I’ve got a secret to tell you: There’s a UFO hidden in my best friend’s barn.
Actually, that’s not my secret, it’s Vernon Dunham’s secret and I’ll get to Vernon in just a moment. My secret is this: When I’m not doing the food blogging thing, I’m doing the genre fiction thing. I’m either writing it, or reading it, or discussing it, or playing silly games of “Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?” (Answer: no lie, I’m Kirk.)
Now what’s this have to do with food blogging? Well, just this:
I’ve met some fine authors in my genre fiction travels and when I catch them swapping recipes or proclaiming their latest Copyedits Complete Commemorative Homecooked Cobbler, my ears perk up. I think: Hey! Authors + recipes = cool new content for Belly Timber!
So, allow me to introduce Cook ‘n Books: An occasional series of book reviews, excerpts, and miscellaneous fictions, each accompanied by a recipe from the featured author.
For our inaugural edition, we’ve got fantastically tasty cookies (I just wolfed one down a moment ago), and Mrs D’s review of the spiffy new novel Rocket Science by Jay Lake.
Jay Lake is the 2004 John W. Campbell Award winner for Best New Writer. He’s been a Hugo nominee for his short fiction, and a World Fantasy Award nominee for his editing. Just a few of his many projects include the critically-acclaimed Polyphony anthology series (co-edited with Deborah Layne), All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories (co-edited with David Moles) and two short story collections, Greetings from Lake Wu and American Sorrows.
Jay is a fiercely imaginative and prolific writer, and someone Chopper and I are proud to call a good friend, in no small part due to his willingness to wear shockingly bright colors and his wicked sense of humor. Also, he writes kick-ass stories, but you’ve probably guessed that already.
For this post, Jay offers us Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies. He’s taken a classic recipe and given it a twist, which is, I have to say, a perfect match for Rocket Science and what’s lurking in Vernon Dunham’s best friend’s barn…
Rocket Science by Jay Lake
Reviewed by Mrs. D
Trade Paperback, 220 pages
Fairwood Press, August 2005
ISBN 0-9746573-6-0
Vernon Dunham’s best friend Floyd Bellamy went to war and came home a hero. Vernon stayed behind with a bum leg from childhood polio. Floyd fought Nazis, got a chest-full of medals, and landed the 1942 prom queen. All Vernon’s got is the label of a wartime “stay-at-home” (even with his aircraft engineering job at Boeing), and a dad who’s the town drunk. It’s the kind of disparity that would put a strain on any friendship, but what really knocks it for a loop is the cargo Floyd’s brought home with him from Europe: a Nazi halftrack and a top secret weapon that looks like no airplane Vernon’s ever seen. How Floyd got it past all borders and authorities is anyone’s guess, but now it’s sitting in the Bellamy’s barn and Vernon knows one thing and one thing only: He’s got to fly it.
Of course, this being science fiction, we know right away that the “rocket” is no weapon and it most definitely wasn’t built by Nazis. A little digging in the local Augusta, Kansas library points Vernon toward the truth, Golden Age style: The rocket was found buried under the Arctic ice.
Trouble is, once Vernon starts digging, others discover he’s been digging and soon he’s neck deep in bad guys. Government agents, Nazi spies, mobsters, and moonshiners; they’re all after him and it takes Vernon (and the reader) most of the book to sort out who’s who.
Not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, the twists and turns are enough to fill six months of Saturday serials, and through all of this, Vernon’s got one heck of an ally. See, his UFO isn’t just a McGuffin, it’s a character. In fact, it talks. The moment it starts talking is classic, old school. Vernon, in a borrowed Caddy, hears a voice from the rocket’s handset and is convinced he’s gone plum crazy. After all, where are the radio tubes? Yes, this is smack dab in good old 1945, and the pocket transistor won’t hit the market for another nine years. And A.I.? Again, wait till the 50s. (I can only imagine what Vernon would make of OnStar. Total meltdown of incomprehensibility.)
But, once Vernon accepts that his “doo-dad” does indeed do what no Earthmade radio can do, well… I won’t spoil for anyone what happens next.
Augusta Kansas, the setting of Rocket Science, is about as perfect a small town in 1940s America as anyone can find. It’s Mayberry, complete with law guys named Ollie Wannamaker. But when Vernon digs deeper and finds the town’s dark side, the narrative doesn’t go all David Lynch on us. It stays firmly optimistic, so much so that you’d almost expect an ending with the happy rocket in the hands of the good-guy Feds and Vernon landing Miss Butler County.
But you’d be wrong. This sly tale does end happy, but the final twist leaves behind the expected and sends Vernon to the land of childhood dreams. And trust me — you’ll want to be right there with him when he goes.
Rocket Science is available through Fairwood Press, or at fine independent booksellers everywhere.
Check out Rocket Science and more books by Jay Lake at
And now… cookies!
Jay Lake’s Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is derived from the standard Nestle recipe, so all you really have to do is remember the variations and work off the back of the bag — that’s how I do it.
Ingredients:
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon (or to taste — you can also use nutmeg here with the cinnamon)
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 1/2 pound) butter, softened
- 1-1/2 cups turbinado (raw, large grain) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 medium ginger root, grated or finely chopped (vary amount to taste)
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups (24-ounce package) chocolate chips
- 2 cups chopped nuts (I prefer pecans or walnuts, but peanuts work just fine)
Method
Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, turbinado sugar, vanilla and almond extract in large mixer bowl. Add ginger. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets covered with baking parchment.
#
Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Don’t forget: It’s Annual Food Blog Award Nomination Time! Head on over to The Accidental Hedonist and keep those nominations coming!
