HT: Did you try out any/all of the recipes before including them in the book?
TS: I have tried all of the ones I submitted. I made Amy Fischer’s Bloody Mary and Lauren’s ‘Slave to the Colorful Quinoa Salad.’ Whenever I look through the book, I get very hungry because everything looks really good…well almost everything. The one recipe involving eating possum is one that I will skip.
PM: I have made a handful of them here and there. I dont bake but tried out some of the cookie recipes, including my friend Lindsay’s Multibeast Cookies, Amy’s Festival Proof Burritos and Randolph, Mike Z’s Mexican Cousin into Tela as well as many of the sandwiches. I want to try everything in the book before too long, and at the kickoff party there will be a nice spread of recipes from the book that all can sample. I really want to make the Ain’t no time to Stash the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.
HT: Why did you decide to publish the book through SUNY Press?
PM: I was contacted by Kelli Williams-Leroux at SUNY Press who along with her husband Billy are solid Phish fans in the Albany area. They were impressed with PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish and heard about the cookbook so we set up a meeting and they liked what they heard from both of us, and PhanFood was born!
HT: How will you decide which food banks will receive the net profits from the book?
TS: The Burlington Emergency Food Shelf with benefit from the books sold online or at the book release party. For the books we sell on tour we will donate profits to the emergency food shelves of the city we are in.
HT: If you had to estimate, how much time did each of you spend putting the book together?
TS: I honestly have no idea. When you are doing something you love, it never feels like work. I didn’t keep track.
PM: I’m with Taraleigh on this one. This was a fun book to create and fulfilled something that I always wanted to do when I got older, and Taraleigh helped to make it happen less than two years after PhanArt. Time wise, it wasnt a daily grind, just an effort here and there, setting up the website form, categorizing recipes, determining the layout and art and then putting it together. Britt Nemith did a great deal of work on the layout of the book and spent over 100 hours laying the book out this summer in between festivals. We are ecstatic with the result of her hard work and think fans will love it all.
HT: What is the best food item you’ve ever eaten “on lot?”
TS: This sounds funny, but at SPAC there was a booth selling cucumbers with vinegar and salt. It was exactly what I wanted and it was glorious!
PM: I had a really good chicken sandwich at Great Woods in 09, for $5, you couldnt ask for a better deal. That and a Golden Grahams/Cinnamon Toast Crunch Goo Ball at Oswego 99.
HT: Are there recipes for vegan items in the book? Approximately how many?
TS: Yes! There are more than 20. And there are even more vegan recipes if you leave out the cheese or use a vegan butter in many of the recipes.
