Covid has really put a crimp in our social life. Zoom isn’t the same and I’m online so much for work, that I really have little desire to be on it for social events too. Although it is very nice to see family over Zoom! We decided we really wanted to try something new for the fall party, so we sent people on an Unexpected Culinary Journey.

How did this work, you might ask?

We put a big red plastic tote on the porch to protect against package eating squirrels. Sidebar: Did I tell you about Steve the Stupid Squirrel’s latest misdeed? He ate into a package from my Mom that had peanut butter balls in it! The mail person left it on the porch with some other packages.

Let me tell you, we had words, although he didn’t look repentant. You do not want to get between me and Mom’s peanut butter balls. I’ll throw hands. We’re now even more in a war. Stupid Steve Squirrel.

Anyway, back to the actual story. I made a ridiculous amount of food, but actually got to give most of it away. I mailed four packages with delicious treats (and ducky pjs to the Brother.) Then I told people to show up and they would get a container of delicious food from some of the 7 Hobbit meals. A Hobbit Tasting Box, if you will. We actually had a lot of responses, including from some friends from college that we hadn’t seen in quite a while and the Husband’s aunt and uncle came too!

When people got here, they were very polite and masked up for us, which I appreciated greatly. We had everyone’s food labeled and they picked times, so that there wasn’t an overlap. Our three Covid bubble people actually hung out for a bit, so that was fun too. Piggy was very excited to meet new people in the yard, although she was disappointed that she didn’t get to eat the foods.

We didn’t end up eating things from all the meals, as we were too full! The Husband and I continued the Hobbit recipes into this week and I’ll probably make some more this weekend.

Since the movie was starting at 11 AM for Elevensies, I made these honey pear muffins, along with some chocolate banana bread, and deviled eggs.

I do have to say, I texted K2 the day before indignantly saying that I was “offended on behalf of tastebuds everywhere” as the recipe said you “didn’t have to add any spices.” Obviously this would not do, so I added Penzey’s Baking Spice into the flour mixture. They were yummy, so I do think you need some good fall spices in there.

There are a bunch of literary food recipes around and I did a lot of research to find some of them. The Wizard’s Cookbook has four or five, but they required ingredients I didn’t have and I was trying to be frugal. I tried some new recipes, including this fun pork pie recipe from A Feast of Starlight.

I would highly recommend this website if you like trying foods inspired by books, movies, and TV. Here’s the recipe I used: http://www.feastofstarlight.com/recipe/pork-pies-and-mash-potatoes-feast-for-hobbits/

I was told they were delicious. They used a hot water dough, which made me feel like I was on the Great British Baking Show. It was pretty easy to work with, I found. We didn’t use the mashed potatoes, as I was making these for luncheon with a light salad. K2 let me put her to work and she made these leek and potato cakes for me. They were yummy! https://picklebums.com/leek-and-potato-cakes/

I think I would add more cheese and more spices next time. K2 provided a lovely salad for our luncheon. I was proud of myself for letting her help me, so I wouldn’t be too run ragged.

I was apparently too busy eating, so I didn’t get good pictures of all the cookies, but these cookies I called the Arkenstone cookies. I used my Nordic Ware cookie stamps in star shapes and was very pleased with these cookies. They were extra delicious with a dollop of cream.

I will definitely be making these again for Christmas. They are crisp and buttery and wonderful. I didn’t add the cardamom to the sugar like it said, as I was wanting to be done faster, but I’m sure that would be even yummier. The recipe is here: http://www.sweetpaulmag.com/food/brown-sugar-amp-cardamom-stamped-shortbread-cookies

We had Earl Grey Shortbreads, which were delicious with cream as well, little apple butter tarts with the leftover pork pie dough, and apple butter crescents for breakfast. The apple butter was a gift from my friend from work, who’s name also starts with a K. (I’m gonna have to give them all nicknames to keep them straight. At this rate, if I talk about a friend, you could probably safely assume their name starts with K. ) Here’s that recipe: http://herbakinglab.com/best-british-earl-grey-tea-shortbread/

These Strawberries and Cream Cookies were mostly to go into the giveaway boxes to represent Tea Time, but there were enough of them to keep as well. They were decent, although I wanted more flavor other than just cookie dough. https://www.acozykitchen.com/strawberry-cream-cookies/

I bought myself a Tomte (mischievous Scandinavian gnome like creature) shaped cookie cutter for my birthday (the cookie stamps were from my birthday too,) so I used that to make glazed gingerbread dwarf cookies.

The glaze was thinned out brown sugar cinnamon frosting from a different recipe. It was way too sweet on the other cookie recipe (coming at a later date), but worked perfectly on the gingerbread. I didn’t like the gingerbread after a couple of days. It got soft and not as nice. I don’t know that I’d make this particular recipe again. I liked the Peppernus cookies better that I made last Christmas. I used this recipe: https://themondaybox.com/gingerbread-fall-leaves/

I also used the frosting as frosting on Apple Cider Bourbon Cupcakes. I made virgin cupcakes, as we have some friends who do not imbibe and I had the frosting already. They were delicious, but no good pictures. You can see them on the top picture of the table. A friend who got some in her culinary journey box said she hid them from the other person she was sharing with, as they were too good. Here’s the recipe. https://www.forkinthekitchen.com/apple-cider-cupcakes-bourbon-frosting/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=39873120

Now lest you think the party went perfectly (since I apparently forgot to take pictures…) I present the weirdest cookie ever. Here’s the recipe: https://thenovicechefblog.com/apple-cider-cookies/

Here’s what they looked like on the pan:

I’ll wait while you either gasp in horror or laugh hysterically. They look like poop. And not just poop, poop with gross bits. This is what they looked like after I baked them.

At this point I stared aghast at them again and then burst into hysterical laughter while the dog and the Husband wisely stayed in the living room until I got myself under control. Then I re-read the recipe and discovered that I had probably left out at least a cup of flour. After adding that in, I made another pan, which resulted in still flat cookies, but ones that held their shape. They were so problematic, I ended up throwing out the entire batch, except what I could salvage for my parents and the Brother. They all liked them, but I was so mad at the recipe for making me waste all the ingredients, that I will never make them again. They’re in the recipe box of doom along with the fudge that makes me want to hurl. ( I can hear my Mom now- “Lin-ne-a, we do not talk about hurling in public! We say we ‘do not care for that particular item.’” She tried, but occasionally I’m still not fit for polite company.)

It was a really fun way to get to see people and share food. A bunch of people who came actually went home and watched The Hobbit too, so that was nice. Piggy napped like a boss the next day. She partied too hard! I’m already plotting how to make the Epiphany party work. It may involve a traveling tablecloth and cookie tray. We’re attempting to figure out how to make a Covid safe candy slide, just in case we do get any kids for candy on Halloween too. If not, we’ll at least amuse ourselves. For now, enjoy this picture of a zonked out party Pig and have a lovely night!