Love the cookbook story! That's really neat.

I forgot to mention a series Chico loves: "Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future." They're old British comics from the '50s which have been reprinted, and they're a hoot and a half, according to Chico (I haven't read any of them yet). They're the author's conception of what life is like around the year 2014--so very funny to read now, of course. There are a whole bunch of them (Voyage to Venus, Marooned on Mercury, Operation Saturn, etc.).