What’s on the menu?
Ah… perhaps you’re the indulgent sort. If so, here is your invitation to linger a little longer in this world. Select whatever delights you, then sit back and savor it as you dive back into the pages. Each item on this menu is a specialty, drawn from chapters and characters alike.
These menu items aren’t precise recipes — they’re little sparks, inspired by the series, ready for you as suggestions for enjoyment.
Synth Drinks
Luma’s Nutrient Blossom Tea
Recipe:
Your favorite tonic water — alternate can be white tea steeped and cooled
Rose tincture*
Honey
Strawberry powder
Small amount of red food coloring for flare (keep it light for that vibrant pink color)
*Rose tincture:
½ cup of HOT water
1 tsp strawberry powder
1 full spoonful of honey (2 if you’re extra sweet)
½ tsp rose water (I like Nielsen Massey)
Have two 12oz of tonic water poured and ready. Split the rose tincture between the two — using all of it. Add 2-3 drops of red food coloring to each if you want it to be pink (optional).
Please note: strawberry powder has vitamin C, this results in messy rising fizz when mixing with tonic water. If you want the glass to look pretty, mix everything in one large container before serving.
The Solen-0
Solen-0 is an ancient synth, marked by mystery and loss, yet a bearer of hope and inspiration. Complex, contradictory, and compelling, he defies easy definition. One thing is certain: he likes mint.
Recipe:
Your favorite tonic water
Add a spoonful, or two, of mint tincture*
Green food coloring if you want to really get into it
*The mint tincture:
Use a mortar and pestle to mash fresh spearmint leaves — producing a quarter cup (can substitute dry leaves)
Boil enough water to fill a mug and steep all of it for 15 minutes
Mix in 2 generous spoonfuls of honey, 3 if you’re sweet
Pinch of salt
Put in jar — refrigerate for up to a week
Electric Algae Power Drink
A synth’s body, composed of nanobots, relies on a range of supplements to maintain optimal function—including algae. The most efficient way to refuel is through consumption, both eating and drinking.
Enjoy your own power drink, and replenish your algae reserves.
Recipe:
Fresh lime juice from 6–8
3–4 cups of your favorite tonic water
2–4 heaping spoonfuls of honey
1–2 heaping spoonfuls of chia seeds
Pinch of sea salt
Green food coloring if you would like to be extra
Stir well
*Hint: mix chia seeds with lime juice before you add everything else (they take 10-15 minutes to work their magic)
Reactor Water
Your favorite pink lemonade
Your favorite tonic water
Mint leaves for presentation
Electric Coolant + Lubricant Elixir
Recipe:
1 cup watermelon juice
1 cup coconut water
Few drops of lime juice
Dash of honey
Sprinkle chili flakes
Stir and serve
Extra Cool Coolant
Recipe:
1 cup chopped cucumber
Pinch of chopped fresh mint leaves
Your favorite tonic water
A drop of lemon juice
Mix and chill in refrigerator tightly covered for 20 minutes
Put ice in and serve
Synthergizer
Recipe:
A scoop of your favorite black tea
A full two finger pinch of clove
A full three finger pinch of cinnamon
Steep
Add a spoonful of honey
Drop of lemon
Drop of lime
Mix and chill
Mix 3:1 with your favorite tonic water (Tonic water 3 : Clove tea mix 1 — or fill your mug ¾ with tonic water and fill the last ¼ with the clove tea mix)
Makes about 4-5 Synthergizers
Enjoy
Contamination zone:
Nanobot Drift
Recipe:
Tonic water
Watermelon juice
A few drops of lemon juice
Edible luster powder — gold (make sure it is FDA approved)
Mix and serve
Green Smog
Recipe:
Frothed milk of any kind
Matcha ginger concentrate — quarter cup HOT water, spoonful of honey, ½ tsp matcha powder, ¼ tsp ginger
Mix together
This makes one hardy mugful
Tea With Isla
Isla loves baking — and nothing delights her more than settling in with a steaming cup of tea. Her home is alive with the comforting aroma of fresh-baked treats. To fully immerse yourself in her world, be sure to have on hand:
Ginger scones
A fresh loaf of bread
Your favorite butter cookies
Below is the tea menu. For the full experience, try baking one of these treats yourself — let the smell of fresh baked goods fill your home as you sip an Isla-inspired tea and journey through the pages of the book. Allow her vibrant energy to linger with you long after the cup is empty.
Earthy Tea
Inspired by chapter 12
Meeting Isla for the first time is such a treat. Fragrant bread, freshly baked. The sound of a kettle whistling.
Recipe:
1 spoonful of your favorite green tea
1 spoonful of dried lemongrass
1 spoonful of dried ginseng
This mix should make 2 cups.
Fall Grounding Tea
Inspired by chapter 17
The kettle whistled. Isla poured hot water into their mugs. They all shared the same loose-leaf blend. Eira cradled the mug, leaning into the steam. She felt hugged by the smell of spice mixed with fruit and black tea. It felt grounding.
“I thought you’d like this,” Isla said. “With the summer coming to an end I have been feeling fall-inspired. I mixed dried apples, cloves, cinnamon, and a bit of ginger with the black tea I normally use. I think I went a little heavy on the clove. Make sure to add some honey when it is done steeping, to really bring out those flavors.”
Recipe:
2 spoonfuls of your favorite black tea
½-1 spoonful of broken dried apple (can get any bag of freeze dried apples, fuji is the sweetest)
½ spoonful of cinnamon
½ spoonful of ginger
Dash of ground clove
*Add honey after steeping, about half a spoonful or as much as you desire
This mix should make enough for 2-3 cups. You could shove it all into a French press or divide and conquer.
Green Tea — accompanied by ginger scones
Inspired by chapter 27
As you reunite with Isla, pour yourself a cup of your favorite green tea. Be sure to have your ginger scones nearby… assuming you won’t be too distraught to enjoy them.
Recipe:
1 spoonful of your favorite green tea
…if you find yourself too caught in the moment to bake, let the warmth of ginger and honey stand in their place
A couple pinches of ginger powder and some honey
Sector 4
Borti’s Lazy Nutrient Pasta
This dish is efficient and sustaining. Built for long hours and minimal effort, yet rich enough to keep you going.
Borti rarely left his quarters. Between building and programming, there was little time — or interest — for visits to the Sector 4 cafés. Instead, he perfected something simple, efficient, and endlessly reliable.
A careful blend of nutrient powder, synthetic gelatin noodles, and a few strategic embellishments kept him going. His dish allowed him to be comfortably shut away.
For your sake, the nutrients come in a more familiar form: broth and parmesan.
Recipe:
Any kind of pasta
Your favorite broth powder packets
Cream cheese
Grated parmesan
Salt, to taste
Optional embellishments:
As much garlic powder as you desire
Chili flakes if you want
Paprika - a dash or two
Penzeys northwoods fire if you want some smokey flavor
Fill a pot with water and add pasta — no measurements needed. For Borti, eyeballing it is key.
Stir in enough broth powder to create a rich, hearty base.
Let it cook and reduce until most of the liquid is absorbed (pick your pasta wisely, like durum wheat semolina).
Add a generous dollop of cream cheese — enough to coat the noodles.
Stir in parmesan to your liking.
Taste, adjust with salt if needed, and serve.
Mineral-Rich Algae Slugs
Sector 4 was always alive with creative minds. With access to a food lab and time to experiment, its chefs pushed beyond the standard fare. After all, why settle for drinking algae and chewing through mineral bars?
One rumored delicacy began to circulate: algae slugs — a genetically modified organism originally designed to sustain and regulate algae growth. Unexpectedly, their flavor profile proved… compelling. Particularly for synths, who found them endlessly fascinating to process and analyze. Chock-full of minerals as a bonus.
Recipe:
Your favorite gnocchi
½ cup of your favorite pesto
1 avocado
Two finger pinch of salt
Dash of toasted sesame oil
¼ yellow onion -— you can cook the onion first so it is not as strong, but if you love onion leave as is
A few garlic cloves
Shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to garnish
Cook your gnocchi how you like it.
In a food processor, blend all the other ingredients until you get a slimy green goo — algae slime equivalent.
Pour that algae slime over your gnocchi and serve. Sprinkle parmesan on top.
*Enjoy the day of, avocado can turn brown over time
Unexpected Visitor
Nova’s Survival Field Salad — chapter 20 reference
Nova faced struggles of her own. Alone among sentient machines. Her food options were limited to what could be grown underground, with only occasional chances to forage within the dome outside. For the sake of your taste buds, this recipe is inspired by her need to survive… with some mercy: you may use chicken instead of pigeon, and avocado instead of algae.
Originally lettuce, corn, and algae. A chance of pigeon… on a good day.
Field Salad: born of necessity, refined by chance. Crisp greens and sweet corn come together with tender chicken in a simple, bright dressing. Proof that even the most limited provisions can become something worth savoring.
Recipe
2 cups chopped lettuce
1 cup corn — prepared however you like
1 cup cooked chicken — chopped or shredded
1–2 spoonfuls olive oil with some lemon — or your favorite vinaigrette
Juice of ½ lime
Mashed avocado for the algae
Pinch of salt and pepper
Optional: chopped herbs (such as cilantro)
*Feel free to adjust and embellish however you wish — as long as you have corn, lettuce and algae you are doing it right.