Middle-earth Minutes Blog http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com News, Views, and Miscellaneous from the Middle-earth Minutes Podcast posterous.com Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:15:00 -0700 MEM's World-Famous Hobbit Hamburgers http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/mems-world-famous-hobbit-hamburgers http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/mems-world-famous-hobbit-hamburgers

Yesterday we posted a picture on our Facebook page of Micah mixing up some hamburger by hand. I was passing on my famous recipe to the next generation. It was time. We recieved a request for the details, and so we're sharing our secrect World-Famous Hobbit Hamburgers recipe with you, our friends. But, as Gandalf would say, "keep it secret; keep it safe!"

Why are they called Hobbit Hamburgers, you ask? Well, read on.

  • 1lb. Hamburger
  • 1 tsp. Onion Powder
  • 1 tsp. Black Pepper
  • 1/8 tsp. Dry Mustard
  • 1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 tbsp. A-1 Steak Sauce
  • 8 crushed Ritz crackers
  • 1 egg
  • 4-5 strips of pre-cooked bacon cut into small pieces
  • 4-5 medium Mushrooms (Bingo!) thinly sliced, no shortcuts
  • A few dashes of Tabasco sauce

Mix together by hand. Take a goodly size portion of hambuger (about 2/3 the size of a tennis ball) and roll gently into a ball. Form into a patty. But, here is the important thing - do not smash the patty! Remember, when cooking hamburgers you want to leave as many small air-pockets as you can in the patty. This allows for the juices to run around in there like a group of Hobbits evading a Nazgul. These hamburgers are going to be huge when cooked. The raw patties should cover your palm, and be about a 1/2 thick. They'll be over an inch thick when cooked! Be gentle when forming the patty.

For an added treat add crumbled-up Bleu Cheese in the very center of the patty. They are wonderful that way!

Grilling (because these are meant to be grilled): If you are cooking with gas, pre-heat the grill on high. Adjust to medium just before laying the burgers on. Grilling, of course, is an art. I firmly believe that you have to feel when the burger is done, but generally about 5 minutes per side will do it. And, as with any beef, rare - medium rare is preferred. No use is ruining good meat :)

These will be the softest, fluffiest, juiciest, and tastiest burgers you've ever had! No condiments needed.

Enjoy. And let us know what you think of this recipe.

 

P.S. Micah's version of these burgers were even better than mine!

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Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:12:00 -0700 Lost A Week At MEM Headquarters http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/lost-a-week-at-mem-headquarters http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/lost-a-week-at-mem-headquarters

We were doing so well with our every-two-week schedule, too! 

Micah and I had to skip Middle-earth Minutes this last weekend (we like to record on Sunday afternoons) due to the youngest Hobbit taking part in the local Community Theater's production of Peter Cottontail. She's been rehearsing for 6 weeks and had three performances this weekend. The kids' grandparents drove down to the Middle Farthing to enjoy the Sunday matinee, too. So we apologize for missing the show. We should be recording this weekend. And pretty soon Middle-earth Minutes will be heard LIVE on Middle-earth Network Radio if I can fit that into the Sunday radio schedule. 

We had planned on discussing Morgoth (Melkor) and Sauron this time, but that is too much to cover in one episode so we'll end up spreading it over a couple shows. Also, we will acquiesce (that's not the correct word!) to listener requests to include more Lord Of The Rings Online (LOTRO) discussions into the show. We're still brain-storming on exactly how to do that, but it'll be fun.

Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you soon.

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Tue, 17 May 2011 15:54:00 -0700 Micah Discusses The Upcoming LOTRO Updates http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/micah-discusses-the-upcoming-lotro-updates http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/micah-discusses-the-upcoming-lotro-updates

A quick news report on the LOTRO update coming May 23rd. Micah offers his opinion in this special audio report posted only on our Posterous Blog.

Micah_Discusses_The_LOTRO_Updates.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:44:00 -0700 MEM: The Long And Short Of It http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/mem-the-long-and-short-of-it http://middleearthminutes.posterous.com/mem-the-long-and-short-of-it

For those who subscribe to Middle-earth Minutes in iTunes, you may have noticed that all of the episodes have re-loaded in your podcast library. There may even be duplicates (if not more) now.

There are a couple reasons for this. First, we found out that the company we use to host the files is doing away with audio only support; they have decided to only host video series (Vodcasts). We have always had a backup host as well. In fact, all episodes are backed-up 7 ways 'til Sunday in order to ensure that they always exist. Last night I spend a few hours switching from the primary to the secondary host; editing things where necessary. The feed was switched twice in the process to ensure that no disruption in availability occurred during the process (believe me, it does make sense). Its all back to normal now but, as I've seen happen in the past, iTune's industrious aggregator wen't out and grabbed all available episodes all over again - thus possible duplicates in your iTunes Podcast library.

Second, and something that I've been meaning to do for a long while, is that each episode name has been shortened to the acronym "MEM..." etc. It has long bothered me that the show title has been repeated with the episode title, i.e. "Middle-earth Minutes - Middle-earth Minutes 12: Longing For The Lonely Mountain". From now on each episode name will will be truncated with the acronym instead. Looks a lot better and we can say "Em-ee-em" during the show. Bonus!

We apologize if your iTunes library suddenly became overcrowded. Just delete any episode that doesn't start with "MEM", and everything should be fine going forward. Unless, of course, we have to switch hosts again.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/159135/middleearthminutes1.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eERYSDKoTv Michael Kaiser Middle-earth Minutes Michael Kaiser