Flowers that make you fly? Boys who make you swoon? And a serious lack of parents and curfews? It’s paradise, a.k.a. NEVER EVER’s Minor Island. Kick your shoes off and wander around.

Fried Chipney-Onion Cakes

When Phinn has a favorite, everyone likes to make it! But since Chipney’s only available on Minor Island, you can substitute rainbow kale.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sized white or yellow potatoes
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cups rainbow kale, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon tumeric
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, divided
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Boil the potatoes until cooked, let cool.
  • Meanwhile, sautée onion and kale over medium heat. Add turmeric, paprika, pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook until onions are translucent and kale has wilted. Set aside in a bowl to cool.
  • Peel potatoes and grate into the onion/kale mixture.
  • Add egg, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs. Mix well with hands. Mixture will be wet, but should still bind.
  • Add remaining breadcrumbs to a plate.
  • Heat frying pan. Add oil.
  • Roll and flatten the chipney-onion mixture into slider-sized patties. Cover with breadcrumbs, and carefully place in pan of hot oil.
  • Fry until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes on each side.
  • Garnish with edible flowers and serve with your fave dipping sauce!

Yields 10 slider-sized chipney-onion cakes.

Sugar-Root Mocktail

No island vibe is complete without the perfect mocktail, right?

Ingredients

  • Two parts pineapple juice
  • One part coconut milk
  • One teaspoon of Amaretto syrup (instead of sugar root!)

Instructions

Add ice and water to reach desired sweetness, then garnish with edible flowers. Enjoy!

musthaves

Wondering what the characters in Never Ever would take with them if they knew they were going to a deserted island? Read on.

Wylie

Essential: A fire starter and a non-stick pan for cooking.
Book: Like Water for Chocolate because you can’t go wrong when you combine food with a tortured love story.

Phinn

Essential: I prefer people over objects. I’d surround myself with my best friends.
Book: The Great Gatsby. Is that a total cliché? I like my stories with tragic heroes.

Micah

Essential: A sketchbook, colored pencils, and ballpoint pens. If I can’t draw, I’d die from boredom.
Book: Every issue of The Sandman comic book series. If I wanted to grow up, I’d want to be the next Neil Gaiman.

Joshua

Essential: A typewriter and a lifetime supply of ink so I could write my autobiography. You know, for posterity.
Book: I’m strictly non-fiction. Before I moved to Minor Island, I was reading Dreams of My Father by President Barack Obama.

Tinka

Essential: I’ve basically lived my whole life on a deserted island, so I’m not sure this applies to me. Maybe a mirror? I enjoy doing self-portraits.
Book: A tattered copy of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath that my mom brought to the island before she died. Some of the pages have fallen out, and the story is as depressing as all hell, but I guess I can relate.

songs

So it’s summer and you’re stranded on a deserted island (or your grandparent’s house.) When you tire of getting crafty with coconuts, try this playlist Sara made while writing NEVER EVER. Survival never sounded so good.
  1. Fake Empire by The National
  2. We Used to Wait by Arcade Fire
  3. Heartbeats by The Knife
  4. Skinny Love by Bon Iver
  5. We Found Love by Rihanna
  6. I Am a Rock by Simon & Garfunkel
  7. Forever Young by Alphaville
  1. No Church in the Wild by Jay-Z, Kanye West, & Frank Ocean
  2. Elastic Heart by Sia
  3. Your Ex-Lover is Dead by Stars
  4. I Follow Rivers (the Magician Remix) by Lykke Li
  5. Runaway by The National
  6. Afterlife by Arcade Fire

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