Kili wants to bake a tasty treat to thank Bilbo for the “brownie bites” recipe he gave to Fili… but will it all be a disaster? Be sure to subscribe to the Happy Hobbit channel on YouTube to be alerted to new videos, and follow their escapades on Facebook and Instagram!
RECIPE
BERRY FILLING
– 4 to 5 cups of fresh or frozen berries (if using frozen you will need more thickener)
– 2/3 cup of sugar
– 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
– 1/4 cup of flour
– Instant Clear Jel, quick-cooking tapioca, or another thickener.
CRUST
– 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
– 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
– 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of chilled butter (or lard)
– Up to 6 tablespoons of ice water
Use your torture device of Sauron (food processor) to chop the butter into the flour and salt until it has a grainy, sand-like consistency. Add ice water one or two tablespoons at a time as needed.
Flour your workspace and your rolling pin then roll out the dough for the tarts one handful at a time. Place a spoonful of the berry mixture in the center and have fun trying to seal it all up! You can make it a dumpling shape or more of an open top. Use a fork to seal the edges. Brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
Place in Smaug’s mouth (the oven) and bake at 450 F for 10 minutes, then 350 F for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is a golden brown.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is in the running as America’s favorite book! Tolkien will be featured as part of an episode called “Other Worlds” in PBS’s series, The Great American Read.
Tune in: October 16th on PBS. Check your local listings here.
Our very own Happy Hobbits, Kili and Fili (Kellie and Alex Rice) were asked to participate in the episode. The producers were excited to showcase two creative young women as Tolkien fans to demonstrate that Fantasy hasn’t been a “boys only club” for a long time. Unfortunately, their interview was cut for time, however there may still be a snippet of the sisters asking the audience to vote for Lord of the Rings as America’s favorite book.
If you’re bummed that you won’t get to see TORn staff members on the show, don’t worry! Happy Hobbit will upload the interview they filmed for PBS and post it on their YouTube channel the same day the episode airs.
But what is the program itself about? Here is the summary from The Great American Read website:
THE GREAT AMERICAN READ is an eight-part series that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels (as chosen in a national survey)*. It investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience.
The television series features entertaining and informative documentary segments, with compelling testimonials from celebrities, authors, notable Americans and book lovers across the country. It is comprised of a two-hour launch episode in which the list of 100 books is revealed, five one-hour theme episodes that examine concepts common to groups of books on the list, and a finale, in which the results are announced of a nationwide vote to choose America’s best-loved book.
The series is the centerpiece of an ambitious multi-platform digital, educational and community outreach campaign, designed to get the country reading and passionately talking about books.
*PBS does not endorse any titles on the top 100 list. For more information on how these titles were selected, please see our FAQs.
Be sure to tune in to watch and don’t forget to vote for Tolkien here!
Join Kili and her sweetheart Bard as they visit the varied Tolkien-inspired landscapes of County Kerry (and a little from County Galway), Ireland! Then, maybe learn a thing or two from Bard about fishing for wrasse from the shore. Follow Happy Hobbit on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and of course, subscribe on YouTube to be notified every time there is a new episode!
If it’s July it must be San Diego Comic Con, and with that biggest of popular culture events you can bet TheOneRing.net is right in the middle of it all. No, there are no new Tolkien films on the horizon, but there are new collectibles, in a variety of styles, coming to fans bookshelves soon. There are also fan gatherings, at SDCC and beyond, and plenty of other tidbits of Tolkien news just waiting to be shared with one and all. And there will be a few Middle-earth alums attending the con this year, chiefly Elijah Wood and Graham McTavish. So keep a wary eye on TheOneRing.net for any and all Middle-earth news, rumors and cosplay. Oh, and don’t forget our panel, which is listed after the cut. Continue reading “TheOneRing.net’s panel at San Diego Comic con is this Friday”
Learn how to make a treat that is fit for a king in this latest delicious episode!
THORIN’S TOFFEE BARS
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
¾ cup butter, room temperature (or melted per Happy Hobbit style!)
¾ cup light brown sugar
1½ cups flour
Filling:
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp butter
Topping:
2 cups milk or semi sweet chocolate chips
1½ cups Toffee Bits (store bought or homemade — scroll all the way down for the homemade recipe we used!)
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
3. To make the Shortbread Crust, beat butter and sugar together until it is combined.
4. Mix in flour, it will be a bit dry.
5. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes (or start at 10 just to be safe) or until lightly golden.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
7. To make the filling; in a small saucepan heat sweetened condensed milk and butter together until the mixture is smooth.
8. Pour over shortbread crust. Bake 12-15 minutes until filling is bubbly and browned. (It will start to look browned and slightly caramelized)
9. To make the topping, immediately sprinkle milk chips on top of filling when it comes out of the oven. Place back in oven for around 2ish minutes or until the chips have begun to melt.
10. Carefully spread the chips over the filling.
11. Sprinkle with toffee bits and press them evenly into the chocolate.
12. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. Let them rest up to overnight, or cool in the fridge…that way you can eat them sooner!
13…EAT THEM ALL!
Homemade Toffee Bits Recipe:
Ingredients
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
Directions
1. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil (around 5 minutes)
2. Continue cooking until the mixture is 300 degrees and starts to turn brown.This could be up to 8 minutes of cooking, but in my experience, it is much shorter then that (depending on your stove!) So just be sure to keep an eye on it, or two eyes as Gandalf would do!
3. When it reaches 300 or starts to really thicken and brown, pour it out onto a pan lined with baking parchment.
4. Let it cool completely.
5. Put it into a zip-lock bag and bash it up into bits!
How time flies! Exactly a year ago today, February 21st 2015, many of us gathered in Hollywood for The One Last Party. Fans and TheOneRing.net staffers were joined by movie cast and crew members, brought together by a love of Tolkien and of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth trilogies. Many more fans around the world tuned in to watch TORn’s live stream coverage, led by staffers Quickbeam and Justin. Bruce Hopkins (Gamling) acted as MC for the night, PJ himself sent a special video greeting, and the Professor’s great-grandson Royd Tolkien came all the way from Britain for the celebration. Partygoers danced the night away to the music of Emerald Rose and William Kircher’s group The California Dreamers. It was indeed a night to remember!
Staffer Mithril posted recently about the beautiful Red Book she made, containing the names of all who contributed to the crowdfunding campaign to make The One Last Party happen; this lovely book was sent to Sir Peter as a ‘thank you’ from all of us to whom his movies have meant so much. In another look back to that wonderful night a year ago, here are just a few moments captured from that night, and put together by film maker and TORn friend Dan McBride. Let’s reminisce – and hope that it isn’t really the last such event. We may yet have an excuse, one day, for an unexpected party…
