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A breakfast fit for a Hobbit, and Afternoon Tea.

New Year's Eve seems to be all about excess for many people, and with good reason. With resolutions to turn over a new leaf the very next day, why not indulge that night? Our New Year's Eve will be an indulgence for sure. We decided this year that we would watch a series of movies to pass the time on New Year's Eve, and the decision was that we would watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We also decided that this would be the perfect time to do something we had always wanted to do; eat like Hobbits.

I don't have a recipe for lembas or cram, I may be able to cook just about anything, but my expertise on making foods stay fresh for a journey's worth of time isn't in my abilities. So, I decided to go with some traditional English foods, since the Hobbit diet so closely resembles English country cooking. Sausages, cakes, eggs, too much mead, and mushrooms - lots and lots of mushrooms.

Our menu times outstrip the movie times, so we'll start movies around 10 a.m. and break for meals, starting with Elevensies an hour into our first movie. We hope to make movies and meals last until close to midnight, and I think we'll need that much time to keep our digestion up to the task. Those little Hobbits must have a metabolism like no other and cancer fighting genes to boot! I can't imagine eating like this daily, but for our single day of indulgence, I'll try
to make my way through it.

This is our menu with recipes either linked or listed below.

7 a.m. First Breakfast: Fried Eggs, Bacon, Fried Mushrooms and Toast.

9 a.m. Second Breakfast: Fresh Peaches and Cream

11 a.m. Elevensies: Welsh Rarebit and Apple Crumble.

1:00 p.m. Luncheon: Toad in the Hole and Herbed Hobbit Garden Salad.

4:00 p.m. Afternoon Tea: Tea, Scones, Devonshire Cream and Orange Marmalade.

6:00 Dinner: Sausages, Bubble 'n' Squeak, Trifle.

8:00 p.m. Supper: Mushroom Blanquette, Crusty Bread and Mead.

Toad in the Hole

2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
6 medium sized sausages

Grill or fry sausages until nearly done in the center. Mix eggs and milk together well and add flour and salt. Beat until just combined and no longer lumpy. Put a tablespoon of oil or butter in a casserole dish with the sausages and put into a 425 degree F oven for 5 minutes until very hot. Add batter to hot sausages quickly--this way the edges will curl up in the traditional way.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and puffy.

Herbed Hobbit Garden Salad

6 cups mixed greens like green leaf lettuce, baby spinach and romaine
2 cups watercress
1 cup flat leaf parsley, whole leaves
1/2 cup each cilantro leaves and fresh dill

Toss well and serve with your favorite mushrooms and vinaigrette.

Bubble & Squeak

4 cups leftover mashed potatoes
2 cups cooked cabbage - cut up small
chopped onion - optional
oil for frying

Mix the potatoes and cabbage and season with salt and pepper as desired. Add to a hot pan
with a bit of oil and fry, pressing down with a spatula, until crispy-turn and fry again until both sides are crispy brown.

This can be made with any leftover vegetables you have on hand - carrots, Brussels sprouts, etc. Make sure to mash them or cut them up in small pieces before adding to the mixture.

The Apple Crumble would be very close to Rhubarb Crumble, using apples as a filling rather than rhubarb.

Happy New Year to you all, may 2008 be truly special - and may my own family come out of this feast no worse for the wear!