~*The Wedding Reception*~

Reception will take place in Lothlorien on June 26, 2004 Our wedding theme is LOTR. Since the rennaisance era is the closest time period we can think of, our wedding will use rennaisance as a guide. At weddings of that time a drink called mead, was served. It will be served at our reception as well. This is the recipe:(traditional mead recipe from Russia) 18 liters water 8 kg. honey 1 package champagne yeast 1/2 cup ale or beer crust of one roll 1 tsp. hops 4 gr. cardamom 1 1/2 gr. cloves Mix water & honey; boil on low heat until reduced to 9 liters. Remove from burner and cool. Completely dissolve the yeast in the ale or beer. Remove the crust from the roll, soak in the beer yeast and put into mead. Add hops. Remove roll 1 hour after fermentation begins. Strain mead and pour into a keg. Add the spices wrapped in cheesecloth. Seal keg well and store in cold place (on ice or vault) for 12 days. Bottle, seal, tar (gum or wax) and store in cold place. Ready to serve in 2 months. Lembas is a magical food of the elves. Galadriel gave this food to The Fellowship, upon their leaving Lothlorien. This magical food refreshes you instantly, with one bite, and keeps you feeling energized for days and days! Lembas will be served at the reception. Word of warning:Don't Eat Too Much!! lol!!! Lembas Recipe: 2 ½ cup of Cake flour 1 cup of oatmeal flour (1 and a half cups of Oatmeal ran through the food processor for 5 mins or so will work) ½ cup of sorghum flour* 1 cup sugar 1 tbsp. Vanilla sugar* (Freia Vaniljesukker) 3 tbsp. Honey or packed brown sugar (the honey gives it a beter color) ½ tsp. Salt 4 tbsp. Cream cheese room temp. ½ cup butter room temp. 1 tbsp. Lemon juice ½ tbsp Durkee vanilla butter & nut extract* 6 tbsp. heavy cream (Optional yellow food coloring)Put in a mixing bowl the three kinds of flour, the sugars and the salt, and mix together with a fork or an electric mixer on low until blended. Add the cream cheese and butter and cut in, either with a pastry cutter or a mixer on low, till the mixture forms small pellets (a little bit smaller than Rice). Add Lemon juice VB&N extract, and cream (yellow food coloring can be added for the full effect). Mix till it comes together and forms a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and chill for 30 mins to an hour. After dough is chilled, separate in half and roll out on lightly floured surface. Cut using a round cutter, doughnut cutter or a cup of the like size, Removing all excess flour place on a cookie sheet about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake at a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 mins or until golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool and serve. Makes about 2 dozen depending on cutter size. *Sorghum Flour can be found at specialty or health food stores, or can be bought online at www.tomsredmill.com*Can be bought at most Scandinavian Food stores. Or online @ www.norskmat.com (follow the Butikk {store} link and then the Bakeartikler {baking supplies} link and look for Freia Vaniljesukker, its about 13 or so down on the list) If you find it hard to navigate the site in Norwegian, it will be available in English soon.* Durkee Vanilla butter & nut flavor can be found at most grocery stores in the baking section. For an eaiser version try this one: (It doesn't have all the fancy ingredients, but doesn't give you the same good-for-you feeling) Lembas from Lothlorien : 6 TBSP butter or margarine, slightly softened 2 cups self-rising flour 1 TBSP granulated sugar 1/4 cup raisins (optional)1/4 cup nuts 1 egg, well beaten 1/2 cup milk 4 TBSP heavy cream Mallorn leaves With a pastry blender of fork, cut margarine into the flour in a mixing bowl until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Do this rapidly so the butter does not melt. Add the sugar and if desired, 1/2 cup of raisins. In a small bowl, beat the egg and milk together until mixed. Reserve 1 TBSP of this mixture to brush the tops of the lembas. Add the cream and egg mixture to the flour and mix just until combined into a stiff, soft dough. Knead three or four times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to a 3/4" thickness and cut with an oval or leaf shaped cookie cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving 1" of space between lembas. Brush the tops of the lembas with the reserved egg-milk mixture. Bake for 12 -13 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven. For safe keeping, wrap each lemba individually in a fresh, clean mallorn leaf. (If these leaves are unavailable in your area, store the lembas in a tightly closed container.) Makes about 1 1/2 dozen lembas. E-mail~*Dana*~ ~*The Brides Page*~ ~*The Grooms Page*~ ~*What It's All About*~ ~*The Wedding*~ Rennaisance feasts were served in courses and each course was like a meal in itself. There was entertainment during and between the courses. There was a presentation of the courses as well as sotelties and warners. Sotelties are scenes or sculptures and entertainment made with foodstuff and warners are disguised food. The nursery rhyme about the singing blackbirds baked in a pie, is a soltetlie from a medieval feast. An example of a warner would be a peach made of marzipan. Feasts were often served on medieval disposable plates, bread trenchers. People ate with their hands, a spoon and a small knife the size of a steak knife. Forks were not used in the middle ages. They were not unknown, but were only conversation pieces among royally and very wealthy. We'll be using forks. lol!!! ~*Home*~ Dana