... and also because I'm almost too knackered to move. Also, on one of my precipitous dashes upstairs with stew or something I tripped over my overly elven shoes and slammed a knee into a stair and it has gone ow ow ow. Let that be a lesson to you.
To me, I mean.
It's actually worked OK. Of the cocktails, the orc's blood was surprisingly tasty, and the Flaming Balrog was an arse to make (although the Grey Wizard chaser made up for that).
I'll post the menu properly, but only after I've finished the error-testing (I already discovered that I missed a third breakfast, e.g.) which should be six-ish tomorrow if I've got my times right (which so far I have).
To me, I mean.
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| this is what I've been doing all day (We also had a Halloween party last night). |
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| we've got as far as as the overnight cliff-hanger (You can probably read it if you click right through to the big version.) |
It's actually worked OK. Of the cocktails, the orc's blood was surprisingly tasty, and the Flaming Balrog was an arse to make (although the Grey Wizard chaser made up for that).
I'll post the menu properly, but only after I've finished the error-testing (I already discovered that I missed a third breakfast, e.g.) which should be six-ish tomorrow if I've got my times right (which so far I have).
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cleanskies- Jeremy Dennis is Jeremy Day
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I wanna go!
I quite like the stains for added effect. :-)
Pass my best wishes for speedy repair to your knee. x
They drink a lot of beer, so you need PLENTY of that handy. Arbritarily I decided that Gondorians and elves drink wine, Orcs drink cider and black. Those are the base drinks -- I had drivers, so ginger beer, elderflower cordial and ribena were also available (vimto or irn bru might have been a better orcish drink though). For the base drinks I served everything in little japanese-style tea cups, sake cups , shot glasses etc. to avoid death by alcohol.
The weirder drinks:
"Isildur in the lake" is a martini, made according to your taste, served with a white grape wrapped in a twist of lemon peel, pierced by many cocktail sticks. Looks even better made with ginger beer, as it's murky, like river water.
"The smoking head of Sauron" is cafe brulot (flaming brandy and cointreau, quenched in spiced coffee). Metal ladle and gas jet is what I use for lighting the spirits.
(I also totally recommend indoor sparklers for the various fireworks and explosions.)
Oh, dear god, the stew. Everyone went crazy for it. There was a pumpkin-based one ("Elven Stew") for the vegetarians, then slight variations on a standard stew base for all the different cultures. Orc stew was quite spicy, with black pudding, e.g.
how to shaft a hobbit -- feed them apples for second breakfast
how to stuff a hobbit -- feed them venison stew
frodo on a stick is the smallest, most anaemic-looking sausages you can find on a cocktail stick.
"Kingsfoil in aragorn's spit" is crushed mint in a decent vodka.
"Flaming Balrog" still needs a bit of error testing, TBH. The flames comes from sambuca, and you want to mix together something red, something firey and something very dark in a shot glass and add the flaming sambuca. I used campari, lemon vodka and demerara rum which was a nice bitter note before the...
"Grey Wizard chaser" -- just a white russian made with Blavod (black vodka). Delicious!
"Orc's blood" is campari, demarara rum, and red cinnamon aftershock. I included the rum to avoid people actually spitting it out after they drank it.
Sqirrel droppings were represented by chocolate drops, earth by chocolate mousse and then there was the
"Ent draught" One of the few "long" cocktails. Goldvasser, lime cordial and lemon vodka, topped up with spring water -- if you get the mix right it looks really pretty! You could probably make it a lot cheaper by skipping the Goldvasser, though...
"The horn of helm-hammerhand" is one of classic beer cocktails and was a big favourite. Dark Rum, Whisky and Beer (English Ale), serve short and replenish as needed.
"Breagha's breath" used a sweet I bought from the same place I got the gummy worms, called a "strawberry strip" (don't google that!) but whatever penny sweet looks the most like a horse's tongue should do the trick. Vodka and rum topped up with ginger beer, served in a martini glass.
"Orc draught" was blueberry cordial, cinnamon aftershock and campari. A total failure : people really liked it.
Hmmmm. I've ran off the end of the picture above, now.