“When he [Frodo Baggins] came to himself again, for a moment he could recall nothing except a sense of total dread. Then suddenly he knew that he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow. A Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered tales spoke.” – The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-downs
I spent days trying to figure out what the hobbits would have eaten during their imprisonment in the Barrows. At the time I’m sure they were too scared to think of food, but I imagine after the hobbits had returned from their journey and started families, they may have baked cookies reminiscent of their adventures in the barrows as a way of story-telling. The implication is that barrow wights are similar in description to ringwraiths, but I think hobbits would have baked something a bit more fun and suitable for children, hence these mummy cookies. (I ran out of time, so I bought cookie mix from the store and then used gingerbread cutters to make little hobbits. Fortunately, I had made brownies the night before, so I combined them with some of the cookies to make a mini barrow with a gingerbread hobbit.)
I also happened to stumble upon some Blood Red Hot Chocolate mix; I see it every year and have always been curious as to how it actually looks, so I figured this was my chance to try it. (I found this particular mix at Marshalls, but I’m sure lots of stores have their own versions available.) Who doesn’t love freshly baked cookies and hot chocolate on a crisp fall day?
