The only thing better than a movie marathon is a movie marathon with a themed menu, and if you know me you know I’m a sucker for a themed menu. In the past we’ve done Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean, which were both super fun (let me know if you’d like to see the menu from those!). This time around it was the Lord of the Rings trilogy (the directors cut). This was a fun one because if you don’t know, Hobbits have 7 meals a day, which we had a great time recreating. Big shout out to sous chef Dale (my boyfriend) for all the help prepping. Here’s what we made!
FIRST BREAKFAST- Potato Hash and Eggs
The most important meal of the day. We started off strong with potato hash and eggs (and mimosas obvi). We prepped the hash the night before so we could just throw it in the air fryer and start the movies asap. We ended up starting late anyway so it didn’t really matter. Each movie was about 4 hours so it was bound to be a long day. We got in our stretchiest sweatpants and dove in.
SECOND BREAKFAST- Biscuits and Jam
So nice the Hobbits have it twice. I love breakfast so I was digging the extra meal. We had biscuits and jam with a side of bacon. In the middle is some apricot butter from one of my favorite restaurants up in Providence, The Malted Barley (10/10 would recommend if you’re ever there). Tbh I’ve never made biscuits that came out the way I wanted, they just never rise right for me. I opted for the Buttermilk Grands biscuits to make my life easier. Most of what we made for the marathon was semi-homemade since most humans don’t have time to prep and eat 7 meals in one day and watch over 12 hours worth of movies.
ELEVENSES- Cinnamon Rolls and Fruit
This one was definitely the prettiest meal we had. Elevenses is kind of like a continental breakfast (according to the internet because I had no idea what to make for this at first). We went for Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, which I was a little bummed about because I want to make homemade cinnamon rolls. There just wasn’t time for it, so that’ll have to be for another day (stay tuned for that). We had these with some nice lattes to continue to power through the movies. I realized after they came out of the oven that half of them were upside down which is why some of them look odd. Whoops… the mimosas got the best of me.
LUNCHEON- Chicken Pot Pie
Halfway there! I was pumped for this meal since the start of the movies. I love chicken pot pie and if I do say so myself, I make a mean pot pie. This was another one we prepped the day before by making the filling. The next day we just threw it in a pie dish, topped it with the dough, and threw her in the oven. Usually I like to make my own pie dough, but once again, in a time crunch a semi-homemade meal is just as good. My recipe for the pie can be found in the Dinner tab or the Spooky Szn tab up top. The only thing I did different here is I used thighs instead of breasts (because that’s what I had in the freezer). It was fire and I think I might always do that going forward for pot pie.
AFTERNOON TEA- Finger Sandwiches and Caramelized Onion Flatbread
After a large break due to already being full, we had our afternoon tea. I felt very fancy and British with this one since I’ve never had afternoon tea before. We had turkey and cucumber finger sandwiches and some caramelized onion flatbread with arugula and goat cheese. Not a tough meal to make by any means, but it was still tasty! Dale had green tea, but I needed something with caffeine so I had lapsang souchong tea. It’s black tea, but the tea leave are smoke dried over a fire giving it a different taste. Definitely not for everyone but I love the smoky flavor.
DINNER- Red Wine Braised Short Ribs and Mashed Potatoes
I’m partial to an early dinner and this was definitely not one. By the time this was done and we were actually ready to eat again it was like 11pm. Not the best picture, but one of the best meals. This was was all homemade too and for sure a labor of love. Can’t take credit for the recipe though, that is courtesy of Food Network magazine (with a few edits as usual). After braising for over 2 hours, the meat just falls right off the bone. We ate these with mashed potatoes by Dale which he made 100% on his own. If you want to know how I made it, scroll back a bit on my TikTok or Instagram and there’s a video on that. It was hard not to eat the entire thing, but we weren’t finished yet… one more to go!
SUPPER- Soup and Garlic Bread
Here we are at the finish line!! I would’ve loved a tomato soup or broccoli cheddar or something a little thicker that fit the theme better, but we knew at this point we would need something light. We ended up with Tortellini in Brodo (Dale’s favorite soup). This is the simplest thing to make, which was nice because it was like 12:30 at this point. For once in my life I really wasn’t hungry, but we ate anyway in the spirit of the marathon. And honestly, soup just hits different past midnight. We had taken so many breaks throughout the day that we were only about a quarter of the way through the last movie at this point, but we were determined.
AND ONE FOR GOOD LUCK!
Interestingly enough, Hobbits don’t have a dessert course. I was very surprised (and disappointed) to find that out. We didn’t let that stop us, so we indulged in some espresso martinis. I thought this might give me that second wind I needed to finish out the movies, but I fell asleep on the couch with about an hour and a half left. Sadly we didn’t finish it all in one day, but we woke up the next morning and finished the series off with a big cup of coffee. I barely ate the next day because I was still full, but it was all worth it. Any ideas for the next movie marathon??
chef grc 