Elven Lembas Bread Recipe

6 TBSP butter or margarine, slightly softened
2 cups self-rising flour

1 TBSP granulated sugar
½ cup raisins (optional)

1 egg, well beaten
½ cup milk

4 TBSP heavy cream
Mallorn leaves


With a pastry blender of fork, cut margarine into the flour in a mixing bowl until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Do this rapidly so the butter does not melt. Add the sugar and if desired, ½ cup of raisins. In a small bowl, beat the egg and milk together until mixed. Reserve 1 TBSP of this mixture to brush the tops of the Lembas. Add the cream and egg mixture to the flour and mix just until combined into a stiff, soft dough. Knead three or four times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to a ¾" thickness and cut with an oval or leaf shaped cookie cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving 1" of space between Lembas. Brush the tops of the Lembas with the reserved egg-milk mixture. Bake for 12 -13 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven.

For safe keeping, wrap each Lembas individually in a fresh, clean Mallorn leaf. If these leaves are unavailable in your area, store the Lembas in a tightly closed container. Makes about 1 ½ dozen Lembas.

Po-Tay-To Onion Soup

4 Tbsp butter
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 cups milk
5-½ cups canned chicken broth
¼ cups fresh chives, chopped
½ tsp celery seeds
¼ tsp dried thyme, whole
1 cup light cream
salt, to taste
black pepper (freshly ground, if possible), to taste
3 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp water
½ cup fresh chives, chopped
6 slices bacon, crisply fried and chopped


In a large stockpot, melt butter and sauté onion until translucent (do not brown). Add potatoes, milk, chicken broth, chives, celery seed and thyme. Cover and simmer gently for 60 minutes.

Mix cornstarch and water, stirring well. Add to soup, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cook for 5 - 10 minutes.

Using a potato masher, mash potatoes into small pieces. (Or use food processor or immersion blender to puree soup). Add cream, salt and pepper. Heat about 5 minutes.

Garnish with chives and/or bacon pieces.

Mushroom Soup from the Inn at Bree

Chop 1/2 pound of mushrooms very fine. In a large saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped onion, 2 cups of finely chopped carrots, 2 cups of finely chopped celery, and 1 clove of garlic, minced. Stir in 2 1/2 cups of beef broth, 3 1/2 cups of water, 1 small can of tomato paste, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/16 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 1 hour. Purée the soup. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet, add 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add to the soup. Add 1/4 cup of dry sherry. Heat thoroughly and serve.

You may just be tied with me for the gold metal in geekdom

That's quite an achievement

A full set of recipes could come from the "Hobbit Hole" restaurant in Houston, Tx whose menu was almost exclusively based on the Lord of the Rings mythology. A few years ago the menu was changed to include other items and the name was changed to "Hobbit Cafe".

One of my favorite items is the "Gandalf". A huge sandwich of homemade seed bread, sprouts, mushrooms, melted cheese, and a whole sliced avocado.

[http://thehobbitcafe.com/sandwiches/gandalf.htm

http://thehobbitcafe.com/navigation.htm

The switched my sprouts to shaved carrots recently so I request the sprouts special.

The Hobbit Cafe is a wonderful place! I've been several times, since it's right up the street from my office. I've had their fish tacos, their Bilbo the Magnificent(small size...still had to wrap half for another meal) and also their chicken salad with a scoop of avocado and honey-mustard dressing on a bed of beautiful mixed spring greens which appear to have just come fresh from a Hobbit garden! Yummy! The outside seating area isn't fancy by most people's standards but I love it. With lovely, gnarled shade trees, it's a great opportunity to people watch (be sure to check out feet...once in a while you see the big hairy ones that indicate a visitor for the Shire!)

[bookmarked]

Sounds like a cool place. A friend of mine whose an even bigger Tolkien fan than me has been there.

Shire Pudding

Mix together 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 cup of flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a blender. Put 3 tablespoons of hot beef or lamb drippings in a 9 inch glass pie plate. Pour the batter into the middle of the drippings. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until the pudding is puffy and brown.