Two original John Blanche illustrations are due to go to auction at Sotherby’s in London on the 9th of December 2014.
These beautiful illustrations are of ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’, from The Hobbit and ‘The Destruction of Numenor’, from The Silmarillion.
The Battle of Five Armies. Published in-Ratspike by GW Books and Tolkien Bestiary by Mitchell Beazley Publishers and The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
Downfall of Numenor. A scene by John Blanche from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Published in Tolkien Bestiary Mitchell, Beazley Publishers.
If you’re interested in owning one, or both, of these unique illustrations you can find out more information on their Facebook page – John Blanche Gallery of Illustrations
Join our big brother Samwise to learn how to clean and gut a fresh-caught bass before turning it into a delicious garlicy meal! (Squeamish hobbits — ye be warned! This episode contains the gutting of a fish).
Fairly wide-ranging interview from Deadline with Peter Jackon conducted around the time of the San Diego Comic-Con.
It actually contains little that’s new: the fact that The Dam Busters film is still on the cards will be of interest to war-buffs who remember the 1955 original. And apparently Jackson and Mortensen have chatted about those 3D comments that Viggo made to press a couple of months back, too. Something something misquote. Supposedly.
The Beeb, as part of its commemorations of WWI, have assembled this multi-part online educational guide exploring how — and where — World War One influenced JRR Tolkien and his writings.
It’s a tradition that goes back years for a great many of us – downloading the latest Tolkien movie trailer on Apple’s Quicktime Site. In the years before Facebook and YouTube, this was where we all turned to in order to get our first (second, third, fourth…) glimpses of Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation.
While the rise of the aforementioned social media venues has seen them become the premiere locations to catch trailers, video blogs, etc. – you still can’t beat the high quality presentation (and superior video compression) of Apple’s Quicktime Trailers.
Join Fili to learn how to make a sweet summer treat that even elves will devour… or will they? See recipe below!
STRAWBERRY SHORTBREAD PIE
For the crust:
Remember — this exact recipe may end up being a little more than enough for just one pie. If this happens, use the extra dough to form shapes to decorate your pie! This makes a great cookie, too!
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Mix together the cold butter, flour, and confectioner’s sugar. Using a pastry cutter to mix it all together will help. Once it is mixed together into an even crust, take the amount you need to evenly cover the bottom of the tin. Make sure it is not too thin on the bottom or else it will burn, and not too thick on the edges.
3. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Always set the bake time lower in case your oven is acting up!
4. Remove from oven and let it cool completely before you dress it up with the berries!
For the filling:
Ingredients
1 quart fresh strawberries (or more!)
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
Instructions
1. After the crust has baked and cooled, arrange around half the whole strawberries until the crust is covered.
2. Mash the remaining berries in a bowl before adding the sugar. Once mixed, cook it together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it boils. Be sure to stir it the entire time!
3. On the side, whisk together cornstarch and water. Once the berry mixture is boiling, stir the cornstarch mixture in and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until it thickens into a gelatin-like substance. This could be 5 to 10 minutes depending on how your stove cooks, eyeball it!
4. Once it is ready, pour it over the strawberries that are already in the crust. Place any decorations such as the hearts we did above on the pie before it sets up too much. Then last, put it in the fridge for several hours before eating!
5. Eat it all! Whip cream or not, this pie will be gone in a night! Especially if you have Legolas around ;).