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Review: Serve It Forth – edited by Anne McCaffrey

By David Speakman • June 15, 2008

The Good

  • Find out if your favorite authors can cook, and if so, what they make.
  • Proceeds from sales support the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Emergency Medical Fund
  • Cover is glossy hardback and water resistant for kitchen friendliness.

The Bad

  • Like most multiple contributor cookbooks, it does not have a large variation of food types.
  • Organized by Author instead of food type, which makes it hard to find entrees vs. desserts. 
  • Some of the ingredients in some of the more exotic recipes are not easy to find in rural locations.

Full Review

A fundraiser for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Serve It Forth, is edited by Anne McCaffrey with John Gregory Betancourt.

The purpose of the book was as a way to raise funds for an emergency medical fund for members of the group who are unable to pay for their own medical treatment.

At 203 pages, the book is chock full of more than 100 recipes for everything from Starship Trooper Chili to Night of the Living Meatloaf. Many of the recipes are included for humor's sake - but most are functional and a few standouts are sure to impress your friends.

Some are delicious despite their names, like Deborah Wheeler's "Worm Pie" - which is actually a delicious and not-totally-heart-unfriendly spaghetti casserole made with olive oil and turkey meat. Another better-than-its-name-suggests is Melissa Crandall's "Pull My Finger Carrot Cake" - which is utterly delicious and does not, as its name suggests, cause gas in those lucky enough to eat it.

There are also some delightful healthy and heart-friendly surprises - like Poul Anderson's skill with recipes - including a favorite fish dish from his time in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism).

But I doubt I'll get up the gumption to try Grant Carrington's "Ultimate Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, and Onion Sandwich" - ever. Although it was interesting to read how he came up with the idea and about his success (or lack thereof) of getting others to try it.

Perhaps the best quality of this book is that it contains recipes that a fan's favorite authors actually cook for themselves or family and friends. Additionally, the recipes range in skill levels from the utterly simplistic to near-gourmet level, to allow cooks of every skill level a chance of cooking like a published author.

 

Rating (out of 10)

Ease of Use

Although a boon to a particular Author's fans, the organization by name of author rather than type of recipe makes the book as a whole harder to use for those reading it to plan a meal rather than merely for pleasure.

 3

Humor

The wit and style of each contributor shines through in each recipe.

 9

Originality

Although some recipes are all-but-identical to what can be found in Betty Crocker cookbooks, most are personalized to the ethnicity or home region of the author.

 7

Total

 6.33

Popularity: 8% [?]

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About the Author

David Speakman

David Speakman - known in fannish circles as Davodd - is recovering from almost 20 years as a professional writer and journalist in mainstream print and broadcasting. He recently "retired" from journalism, citing that too many mega-mergers caused news focus to shift from serving the public interest to serving up eyeballs to advertisers. Currently he works full time as a paralegal while attending night law school. A member of N3F on and off since 1984, David's fannish activities in recent days have been curtailed due to time and budget constraints of being a law school student; although he does manage to squeeze in episodes of Battlestar Galactica, issues of Weird Tales magazine and an odd superhero movie "now and then."

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One Response to “ Review: Serve It Forth – edited by Anne McCaffrey ”

  1. ruthiechan Jun 18th, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    I thought this was a neat book, though I found the lack of a proper index frustrating. I got it more for the humor value than anything else, though I do remember being disappointed in not having a recipe for Anne McCaffrey’s bubbly pies in her Pern series. I rather expected, for whatever reason, the recipes to reflect the foods the characters eat in these author’s books. Alas, that was not so. However it’s still worth the space it takes up on my book shelf and the money spent to get it there. ;)

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