I wanted to continue this month’s Wizard of Earthsea menu with a fun little item we hear about during Ged’s revelry with his friends at a festival on the wizards’ island, Roke. The boys are playing around with various spells, and as Ged’s friend Vetch causes the leftover chicken bones from his dinner to turn into owls and fly around, Ged uses magic to fashion breadcrumb arrows that he sends after the birds. I loved the idea of bread arrows, so I created a recipe for Parmesan garlic basil breadsticks using premade pizza dough and added arrowheads with some extra dough.
They turned out delicious! Everyone in our family loved them, especially the baby. He wouldn’t let me walk by the tupperware container I had them in without grunting and reaching for a piece. I’d say that’s a pretty rave review! 😉
In Divergent, Tris associates two foods with her home faction of Abnegation: plain peas and chicken breast. When she’s feeling homesick, she finds herself drawn to these foods in the Dauntless lunchroom. She doesn’t realize it at the time, but the reasons Tris feels so torn between Abnegation and Dauntless is because she’s a blend of the two. Today, we’re paying tribute to Tris’ Divergent nature with a side dish fit for both factions: Abnegation Pea Pod Fries, simple roasted peas-in-the-pod with just a little Dauntless cayenne kick, inspired by a recipe by The Smart Cookie Cook. A fitting side dish for our Dauntless Burger!
So excited for our new Book of the Month: The Hunger Games! I’ve loved both the books and the movies, and since Mockingjay Part 1 is coming out later this month, it seemed like the perfect time for a Hunger Games menu. Luckily, the books feature so many recipes, any difficulty in developing a menu comes from the sheer number of options.
When I decided to do a Harry Potter menu, I knew I wanted to feature at least one recipe from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. It has the most iconic Harry Potter foods (pumpkin juice, cauldron cakes, etc.), but it also has some lesser-known Potter recipes. I’ve spent ages drooling over the recipes in this book, and now is the perfect time to break one out! The scotch collops (aka pan-seared steak with mushrooms and onions) stood out to me from the rest. This is the dish that Harry, Hermione, and Ron are eating at the start-of-term feast when they find out all the food is made by Hogwarts house-elves. As you may recall, Hermione stops eating in protest, but the boys have no problem finishing their steak. After tasting it myself, I have to say, I’m on Harry and Ron’s side. 😉
Please forgive my Pi Day ADD from last week. I promise to never deviate from the pre-determined menu again…unless of course it’s for something super awesome. Like Halloween. Or the Fourth of July. Or Bring Your Potted Plant To Work Day…which I’m sure is a holiday somewhere.
The map in the background is a print reproduction of the map in at the beginning of the book. It can be purchased at wetaNZ.com (clicking the image will take you to the site). Use of this map is in no way associated with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, New Line Productions Inc, or The Saul Zaentz Company
I must confess, I’ve never been a huge fan of elves. Elegance and refinement aren’t really my thing (for more information, see last week’s post on the awesomeness of dwarves). However, I have profound respect for the elves’ ability to throw a party. While trekking through Mirkwood Forest, Bilbo and the dwarves stumble upon an elvish feast complete with music, dancing, and (of course) buckets of food.
