★★★★★
Second breakfast is the perfect time for adventuring.
If you are anything like me, you are wholly and completely in love with the Shire.
The happy hobbits, the comfortable lives and the general feeling of well-being radiating from Hobbiton will always bring back my childhood.
I loved the little details that Tolkien included about the Hobbit lives and it truly made this cookbook stand out to me.
The Shire represented everything Tolkien loved about English country life.
One thing that always endeared me to the plucky fellas was their love for food.
You can feel the love and nostalgia for that hearty country cuisine every time the Hobbits eat.
So, of course when I saw that there was a Hobbit-themed cookbook, I had to pick it up.
One thing that I absolutely LOVED about this cookbook is the sheer attention to detail.
In Tolkien’s day, ovens were slow to heat and expensive to keep fired up…In keeping with the rustic, egalitarian spirit of the Shire, all these breakfast are (relatively, for the time) fast.
Oseland carefully crafted this recipe book based on period-appropriate recipes limited to the ingredients that Tolkien wrote into his book AND found ways to craft these age-old using modern-era tools.
Because face it, folks weren’t using the international standards for measurement tools nor did they weigh out their ingredients to the 0.01 gram when these recipes were first made.
I can’t even begin to imagine the hours of research needed to find, test and adjust so many recipes. I’m in awe and that’s what truly makes this book magical.
I’ve already tried out so many of the recipes (special shout out to all the pastries!) and i cannot wait to continue.
Some rainy Sunday when you have more time than money, it’s well-worth indulging in one of these classic dishes.
Thank you Chris-Rachel for bringing The Hobbit to life!
Interested in this one from Chris-Rachel Oseland? Buy it here: Amazon
Miranda Reads 