George Lucas once told Mark Hamill, “If I could find every copy of that holiday special, I’d smash them with a hammer.” Lucus was referring to, of course, the legendarily awful Star Wars Holiday Special, which aired once in 1978 and has never been seen in an official capacity since. If he had, then I would have been spared the agony of being somehow forced to watch it on eight different occasions. But then we wouldn’t have the Star Wars holiday of Life Day, and this new cookbook inspired by it.
Written by Jenn Fujikawa — who’s also written cookbooks for shows like I Love Lucy and The Goldbergs — Star Wars: A Life Day Cookbook features more than 30 holiday recipes including appetizers, main courses, desserts, and beverages. You may also know her from her Instagram JustJennRecipes, where she’s always posting delicious-looking food and beverage items. Below you can check out the cover and Gizmodo is happy to exclusively share two of her recipes as well.
From the press release: “Prepare a holiday feast inspired by Life Day, the galaxy-wide celebration of family, friendship, and hope. Originating on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, Life Day has since spread its message of fellowship and love to every corner of the galaxy, making it the perfect holiday to celebrate with a delicious family meal! Featuring over thirty holiday recipes great for chefs of all skill levels, this cookbook will teach you to prepare the galaxy’s most delicious appetizers, main courses, beverages, and desserts. Packed with stunning food photography that’s sure to instill a passion for cooking in chefs of all ages, this Life Day cookbook is the galaxy’s most exciting way to celebrate the holidays. Whether your family is celebrating Life Day at the Tree of Life, or in the comfort of your home, this Life Day cookbook will be the most scrumptious and festive addition to your Star Wars library!”
Check out how to make this yummy looking Kashyyyk Cake:
And here’s a Bantha Surprise that will hopefully be surprisingly delicious.
Life Day was first celebrated on Kashyyyk but the festive holiday has spread to many parts of the galaxy, which means the recipes won’t be limited to the Wookiees’ culinary preferences. Original Life Day traditions include a feast of shi-shok fruits, wroshyr lice syrup, and sacred orga roots after visiting the sacred Tree of Life, which I’m guessing are not ingredients to make the cookbook’s recipes. According to the Star Wars Databank, “people from planets across the galaxy have embraced this tradition and made it their own by celebrating with festive décor, twinkling string lights, unique food and drink items, music, and activities” in honour of family, peace, freedom, joy, etc. — basically, all the good stuff.
The bad stuff includes the Holiday Special, so as I say every time I write about it, do not seek it out. It’s not so bad it’s good, it’s so bad it’s torturous. It’s painfully unfunny, astoundingly dull, and features scenes you will never be able to unsee, such as Chewbacca’s elderly father Itchy (yes, Itchy, his son is named Lumpy in this thing) watching VR pornography in the middle of his living room.
Seriously, don’t watch it. But if you want Star Wars: A Life Day Cookbook, it’s available now from Insight Editions. And if you want more Star Wars recipes, Fujikawa has more than a hundred for you to check out at StarWars.com.