Concerning Hobbits and Apfelkuchen

I am completely in love with the Lord of the Rings (books, movies, mythology, geeky merchandise--I love it all), but my dear boyfriend, codename: Pierogi, had never seen the movies. So, over the summer we watched the Fellowship and Two Towers. In an ideal world, we would have watched all three movies over one weekend, while eating exclusively food mentioned or eaten in the movies. However, not everyone has my stamina or enthusiasm. So, for my birthday (which is on Thursday), we decided to celebrate by (finally) watching the Return of the King and spending an entire day eating like Hobbits.

There is something completely wholesome about Hobbits. They are content with the details of their little lives, and unconcerned with the big world, which has always managed to keep existing without their help so far. As long as one is comfortable, well-fed, and has a few nice things to look at or play with, they see no reason to look for adventure or confrontation. In the introduction to The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien writes that Hobbits are now rarely, but that their favorite places are in the "well-ordered and well-farmed countryside," where life moves slower and they are less likely to encounter loud and unpleasant machinery. In many ways, they could easily be the poster-species for the modern slow food and back-to-the-land movements. Though not pretty, hobbits have good-natured appearances, their faces being designed for laughing, eating and drinking: "And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them)."

The six meals a day part was the biggest challenge of our day of Hobbit food. By checking out this list of foods in the books and movies, remembering a few things of my own, and using my imagination, it was easy to think of several days worth of Hobbit food, but we had to keep it down to 5 (we couldn't handle 6) meals, and somehow find time to eat those 5 without exploding. So, here's what we did...