So, I get to visit some pretty cool worlds in my line of work, but usually just from the comfort (and isolation) of my own home. But it’s been an awesome year of meeting so many of you at conventions all over the country, hearing about your favorite recipes and watching your excitement as your eyes light on a new cookbook. Not to mention all the great photos shared online of successful dishes- nothing brings satisfaction and happiness to an author like knowing their work is being enjoyed out in the wilds of the world.

But this year, to cap things off in truly epic style, I was invited down to Walt Disney World to do a signing of the new Galaxy’s Edge cookbook, and as luck would have it, the visit coincided with the opening of the new Rise of the Resistance attraction. I was excited for the trip just on account of that, but little did I know what an amazing time I was embarking on. Now, keep in mind that I hadn’t been to WDW since I was maybe five years old. I admit to being under the impression that it was primarily for kids and families. Never have I been so delighted to be wrong.

I was treated like an intergalactic princess, with a guide to show me around the parks (hi Homer!). It was an absolute whirlwind three day adventure of combined work and play. Coming from the frozen north, I took full advantage of the hotel pool on my first night, complete with waterslide, giant hottub, and poolside snacks. The following day started at 7am in Batuu with an interview segment, a cooking demo in one of the ridonkulously elaborate new Riviera villa kitchens, signing a stack of hundreds of cookbooks for media, and a presentation to the folks over in the Food Lab.

I fell in love with Pandora, especially at night (I’d love to crack the secret of making some of those bioluminescent plants for my own house), and the Rite of Passage ride was exceptional. Visiting again to do that is a must, but every one of the parks had a huge amount to recommend it. I watched the Imagineering story after I got home, which served to deepen my already massive respect for the Imagineering teams that bring the parks to life. I mean REALLY. From the line of sight in each section of each park that fully immerses you in wherever you happen to be, to the enticing layout of paths that lure you further into the unknown, down the the incredible sense of Place created with expert terrain building and weathering. Seriously, it’s so cool. I’m pretty sure that an Imagineer is another dream job I didn’t know existed when I was young.

Finally, back in Batuu, I finally got to pilot the Millennium Falcon alongside fellow authors George Mann and Ethan Sacks (naturally, we did quite well). I got some cunning holiday shopping in, and won Christmas morning when my husband unwrapped his own copy of Luke’s lightsaber, a dream of his since childhood. The markets in Galaxy’s Edge are reminiscent of an old world Bazaar, with really cool wares and goodies for sale throughout. We ogled various props, took some photos with characters, and generally reveled in just being there. We also ducked out of the park to do the Void VR Star Wars experience, which was an absolute delight, and you should seek out if there’s one anywhere near you.

The evening revved up with immersive storytelling in Batuu, complete with lightsaber and blaster fights from some talented actors, sample sized foods and drinks from Tugg’s Grub, and even a couple of x-wing drones rising up over the cliffs surrounding Galaxy’s Edge. Finally, at long last, the gates opened up to the Rise of the Resistance.

I fully expected the Rise of the Resistance to be impressive from everything I’d read, but I didn’t know it would leave me utterly gobsmacked and speechless. I didn’t even really take any photos from inside the ride, because the impact of experiencing it all for the first time in person can’t be beat. There were tears, incredulous laughter, and a whole lot of excited screaming. I won’t tell you any more than that, but however the queuing evolves for that ride, know that it’s absolutely worth it. I didn’t know I could still experience that level of disbelieving immersion as an adult, and it was fabulous.

Disney, if you’re listening, I had the time of my life. I’d love to write another cookbook for you. I longed for those macarons wandering around in Epcot France (Ratatouille, anyone?), devoured a caramel apple in Germany, and wolfed down other food and drink all through the parks. For, uh, research, of course… ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 1⁄2 cups milk, warmed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. white sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. yeast
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 1/2 cups flour

Icing:

• 2 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. heavy cream
• 2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. maple syrup
• 1 cup powdered sugar, or more as needed

Combine the warm milk, melted butter, sugars, salt, cinnamon, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs, then gradually work in the flour until you have a dough that isn’t too sticky. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for several minutes, until soft and bouncy. Place in a clean, lightly buttered bowl, cover, and set somewhere warm to rise for around an hour, or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 3/4″ thickness. Using a sharp knife (buttering the edge also helps), slice the dough into rectangles. Place these on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400F, and let the bars rise for another 30 minutes or so. Bake for about 8 minutes, until just golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and let them start to cool while you make the icing.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, cream, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time, until you have a thick icing with no lumps of sugar remaining.

Once the bars are mostly cool, but still just a tad warm, spread a dollop of the icing on top of each, spreading it over the dough. The residual heat of the buns and the icing should let some drizzle over the sides, but you want most of the icing to stay on top.

Lastly, enjoy! These delicious treats will undoubtedly give you a boost to your fishing, farming, and mining skills, so eat them wisely. ;)

There’s just something about this dish that has always appealed to me ever since I encountered it while roving around in the world of Witcher. Go on, say it out loud.

Flamiche.

It’s almost as much fun as talking about the Nilfgaardians… Only when I started researching a recipe for it did I realize that it’s already a real thing. With leeks! And cheese! I might have made it just for the name, but now we’re in business, which is a great thing, especially when all I’d otherwise have to go on is a tiny little image from the game:

It’s fabulous. So simple, but richly flavored and completely binge-worthy. The crust has some crunch to it, balanced by the soft filling. There’s just a hint of the brown sugar sweetness, which melds wonderfully with the slightly tart goat cheese. In short, this one’s a keeper. I challenge you to have just one slice- I couldn’t!

Flamiche Recipe

Dough: chilled overnight       Prep:        Cooking:       Baking: 30 minutes

Makes: 1 tart, ~8 servings

“Take sum parsneps and boyle them till thay bee very soft, then mash them very small and picke out the hard peces, then put to it sum grated breed or flouer, and a good many Corrants sum nuttmeggs and a Litell suger, and when you have mixed them together putt too an Indeferett quantaty the yeolks of 4 or 5 eggs: Wett it with Creme till it bee as thin as batter, and then fry them quick, if you will boyle it you must not make it so thin and boyle it in a Cloath spred with butter, when it is boyled melt sum butter with sack and shuger for the sam.”

-Penn Family Recipes, 1702

So, I made this recipe for the first time last Thanksgiving, and it met with surprise rave reviews. The trouble is, I didn’t really write down the measurements I used. So, enter 2018, and I want to make it again. But this time from scratch, since I didn’t write down what I did last time around. SHEESH. Come on, past self.

Parsnips are an unsung vegetable of bygone days. I’ll warn you now that you are going to have doubts about this recipe. It starts when you buy the funny looking anemic-carrot roots, and the cashier has to look up the price because he’s never seen one before. Or, at best, regales you with tales of how her Canadian grandmother used to cook with parsnips. Take heart that you are broadening their horizons, and get yourself back to the kitchen.

You’ll doubt again when those parsnips are a roiling boil, when you take one sniff and think, “I’m up for new things, but that’s NOT going to make a delicious side dish.”

Bear with me, gentle readers. Because by the time we’re done, I promise it will all be ok. The finished dish is certainly quirky, but in the best historical way. The pudding cooks up to a great consistency, so that you can easily cut slices of it but it’s still quite soft. The spice of the nutmeg complements the sweet earthiness of the parsnips, and it combines with the turkey-cranberry-squash-etc. spread of Thanksgiving like it was always meant to be there.

I didn’t try it with the sauce of butter/sugar/sherry (we drank all the sherry… whoops) but I bet it would pair beautifully with the flavors in the pudding. But since it’s now a holiday staple, there’s always next year!

Parsnip Pudding Recipe, circa 1702

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. parsnips, roughly chopped
• ~2 cups breadcrumbs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2-1 cup dried currants
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• heavy cream, enough (~1/2 cup)
• butter for cloth
• cheesecloth
• pudding mold or bowl

Boil the parsnips in a pot of water until they are very tender. Drain and add the parsnips to a bowl, then mash them to a nice even consistency. Add the breadcrumbs, egg yolks (the whites make a tasty meringue!), currants, nutmeg, and sugar. Then begin adding in just enough heavy cream to get a consistency that isn’t too soupy, but not to stiff either; aim for a batter that drops off the spoon, but isn’t runny.

Now’s the slightly tricky part: if you have a pudding mold, great! If not, a small mixing bowl should do just fine in a pinch. You’ll also need to fill a pot with just enough water to come almost up to the top of the mold; bring the water to a boil while you prepare the pudding. Spread out a piece of cheesecloth or linen (big enough to contain the pudding in the mold/bowl) on your counter and spread it generously with butter. Lay this cloth in the mold/bowl and transfer the pudding into it. Lightly fold over the ends of the cloth and place a small plate on top, pressing down to compact the pudding. Set the prepared pudding into the pot of boiling water, put the lid on, and boil for about 2 hours, checking every now and then to see if the water needs to be topped up.

When the pudding is done, remove from the pot and let cool for at least 15 minutes before unwrapping. Turn over onto a platter to serve either warm or cold.

Many of you have been asking for inspiration for your S7 feasts, so I thought I’d put together this little idea list. One of my favorite “themes” for a meal we did was one where we “traveled” the Kingsroad, sampling dishes as we went. This was pretty early on in the days of the blog, but it was a fun and different way to build a menu. These are fairly straightforward routes along the main North-South Kingsroad, but feel free to alter the route to include other places, such as the Iron Islands.

So, without further ado, let’s get going! And be sure to throw any extra suggestions into the ring, as well!

Note: italicized dishes are in the GoT cookbook, A Feast of Ice and Fire

The Dorne to Castle Black Menu

Perhaps you’ve heard of rebellion brewing in the North, and want to explore possible allies. Or maybe, like Tyrion, you just want to see the Wall and ah… look out over the end of the world. This listing takes you from the heat of Dorne right up to the freezing expanse of the far North.

Appetizers – Dorne

Olives, grapes, and stuffed grape leaves –

Soup/Salad – King’s Landing

Sansa Salad – Chestnut Soup – Ginger Soup with Autumn Greens

Bowls of Brown

A quick Tipple and Nibble – Riverlands

Cider – Wine – Ale

Syllabubs –

Hard Sausage and Oatcakes –

Main – Winterfell

Honeyed Chicken – Lord Manderly’s Pie –

Roasted Aurochs – Rack of Lamb

Dessert – Castle Black

Shortbread with Honey Caramel – Maple Snow Candy – Roasted Chestnuts

Roasted Quince/Apple – Apples with Goat Cheese

Buns on the Wall – Berries in Sweet Cream

–

The Castle Black to Dorne Menu

Have you been sent south to recruit new brothers for the Night’s Watch? Or perhaps your Northern lord has sent you to explore whether there is any truth to rumors of a foreign queen landing on Westeros’ shores.

Appetizers – Castle Black and Winterfell

Fried Black Pudding – Deviled Eggs – Mini Toasts with Haggis – Smoked Oysters

Pemmican – Cod Cakes – Sansa Salad – Beef and Barley Stew

Oatcakes – Cold Fruit Soup

 Soup/Salad – Riverlands

Seafood Stew – Leek Soup – Salad of Beans, Onions, and Beets

Sister’s Stew

Main – King’s Landing

Game Hens with Gravy – Skewers of Meat and Veg – Boiled Beef

Trout wrapped in Bacon – Stewed Rabbit

Dessert – Dorne

Sherbet – Creamcakes – Helva – Stuffed Dates in Honey – Walnut Pie –

–

The Hedge Knight Menu

Or maybe with all the turmoil across the seven kingdoms, you feel you would just be better off on the road, living off the land and occasionally stopping in an Inn when you’ve enough coin.

Appetizers

Smoked Oysters –

Fiddleheads –

Oatcakes –

Soup/Salad

Seafood Stew – Foraged Salad –

Main

 – Roasted Rabbit – Potted Hare or Potted Salmon –

Trout in Bacon

Dessert

Candied Ginger – Roasted Chestnuts

It’s February, and you know what that means?

GARDENING!!

Well, sort of. I mean, not really. At all. The backyard is basically a giant ice patch, and there’s not a hint of anything green as far as the eye can see.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to love in February: Valentine’s Day (which was always a family holiday when I was growing up, second only to Christmas), my birthday (Balloons! CAKE!!), ordering new honeybees (bzzzzzz) and the first hints of spring as the days lengthen.

But it’s often cold, murky, grey, and more than a little gloomy. So naturally I’ve been buoying my spirits by planning gardening projects for warmer months. After all, I get to start some seedlings in about a month, and they’ll need somewhere to go! I’ll also be shoring up the herb garden, moving things around and working on a more permanent fence and path, now that I know I like it where the garden is. But THAT’s another post, for another day. ;)

I recently rediscovered the notes I took last summer during a class on medieval cloister gardens (I’ll add the link when I find that, too). It was a really inspiring lecture, replete with a vivid slideshow and heaps of Latin names for historical plantings. Obviously, I was smitten. Even now, just thinking about it, I get a little glow of that late July warmth. Pair that with my trip earlier to the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, and I’ve been obsessively Pinning ever since…

So I pulled out some notebooks and started sketching. We’ve got a few good sections of relatively flat space around the house, and one, just up from the garage, is about 20’x30′. Can we say AMBITIOUS? But the more I’ve worked on this, the more I’m really keen to give it a go.

Here are the top three sketches:

The leftmost sketch is one I did last year, and really liked, until I did the other two earlier this week. I envision it being laid out like a cloister garden, with a heavy dash of potager-style planting. Basically, it’ll be a very pretty vegetable garden, with flowers and companion plantings scattered throughout. It will definitely take me several years to really get the thing sorted, but I’m guessing I can do the basic layout and at least the outside borders this year. The different sketches play with tiers of different heights, but I’m not sure how complicated I want to get with that.

Here are the absolutes:

• the paths are roughly 2′ wide. That might get fudged a little one way or the other, but I won’t know until I lay everything out.
• The back wall of the garden, at the tops of the sketches, will be a tall grape trellis. My father-in-law is giving me his vines, so I need a place to put them. There will be banks of hyssop and lavender below those, and possibly a pair of turf benches flanking the gateway out to the field.
• The front wall, at the bottom of the sketches, will be predominantly cutting flowers. That side of the garden faces the road, and I’d love for the 4-7 cars that drive by every day to see something beautiful.
• The front gate will have an arbor over it, with either climbing roses, or runner beans, or something. Maybe topped with bird houses. We’ll see.
• A quince tree in the center of the garden. I’m pretty sure I can get a hardy variety that will grow here, and I’d love to not have to catch them during the single week a year they’re available in stores.
• places for ALL the raspberries, because I love them so. Also, places for strawberries, asparagus, and corn, because I either have those already outgrowing their current spaces, or will definitely plant them again.

So, WHICH DO YOU LIKE BEST?!

Help me interwebs, you’re my only hope…

Now that we’ve seen a bit of the High Sparrow in season 5, it got me thinking about the Faith of the Seven, especially in King’s Landing. In our own Middle Ages, the calendar was rife with feast days, saint’s days, and all manner of other religious holidays. The more I think about it, the more I bet something similar could be said of Westeros.

First off, the seven facets of the one are:

• Maiden – innocence and chastity
• Mother – fertility, compassion, mercy
• Warrior – strength, victory, courage
• Father – justice, protection
• Smith – fortitude, help with tasks
• Crone – wisdom, guidance
• Stranger – outcasts, death

From that, I could easily extrapolate a few things, such as the Mother’s festival day would likely be in the fall, to coincide with the harvest. Maiden’s Day, as we see in Feast for Crows, is a day when only maidens may enter the septs, to sing songs and drape flower garlands at the feet of the Maiden’s statue- I can see some similarities to May Day, there.

While the Stranger isn’t formally worshiped or sung to, I sense that the observances around him would be more a preventative measure, such as our lighting pumpkin lanterns to scare away ghouls on Halloween. Perhaps a few specially baked cakes, left out on the doorstep, to appease wandering spirits? Sugar skulls akin to those used for the Day of the Dead celebrations?

So how about it? Can you think of any festival foods that you’ve enjoyed that could dovetail in with the deities in Westeros? One thing that I love about the fanbase for Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire is that it’s so international. The stories resonate with people from all over the world, who bring to it their own interpretations and traditions. As such, I’d love to hear what regional specialties you enjoy on festival days; If we collect enough ideas, I will be able to devote several posts to making recipes for those special feast days!

Thoughts:

So, a few of you might have seen my Twitter post back in the winter, when I finally found a capon for sale at the local grocery store, of all places. I think I actually frightened a store clerk when I gave a little shriek-gasp of delight and disbelief before hurrying around to clutch the bird protectively; there were approximately 23 other capons for sale in the same case, but having searched high and low for one, no way was I letting anyone take MY capon.

And it’s been in the freezer ever since. Let me make something clear: I don’t have one of those amazing huge modern fridges. Mine came with the house, and while it’s perfectly adequate, it’s not exactly spacious. So a giant capon taking up valuable tater-tot room in the freezer was something that finally had to change.

For those who don’t know, a capon is essentially a gelded rooster. A eunuch, as it were, which accounts for both its size and tasty plumpness. They were all the rage in historical cooking, but have mostly fallen out of fashion nowadays, with the exception of Christmas dinners in some families. We will now be taking up that tradition, as well!

This was my first time actually cooking a capon, but given everything else that has passed through my kitchen, I wasn’t too worried. Once again, the historical recipe did not disappoint. The meat was lightly flavored from the stuffing (possibly too lightly, so take that into account if you try your hand at this recipe!), rich with juices and steaming. With the exception of the delicious dark meat, I didn’t find that the capon tasted too terribly different from a well-roasted chicken, but the overall tenderness of the meat made every bite just a little special. The bird was considerably larger than your average roasting chicken, which made it ideal for feeding about 6 people that night at The Inn. Plus, it made a delicious broth the next day, which will turn up in another post soon!

Now, just to deal with those frozen camel patties…

Recipe for Roast Capon

To rost capon or gose tak and drawe his leuer and his guttes at the vent and his grece at the gorge and tak the leef of grece parsly ysope rosmarye and ij lengs of saige and put to the grece and hew it smale and hew yolks of eggs cromed raissins of corans good poudurs saffron and salt melled to gedure and fers the capon there withe and broche hym and let hym be stanche at the vent and at the gorge that the stuffur go not out and rost hym long with a soking fyere and kep the grece that fallithe to baist hym and kepe hym moist till ye serue hym and sauce hym with wyne and guingere as capons be. -A Noble Boke off Cookry, 15th c. 

Cook’s note: I served this, as suggested, with a ginger-wine sauce. That recipe, along with the Stewed Capon, are forthcoming. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 8-10 lb. capon, giblets removed
• 3-4 large shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. each rosemary, hyssop, parsley, and sage
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• pinch of salt
• pinch of saffron (expensive, and optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash and pat dry the capon, then combine all remaining ingredients except the oil, and stuff the bird with them. spread the oil over the bird, and sprinkle with salt.

Periodically basting as you go, roast for 1.5-2 hours, depending on the size of your bird, until the juices run clear. Remove to a serving dish and let sit for several minutes. If you would like to make a gravy at this point, you can move the pan to the stovetop over medium heat and gradually whisk in a little flour until you have a delicious thick sauce.

Now that the fifth season of Game of Thrones is in full swing, it’s time for a couple of giveaways! This week, I’m giving away TWO of the Funko POP! Drogon Figures. And following in the spirit of HBO’s #CatchDrogon movement, all you have to do is comment below, and say what recipe you would use to lure the little (alright, not so little anymore…) dragon in to land. The drawing will be random, so it can be any food, not just a Westerosi dish -playing to the judge won’t help! ;)

The names will be chosen on the morning of Saturday, May 2nd, at 10am EST. Good luck!