Join Fili and Kili to learn a festive craft that can be used as both a decoration and…
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Join Fili and Kili to learn a festive craft that can be used as both a decoration and to feed local wildlife! Click here to watch the new episode!
Looking to capture some hobbity festive fun? Then also check out Happy Hobbit’s Christmas playlist here!
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.
Announced not long after Comic-Con 2017, King Thorin on Throne gives us a look at Thorin during The Hobbit Trilogies third and final film. This fantastic piece, sculpted by Lindsey Crummett, does a great job of capturing Thorin at the height of his dragon sickness, as well as showing how run down Erebor has become after Smaug’s attack. I really love the detail on this one, from Thorin’s likeness to the detail in his armor. The paint job used to create the run down look is particularly well done, including how the armor looks like metal, uncared for and dirty. With this piece, we also get a new box design, which I think is a great change. For fun I also brought a special guest to this review with the King Thror on Throne.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s King Thorin on Throne Review”
One of the things I love the most in my collection are all the behind the scene books, art books, making of type books. It’s so much fun getting a chance to see the process of how these fantastic films were brought to life. Our friends at Weta have a brand new book that fits this genre of book with the Middle-earth: From Script to Screen. This 512 page book covers the world building Sir Peter Jackson and the crew at Weta did to build what we saw in both The Lord of the Rings Trilogy as well as The Hobbit Trilogy. Written by Daniel Falconer with assistance by our own Happy Hobbit Kili (done under her pen name KM Rice) this richly illustrated with thousands of film frames, concept art and behind-the-scenes imagery, many previously unseen, Middle-earth: From Script to Screen follows in the footsteps of the Fellowship of the Ring and the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, visiting the realms and landscapes of Middle-earth and uncovering their secrets. You can Pre-Order this fantastic book right now for $75, and if you do so straight from Weta you will receive a set of exclusive prop replica set dressings by 3Foot7 Calligrapher Daniel Reeve.
Autumn had finally arrived in northern California when I boarded a plane to head into spring on the other side of the planet in New Zealand. To say I wasn’t frightened would be a lie. I felt very much like Frodo heading out into the wide world, for I was about to be away from my family and my continent for longer than I ever had. The weather in Wellington had been pleasant until I arrived, or so I’m told, and as more and more cold rainstorms blew into the bay off the Pacific, my co-workers at Weta Workshop teased that I had brought winter with me to their beautiful island nation.
Like most fans of the The Lord of the Rings films, I had long dreamed of visiting New Zealand and seeing as much of its Middle-earth landscape as I could. However, also like most fans, the cost of such an adventure always held me back. As such, if someone had told me that I would have gone to Aotearoa twice in 2015, I would’ve thought they were as full of tall tales as old mad Baggins! But step out my front door I did, each time with a little nudge.
When cursed jack-o-lanterns turn Fili, Kili, and Eowyn into pumpkinwalkers, it is up to Daggorlad and the neighborhood bounder to try to save them!
Have a happy hobbity Halloween!