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EarthBound Finally Gets The Bizarre Cookbook It Deserves

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Who’s hungry for some Magic Cake or a Mach Pizza?

EarthBound, released as Mother 2 in Japan, is a Super Nintendo RPG well-known for its silly enemies and quirky take on American culture. As main character Ness and his crew of unlikely friends make their way through cities, deserts, and dungeons they fend off baddies on their quest to stop the wicked alien Giygas. They also eat a lot of snacks.

Food plays a big part in EarthBound, as it acts as the main source of on-the-go health for Ness and company. The game even starts out asking the player to name their favorite food, inserting that choice into different scenarios throughout the game’s story line. Ness can stock up on burgers, fries, cookies, and more in the first town alone, with extravagant treats such as luxury jerky, peanut cheese bars, and magic pudding popping up in new locals.

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Chef Bryan Connor is widely known in the EarthBound community for his epic creation of a full Gingerbread town modeled after Ness’ home, Onett. Connor also runs the Lvl 1 Chef blog, a site that focuses on recipes for all sorts of gaming-related delicacies. Recently he teamed with a slew of of talented artists and writers to produce Mother’s Cookbook, an unofficial guide to preparing any and every food item found in EarthBound.

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The book’s title comes both from EarthBound’s Japanese moniker and the fact that it is written from the prospective of the main protagonist’s mother. The book, which is styled like a hap-hazard scrapbook, doesn’t shy away from tackling the wide spectrum of odd edibles featured throughout the game.

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Along with legitimate recipes and cooking tips, the book is chock-full of doodles.

And pictures.

And of course motherly advice about eating food out of the trash.

It looks pretty neat.


Unsurprisingly, the ongoing Mother’s Cookbook Kickstarter campaign has already hit its goal (and then some), with hopes to deliver a dash of strange to player’s kitchens by the end of 2018. Until then you should consult your own mother, or anyone motherly, for weird recipes and questionable guidance.