Coming Together by Helenllama

[helenllama.livejournal.com]

Title: Coming togethert

Author Name: Helenllama

Prompt: It's harvest time! Time to reap and thresh and store the grain; to pick the apples and pears; put the root vegetables into cellars and fill the larders with preserves. Create a story or a work of art featuring a Fall seasonal food. Bonus for including a recipe.

Summary: Fall SR 1420. How do the Hobbits manage collecting the “plenty”

Rating: G

Warnings: None

Winterfilth SR 1420

It could be said by May, that something rather miraculous was going on. The weather had been different to the typical shire weather as well, and now the signs of the different weather was showing on the trees. Trees that had not been there in November, were full grown by then. branches filled with flowers and leaves swaying in the spring breeze. By the time harvest came around the flowers had turned into fruit. Row upon row of rich purple plums, green and red apples, pears. A few fruits had fallen already, but there were plenty left on the trees.

In the fields the menfolk toiled, gathering and reaping the grain and pulling up the taters and carrots. In the orchards the menfolk where climbing into the trees, filling huge baskets with fruits – pears, apples, plums. The younger tweens and older teens either helping with the harvest or watching over those too young to help in the fields, sorting the good from the bad. Not that there was much bad food, most of it was perfect.

In the smials and houses the womenfolk rarely left the kitchen, canning fruit and vegetables, sorting those vegetables for storage, and cooking, meals for today, basic stews, and large crumbles filled with the tastiest fruit the shire had ever known, simple fair, quick to make, but satisfying. Large pots of Jams. One or two families had their hobbitesses cooking a meal for all, being given the supplies, and turning them into something tasty

There was no doubt that their was not to be a repeat of the starvation the hobbits had suffered over the last year. Almost all the silos were full or nearly so. The meal in the party field would be a feast, compared to the rations of the previous year, even with the trading that Frodo and Sam had managed to arrange with the elves to allow them to have enough food to last until the Harvest. At least they would be able to repay those – in food – who had enabled them to eat, even if rations were not the best.

Rosie Gamgee, and her mother Lily Cotton, were amongst the hobbits cooking for the others tonight. Many a communal meal were being eaten over the harvest, the idea being to get as much of the fruit, vegetable, and crops in before the rains came.

The large kitchen at the Cotton farm was filled with smells of stews in large pots over the fire. There own harvest was in, and the menfolk where off helping a neighbour with their harvest.  Rosie was busy taking the stones out of the many plums she was making into crumble.

On the other side of the kitchen Mrs Cotton, was peeling, coring, and slicing many apples, and placing them in a large bowl of water, ready to make apple pie and apple crumble. The large batch of crumble mixture was already made together, fine breadcrumbs of butter, flour, and sugar. In another bowl, sat on the window sill, a batch of pastry was resting.

In the oven early batches of crumble, apple and plum, apple and pear, and fruit pies were baking, mixing the aromas of cooking fruit to those of the meat and vegetable filled stews.

Plums sat on a table, a bowl filled to over flowing, their purple skin, contrasting with the pale green pears.

3 hours later

The party field was filled with hobbits, sitting around, eating and talking, the folding tables, weighed down with the pots of stews, and baskets of crusty breads. Large fruit pies, and large trays of crumbles. Jugs of bright yellow custard was positioned around the puddings. A single mallorn, towered, over everyone it's leaves of gold. Yes, maybe things would turn out alright after all.

Recipe for Plum Crumble

Victoria Plums, stoned and halved

250 g flour

160g sugar

150 g butter

Layer the plum in the bottom of an oven proof dish

Add 1-2 tablespoons of water

In a mixing bowl rub together the flour and the butter till it resembles breadcrumbs

Mix in the sugar

Cover the plums with the crumble mix

Bake in the oven at 200 degrees C for 30-40 minutes