“We’ve had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?”

If you’re going to have a Lord of the Rings marathon with the extended versions of the movies, you need to figure out what to eat for an entire day (11 hours and 36 minutes, to be exact). With the help of a few friends, I planned, prepped, and cooked an all-day feast to accompany this gathering.

Breakfast

9:30 a.m. Homemade toasted cemita buns with mashed avocado and Mama Lil’s peppers. These yeasted buns are light and fluffy inside, a perfect bread for the creamy avocado and spicy peppers.

Second Breakfast

10:30 a.m. Lemon Greek yogurt with crunchy granola and strawberries. I am not usually a breakfast person or a yogurt person, but this little meal was just delightful.

Elevenses

11:30 a.m. Root vegetable pasties. This vegetable pot pie filling had potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, parsnips, corn, and peas, and is a familiar favorite. It’s easy to make a double batch of hand pies and store them in the freezer until they are ready to bake and eat.

Lunch

12:45 p.m. Broccoli salad and homemade roasted garlic focaccia with herb butter. This raw broccoli salad from Bon Appetit is great because it’s a little sweet and it stays crunchy for a day or two, even after adding the vinaigrette dressing.

Afternoon Tea

1:30 p.m. Grazing board with cheese, crackers, nuts, veggies, and dips. A good combination of crunchy and soft, sweet and salty, smoky and spicy. My friend’s homemade ranch dip was especially delicious. It also allowed us a little break in between preparing meals.

Dinner

5:30 p.m. Creamy tortellini soup

Supper

7:00 p.m. Crispy parmesan potatoes and gochujang baked tofu. It’s just not a Lord of the Rings viewing party without PO-TAY-TOES (boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew). And we finished up the day with a cake made with lemon, grapes, and anise – another previously tested recipe.

Beverages

We had two kinds of tea from the Lord of the Rings fandom blend from Friday Afternoon Tea: a black tea named Second Breakfast, and a green tea called Merry Fellow. I also made a blueberry vinegar shrub to mix with seltzer.

Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Kyle, who made the cemita buns and focaccia from scratch. And thanks to Amy, who crafted the grazing board, the tortellini soup, various cocktails, and hosted everyone for the movie marathon.