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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ElectricDragon" data-source="post: 7225707" data-attributes="member: 10778">Jasper,The Earl of Eastwich, Shield Lord of the Northern Realms, handed over these pages. He only asked for a larger garrison of the king’s troops to help patrol the eastern frontier. I assured him that I would relay the request along with his personal message to his majesty with no delay. He stressed that the barbarian raids always increase in the spring, and he can barely cover the whole of the eastern border with the few troops he has at his command now in the autumn when raids are mostly done for the year. His own troops, some of whom are still recovering from multiple wounds, and the rest are fighting off a contagious cough can barely hold the outpost. He requested that I also relay this verbal message to the Curate of the Vesper. “Your clerics were among the casualties of the last battle with the barbarians as our main outpost was overrun. We have regained the outpost (mostly because the barbarians abandoned it), but we have no healers and a disease threatens the whole of the watch. Please send some divine guidance to the kingdom’s battered defenders else there won’t be an Eastwich come winter.” When I asked how someone like him way out here on the frontier had gotten the pages; he would only say that a private messenger delivered them last month. He refused to say whose messenger. The name in the dead merchant’s ledger was definitely the Earl, it contained his seal as verification. I verified that his grace has not left Eastwich in over a year and his only messengers were to his majesty and the curate, so something is definitely amiss.I dispatched a messenger with the curate’s verbal message so I could take care of a few odd jobs on my journey back to the capitol. I will hopefully send you another short note with yet another page or two of the cookbook from our other esteemed shield lord.AmbroseFrangelico (Hazelnut Liquor)IllusionIngredients:1/2 pound raw hazelnuts with skin, roughly chopped (about 2 cups); 1 cup of vodd-ka; 4 ounces of dwarven brandy; 2 ounces of sugar, powdered;  2 ounces of nectar; 1 vanilla bean, split.Serves: 3-4 per bottleEffects: Blur for 20 minutes but requires a Fortitude save DC 12 or tipsy (-1 Dex, Int, Wis, and Chr penalty and +1 Str and Con bonus while the blur effect lasts).Time to Drink: 1 minute (sipped, not guzzled) Directions:Combine chopped hazelnuts, vodka, and brandy in a sealable clay jar. Shake and let steep at room temperature for a fortnight.Combine sugar and nectar in a clay bowl and heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool, then add to the hazelnut mixture. Shake and let steep for 3 days, then add the vanilla bean and let steep for additional 3 to 5 days. Sample often. Once desired flavor is achieved, strain through sieve and then again through cheesecloth. The liquor stays fresh and tasty for only about a sennight before going bad (the taste is off and the magical effect no longer works). Craft (brewing) DC: 15; Caster Level: 10, blur; Cost: 10 gp plus cost of vodd-ka (500 gp per mug; which includes the dwarven tariffs), dwarven brandy (75 gp/bottle, which though still expensive, I can get from the Royal Cellars and not have to deal with the unscrupulous dwarven merchants), and nectar (which must normally be negotiated; for which I pay a measly 100 gp per jug). Cook's Note: Last year my scouts returned with a new alcoholic spirit, one I had never heard of before: Vodd-ka. They brought it back from the lands surrounding the dwarven mountains (as the dwarf nation is known). Obviously it is a dwarven concoction made from, of all things, potatoes. The brew is abhorrent, but Eric’s assistant, Jasper, is also a proficient brewer and his experiments with this beverage have yielded a delicious flavor. Subsequently, I have named the experimental liquor, Frangelico, after my beautiful wife. Here is the recipe Jasper developed for me. I spent fortnights working to create a dish worthy of this strange taste.Mana YeastIngredients:Quart-Sized Wide-Mouth Clay Jug; Nectar; Finely ground mana wafers; Cheesecloth for covering the jarDirections:Day 1: Put 1/2 cup ground mana wafer and 1/2 cup nectar into jug. Mix them thoroughly together. It should be thick and viscous. If it’s too thick or thin, you can add more nectar or mana as needed. The consistency is more important than the actual measurements. Once you’ve mixed the mana and nectar, cover the jar with cheese cloth. This is the starter.Day 2: About 24 hours later, feed the starter by giving it another 1/2 cup of mana and as much nectar as it needs to reach the same thick batter consistency as the first day you mixed. The starter should have a few bubbles in it by this point. Stir and cover again.Day 3: By now, if not sooner, the starter should be looking quite a bit more bubble-ly, and the top might look almost frothy. Feed again the same as on Day 2, stir, and cover again.Day 4 and following: Keep feeding the starter about every 24 hours. It should look actively bubbly. By now, it might be ready to bake with. Craft (cooking) DC: 10; Caster Level: 5, blur; Cost: 1 gp, 2 cp plus cost of mana wafers and nectar.Cook’s Note: I recently met the Grand Duchess Penelope of Westhaven, the great aunt of the king. During the weekly strategy sessions of the royal council, the dame suggested ‘bear sign’ (the common name for donuts) for the dessert course of the grand banquet during the stay of the elven delegation. I suggested, “but maybe something more appropriate such as ‘Royal’ bear sign.” The king agreed and directed me to make a ‘royal dessert dish’ in addition to the normal feast. I tried to explain that the tastes of all parts of the meal, from appetizer to dessert, needed to form a symphony for the mouth; but his majesty had spoken. I took her grace’s suggestion to heart and developed the Royal Bear Sign recipe. I must say that I was impressed with the grand duchess’ insight into the heart of the matter, even though she put me on the spot. I predict a long and fruitful association with this canny noble.Royal Bear Sign(Brown Butter Hazelnut Doughnuts)Abjuration and IllusionFor the doughnuts:Ingredients:6 ounces of butter*, melted; 6 ounces of buttermilk *; 7 drams mana yeast; 6 drams sea salt, finely ground; 3 large eggs*, lightly beaten; 4 ounces of brown sugar, powdered; 1 gallon and 10 ounces of finely ground mana.Cook’s Note: *Butter, buttermilk, and eggs work with various mixes. For the doughnuts I used: stench kow buttermilk made with assassin vine berry wine vinegar [+2 enhancement bonus to Fortitude saves for 10 minutes, immunity to electricity for 10 minutes], reindeer butter, and a giant owl egg.For the candied hazelnuts:Ingredients:4 drams white sugar, powdered; 4 drams hot nectar; ½ cup hazelnuts; 4 drams brown sugar, powderedFor the glaze:Ingredients:4 drams butter, melted*; 1 cup white sugar, powdered and sifted; 1 dram sea salt, course ground; 12 drams Frangelico (hazelnut liquor)*; 12 drams milk*Cook’s Note: Butter and milk of various types work. For the glaze I used: auroch butter and cow milk.Serves: 14Effects: mage armor, +2 enhancement bonus to Fortitude saves, immunity to electricity, and blur, all for 1 hour, counts as a meal.Time to Eat: 1 full round actionDirections:Cook butter in a small kettle over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns a deep brown, about 6 minutes. Pour browned butter into a large mixing bowl and cool to room temperature. Whisk together brown butter, buttermilk, yeast, salt, eggs, and brown sugar until combined. Add flour and mix in with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Cover bowl with plate and let rest at room temperature for two hours, then set the bowl in a cauldron and cast chill metal on the cauldron to chill dough.When ready to bake, line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and flour counter well. Scrape dough out onto board. Dust dough with flour and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll dough into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Use a floured 3-inch cutter to form 14 rounds; cut out the center of each round with a floured 1½-inch cutter. Place doughnuts on prepared baking sheets and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.While the dough rests, make the candied hazelnuts. Load a clay oven with stonewood (if available, otherwise skilled use of a flaming sphere will have to suffice), light it, and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together brown sugar and hot nectar in a small clay bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add hazelnuts and powdered white sugar; toss to coat. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes (same time with flaming sphere). Let cool, then chop with a sharp knife.Bake doughnuts for 18 minutes, until golden. Place on a wax paper-lined stone table to cool for 5 minutes. For the glaze, whisk together melted butter, powdered sugar, salt, Frangelico, and milk until smooth. Dip doughnut tops into glaze, sprinkle with candied hazelnuts, cast mage armor on doughnuts, and set back on stone table for 5 minutes before serving. Craft (cooking) DC: 20; Caster Level: 12, mage armor, bear’s endurance, blur; Cost: 977 gp, 9 sp, 2 cp. Cook's Note: The king has asked me to apologize to the head dwarven ambassador (I’m told he is the equivalent of a shield lord during war) for the banquet that became a debacle. He hoped it would help un-stall the trade talks. I practiced the dwarven greeting I had been rigorously taught and swallowed my pride. I faithfully repeated the tutored phrase with just the right inflection, then I humbly apologized to the Shield Lord, pulling out my only copy of the Forge Starter recipe. I promised to never again attempt to make a dwarven dish (unless a dwarf asked me to), and furthermore I would destroy the rare recipe here and now. With that, I tore up the recipe in front of his face then dashed the pieces into a nearby brazier. Only time I’ve ever seen a dwarf smile; it was scary. But it seems the stalemate was broken. His majesty later confided in me that most of the things I had asked for were approved. I will have to peruse the trade agreement to determine what items I need to find elsewhere.At least the elves are more receptive to new versions of their famous foods. I took their doughnut recipe and added the candied hazelnuts and glaze. They seemed very pleased with it, especially when the blur effect started; consequently, most nobles gasped in horror at first thinking I had drugged them. I presented the elven ambassador with a baker’s dozen of the Royal Bear Sign, since it is well known that elves favor the number 13 and think it auspicious.The common folk call doughnuts by the more fanciful name of “bear sign”. No doubt it was given because the shape is reminiscent of bear tracks (or so Jasper tells me), I took the liberty of using “bear sign” (royal of course) to name my new dessert.</blockquote>

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