A Feast of Ice and Fire

This will be a quick post (compared to my usual length). I want to celebrate my housemate, Beth!
About a week and a half ago she accomplished a difficult personal goal. I imagine it was something like climbing a mountain all by yourself, but without all the fresh air and beautiful views.

Because she is awesome, (and probably because she's unaccustomed to being lazy), she decided to devote all her new found free-time last weekend to preparing a big meal for all of us!

Pictured: Elaborate Meal, Beth's Arms, My Stained Oven-Mitts

She chose all of her recipes from a cookbook we've had for a while, but haven't used nearly often enough: A Feast of Ice and Fire. It contains historically researched medieval recipes inspired by the "Song of Ice and Fire" book series by George R.R. Martin; which became the TV series "Game of Thrones".

My husband  Shane got the book as a gift from my folks. We later learned that one of the authors grew up with our housemate, Kira. What a small world! The book started with a blog: The Inn at the Crossroads which still posts new dishes regularly. Author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel also blogs about Westerosi* Beers at Game of Brews, and posts recipes from other works of fiction at Food Through the Pages. Author Sariann Lehrer blogs about her "culinary exploits" at Chopped Ginger.

Shane and Beth love these stories. I know Shane has been through the books several times. Housemate Kate and I have been watching the show with them too. That leaves out Kira, but she enjoyed the food just fine without knowing the background fandom. :)

Beth made Cornish hens with apple-raisin stuffing, mashed potatoes and a delicious pearl onion sauce. 

For desert there were amazing glazed lemon cookies and beautiful stuffed baked apples. We devoured our chicken and potatoes before the broadcast, and then finished off the wine and cider with cookies while we watched the new episode together.

We were too full for the apples. So we had them the next day with ice cream. While ice cream is decidedly not medieval, it was delicious! Three cheers for Beth!! She's definitely the kind of gal you want around when winter is coming.

*Westeros is the country where most of the action in Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire takes place.