PETUNIA'S SUPER SPECIAL YUMMY BUTTERY PERFECT SHORTBREAD COOKIES
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup chopped groundnuts (optional, but not really)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (definitely not optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, then stir in the groundnuts and chocolate chips.
Roll or scoop dough into large groundnut sized balls. Place them on unprepared cookie sheets 1 1/2 inches apart. Flatten cookies slightly. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from sheets to cool on racks.
SYLVERSTER'S CAVE DWELLING DRINK
1 teaspoon raw or granulated sugar
3 dashes bitters
2 ounces rye whiskey
Stir sugar, bitters, and 2 tsp. warm water in a rocks glass until most of the sugar is dissolved. Add 3 ice cubes and pour rye over. Stir 20 seconds to chill cocktail and dilute whiskey. Garnish with orange wedge and cherry, if desired.
Continued on page 6 in "Malnutrition Plagues Mournfall!"
Malnutrition Plagues Mournfall!
Recent reports have indicated a startling number of malnourished citizens in the area of the Mournfall settlement. Crops have failed due to unknown circumstances, livestock have gone missing or been found gored to death in their fields and citizens have been falling ill at an alarming rate, incapable of tending to what little crops they have left.
Here at The Paper, we care for our readers' well-being. And for this reason, we've put together a collection of recipes you can prepare with little to no resources. The issue of malnutrition must be addressed. And to this, I say, just eat something.
FIRESIDE LASAGNA
"No boil" lasagna noodles
1 jar marinara sauce
Sausage, crumbled, to taste
15oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
Parsley to taste
Preferred cheese mix
Seasoning to taste
Cooking oil
Lasagna should be prepared in a deep cast iron pot with lid.
Get a large fire going using (preferably) hardwood and let it slowly burn down. This process from start to finish can take upwards of an hour.
While the fire charcoals get going, now is a great time to make your ricotta cheese blend. Crack an egg into a large bowl and beat thoroughly. Add the ricotta cheese, chopped parsley, seasoning and mix until combined. Set aside until you are ready to start assembling the lasagna.
Even before your embers/charcoals are ready, you can begin browning your sausage over direct heat. Place the pot oven over the heat, add a little cooking oil, and then add in your crumbled sausage. Once the sausage is uniformly brown, remove the pot from the heat and transfer the cooked sausage to a bowl.
Add some cooking oil to the bottom of the pot and assemble your lasagna.
The last step is to bake the lasagna! Cover the pot with the lid and place it on top of spread out pile of charcoals. Then load up the lid with additional coals.
Hover your hand over the coals to gauge the intensity of their heat. You are looking for them to be quite hot, but not molten lava hot. Thankfully, since there is so much moisture in the lasagna, it’s a very forgiving recipe. So even if you’re a little hot, it will still turn out fine.
Rotate the lid and pot occasionally to even out any hot spots. After about 30 minutes over the coals, it should be ready. Take a peek inside — the cheese on top should be melted and lightly browned.
Remove from heat and allow a few minutes to cool down. Then slice it and serve.
EMBER GRILLED CORN ON THE COB
The great part about this “husk-on” method is that there is actually very little you need to do to prep the corn for the grill. We recommend removing any really floppy leaves coming off and cutting off the silky tassels that protrude from the top, but that’s it.
Like most campfire cooking, you want to actually be cooking over hot embers or coals–not open flames. This is particularly important for grilled corn, as open flames can leap up and catch your corn husk on fire.
To develop a hot bed of embers, get a strong hot fire going that is capable of burning full-sized logs. Get a few logs going and let them burn them until they’re starting to fall apart. This process can take upwards of 45-60 minutes. Move the active burn logs over to one side of the fire ring, and rake the hot embers of charcoals underneath your grill grate.
Aim for medium-high heat, with no open flames directly underneath the corn. The outside husk will start to brown and blacken, which is perfectly fine. There are many layers of husk and on the inside the corn is not being charred. In fact, all the trapped moisture is steaming them to perfection.
Over medium-heat heat, the corn will need a minimum of 20 minutes in order to fully cook. You can push this a little further up to 30 minutes if you are waiting for other dishes to finish up, but after that, the corn will start to give up some of its moisture and start drying out.
After you have grilled your corn husk-on and removed the husk & silk, you can return it to the grill grate to develop some browning on the corn kernels themselves. Since the corn is already perfectly cooked, you can add as little or as much browning as you like without worrying about actually having to cook the corn.
The classic topping for grilled corn is butter, salt, and maybe a little black pepper.
ARNGRIM'S EASY SKILLET OMELET
Prepare a mix of bacon bits, sliced mushrooms and diced onions (or any omelet toppings of your choice) ahead of time.
Place a grill and skillet over the fire. Cook eggs and prepared toppings together.
WILDER PIE-CONES
Fill waffle cones with your choice of fillings. Some favorites are;
Pie fillings
Chocolate and marshmallow
Banana, peanut butter and brown sugar
Sliced apples, cinnamon and brown sugar
Wrap in foil and heat over the fire.
SNOW'S OPEN FLAME BAKED APPLES
Apples
Rolled oats (avoid instant)
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Salt pinch
Butter
Whipped cream (optional)
These can either be baked in a cast iron pot with lid or wrapped in parchment, then foil.
Make sure to prepare your fire well-enough in advance to allow the larger pieces of wood to burn down to usable embers.
While the fire is getting ready, you can start to make the filling for the apples. In a small bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, salt, and butter.
It is best if the butter is soft, or even melted. If your butter is still too cold, you can place the bowl near the fire to warm it.
Carve out your apples. The best method of doing this is to use a regular metal spoon. Start from the top of the apple and carve your way down into the core but don't make a hole through the bottom.
You want to remove all of the core, plus a little extra. The more you carve out, the more room there is for filling.
Fill the apples with the oats and sugar mixture. Pack in as much as you can. It’s okay to leave a bit of a mound on top.
If you're using a pot place your apples inside and set over a bed of hot coals. Make sure all the apples are standing upright. Place the lid on top and cover it with more hot charcoals.
If using foils, place the individually foil-wrapped apples, top up, into a bed of charcoal or embers.
The apples should be soft and the filling should be crunchy on top and soft in the middle.