Chapter 18: Notes & Recipes

For some reason, while writing this I went into a lot of detail about what people, Anzu in particular, ate. In that case, why not include actual recipes? Also, I feel that a few things are due explaining, for instance: why isn't Mendocino crawling with nanotechnology?

Well I'll answer that one first. A fully mature nanotechnology is such a game-changer, makes everything so different, that I felt the story would pretty much be ABOUT the nanotechnology. And I didn't want to write a story about nanotech; I wanted to write a story about a young woman living in Space. So Anzu's world is actually rather low-tech, for being set in 2109. It isn't much more advanced than today, except for the CATS (Cheap Access To Space).

Sure, there are a few things: the cell probably has a few nanoscale components, and the fireflies used at the rave are an example of MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems). There is talk of "cleaning robots" and the school lunches are made by robots, but that's not far away. The Warlord uses an augmented reality screen, big deal.

If I were to write this again (and I don't plan to), I'd probably make the eye-tap a pair of contact lenses, instead of sunglasses. Part of the reason I didn't is because I'd already started writing when I found out that there is already work being done on such contacts, and also because I had a lot of gazing into each other's eyes stuff going on. Still, I think I could've worked around that, and probably should have.

Another technology I discovered too late is electronic cigarettes. I had already finished the Holly-Kon part of the story when I discovered this. Had I known about it, Botilda would have used it for consuming her marijuana. OK, so maybe she likes the slower, gentler onset from eating rather than smoking, but the part about her and Anzu trying pot and not being able to stand smoke? Nope. Electronic cigarettes. I'd imagine that by 2109 somebody will have figured out how to get them to produce vapor in different colors.

I mentioned CATS earlier, which brings up a question: why doesn't anybody have any pets? Have pets just gone out of style? Are they banned from habitats? I don't know, but I was up to Anzu's birthday before it occurred to me. Maybe some do, but many do not. Maybe Anzu herself doesn't care for pets, so she doesn't mention them in her story.

OK, before I get to the actual recipes, how many of the references did you get? The Edgar Rice Burroughs refs are impossible to miss: John Carter of Mars and a couple of refs to Tarzan at Holly-Kon. ERB's John Carter is such a hero, with such an ordinary name, that I thought it would be funny to name the villain John Carter, and have him be from Mars. Even the mention of there being no horizon when you live inside a giant ball hints to ERB's Pellucidar series, which takes place inside a hollow planet (Earth, to be precise).

Oh, something that will make my story outdated in a couple of years: I have Anzu state that it took until 2106 for a movie to finally be made based on the JCOM books. Well, a company called The Asylum made a direct-to-video movie based on the first book last year (2009), and Disney is working on a big-budget version now. It's supposed to be out in summer of 2012. We'll see. People have been trying to bring this thing to the big screen since the 1930s.

I have a couple of Robert A. Heinlein refs: a student in Anzu's veegeewushu class is named Robert Anson (the A in Robert A. Heinlein is for Anson). Also, the soap Anzu uses, Skyways, and the slogan, "'Skyways Soap, As Pure As the Sky Itself!" is from Heinlein's book Have Spacesuit, Will Travel.

Anzu has a cousin, Susan, whose mother is "Aunt Calvin." So the cousin's name is Susan Calvin, and she is obsessed with robotics. Isaac Asimov ref there. Many of Asimov's robot stories featured Dr. Susan Calvin, robopsychologist.

The song Martha's Igloo sings to Anzu, "Mendocino," is an actual song by the Sir Douglas Quintet and was a Top 40 song in 1969. Martha's Igloo itself is a twisted-double-corkscrew ref to the song "Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)" written by Bob Dylan and most famously performed by Manfred Mann, and to Martha Quinn of early MTV fame. Another band Anzu mentions is Quin the Pirate, which is yet another Quinn the Eskimo ref.

During the Nude Walk, we meet Alice Liddell. This is the name of the little girl who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Though the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Of course, these stories have themselves inspired a lot of psychedelic music, most notably "White Rabbit" by the Jefferson Airplane. I made it pretty bleeding obvious when Anzu actually says "one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small."

Neil Collins combines the first name of the first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, and the last name of the man who had to remain in Lunar orbit while his two crewmates walked on the Moon, Michael Collins. How much you want to bet his middle name is either Aldrin or Buzz?

When I needed a last name for Steve, the name that immediately jumped into my mind was Austin, as in Steve Austin, from the book Cyborg, by Martin Caidin and the TV show it inspired, The Six Million Dollar Man. But actually calling him "Steve Austin" seemed a bit much, so I called him Steve Majors, since the actor who played Steve Austin in the TV series was Lee Majors. I gave the name Austin to Bret.

Dancing in the Stars is too obvious to say anything further.

Ah yes, and what of Doc? Tall, bronzed skin, compelling eyes, real name Clark, has a cousin named Pat. If you don't recognize Doc Savage (that is, Dr. Clark Savage, Jr.) in all of this, you need to read more of the old pulps. Fought crime with gadgets before Batman or James Bond, had a Fortress of Solitude (in the Arctic no less!) before Superman.

I even reference myself a bit, with mention of the Nature Children who live on the Moon. This is from my story Brachiating Girl, which of course none of you have read because I haven't written it yet. Dan and Tina are the couple in that story. The Lagrange Dojo features the name Lagrange, as in Lisa Lagrange, from my not-yet-finished story Future Sex Coach Michaels (which I hope to get back to work on now that I've finished Anzu). Even Ehawee is the middle name of Witashnah Ehawee Gray Wolf, from Future Sex Coach Michaels, and Constellation is my default name for a Space hotel.

OK, recipes. I think I got them all, except the pizza, which I'm not going to do (the toppings are covered in the story itself). In the interests of honesty, I have to admit that I myself have not had all of these, but I have had some of them. I found the pork breaded with teff flour, covered in egg, and breaded with Panko to be even better than I expected, and I'd expected it to be good.

Pumpkin Soup

1

tbl

Butter

1 ½

cup

Finely Diced

Sweet Onion

1 ½

tsp

Curry Powder

tsp

Crushed Flakes

Red Pepper

2

cup

Solid-Pack Can

Pumpkin

1 ¾

cup

Chicken Broth

½

tsp

Water

tbs

Heavy Cream

Heat butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute 3 minutes or until softened but not browned. Stir in curry powder and crushed red pepper flakes. Add pumpkin, chicken broth and water; stir to combine. Cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

serves six

Poke

8

oz

Sashimi Grade

Tuna

cup

Limu Kohu

tsp

Course

Salt

¼

tsp

Finely Chopped

Kakui Nut

½

tsp

Grated

Fresh Ginger

2

tbl

Soy Sauce

2

tbl

Diced Sweet

Onion

Combine all ingredients in a stainless steel bowl and gently mix. Make this on the day of use.

serves four

Hunter's Venison Casserole

2

cups

Buttery, Mashed

Potatoes

1

lb

Lean, Ground

Venison

1

tbl

Canola Oil

1

Chopped

Red Onion

2

cloves

Minced

Garlic

2

stalks

Diced

Celery

½

cup

Diced

Red Bell Pepper

1

tbl

Worcestershire

½

tsp

Salt

¼

tsp

Course Ground

Black Pepper

2

large

Beaten

Eggs

1

cup

Cottage Cheese

2

Diced

Beefsteak Tomatoes

½

cup

Shredded

Colby Jack Cheese

½

cup

Shredded

Cheddar Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 °C).

2. Spread mashed potatoes evenly in a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside. Brown the venison in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crumbly and no longer pink, set aside.

3. Heat the canola oil in the skillet, then stir in the red onion, garlic, celery, and red bell pepper. Cook until the onion has softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in cooked venison, and season with Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture onto potatoes in the casserole dish.

4. Stir together eggs and cottage cheese in a small bowl; spread evenly over meat mixture. Top with tomato slices, and sprinkle with Colby Jack and cheddar cheeses.

5. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven until set, about 20 minutes.

serves four

Honeydew Melon Sherbet

4

cups

Frozen 2 cm Chunked

Honeydew Melon

¼

cup

Cold

Lemon Juice

¼

cup

Honey

¼

cup

Cold

Whole Milk

2

tbs

Melon Liquer

1. Drop melon chunks, one by one, into running food processor.

2. Gradually add lemon juice, honey, milk, and liquer.

3. Process until smooth and thick.

4. Serve at once.

serves four

NOTE:

This is how you would make this today. You could also puree the ingredients and put them in an ice cream machine. In Anzu's time, every kitchen is equipped with liquid nitrogen (LN²). The ingredients are pureed and the LN² is folded in, like you would do with egg whites. This produces a very quick freeze (less than a minute, for this amount) which causes ice crystals to be very small, thus creating a creamy smooth ice cream beyond what can be accomplished ordinarily.

Fried Green Tomatoes & Mushrooms

1 ½

cups

Sliced

Button Mushrooms

2

tbs

Unsalted

Butter

4

slices

Green

Tomatoes

1

large

Egg

¼

cup

Milk

1

tsp

Your Favorite

Hot Sauce

¼

cup

White

Flour

1 ½

cups

Cornmeal Or

Panko

2

tbs

Lite

Olive Oil

salt & pepper to taste

1. Brown the mushrooms in a heated skillet with the butter, remove mushrooms when they are browned and set aside.

2. Beat the egg, milk & hot sauce together.

3. Mix some salt & pepper with the Panko crumbs.

4. Lightly dust the tomato slices with flour.

5. Dip the dusted slices of tomato into the egg and then the crumbs, coating both sides.

6. Heat oil over medium heat.

7. Brown one side of the slices, flip, add mushrooms back into the pan and brown the other side

total time for tomatoes 7 minutes.

serves two

Beer-Battered Flounder with Red Chili Mandarin Sauce

Olive Oil

¾

cup

All-Purpose Flour

¾

cup

Beer

1

lrg

Lightly Beaten

Egg

1 ½

tsp

Baking Powder

4

5-oz

Fillets

Flounder

2

tbs

Fresh

Lemon Juice

2

tsp

Red Chili Paste

1

11-oz

Can

Mandarin Oranges

1

tbs