Staton - Fairies in the Kitchen: Recipes from the Weetzie Bat Series

Fairies in the Kitchen

Fairies in the

Kitchen

RECIPES FROM THE

WEETZIE BAT SERIES

Foreword by Francesca Lia Block

With recipes by Carmen Staton

dangerous angel

Copyright 2015 Carmen Staton

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1515019047

ISBN 13: 9781515019046

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015911089

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

North Charleston, South Carolina

dangerous angel

Dedicated to the fans of Dangeorus Angels.

Thank you for supporting the books all these years.

A kiss about apple pie a la mode with the vanilla creaminess melting in the pie heat. A kiss about chocolate, when you havent eaten chocolate in a year. A kiss about palm trees speeding by, trailing pink clouds when you drive down the Strip sizzling with champagne. Weetzie Bat 1989 by Francesca Lia Block

Foreword

WEETZIE BAT IS MY BLEACH-BLOND, punk, flower child, pixie alter ego and the heroine of many of my books. She grew up delighting in pressed turkey and jellied cranberry sauce from the Tick Tock Tea Room, where her dad, Charlie, took her when he visited, but as she grew up, she found joy in healthy, delicious food that expressed the love she felt for her family and for the world around her.

Weetzie, who lives in a magical Hollywood cottage with a silly-sand roof and a twinkling garden, decorates everything with flowers and sugary glitter, while her purple-eyed, tangle-haired daughter Witch Baby has a darker, more earthy sensibility. Witch Babys father and Weetzies love, My Secret Agent Lover Man, is usually too busy filming Weetzie in the bright-yellow kitchen to actually participate, but he has a killer guacamole recipe to contribute. Their friends Valentine Jah-Love and Ping Chong add to the feast with food from their native Jamaica and China, respectively. Surfer boy Duck Drake gives a touch of Southern California beach sensibility to the menu, and his slinkster-cool boyfriend Dirk is personified in a chocolate-raspberry-kiwi birthday cake. Dirks pink-haired Grandma Fifi creates pastries in the shapes of shells, ballet slippers, and moons, which is her way of making magic, not unlike the magic of the genie who comes out of the lamp she gives to Weetzie. Each character is reflected in the food he or she eats and makes.

For years people have asked me about the food in my books. They tell me they always get hungry and salivate heavily when reading my work. They are especially interested in the characters from the Weetzie Bat books and learning more about what they eat, from that strawberry sundae with marshmallow topping that Weetzie ate as a girl while waiting to be discovered like Lana Turner at Schwabs Pharmacy to her daughter Weetzies Vegetable Love Rice.

They ask if I have the recipes for the food I mention.

Well now I finally do!

I met Carmen Staton when we lived on the same block and had baby daughters. We didnt know each other very well, but when I was pregnant with my second child, Carmen sent over food for when we arrived back from the hospital. To this day I remember the rich, warm taste of that winter vegetable stew, those blueberry muffins, and the tomato salad with onion vinaigrette. The food was delicious not only because of the ingredients and skill with which it was made but also because of the love that infused it.

Carmen and I became close friends after that. She babysat my son a few hours a week, feeding him bottles of milk that took me hours to pump. She was the only person I would leave him alone with, besides his dad and grandma. Eventually Carmen came to me with an idea for a book, and we wrote Ruby together. It was uncanny how we were able to pass the manuscript back and forth, effortlessly continuing each others tone and thoughts as if we were one person.

When Carmen suggested making actual recipes based on the food described in the Weetzie Bat books, I was delighted and knew she was the one for the job. Carmen understands the best chefs dont just use high-quality ingredients, proper proportions, and inspirationthey also use magic. Love is the most powerful magic of all, and it infuses everything Weetzie Bat and her friends (and Carmen) make.

Food is also magical because it can transform. It can help children grow and make them feel cared for. It can enhance romantic relationships and be an aphrodisiac. It can bring people together in community and distract them from their conflicts. It can soothe and inspire us. Its conscious, loving preparation and consumption can be a spiritual practice. It can heal.

So many young women who write to me struggle with eating disorders. I have written about anorexia in The Hanged Man, as well as in my essay How the Faeries Caught Me, which appears in Going Hungry, edited by Kate Taylor. Ive been there, and I understand. But I also know what its like to transcend these issues. By making conscious decisions to eat lovingly prepared, wholesome, natural food that also tastes delicious and stimulates the imagination as much as the senses, we can see food as a way to be strong, healthy, and connectedto others, the natural world, and ourselves.

With all this in mind, I encourage you to dive into this book and experience the sensuality, fun, creativity, and healing powers of food through the eyes of Weetzie and her friends as interpreted by Carmen Staton. After all, every good cook, like every artist, has to admit to those moments when something magical happens in the process, something that seems to come from outside of herself. Perhaps those moments are evidence of fairies in the kitchen.

Francesca Lia Block, Shangri L.A.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PREPARING FOOD FOR YOURSELF, FOR friends and family, or even for strangers is an act of nurturing love and the deepest magic. Ive always thought of recipes, whether written on a page or plucked from my mind, as little spells or enchantments. The sharing of food has always been sacred. It not only brings people together, it also creates bonds.

Like many of you reading this, I am a huge fan of Francesca Lia Block, her magical, mystical Los Angeles and her most famous character, Weetzie Bat. I was a latecomer to the stories of Weetzie and her family and friends. The tales were potent. I recall having a visceral reaction to them. For example, Francescas food descriptions left me salivating.

It only made sense to me to take these amazing food references and bring them to life. When Francesca agreed I was beyond thrilled. It took a while to birth the baby that is now Fairies in the Kitchen but every moment was well worth it.

Before we begin, I wanted to say a little bit about cooking and ingredient choices.

If you arent accustomed to cooking or following recipes, the first bit of advice Id give is to read the entire recipe through several times to be sure you understand everything. If something doesnt make sense or doesnt seem clear look it up on the web or ask a cooking type friend. If there are any words or ingredients that are unfamiliar check the glossary and the end of the book. Hopefully youll find your answer there. I would also advise gathering all the ingredients and equipment you will need for the recipe prior to beginning. This step helps everything run smoothly.