This year's Middle-earth Birthday Anniversary Open House in August calls for a menu for an Elven Event. This year's theme will be "Woodhall" The place Gildor Inglorion took Frodo and his escort when they were on their way to Crick Hollow and were almost waylaid by the Nazgul.
Anybody who sends me a recipe or suggestion, will be mentioned on the menu when I have the event. I will also send a Gift Card to the person whose recipe has the most comments, favorable ones to be sure.
So help me put a menu together and tell me what you think Elves would eat at a gathering
Thanks!
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
I've got two recipes if you're interested. One is fruit soup and the other is fish balls. Both are Swedish recipes that I ate growing up. I thought since Tolkien based much of the ME languages on Finnish, Scandanavian foods might interest you. I just don't like the Finnish recipes in my book as much. If you'd like either or both recipes I'll send them on.
1. Soak the roll in warm water. Puree the fish in a processor. Peel and die the onion finely. Mince the herbs.
2. Squeeze the roll thoroughly, and combine in a bowl with the fish puree, onion, herbs, and eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Form about 20 little balls from the mixture and sprinkle them with lemon juice. Roll the fishballs into the breadcurmbs. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the balls for about 4 minutes.
4. Season the cream with the curry powder, salt and pepper and warm briefly in a pan. Serve with the sauce.
My note: Curry sauce doesn't seem very ME-ish but the fish goes well with many sauces, or none at all. Also there is another version of this where the fish doesn't get rolled in crumbs and fried, but is cooked into a fish soup.
1 tart cooking apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 thick slices
Soak the apricots and prunes in 6 cups of cold water for 30 minutes in a stainless steel or enamel pot (since the fruit expands you'll need a pot that holds at least 3 quarts.) Add the cinnamon stick, lemon slices, tapioca and sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking.
Stir in the raisins, currants and apple and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until the apples are tender and offer no resistance with pierced with a knife. Pour the contents of the pot into a large serving bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon stick, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in the refrigerator to chill.
My note: We never used currants because they weren't readily avalable back then. Also, we ate this warm and cold. It's listed as a dessert, but we ate it at breakfast too. If you roast any meat I think it would go well as a side dish with it. Whipped cream on top also makes everything better if you use it for dessert. It's super versatile.
Laurelin, the sauce would fit better in Gondor or the Shire where they keep livestock. I just can't see Elves having pastures with cows or goats. If you look at their gear, I don't think they would carry frying pans with them. Read the chapter in the LOTR where Fordo gets "rescued" by Gildor Inglorion. It's in the middle of the woods. And look at their figures. Do you think they would look lithe and slender eating that kind of food? I can see that they would have fish in Lothlorion in their rivers. I think those fish balls would be healthier and easier to make over a fire in a pot of Boiling water. Do you think that these balls could be gently boiled and refrigerated?
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
In the other version of the fishball thing leave out rolling them in breadcrumbs. Before you make the balls refrigerate the fish puree for 30 minutes, then roll them into the balls, refrigerate them again until you want to cook them. To cook them, gently drop them into barely simmering water for 3-5 minutes (how long depends on how big they are). They'll be firm when they're cooked. You can then eat them as is or room temp. Or you can put them into a soup.
I had wondered were you doing a dinner that was to replicate the one Gildor and the hobbits had, or were you just looking to cook Elvish food in general? I'm thinking Elves' traveling food would be quite different than a normal dinner as the Elves said in that section.
As for Elves herding, I've wondered about that myself. I don't see them keeping herds, but maybe a dairy cow or two (in Rivendell). I can't imagine cheese and butter not being part of their diet. It doesn't say anywhere that they had grain fields but they served bread a lot. And yes, I can see them being slender eating that kind of food. Mostly because they were very active, riding, walking, training, etc. I've managed to do it :)
I am mostly sedentary. I started a new business, hopefully with more success then the last one where I made only about $500 in 16 years. I have underactive thyroid disease and also CLL and DBD So I am considered Moderately overweight. If you go to Face Book and type in Arwen Wilson, you can see my picture. I will be 60 in 2 years in August. Not a Spring Chicken anymore.
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
You look pretty good to me :) My mother is about your age and has been dealing with thyroid issues for the past year. One year ago she was almost as thin as me (unhealthy kind of thin for her) and this year she is 40lbs over where she was before she had thyroid problems. Because she has high blood pressure the doctors have been trying to get her thyroid meds and her BP meds to work together properly. It's a bit of a battle and she's constantly tired and on top of that she's dealing with fibromyalgia. Genetically, I'm screwed as I age which is why I'm trying to keep it together now. I don't know what CLL and DBD are. If you want send me a message if you don't want to put it on this page. What kind of business are you in?
How is she doing? I can't even see a doctor because I am uninsured Also I am finding that Carbs are making me retain fat and weight. I been on a low carbohydrate diet since Last Friday and lost abut 4 pounds. I also now have high Blood sugar levels. I am on Weight Watcher Plus Points and a low carb diet I am down to 200.3lbs as of this morning
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
She has good days and bad days. Lately it's been 3 days out of 7 that she might be in bed with fibro issues. Her weight seems to have plateaued, but it's not where she wants/needs to be. I think her plan is to wait til fall and see what happens with all the stuff she is taking.
I hear you about insurance. I don't have any either and for some reason it always seems that when I don't have it, I wind up with some medical issue. Fortunately I found a clinic that works on a sliding scale close by.
A few of my Tolkien Society buddies send me some recipe ideas, but I am still working through them. We are reading through the Hobbit. 5 chapters a week. To get into the Hobbit mode for the Hobbit movie in the end of the year. Still not sure what to do about the decor for the party.
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
I guess the decor would depend on whether it is an outside party or inside. The first thing that popped into my head was silver lanterns. Ikea used to sell those tin ones that had stars cut into them. Or maybe something similar using tin foil. Interesting question though :)
I am going to try the lanterns. That sounds great My Open House is on Sunday and I am going to use both of your recipes. They sound wonderful. I am also making a sweet kind of Couscous with almonds, apricots and Fruits in them. Cilantro chicken dumplings with different dipping sauces and I made already some homemade bagel chips.
Several different sour cream dips. A Sparkling Sangria Punch. Berliner Weisse mit Schuss. A Spicy Moroccan Pepper spread. An Ethiopian Vegetable Dish. An Italian Pasta Salad with Corn, Black Olives and GrapeTomatoes in a Balsamic Dressing. My famous Vegetarian German Potato Salad. Chips, salsa, Rosemary Olive Oil Crossantini, Hummus with Pine Nuts, Vichyssoise, and a fresh fruit platter and a fresh veggie platter with dips.
I'll go tomorrow and see if I can find those lanterns. I already bough bunches of silk flowers in a thrift shop and still need vases for them. I am also trying to find one of those things you inflate and put on top of a table and ice cubes in
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
I would love to try some of the recipes you are making. Especially the couscous one. Any good vegetarian (EASY) recipes interest me. Would you mind either posting them here or sending them to me in a message? Of course, wait until you've got time to breathe after your party.
Also, you could try a dollar store for vases. At a party I gave for my friend I found cool looking glasses that I used as vases at a dollar store.
Those fish balls, to cook them would be less fattening, but I have friends who are low carb, so the sauce will be okay. The fruit soup instead of using sugar, I used Fructose and I pureed the fruits and had all kinds of different fruits in them. Apricots, prunes, raspberries, and currants. I am serving it cold.
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
