Recipe Fic -- a BIT late!
Mar. 25th, 2006 05:30 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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shire_kitchenSorry this is so late; I'd mis-read the due date as being the 31st!
Many thanks to Boz4PM and Ramblin' Rosie for their advice on this, my first ever fanfic to post online! Thanks also to those who helped with information about the Field of Cormallen, numbers of troops, etc.
All disclaimers apply, whether for the Tolkien legendarium or the recipe, which is borrowed from Baker's Brand Unsweetened Chocolate.
Chocolate Fancies
or, The Legend of the Little Lady from Lebennin
by Mum’s the Word
Lady Beindîs of Lebennin and her band of bakers arrived at the Field of Cormallen on the 10th of April with a shipment of supplies from Dol Amroth. The widow of a minor nobleman, she had lost a son and a son-in-law in the War. Unlike several of her friends, however, she refused to retire to her villa and spend her time gossiping, meddling in her children’s families, and growing bitter over her losses. Instead, she organized half a dozen like-minded noblewomen who strove to find ways to show appreciation to the men who had given their all to defend their homeland and their families.
Beindîs had ever been a bit of an anomaly: deceptively small and delicate-looking, well-bred and devoted to her husband and the raising of their beloved children, she not only mastered the domestic skills expected of a noblewoman, but also was tirelessly involved in the management and operation of her husband’s estate. For most of their married life, her husband had been away at war as often as he was at home. Such was the way with many noblemen’s families in those days; yet Beindîs had not relied solely on the family steward to run the estate for her, as was the custom, but she had taken an active hand in all matters, to the delight of her husband and the consternation of certain other noblewomen. Thus she was well experienced in both the practical and diplomatic aspects of overseeing the holdings and the family.
Through the years, the energetic little Beindîs saw to it that everyone in her household assisted in planting and harvesting crops, birthing and butchering livestock, breeding and training horses, planning and maintaining buildings, and managing estate accounts, records, and correspondence. Within their home, both sons and daughters were not only well-educated and refined, but also experienced weavers and stitchers, cleaners, gardeners, and cooks (her own specialty); for she knew that her sons would need sewing and cooking skills if and when they went to war, and her daughters would have to run their own households if their husbands were away for extended periods. Her household servants also learned to perform outdoor chores for the same reason – and to good purpose, as the youngest, most able farmhands eventually found themselves called into Prince Imrahil’s service, leaving the womenfolk and older men to fend for themselves as well as they were able.
Thus when the great War ended in the Spring of TA 3019, Lady Beindîs was confident to delegate the running of her estate. Leaving it in the capable hands of her steward and eldest daughter, she arranged for her group of noblewomen to accompany the supply ships that would bring medicines and bandages, blankets and linens, clothing, and much-needed foodstuffs from their area to the recovering troops. For they intended to bring to the exhausted heroes a “bit of comfort from home” even as they assisted the bakers in the cooking tents.
Among the supplies the ladies shipped from their own estates were laying hens, milk cows and goats, barrels of salt, fine wheat flour, and salted fish and meats. Through the years of the War against Sauron, they had also procured from traders rare granules processed from sugarcane from Tolfalas, rarer vanilla beans and extract of vanilla from Harad, and rarest of all, cocoa powder and bars blended of cocoa and cocoa butter from Far Harad. These precious ingredients the ladies had carefully stored, using them sparingly as they planned for the great day when Gondor would be victorious and their talents would be useful. On the journey from Lebennin, Beindîs and her little band kept the ingredients under their special watch-care, for from them they planned to prepare a unique, rich surprise for the victorious Gondorian troops. Beindîs had developed and shared with her group the receipt for a delicious cocoa-flavored sweetmeat that had delighted their families on the few occasions when the ladies had prepared it, usually in celebration for the safe return of their husbands and sons from a tour of duty in Prince Imrahil’s fighting forces.
When they arrived at the Field of Cormallen with their supplies, Beindîs and her band of ladies barely had time to change from travel clothes into more practical dresses and aprons before they were put to work assisting the bakers. They proved to be willing workers and able bakers, and on their third evening on the job, they received permission to prepare a batch of their special refreshments for the inspection of the bakers and other cooks. The aroma alone of the chocolate and vanilla whetted the exhausted cooks’ appetites, and the warm squares survived hardly long enough for proper examination before being delightedly devoured.
Beindîs took the opportunity to explain to the chief cooks her group’s desire to make the Chocolate Fancies, as they were called, available to the soldiers as a small reward for their courage and sacrifice. As kindly as possible, the chief cooks explained that there were far too many soldiers to make the delicacies for all, suggesting instead that the ladies might wish to concentrate on preparing Chocolate Fancies for the wounded who remained at the encampment – with the healers’ permission, of course. The ladies from Lebennin prepared a second batch of Fancies, and together they and the chief cooks presented the little cakes and the idea to the chief healers, including the Lord Elessar. With the healers’ unsurprisingly hearty approval and the healer-King’s own permission, the chief cooks agreed to allow Beindîs’ band of bakers to focus most of their attention on baking the treats for afternoon snacks for those wounded heroes who were able to digest such foods.
With the first large batch of treats cooled and cut, Lady Beindîs and her assistants reported to the healers to be shown who was allowed to eat sweetmeats. The expressions of delight and gratitude on the soldiers’ faces were incentive enough for the bakers to begin a new batch straight away. The aroma of the little brown squares, as well as the delighted comments of their companions, encouraged several wounded soldiers to recover more rapidly than they might have otherwise, so that they too might soon be able to eat the tantalizing sweetmeats.
Every day until the end of the month, the bakers from Lebennin would work from early morning until after midday, preparing the rich, fudgy squares to serve to wounded soldiers for an afternoon snack. The chocolaty bars were small enough to be eaten with the fingers, and they gave a bit of an energy boost to get a fellow by until time for his sometimes frugal evening meal. After distributing the treats, the ladies would then move among the patients with other off-duty cooks, talking quietly with each soldier, writing letters for them, and listening to their battle stories.
As the days passed, the busy bakers’ aprons became stained with chocolate and other ingredients. There was barely enough time at the end of each day to wash the aprons, let alone whiten them properly. None of the patients objected to seeing the ladies in less-than-perfectly white uniforms; instead, they watched eagerly for the bakers’ brown-stained aprons to appear within the healers’ tents, heraldinging more of the Chocolate Fancies and words of cheer.
A few days after the first little cakes were served, one of the wounded soldiers, a perky Perian who had felled a mountain troll, quipped around a mouthful of apple, “Mm, here-come our Brown-Ladies now!” The patients nearby misunderstood him to say “Brown-IE Ladies” rather than “Brown Ladies” and laughingly asked the Perian if he were happier to see the Brownie Ladies or the Brownies. “Both!” he replied, gallantly kissing the hand of one of the bakers as he accepted the cocoa-rich snack she offered. The embarrassed baker was so flustered that she handed the Perian a second treat, causing more laughter and gentle teasing from the other patients, who attempted to garner extra helpings with their own gallant hand-kissing.
Word spread through the healers’ tents and eventually through the entire camp. “The Brownies are coming!” became the half-joking byword that preceded the bakers when they delivered the sweets. Even tough, “walking-wounded” soldiers who had adamantly refused to report daily to the healers to have their dressings changed, somehow began to arrive in mid-afternoon, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Brownie Ladies. They would find reasons to linger in the tents until they glimpsed the bakers arriving with the delectable sweets that boosted not only their energy but also their morale. A few of these men began volunteering their off-duty hours to assist the healers with caring for their more seriously wounded comrades, relieving the healers’ seemingly unending work and bringing hope, companionship, and cheer to the bedridden patients.
The name of the chocolate delicacies soon changed from Chocolate Fancies to Brownies, and Lady Beindîs and her band of bakers were affectionately dubbed the Brownie Ladies, a title they carried proudly thereafter.
Toward the end of April, the ladies baked their last batch of Brownies at Cormallen and concentrated on helping the troops to prepare for their final move to Minas Tirith. The King-to-be himself invited them to accompany the wounded to the White City and remain as guests in the Houses of Healing and attend his coronation. He paid them a further honor by requesting that they bake their confections for one of the many receptions that would be held during the festivities. However, after discussing the idea among themselves, the Brownie Ladies suggested that on Coronation Day they use the last of their ingredients to make Brownies for the patients within the Houses of Healing, who would be unable to see their King’s coronation. He willingly agreed, on condition that he might have one “small morsel” when he visited the patients that day. King Elessar also honored the ladies in all seriousness, by recommending them for membership in Gondor’s Guild of Bakers.
When little Lady Beindîs and her Brownie Ladies returned home after the coronation, each reserved her stained apron to wear only when baking Brownies, treasuring it as a medal of service to her homeland. The brown aprons, the receipt for the Brownies, and the title of “Brownie Lady” were handed down from mothers to daughters for many generations. On the rare occasion when a Brownie Lady returned to Minas Tirith, she would bring the ingredients to bake the King (and later his family) a batch of rich, fudgy Brownies.
Beindîs ~ “fair bride”
One Bowl Brownies
(a Baker’s Brand recipe)
4 1-oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides of pan. Grease foil (or spray with cooking spray).
Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwave-safe bowl on High 2 minutes or until butter is melted. (Or melt in top of double-boiler on stovetop.) Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and pecans; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs (do not over-bake). Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles. Cut into 24 squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.
Many thanks to Boz4PM and Ramblin' Rosie for their advice on this, my first ever fanfic to post online! Thanks also to those who helped with information about the Field of Cormallen, numbers of troops, etc.
All disclaimers apply, whether for the Tolkien legendarium or the recipe, which is borrowed from Baker's Brand Unsweetened Chocolate.
Chocolate Fancies
or, The Legend of the Little Lady from Lebennin
by Mum’s the Word
Lady Beindîs of Lebennin and her band of bakers arrived at the Field of Cormallen on the 10th of April with a shipment of supplies from Dol Amroth. The widow of a minor nobleman, she had lost a son and a son-in-law in the War. Unlike several of her friends, however, she refused to retire to her villa and spend her time gossiping, meddling in her children’s families, and growing bitter over her losses. Instead, she organized half a dozen like-minded noblewomen who strove to find ways to show appreciation to the men who had given their all to defend their homeland and their families.
Beindîs had ever been a bit of an anomaly: deceptively small and delicate-looking, well-bred and devoted to her husband and the raising of their beloved children, she not only mastered the domestic skills expected of a noblewoman, but also was tirelessly involved in the management and operation of her husband’s estate. For most of their married life, her husband had been away at war as often as he was at home. Such was the way with many noblemen’s families in those days; yet Beindîs had not relied solely on the family steward to run the estate for her, as was the custom, but she had taken an active hand in all matters, to the delight of her husband and the consternation of certain other noblewomen. Thus she was well experienced in both the practical and diplomatic aspects of overseeing the holdings and the family.
Through the years, the energetic little Beindîs saw to it that everyone in her household assisted in planting and harvesting crops, birthing and butchering livestock, breeding and training horses, planning and maintaining buildings, and managing estate accounts, records, and correspondence. Within their home, both sons and daughters were not only well-educated and refined, but also experienced weavers and stitchers, cleaners, gardeners, and cooks (her own specialty); for she knew that her sons would need sewing and cooking skills if and when they went to war, and her daughters would have to run their own households if their husbands were away for extended periods. Her household servants also learned to perform outdoor chores for the same reason – and to good purpose, as the youngest, most able farmhands eventually found themselves called into Prince Imrahil’s service, leaving the womenfolk and older men to fend for themselves as well as they were able.
Thus when the great War ended in the Spring of TA 3019, Lady Beindîs was confident to delegate the running of her estate. Leaving it in the capable hands of her steward and eldest daughter, she arranged for her group of noblewomen to accompany the supply ships that would bring medicines and bandages, blankets and linens, clothing, and much-needed foodstuffs from their area to the recovering troops. For they intended to bring to the exhausted heroes a “bit of comfort from home” even as they assisted the bakers in the cooking tents.
Among the supplies the ladies shipped from their own estates were laying hens, milk cows and goats, barrels of salt, fine wheat flour, and salted fish and meats. Through the years of the War against Sauron, they had also procured from traders rare granules processed from sugarcane from Tolfalas, rarer vanilla beans and extract of vanilla from Harad, and rarest of all, cocoa powder and bars blended of cocoa and cocoa butter from Far Harad. These precious ingredients the ladies had carefully stored, using them sparingly as they planned for the great day when Gondor would be victorious and their talents would be useful. On the journey from Lebennin, Beindîs and her little band kept the ingredients under their special watch-care, for from them they planned to prepare a unique, rich surprise for the victorious Gondorian troops. Beindîs had developed and shared with her group the receipt for a delicious cocoa-flavored sweetmeat that had delighted their families on the few occasions when the ladies had prepared it, usually in celebration for the safe return of their husbands and sons from a tour of duty in Prince Imrahil’s fighting forces.
When they arrived at the Field of Cormallen with their supplies, Beindîs and her band of ladies barely had time to change from travel clothes into more practical dresses and aprons before they were put to work assisting the bakers. They proved to be willing workers and able bakers, and on their third evening on the job, they received permission to prepare a batch of their special refreshments for the inspection of the bakers and other cooks. The aroma alone of the chocolate and vanilla whetted the exhausted cooks’ appetites, and the warm squares survived hardly long enough for proper examination before being delightedly devoured.
Beindîs took the opportunity to explain to the chief cooks her group’s desire to make the Chocolate Fancies, as they were called, available to the soldiers as a small reward for their courage and sacrifice. As kindly as possible, the chief cooks explained that there were far too many soldiers to make the delicacies for all, suggesting instead that the ladies might wish to concentrate on preparing Chocolate Fancies for the wounded who remained at the encampment – with the healers’ permission, of course. The ladies from Lebennin prepared a second batch of Fancies, and together they and the chief cooks presented the little cakes and the idea to the chief healers, including the Lord Elessar. With the healers’ unsurprisingly hearty approval and the healer-King’s own permission, the chief cooks agreed to allow Beindîs’ band of bakers to focus most of their attention on baking the treats for afternoon snacks for those wounded heroes who were able to digest such foods.
With the first large batch of treats cooled and cut, Lady Beindîs and her assistants reported to the healers to be shown who was allowed to eat sweetmeats. The expressions of delight and gratitude on the soldiers’ faces were incentive enough for the bakers to begin a new batch straight away. The aroma of the little brown squares, as well as the delighted comments of their companions, encouraged several wounded soldiers to recover more rapidly than they might have otherwise, so that they too might soon be able to eat the tantalizing sweetmeats.
Every day until the end of the month, the bakers from Lebennin would work from early morning until after midday, preparing the rich, fudgy squares to serve to wounded soldiers for an afternoon snack. The chocolaty bars were small enough to be eaten with the fingers, and they gave a bit of an energy boost to get a fellow by until time for his sometimes frugal evening meal. After distributing the treats, the ladies would then move among the patients with other off-duty cooks, talking quietly with each soldier, writing letters for them, and listening to their battle stories.
As the days passed, the busy bakers’ aprons became stained with chocolate and other ingredients. There was barely enough time at the end of each day to wash the aprons, let alone whiten them properly. None of the patients objected to seeing the ladies in less-than-perfectly white uniforms; instead, they watched eagerly for the bakers’ brown-stained aprons to appear within the healers’ tents, heraldinging more of the Chocolate Fancies and words of cheer.
A few days after the first little cakes were served, one of the wounded soldiers, a perky Perian who had felled a mountain troll, quipped around a mouthful of apple, “Mm, here-come our Brown-Ladies now!” The patients nearby misunderstood him to say “Brown-IE Ladies” rather than “Brown Ladies” and laughingly asked the Perian if he were happier to see the Brownie Ladies or the Brownies. “Both!” he replied, gallantly kissing the hand of one of the bakers as he accepted the cocoa-rich snack she offered. The embarrassed baker was so flustered that she handed the Perian a second treat, causing more laughter and gentle teasing from the other patients, who attempted to garner extra helpings with their own gallant hand-kissing.
Word spread through the healers’ tents and eventually through the entire camp. “The Brownies are coming!” became the half-joking byword that preceded the bakers when they delivered the sweets. Even tough, “walking-wounded” soldiers who had adamantly refused to report daily to the healers to have their dressings changed, somehow began to arrive in mid-afternoon, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Brownie Ladies. They would find reasons to linger in the tents until they glimpsed the bakers arriving with the delectable sweets that boosted not only their energy but also their morale. A few of these men began volunteering their off-duty hours to assist the healers with caring for their more seriously wounded comrades, relieving the healers’ seemingly unending work and bringing hope, companionship, and cheer to the bedridden patients.
The name of the chocolate delicacies soon changed from Chocolate Fancies to Brownies, and Lady Beindîs and her band of bakers were affectionately dubbed the Brownie Ladies, a title they carried proudly thereafter.
Toward the end of April, the ladies baked their last batch of Brownies at Cormallen and concentrated on helping the troops to prepare for their final move to Minas Tirith. The King-to-be himself invited them to accompany the wounded to the White City and remain as guests in the Houses of Healing and attend his coronation. He paid them a further honor by requesting that they bake their confections for one of the many receptions that would be held during the festivities. However, after discussing the idea among themselves, the Brownie Ladies suggested that on Coronation Day they use the last of their ingredients to make Brownies for the patients within the Houses of Healing, who would be unable to see their King’s coronation. He willingly agreed, on condition that he might have one “small morsel” when he visited the patients that day. King Elessar also honored the ladies in all seriousness, by recommending them for membership in Gondor’s Guild of Bakers.
When little Lady Beindîs and her Brownie Ladies returned home after the coronation, each reserved her stained apron to wear only when baking Brownies, treasuring it as a medal of service to her homeland. The brown aprons, the receipt for the Brownies, and the title of “Brownie Lady” were handed down from mothers to daughters for many generations. On the rare occasion when a Brownie Lady returned to Minas Tirith, she would bring the ingredients to bake the King (and later his family) a batch of rich, fudgy Brownies.
Beindîs ~ “fair bride”
One Bowl Brownies
(a Baker’s Brand recipe)
4 1-oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides of pan. Grease foil (or spray with cooking spray).
Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwave-safe bowl on High 2 minutes or until butter is melted. (Or melt in top of double-boiler on stovetop.) Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and pecans; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs (do not over-bake). Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles. Cut into 24 squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.
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