House Capuchin Shield2Anja and Loren were supposed to go Rock-hounding in Eastern Oregon this weekend. <sigh> Didn’t happen, so the newsletter is coming out on time.

Otherwise, this past week was mostly plants. The people who came in for Herb Bunch and Sewing are all “‘danes”. …but the plants are moved.

Hen and Chicks

This week’s Saturday and Sunday activities are being disrupted by an event at Anja and Loren’s mundane business.

  • During the regular Herb Workshop time, Anja is teaching a class on Simpling.
  • No Sewing Workshop this week.
  • Project Day will get taken over by an embroidery class.

This week’s activities

  • Glass shelves

    Herb Bunch – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 11am-1pm, being replaced this week with a class on Simpling.

  • Sewing Time – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 3-5pm (not this week)
  • Project Day – At Ancient Light, Sundays, Noon to 6pm (not this week)
  • Cheese and Wine happens irregularly, usually announced with little notice on our Facebook group. (Probably not this week…)
  • Yelllow cherry tomato

    Next Potluck – 10/20, 11/17, 12/15, 1/19/20

  • Winter Feast Date is 2/16/20, Date may change! Theme German Renaissance

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 – We continued with the plants. It wasn’t until Tuesday that Anja got most of the sorting done, but plants continued their journey during most of the week.

Amy brought in another packet of lucet cords.

James got us a review of his “care package”. – “I’m gonna tell you now, the onion pie quiche was a nine out of ten (the crust got soggy due to refrigeration sadly) and now I need to try at least three fresh and I think I can get Josh to at least try it despite its strange appearance (or it will be to him). The cabbage and ham pottage was good, I liked it, but I don’t think Josh would eat it, sadly. He’s picky with his greens oftentimes. The swimming sausage was pretty good, a little strong in tastes I haven’t had in combination before, but overall pleasant. The pickled beans were very good, I appreciated the choice of pickling spices and actually ate them as a snack while watching a television show. They make very good finger food. The scalded milk cheese is the only thing I didn’t enjoy overall, but can still eat. The spices are little too heavy against the cheese’s taste, but it’s still decent on toasted bread (potato bread in my case, likely not very period).”

Cookery – A tvarog got worked on as trip food and a guest gift. Ditto some pickled eggs and bean pickles.

Seed cakes

On Wednesday, Anja and Loren spent the afternoon and evening at Sasha’s and we baked seed cakes. The recipe isn’t completely period, since it’s based on one from 1640 or so, but it’s very close. We also subbed vanilla extracted in rum for the sherry and the rosewater, since we had neither, but they turned out with a nice, soft internal texture and a slightly crisp, more cookie-like than cake-like crust. You can see the “crumb” in this pic. We used a silicon cupcake pan and a shallower muffin-top pan. The muffins turned out fine, but not “cake-ish” enough. The ones in the biscuit pan were overfilled, but were the perfect depth. We made 12, but because of the “overfill” we’re guessing that the double recipe will make 16-18 instead of 12. Recipe below.

Sewing – 1st Tuesday evening in Waldport is Fiber Arts night at the library. Anja went this month and showed off the sewing kit, then worked on tissue covers, which continued during the week, as did the beading on the snip sheath. On Saturday she finally got the pattern for the custom cuff and collarband pattern set sorted out and it got approved overnight, so that got started in Project Day.

Sundials, etc. – Sanding a wooden bowl this week. …and wandering Anja’s plants around… 🙂

Herb Bunch – During the week various plants got tended and some harvest happened. We finally got potting soil down towards the end of the week, so the re-potting started on Thursday, with plant going to the glass shelves as soon as they were done. In the first hour of the Herbs Workshop time we busily potted starts and cleaned old pots. There’s a whole pan of used dirt that needs to be dried out and then microwaved before re-use. There were still some plants to move after we were done, some bits that need to “callus” before planting, but we even started on the plants in the window that haven’t been touched for a year or more. We spent that last part of class talking about the seedcakes, rising agents and how flours used to be bolted and graded… Yeah, that’s all herb-wifery…

Saturday evening one more set of plants that were overgrown in one pot got separated and re-potted, and on Sunday that last that were going to get moved, got moved.

Two small pouches that floated to the surface.

Project Day – With a pattern approved for the next big embroidery project, fabric needed to be prepped and cut, the pattern printed out and then started. It’s a fun pattern, created from the arms of the recipient combined with Bassee borders. The tissue holder project got set up to sit again for a bit and to be the “travel” bit of work.

Loren shifted more plants on Sunday, did some cleaning to help get the potting soil mess gone, then sat with more sanding. He had glued the bowl earlier (it had come apart along a previous glue line) so it was ready for more work.

Where did these pouches come from?

Recipes

Seed Cake (English, 1640) – Anja’s recipe, edited from https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2019/03/12/seed-cake-recipe-thomas-tusser/?fbclid=IwAR279hBfaLilyd1kwy9gWsHmvfdderd6Y9C6dN2McLG3SDwDl6V7cx-S6uY

The finished batch

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon mace
  • 2 stick butter, room temperature
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla (extracted in rum)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 egg whites (yolks can be saved for something else)
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla (extracted in rum)

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  2. Prepare 3 silicone 6-muffin-top baking molds and place on cookie sheet/s.
  3. In mixer (large bowl), cream butter, vanilla, and sugar.
  4. Add two whole eggs.
  5. One at a time add caraway, mace and salt.
  6. 1/2 cup at a time add flour.
  7. Set aside.
  8. Using a mixer (a 2nd large bowl), whip the egg whites until they hold their form.
  9. Fold the cake batter very gently into the whites maintaining the fluffiness of the whites even if it means the batter looks clumpy.
  10. Pour the batter into your prepared molds.
  11. Place it on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven.
  12. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and set in the middle.
  13. A cake tester will come out clean when it is completely cooked. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before flipping onto clean cloth. Either serve warm or when completely cool, store air-tight.

NOTE – Serve warm or room temperature with tea, coffee, fresh fruit, or preserves.

Miscellaneous pix

Music – 16th-Century Knives Engraved with Musical Scores Are Now Performed by a Modern Choir – https://mymodernmet.com/renaissance-notation-knives/

Links

Funnies 

Loren, Anja, Sasha, Amy, James (v)

divider black grey greek key

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

  • ASXLVII = 24
  • ASXLVIII = 88
  • ASXLIX = 794
  • ASL = 2138
  • ASLI = 731
  • ASLII = 304
  • ASLIII – 146
  • ASLIV – 165 plus 2 puppets, 20 powder fort packets, 3 snip sheathe w/snips, 9 tiny bobs, 1 emery,  lucet cords, 1 bamboo needlecase, 1 bone needle, 25 pouches for block-printing, 1 medium pouch, 4 small pouches, 12 bookmarkers, 18 unfinished pincushions, 1 sewing kit (except for bone needle), varnished stuff (124)

Total as a Household = 3994 handed off

moving writing pen motifIn ministerio autem Somnium! Anja, graeca doctrina servus to House Capuchin
Page Created 9/29/19 & published 10/7/19(C)M. Bartlett
Last updated 10/7/19