rose and lavender. Mix ginger syrup with a little club soda and lemonade, over ice, and you’ve discovered something a character in a fantasy novel might drink. Mix and match, and always take notes so you can replicate your results. Remember, this is SCIENCE.

A Few Recipes

Aviation

The story goes this drink got its name from its pale sky-blue color. It was popular in the days of Lindberg and Earhart, when airplanes started getting really sexy. Every one of these I’ve made has been more lavender colored than blue, but it’s still a great, zingy gin drink, an alternative to the standard martini.

1 1/2 oz gin

1/2 oz crème de violette

1/4 oz maraschino liquor

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Place ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake well, strain into glass.

Brandy Alexander

A decadent parlor drink, perfect for conversing around the fire in the dead of winter.

1/2 oz crème de cacao

1/2 oz brandy

1/2 oz heavy cream

Shake with ice, pour into glass. Garnish with freshly-grated nutmeg.

Jack Rose

This has become one of my favorite kick-back-at-the-end-of-the-day indulgent drinks. It’s tangy, fruity, and packs a bit of a punch.

2 1/2 oz applejack

3/4 oz lemon juice

dash of grenadine

Shake with ice.

Green Russian

I’m not a fan of straight absinthe, but the possibility of making mixed drinks with absinthe was a revelation to me. It turns standard cocktails into something weird and intriguing.

3 oz heavy cream

1 1/2 oz vodka

1 tsp absinthe

1 tsp sugar

Mix gently in a highball glass, add ice, and garnish with mint leaves.

Ginger Syrup (non-alcoholic)

I love this recipe, because it tells you how to make any kind of syrup. Add a few teaspoons of ginger syrup to a glass of club soda to make your own ginger ale. Even better, coat the ginger slices you strain out with sugar to make candied ginger for garnish.

3/4 cup peeled and thinly sliced fresh ginger

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Add ingredients to a saucepan, then bring to a simmer over medium to low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, for thirty minutes. Strain out ginger. Let syrup cool. Store syrup in a glass container and refrigerate. (To make simple syrup, a common drink ingredient, just boil the sugar and water.)

Irish Coffee

(AKA: How to create an Irish Coffee Bar)

Larry Niven

You wouldn’t think it would take