Redwall Feast Recipes
from the kitchens of the Redwall Abbey Library (by Mario)

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For my twelfth birthday in May, instead of a pizza party, I had a Redwall feast. I invited six friends and we ate at the picnic table in the backyard with candles in jars, and my dad hung a bedsheet on the fence and painted a red wall on it, and I gave a speech, which was short because everybody wanted to eat.

These are the three things my mom helped me make. They are real food that real people can make in a real kitchen, not the exact things from the books, because the books never say how much flour. I tested them all. Some of them I tested several times. You're welcome.

1. Abbey Scones
Makes 8. Every Redwall feast has scones, so this was the first thing I learned.

What to do:

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.
2. In a big bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.
3. Add the cold butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like crumbs. (This is the best part. It feels like sand at the beach.)
4. Stir in the raisins.
5. In a cup, beat the egg and the milk together with a fork. Pour it into the bowl and stir just until it all sticks together. Don't stir too much or the scones get tough.
6. Dump it out on a floured counter and pat it into a circle about three-quarters of an inch thick. (My mom checked with a ruler.) Cut it into 8 wedges like a pizza.
7. Put the wedges on the cookie sheet, brush the tops with milk and sprinkle sugar on them.
8. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until they're golden brown on top.

Mario's note: Eat them warm with butter and jam. In the books there is always cream on everything, so we put whipped cream on ours too. It worked.

2. Mossflower Nutbread
Makes 1 loaf. Brown and nutty, like something a squirrel would make if squirrels had ovens.

What to do:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a regular loaf pan (9 by 5 inches).
2. In a big bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Squish out the brown sugar lumps with your fingers.
3. In another bowl, beat the egg, then stir in the milk, oil and honey.
4. Pour the wet bowl into the dry bowl and stir just until there's no dry flour left. It will be lumpy. That's fine.
5. Stir in the walnuts. Save a few to put on top.
6. Pour it into the pan and bake 55 to 60 minutes. Poke a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, it's done.
7. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out on a rack. Let it cool some more before you slice it, or it crumbles. (I learned this the hard way.)

Mario's note: It's even better the next day, toasted, with butter. It's good for breakfast, which my mom says makes it practically a health food. She didn't say that. I did.

3. Strawberry Cordial Punch
Makes about 15 cups, enough for a whole Abbey. Or eight kids.

In the books they drink cordials, which are sweet fruit drinks. I asked my mom what a cordial was and she said it depends on who you ask, so we made a punch that is pink and fizzy and tastes like a cordial should taste, if you ask me.

What to do:

1. Put the strawberries, the lemonade concentrate and the water in the blender. Put the lid on. (PUT THE LID ON.) Blend until it's smooth.
2. Pour it into a big punch bowl and stir in the cranberry juice.
3. Right before everybody comes, pour in the ginger ale so it fizzes, and add the ice and the mint.

Mario's note: About the lid. I am not going to talk about the lid. The kitchen ceiling is fine now.

Coming soon, maybe: a hotroot soup. My dad says he will help, because he likes things spicy. My mom says "we'll see," which in our house means probably not.

If you make any of these, e-mail me and tell me how they came out! [email protected]

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