House Capuchin 3

Cleaning and putting away occupied the early week and then it was all set-up for Anja to get to Adiantum’s Mid-Winter Feast. We had our potluck on Sunday.

This week should see the invites for our Winter Feast go up on Facebook. You’re welcome to invite others! Please let everyone know that we must have RSVP’s by February 10 as we’re doing the feast shopping on the 11th.

Back to a more normal schedule this week!

• Herb Bunch – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 11am-1pm
• Sewing Time – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 3-5pm
• Project Day – At Ancient Light, Sundays, Noon to 6pm
• Next Potluck – (no Feb potluck) 3/17,
• Winter Feast Date is 2/17/19

Here is the direct Portfolio link which has all the past Project Day reports and various projects, original here:  https://housecapuchin.wordpress.com/portfolio/  and new one here:  https://housecapuchin2.wordpress.com/portfolio/ and number three is here: https://housecapuchin3.wordpress.com/portfolio/

Early Week – …was all unpacking and computer problems. By Wednesday most of the things were unpacked, cleaned and put away with the exception of Anja’s blackwork display things, most of which got done on Thursday.

Cookery – On Monday we ground the dehydrated mushroom lees. (Those are going to Alexander as a giftie.) Starting to get serious about feast food. Some of the soups ended up on the menu this week. On Wednesday we sorted the fridge, started a “scraped icebox” soup and got the pickles ready.

On Friday the tvarog got packed, plus some snacks for the day on Saturday. We used the little cheese crock and a paddle knife for display. …and then there’s Sunday… (below)

Sewing – A bunch of mending got done in the early week and then Anja was back to it on pouches. She did several scrap ones and then took the feast ones out and did another round of that sewing on Tuesday (pix on that project page), along with finding pieces of projects and putting them where they belong. She had an idea for a hood that would go with the new surcote, so that got pulled out on Thursday to work on. It got mostly finished on Friday, and then basted during the early morning. It still needs an internal hem on the lining/facing and some tweaking to make that work right, plus buttons and buttonholes.

Adiantum’s Mid-Winter Feast – Anja

It was very dark as we left home, at 5am Saturday morning. We had packed all but us, pillows and snacks into the car on Friday night. Not being sure what the weather was going to be like we took the route out 20 to 99W. There was a lot of fog, especially as dawn got going and up through the mountains. We stopped in Philomath for some breakfast and then drove through Corvallis, down 99 to Territorial Highway and then turned onto Ferguson to go to the Long Tom Grange. Google maps has some bad milages on those roads. The Grange is as least a mile closer on the maps, to the turn, than it actually is, and I think it was closer to 1 1/2 miles.

Loren offloaded after I found out where to put things and took back off for home. After getting gas, he was an hour late opening the shop!

I got signed in and then got the labels onto our serving dishes that we loaned the crew and found a spot where I was out of the way. Louisa had me fill the oil bottles for the tables and some other small stuff that I could do sitting down.

After that I pulled out my embroidery and worked on that in between watching people setting up, commenting and kibbitzing and looking at the wonderful scenery out the window.

Food

The kitchen was beautifully run. Louisa did a *lot* of planning and it showed. Sitting outside but within sight, I was amazing by how smoothly things were flowing. Some of that was omg-Alys-how-can-you-do-*all*-the-dishes-every-time, and some was Isis chopping and chopping ….had no clue that she wasn’t originally on the team. She’s a pro… and then watching Louisa keep it all going. Seriously impressive! Even had a job for impaired old me that no one sensible trusts with a knife! …although after that pic of Vesta…. 🙂

A&S Championship – Antonia did a good job of running this. I sat an listened to the judging and the entrants for quite some time. There were some really good entries on this one. Ainslee was the winner.

There were two courts during the day. I got to both. Many awards were given at Principality and

Baronial level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other activities – There was rapier fighting, a dance class, a number of people playing games, darts, and general connecting and talking! I had a good long talk about cheese with a guy whose dad is a pro chef and he gave me some resources for the fig cheese. I got Vesta’s blackworked band done and gave it to her. I also got to talk to a lot of people about our Winter Feast and I think I have a final menu.

…and then the feast was ready! We all ate until stuffed and folks with weird dietary problems were accommodated. Yes, I was able to eat the feast! They served me special versions of the feast dishes and I ate until I couldn’t fit in another bite!

Good company, too! I talked food with Marion and blackwork with her senior apprentice, Janet. A bunch of us all talked about teaching history as stories for quite some time. I passed around the remnants of the tvarog and have sent recipes to the folks who requested that.

Lots of stories and songs got told during the feast and I went and regaled the person who did the song about SCA parents at a teacher’s conference, with the story of my oldest getting expelled from first grade for knowing too much history. 🙂

After the feast folks started to pack up and head out, saying their goodbyes. The staff and crew got going on the clean-up with the few folks who were left at that point. I got a chance to talk to various people, embroidery with one, tablet weaving with another, games with a third and gradually sorted my things into the totes and packed.

Finally my stuff was in Alys’ van and we headed back to her place, going to bed soon after. I was asleep between 9:30 and 10pm, which just doesn’t happen! I woke during the night, thinking it was nearly morning (no clocks) when my air purifier quit. I got up and packed and then realized it must still be too early and went back to sleep for awhile, getting up in morning twilight and embroidering until Alys woke.

We had coffee and breakfast and she showed me a bit of the house, which is a wonderful old one with all the lovely dark wood and built-ins and porches. She gave me a couple of Christmas Cactus starts that I’m going to plant this week.

Loren got there around 9am and we loaded and headed home. We had a good drive, but I was pretty sleepy, fading out around the time that we gassed up in Florence, since the weather was good enough that we took the more usual way home.

Project Day – Ended up mostly Anja working on the soups and little embroidery, Loren working on his bone pieces and unpacking.

Potluck – No one said they were going to show for the potluck, so we decided to make it easy on ourselves and only do the test runs on the soups. These were all three crock-potted, but Anja adjusted the recipes, so we know how we’ll do them for the feast. There might be another trial run or three on the Applade one. We made a good meal with the other things on the list!

The Applade had far too much ginger in it, but until the aftertaste hit was really good, although Loren thought it wasn’t sweet enough. The Cassia soup was much more subtle and the flavors blended. The Bruet… that stuff smelled horrible when it was cooking, and the first taste of it pre-egg was not so hot, but when salted and with the poached eggs in it was tasty and unusual. We’re going to use a better parmesan in it for the feast, but I think we’re going to make it ahead of time, so people don’t get put off by the cooking smell. It’s in the ballpark with cooking cabbage…. We have two sets of samples out for folks to try (maybe 3), so we’ll report on those next week.

Potluck Menu 

1st course

• Pickled egg
• Pickled black bean
• Veg Pickle
• Dilly bean
• Carrot/Turnip pickle
• pickled mushroom
• *dilly beans

 

 

2nd course

• Applade Ryalle
• Green egg and cheese soup
• Cinnamon soup

 

 

 

3rd course

• Small sausages in a mushroom cream sauce
• Bread fingers with tvarog

 

4th course

• Nuts and comfits

Recipes – Soups

Applade Ryalle (from Harleian manuscripts) Adapted from https://giveitforth.blogspot.com/2016/10/harleian-ms-279-ab-1430-cxxxv-applade.html?spref=fb

135 Apple Royal – Take apples and seeth them until they be tender and then let them cool; then draw them through a strainer; and on flesh day cast thereto good fat broth of fresh beef and white grease, and sugar and saffron, and good powder; and on a fish day, take almond milk, and olive oil, and draw there up with a good powder and serve forth. And for need, draw it up with wine, and a little honey put there to for to make it than sweet and serve it forth.

Interpreted Recipe 2-3 apples

• water to cover
• 1 cup broth, wine or almond milk
• 1-2 tbsp. sugar or honey, or to taste
• 1 tsp. good powder (I used pouder douce)
• 1 tbsp. butter (for flesh or fish day recipe)
• pinch of saffron

(Original instructions)

1. Cut the apples into large chunks and place in a pot (uncored, unpeeled them.
2. Cover with water and boil until apples are tender and water was almost gone.
3. Put  apples into a food processor and pureed.
4. Strain into a bowl.
5. Add powder douce to the apples
6. Heat the broth with sugar or honey
7. Add the pureed and spiced apple mixture.
8. Cook together until the soup has reduced to the consistency you want, and then serve.

Anja’s version

The apple stuff for the feast will be created from apples harvested, cooked and frozen in the early fall.

• 1 3/4 cup apple          used 1 apple in water to cover
• 2 1/4 cup red wine     1 cup wine
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg           1 enough nutmeg to cover the surface
• 1/8 tsp clove               1 dash
• 1/4 tsp cardamom      1 shake
• Some ginger got in there from the brewet
• Drizzled honey to taste and left honey on the table to add.

The apple stuff was cooked, already, so it was dropped into a crockpot to heat with the other ingredients. Honey was added before serving.

Tallivent – Green egg and cheese soup (bruet or brewet)  – Anja’s version

Take parsley, a bit of sage, just a bit of saffron in the greens, and soaked bread, and steep in puree [of peas] or boiled water. Add ginger steeped in wine, and boil. Add the cheese, and the eggs when they have been poached in water. It should be thick and bright green. Some do not add bread, but add almond milk.

• Crockpot
• Parsley,   2 bunch
• Dab sage
• Dab saffron
• Bread crumbs, 1 cup cubes made 3/4 cup crumbs
• Dried Ginger cubes soaked in white wine
• Dried green peas cooked pureed (used 2 cups water)

1. Cook all of the above together

2. 

   Grate cheese and add (cheddar? Parmesan?)

3. Poach eggs in almond milk, maybe? Or water
4. Add a little cooked bacon.

Cinnamon Soup (based on Bera’s version, mixed with Tallivent and simplified)

• 8                 20                80                 Ingredient
• 4 cup         5 cup           5 qt               Chicken Broth
• 1 tsp          2 1/2 tsp    3 1.2 Tbsp   Cassia (rather than cinnamon)
• 2 Tbsp      1/2 cup        2 cup           White wine
• 1 cup        2 1/2 cup     3 pound       Frozen Green peas

Method

1. Bring all but peas to a boil and taste.
2. Add cinnamon and salt, if necessary. (Can be saved at this point)
3. Add peas, bring back to a boil.
4. Turn heat to “keep warm” until serving
   

   14. Cassia soup.

   Cook your chicken (or whatever meat you wish) in wine or water, quarter it, and brown it [in lard]. Take completely dry almonds cooked without peeling, plus plenty of cassia; crush, sieve, and steep in beef broth. Boil well with your meat and some verjuice. Take cloves and grains of paradise, crush, and add. It should be thick and strong.

Miscellaneous pix

Music

Links

• The Oldest Clove – http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/53963?fbclid=IwAR2tpkGKf1QgULm64dLpkf61e7ub1e_-T67gUDkwY-pmatvT9olgpE9npgM
• Pick your format – The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Kenelm Digby – http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16441?msg=welcome_stranger
• 5 Objects That Illuminate the Medieval Exchange Between Africa and Europe – https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/trade-between-africa-and-medieval-europe

Funnies 

J.d. Johann Shush posted on Facebook. He says it’s anonymous…. 

I swear, a horse came into the bar tonight. You get used to that sort of thing at this joint. So that wasn’t the weird part. He sidled up to the bar, right beside Thor, god of Thunder—still nothing surprising about a mythological warrior throwing back a few at my favorite watering hole. Truth be told, Thor was so drunk before he even ordered another giant flagon of mead, he paid the steed no heed either. The strange part happened next.
Suddenly, the horse went slack-jawed and whacked his hoof onto Thor’s shoulder, whinnying, “By the Great Mr. Ed, I know you!”
Thor, used to being recognized in public, responded, “Yea, verily, it truly is I in all my splendor.”
The horse continued, “Do you think you could give me the recipe?”
Thor looked a little puzzled, just briefly, but replied, “Thor’s wonderous deeds cannot be reduced to a mere recipe. I say thee nay!”
The horse’s nostrils flared, his tail swatted in agitation, and he said, “By Trigger, they always say you should never meet your heroes. All I wanted to do was get your doughnut recipe!”
“Doughnut recipe? I am Thor god of Thunder!” Thor proclaimed and raised his mighty hammer, preparing to smite the equine offender.
If such a thing were possible, the horse turned red and said, “My apologies, sir. Let me buy you another round. I mistook you for one of the hosts of my favorite cooking shows, God Eats.”
Thor bellowed a thunderous laugh, “Apology and beverage accepted. It seems as if you have confused me with Andhrimnir. Happens all the time.”
“I see,” said the horse. “Well, I guess it’s . . . A Norse of a different cruller!”

Loren, Anja

Largesse Item Count – (includes gifts, prizes, auction items, etc.)

• ASXLVII = 24
• ASXLVIII = 88
• ASXLIX = 794
• ASL = 2138
• ASLI = 731
• ASLII = 304
• ASLIII – 96 plus 25 pouches for block-printing, 8 bookmarkers, 24 bottles of gall ink, 22 unfinished pincushions, 1 sewing kit (except for bone needle), varnished stuff (124)

Total as a Household = 3780 handed off

In ministerio autem Somnium! Anja, graeca doctrina servus to House Capuchin
Page Created 1/16/19 and published 1/22/19 (C)M. Bartlett
Last updated 1/22/19