It's time to take another look into the vast library that my sisters and I have. This month's theme was rather easy for me to choose a book for. I have the perfect book for you, but it might make you rather hungry. My sisters and I always find ourselves in the kitchen making these recipes.
I am, of course, talking about "An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery" by Chris and Rachael Oseland. This is a must-have for anyone who wants to try pure Hobbit food because, honestly, it excludes anything that is classified as New World, so all of it would be found in the Shire, which is something we love about the book.
The first thing that I love is that the contents pages show the different Hobbit meal times. It lists the dishes that can be cooked and prepared for that specific time of day. We Hobbits eat seven times a day: Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevensies, Luncheon, Afternoon Tea, Supper, and finally dinner. That may seem like a lot, but some of the courses could be counted as more of a snack rather than a proper meal.
Another loved fact is that there is a mini introduction to each of the meal times, explaining the purpose and linking it back to when Professor Tolkien was growing up. A lot of the food in the Shire is based upon food that Tolkien ate himself. I really like that, as it makes it more real.
The measurements for the ingredients and the oven temperatures are in both UK and US measurements, which means no matter where you are in the world, you will be able to open the book and create some wonderful food. There are pictures of the food before each recipe and when you move to a specific meal time. It breaks down the book nicely, as I feel that otherwise, it could be rather word-heavy. Now, I know that it is a recipe book, but when you're reading the book to create a meal plan, it can almost become tedious if there are no pictures. The pictures reveal what the food should look like. It gives a visual representation for Hobbits... and the Big Folk... to see if they are close to the finished, photographed dish. One word of warning: Don't be afraid if your dish doesn't look exactly like the pictured dish. Every dish that you create is unique to you and is how you wish it to look. Also, the appendix breaks the recipes down so you can find one that is vegan or vegetarian as well!
There really are so many wonderful dishes. But guess what? Some of the dishes can even be reused in other dishes. This applies a lot to the dough, which can be used for many of the pastry dishes that you can create throughout the book. You can even batch produce the pastry and use it as you need to! Now how's that for reusing things? How can you not love that you could make a sauce one day for a dessert, and then the leftovers can be turned into something amazing for luncheon the next day? I really love that idea. So much food can go to waste, but this makes sure that everything is used to the maximum.
I'm going to go and do some meal planning with Cissarose and Ellieanrose now. Speaking of Ellieanarose, she should be taking us through another book from our library next month.
Lots of love,
Briellerose xx