On July 12th, George RR Martin began his half-month book signing tour for A Dance with Dragons. Being the foodies that we are, we couldn’t help but start planning how to get him some of the food that he has inspired us to create. And since Chelsea takes projects a little too seriously, our plan soon expanded to include all of the stops on the tour.
However, since we are human, and cannot be in multiple places at once, and do not have dragons to take us hither and yon, we sent out a call to our fans, challenging them to take up our cause. Several adventurous souls willingly volunteered, and soon we were off.
The signing tour kicked off in Burlington MA, practically in our backyard. We loaded up a basket with lemoncakes, pork pies, cheese and olives, mulling spices, oatcakes, faux Tears of Lys, and a bottle of a local cognac, all wrapped up in linen and hand woven cords.
New York saw the efforts of Agent Oshidori well rewarded, as she was invited to the panel to present GRRM with the basket. He was very appreciative, and took the opportunity of outing our recent cookbook deal. Here’s the video: NYC Signing. Basket featured mini Beef & Bacon Pies, Salad from Castle Black, and Peaches in Honey.
Agent Kristin stepped up to the plate in Indianapolis, bringing to the table a delicious collection of mini Cheese & Onion Pies, apple-goat cheese-pecan tarts, spiced pecans, and a local beer. GRRM accused her a being a part of our “conspiracy”. :) Here she is presenting her Lannister-themed basket:
In San Diego, Agents Jason and Meegan wowed us with their assortment of Dornish goodies. Their beautiful selection included Flatbread and homemade Hummus with ingredients from their garden, Arbor Grapes, Olives Feta and Stuffed Peppers, Cheese & Onion pies, Lemoncakes, and a bottle of Arrogant Bastard beer in honor of the Red Viper’s daughters. Check it out:
In Seattle, Agents Adrienne and Kia stepped up to the challenge, packing their basket with biscuits and local honey, homemade PB & honey granola, local cheese and crackers, homemade winter cake, and homemade chocolate & fruit trifle. GRRM thanked them for the grub, and expressed his admiration for the country-wide planning.
Agents Amanda and Mystral teamed up in Denver to deliver unto The Martin two versions of lemoncakes, some Honeyed-chicken-in-a-hand-pies, some local beer, oatcakes, and pease pudding. GRRM was most pleased:
And that concludes the book tour! We had an absolute blast keeping up with the signings through tweets and FB posts, reading about GRRM’s reactions to the baskets as he moved across the country. Also, our field agents are ace. We could not have asked for better schemers and collaborators. You all rock, and we look forward to meeting you in person some day.
Many, many thanks to those who put much love and work into their baskets. Thank you also to the folks with Random House for putting up with our conspiracy, and thanks most of all to GRRM, without whom none of this would have been possible.
Happy Eating! :D