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ASOIAF
Sansa’s Favorite Lemon Cakes
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Later came sweetbreads and pigeon pie and baked apples fragrant with cinnamon and lemon cakes frosted in sugar, but by then Sansa was so stuffed that she could not manage more than two little lemon cakes, as much as she loved them. She was wondering whether she might attempt a third when the king began to shout.
– Sansa III, A Game of Thrones
Lemon cakes pop up regularly in A Song of Ice and Fire – particularly in Sansa’s chapters! Despite their prevalence, there aren’t any precise details about their usual appearance or ingredients. [Read More]
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The Iron Throne: Myths, Superstitions & Cersei
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The songs said it had taken a thousand blades to make it, heated white-hot in the furnace breath of Balerion the Black Dread. The hammering had taken fifty-nine days. The end of it was this hunched black beast made of razor edges and barbs and ribbons of sharp metal; a chair that could kill a man, and had, if the stories could be believed.
– A Game of Thrones, Eddard XI
[Spoilers: to A Dance with Dragons and Season 6 of A Game of Thrones]
This post was conceptualized while I spent time making my own mini Iron Throne. Read more about how I made it here!
One aspect of the A Song of Ice and Fire series that I love is the murky borders between myths, magic and superstition. While there is indisputably magic in the ASOIAF world, the magic is interpreted by people in different ways and extra legends and embellishments have been woven in ways that make it unclear what the actual magic is.
I think the Iron Throne is a rather interesting example of this phenomenon. Because of its symbolic representation of the actions and power of the monarch, and because of its unique construction, it seems inevitable that a mythos would arise around the Iron Throne. The Iron Throne has been attributed with the death of at least one man, and is also thought to mistreat inadequate rulers: [Read More]
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DIY Iron Throne Centerpiece
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The songs said it had taken a thousand blades to make it, heated white-hot in the furnace breath of Balerion the Black Dread. The hammering had taken fifty-nine days. The end of it was this hunched black beast made of razor edges and barbs and ribbons of sharp metal; a chair that could kill a man, and had, if the stories could be believed.
– A Game of Thrones, Eddard XI
Valar More-Glue-is: All Men Must DIY
The songs say it took 59 days and 1000 blades to make the iron throne. I made an iron throne in a weekend with around 100 swords. Mine is, to be fair, quite a bit smaller and rather less judgmental of the ruler’s leadership capability. [Read More!]
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Mead: Musings & Makings
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And I vow that you shall always have a place by my hearth, and meat and mead at my table. And I pledge to ask no service of you that might bring you dishonor. I swear it by the Old Gods and the New. Arise.
– Lord’s Oath to a knight, A Song of Ice and Fire
Mead seems to me quintessentially medieval, and so I had hoped to serve it at my Game of Thrones Season 5 finale party. Unfortunately, the recipes I found called for rather longer aging times than I had expected! (Six months! You should skip to the end of this post for the recipe and start brewing now!) So I marked my calendar for January 2016 to ferment some honey for my Season 6 Game of Thrones finale party.
[Read more – recipe for mead & an analysis of mead in Westeros!]
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Trenchers dripping full of venison stewed with beer and barley
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“The war had not touched the fabled bounty of Highgarden. While singers sang & tumblers tumbled, they began with pears poached in wine, and went onto tiny savory fish rolled in salt and cooked crisp, and capons stuffed with onions and mushrooms. There were great loaves of brown bread, mounds of turnips and sweetcorn and pease, immense hams and roast geese and trenchers dripping full of venison stewed with beer and barley.”
– A Clash of Kings
The venison stew was one of the dishes I was most looking forward to making for my Highgarden-themed Game of Thrones season 6 finale dinner, which was based on this passage from A Clash of Kings. I haven’t had a good excuse to cook venison before, and incorporating trenchers seemed fun and memorable. Get the Recipe!
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Game of Thrones Season 6 Finale Party: A Feast at Highgarden
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“The war had not touched the fabled bounty of Highgarden. While singers sang & tumblers tumbled, they began with pears poached in wine, and went onto tiny savory fish rolled in salt and cooked crisp, and capons stuffed with onions and mushrooms. There were great loaves of brown bread, mounds of turnips and sweetcorn and pease, immense hams and roast geese and trenchers dripping full of venison stewed with beer and barley. For the sweet, servants brought down trays of pastries from the castle kitchens, cream swans, spun-sugar unicorns, lemon cakes in the shape of roses, spiced honey biscuits and blackberry tarts, apple crisps & wheels of buttery cheese.”
– A Clash of Kings
This elaborate feast greets Catelyn Stark as she meets with Renly Baratheon on behalf of Robb Stark (The King in the North!) at Bitterbridge. It also served as my source material for my third annual Game of Thrones season finale dinner party.
Read more and see the menu here!
Its All Geek to Me 