Survivor Macaroni & Cheese from The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I waited for the question, staring across the dark hall at the rice bag – last night’s pillow.  In my peripheral vision, I saw his hand come up, and I cringed into the wall.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said again, impatient, and cupped my chin in his rough hand, pulling my face around so I had to look at him.

My heart stuttered when he touched me, and there was suddenly too much moisture in my eyes.  I blinked, trying to clear them.

“Wanda.”  He said my name slowly – unwillingly, I could tell, though his voice was even and toneless.  “Is Melanie still alive – still part of you?  Tell me the truth.”

Melanie attached with the brute strength of a wrecking ball.  It was physically painful, like the sudden stab of a migraine headache, where she tried to force her way out.

Stop it!  Can’t you see?

It was so obvious in the set of his lips, the tight lines under his eyes.  It didn’t matter what I said or what she said.

I’m already a liar to him, I told her.  He doesn’t want the truth – he’s just looking for evidence, some way to prove me a liar, a Seeker, to Jeb and Jamie so that he’ll be allowed to kill me.

Melanie refused to answer or believe me; it was a struggle to keep her silent.

Jared watched the sweat bead on my forehead, the strange shiver that shook down my spine, and his eyes narrowed.  He held on to my chin, refusing to let me hide my face.

Jared, I love you, she tried to scream.  I’m right here.

My lips didn’t quiver, but I was surprised that he couldn’t read the words spelled out plainly in my eyes.

Stephenie Meyer, The Host, (Little, Brown & Company, 2008)

I read The Host a couple of years ago, soon after it was published, as a selection for our bookclub. I know that at least a couple of our members were dubious of the choice. But not me — I read the Twilight Saga and thoroughly enjoyed it — I was totally ready for the Stephenie Meyer’s first adult novel. If you’ve read any of my previous Food from Fiction posts, you’ll know that me and escapist literature are tight. And Stephanie Meyer is about as escapist as a fully grown adult can get.

There’s no author interview in this post — I contacted the publisher with my standard request for a 5 question, food-related email interview, but I received a polite reply indicating that Mrs. Meyer was on a very well deserved break, after many years of doing constant publicity.

When you know the woman has been hounded, stalked, followed and generally harassed by teenaged girls all over the world, can you really say you blame her?

The earth is being colonized.  The Souls, a race of inspidly kind, “altruistic” aliens have quietly invaded and taken control of Earth’s human minds.  The most determined of their race, the Seekers, are hunting down the last of holdout humans, who are desperate, on the run and struggling to survive.

Wanderer is the newest alien to arrive.  A veteran of several other planets and a treasured storyteller amongst her kind, Wanderer has agreed to take on her most difficult assignment yet — insertion into a highly resistant human, Melanie Stryder.  Rather than be captured, Melanie chose to prevent her own occupation by hurling herself down an empty elevator shaft.  Unfortunately, her attempt at suicide was unsuccessful, and the aliens have healed her damaged body.  She awakens to relive her last memory as her first, and to find an unwelcome companion also watching from within and in complete control of her body’s reins.

Wanderer is equally distressed and ashamed by her own inability to silence Melanie.  Their initial struggle morphs into an uneasy truce, and these 2 souls in a single body contrive to run away.  A combination of luck, compassion, love and curiousity leads them to what they’re looking for:  Melanie’s younger brother Jamie and her boyfriend Jared who have found a place with Melanie’s Uncle Jeb and his small group of survivors in a remote Arizonian cave.

The cave`s inhabitants exist mainly on a diet of scrawny vegetables and grains grown in the dusty soil of a cavern ingenously lit by mirrors.   Imagine watery onion soup and rustic rolls, day after day, supplemented occasionally by whatever bounty Jared can steal.  Not exactly the ideal fodder for a recipe inspired by fiction.

But not all is lost!  Uncle Jeb’s set-up is actually pretty rad in a post-apocalyptic kind of way.  There’s plenty of clean water from an underground stream, the kitchen has a wood oven (lit only at night so as to avoid smoke detection) and Jared’s raids give us at least a little leeway on our ingredient list.  Which means that comfort food is on the menu!  Survivor Macaroni & Cheese, anyone?

When evading capture by aliens who have invaded the earth, the recipe has to be adaptable.  In extreme circumstances, even I will have to disregard my pathological abhorence of margarine, as I realize that butter may not be a top priority when aliens invade.  You could also substitute stock (or even water) for the fresh milk and yellow mustard instead of the dijon.  Cayenne probably isn’t something all of you will consider essential, but, as with most spices, a little goes a long way towards developing a dish’s flavour.

Let’s just say that faced with imminent alien invasion or zombie plague, I would probably take 5 minutes to pack my traveling spice kit.

This dish incorporates Melanie Stryder’s  favourite food — Cheetos.  The heat of the oven caused the cheezies’ coloring to leach down onto the surface of the macaroni — it made for a fascinating fake-cheese crust speckled with crunchy colourless corn crumbs.  I’m always amazed (and dismayed) by what happens to processed food when you make even slight changes to it’s environment.  Humans may be resilient, but this new food we’re creating surely isn’t.

Survivor Mac & Cheese (printable recipe)

Inspired by here, who got it from here.

Serves 6-8

Butter or Margarine, cubed	3 T
Elbow Pasta, uncooked	2 C
Cheddar Cheese, grated	½ lb
Whole Milk	2 C
Evaporated Milk	1 can
Dijon Mustard	1 T
Cayenne Pepper	TT
s+p	TT
Cheetos cheezies, crushed	2 C

T=tablespoon    C=cup         lb=pound      TT=to taste

Heat the oven to 375°F and position an oven rack in the upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining butter, uncooked pasta, grated cheese, both milks, Dijon mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

Uncover the pan, stir gently, sprinkle with crushed Cheetos and return to the oven uncovered for 30 minutes more, or until golden.

Cool 15 minutes before serving.