House Capuchin 3

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Summer is rough in a tourist town. After last week’s crazy crowds, this week was still nuts, but a lot closer to sanity. 🙂 There’s mostly Herbs Workshop, garden and links stuff in here this week, a few cookery things and we did have a good bunch for Project Day!

Meetings are starting to happen in the real world. Project Day and the Herbs Workshop are back to in-person, but the Virtual Project Day is still going.

Potluck is this coming Sunday! Again it will be both in-person and online. Herbs Workshop Thursday night will be starting beeswax. This week will be information about the material, cleaning and de-sugaring and we might get far enough to start up the candle dipping. Anja is also going to have to check materials to find out if we can do batches of wood butter.

• Herb Bunch – At Ancient Light, Thurdays, 6am-9pm, starts this week!
• Sewing Time – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 3-5pm
• Project Day – At Ancient Light, Sundays, 1 to 5pm
• Cheese and Wine happens irregularly, usually announced with little notice on our Facebook group.
• Next Virtual Potluck – 7/18, 8/15, 9/19, 10/17
• No Winter Feast in 2021. We’ll revisit for one in 2022 sometime in the next two months.

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/

Misc – (Used with permission) ODNilsson – Last Saturday, a brand new Viking exhibition opened at Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is the story of the man from Galgedil. The first time I heard the story it almost sounded like a saga. But it is all true. Some 1 100 years ago there were two half- brothers living in Denmark, in the era we call the Viking period. Violent times; and the two brothers both took part of this. One brother went over to England. He was buried in a mass grave in Oxford, together with a huge number of his Viking friends. The other brother surely might have been abroad taking part in Viking raids; he was a quite heavy set man with a number of marks from violence/battle on his skeleton. But he died in Galgedil, Denmark, where his bones were found some 20 years ago. His DNA was registered in the Atlas database, as was the DNA from his brother buried in Oxford. A database with ancient DNA can produce great surprises…like a DNA match. The skeleton in Oxford, England, had a DNA match with the skeleton in Galgedil, Denmark!!!The family relationship between them, according to DNA, is half brothers, or uncle and nephew. So, after 1 100 years apart the two brothers lie side by side at the National museum in Copenhagen. Science, saga and family joined together. Moving. I had the honour to reconstruct one of them, the man found in Galgedil. Unfortunately the facial skeleton of the man found in Oxford was not complete, and therefore not suitable for making a reconstruction. But this guy from Galgedil was a delight to work with. And many thanks to my superb collegue Cathrine Abrahamsson, helping me in this project!

Online Education

10/1-10/3 2021 – Daigaku-Ryo: Pan-Asia University = Constantinople to Heiankyō 2021 – October 1, 2021 — October 3, 2021 – http://daigaku-ryou.org/

Other Educational Events

A Master List for finding classes, webinars and other things – https://moas.eastkingdom.org/list-of-online-webinars/?fbclid=IwAR20OE8b6vvYKvmwrqwpule27szarZ7EPV-8R72F1eV2CxcdmOXQhZf9ayk

AUG 1 AT 9 AM PDT – AUG 8 AT 12 PM PDT – Virtual Known World Arts & Sciences Display –  https://www.facebook.com/events/1839225482915695/

Other Good Stuff

Knowne Worlde Entertainment Guide – KWEG – Entertainment List – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xEZAwCca4IQham3TpxfWnonQscG668mmYgIMA18YZ-E/edit

SCA Iberia put out a whole bunch of videos from their most recent event, and keeps adding more! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2RmLGx_KiNzoFiM6GAu5Hg/videos

Early Week – Mostly photos and some herb tending. Anja was also doing some mundane sewing.

Cookery – Not much until the end of the week when we pulled out a pork roast to thaw and then bake and started some cacik. Potluck cooking….

Gent KANTL 15, volume 1 (cookbook from the Netherlands) – https://coquinaria.nl/kooktekst/KA15Gent01.htm?fbclid=IwAR25rVKtF5UcztqQv5e5Q7c6T4297iTpJuMj02-9Vw3Nuh4OTO9j0WE2o4w

These Beautiful Medieval Wafer Presses Are Where Waffles Come From – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-beautiful-medieval-wafer-presses-are-where-waffles-come-180963809/

Sugar Plums and comfits – https://www.historicfood.com/Comfits.htm

Lombard Eggs – Royal University of the Midrealm – RUM – Baroness Lote Winterborn discusses a recipe for Lombard Eggs, and her recreation of the recipe. She also demonstrates cooking them!

Sohla Bakes an Apple Pie Recipe from 1796 America (& Medieval England!) | Ancient Recipes With Sohla – HISTORY – It’s a culinary reenactment of the American Revolution as Sohla makes two historic versions of apple pie, pitting the US vs. the UK. First up, Sohla recreates the oldest known recipe for apple pie from 1390 England, then bakes up a 1796 recipe for apple pie from the first ever American cookbook.

1796 American Apple Pie (from American Cookery):

For the pie crust:

• 1-2 egg whites
• 8 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 6 ounces cold, salted, European-style butter

For the filling:

• 5 to 6 pounds of small, mixed, market apples
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon rose water
• granulated sugar to taste

For the pie crust:

1. Whisk the egg white until just frothy. (This is just to break it up so it’s easier to add to the dough.)
2. Add the flour to a medium bowl. Cut the butter into thin slices and add to flour. Using your hands, rub the flour into the dough until you have peas sized pieces of butter running throughout the flour.
3. Drizzle in the egg white a little bit at a time, stirring with a spoon until the mixture mostly comes together. Gently knead to bring together into a ball, cover with a towel, and set aside in a cool place to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Roll the dough out to ⅛-inch thick, dusting the surface with flour as needed. Use the dough to line a pie pan, trimming any excess dough so 1-inch of the dough hangs off the rim of the pan. Crimp the dough, cover with a towel, and set aside in a cool place to rest.
5. For the filling: Cut the apples into quarters, keeping the seeds and skins intact. Add to a medium pot and add enough water to come ½-inch up the side of the pot. Cover, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are completely tender. Cool slightly, then mash the apples through a coarse mesh strainer or colander. Add lemon zest, rose water, and sugar to taste. Set the filling aside to cool.
6. To bake: Scrape the filling into the prepared crust and bake at 375 until the crust is golden brown.

1390 English Apple Pie (from The Forme of Cury)

For the crust:

• 300 grams all-purpose flour
• 60 grams bread flour
• 150 grams lard, melted
• 150 mL boiling water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

• 4 pounds of small, mixed, market apples
• 3 medium pears
• ½ cup roughly chopped dried figs
• ½ cup raisins
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Steps:

For the crust: In a medium bowl, stir together the all-purpose and bread flour. Add the melted lard, boiling water & salt to the flour mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir until combined.

Tip the dough onto the counter and knead until smooth.

Cut off about ⅓ of the dough, cover, and set aside. (This will be for the top) Form the remaining dough into a ball, then flatten slightly. Using a pie dolly, jam jar or your hands, mold the still warm dough into a pie shell with straight sides. Try to make sure the dough is the same thickness on the sides, that the dough on the base is not too thick and that there are no holes. Flatten the reserved dough into a thin disk slightly wider than the top of the pie shell. Chill for at least 30 minutes or until really firm.

For the filling: Peel, quarter, and core the apples and pears. Add the apples and pears to a food processor and pulse to roughly chop. Add the dried figs, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and process into a coarse puree. Or you can do it the medieval way & crush them all together in a large barrel.

Scrape the mixture into the chilled pie shell, top with crust and crimp. Use a dowel to poke a hole in the top of the dough to release steam while baking.

Bake at 400F until deeply browned.

Ancient Recipes with Sohla takes the food you know and love and traces it back to its origins. In each episode, Sohla El-Waylly details the surprising history of some of our favorite dishes as she attempts to recreate the original version using historical cooking techniques and ingredients. Along the way, Sohla highlights the differences between the ancient recipe and how we would prepare the modern version today.

MMMK Cherry Pie ver 1. – My Modern Medieval Kitchen – My Modern Medieval Kitchen Making Cherry Pie – Source: Middelaldermad by Bi Skaarup og Henrik Jacobsen

“Imagine a zoo …” Show and surprise dishes in (German) medieval Cuisine – Oxford Food Symposium Online

16th Century Tudor Table Etiquette – Lynne Fairchild – Learn about the expected table etiquette during the Tudor era, as well as suggested meals and fasting days. What did the Sumptuary Laws dictate regarding the number of dishes allowed for your meal? What time of day were the meals scheduled for?

Mead – an ancient beverage that is even better today! – Nick Saint-Erne – DRINK MORE MEAD! Mead traces have been found in remnants of 7000 year old pottery in China, it was named for the honey beverage brewed in India, was revered by the Vikings, and was an important component of Medieval feasts. Now it is your turn to make some mead at home – one of the easiest alcoholic beverages to brew – and Party like a Viking!

The Talking Cows of Ancient Rome – Tasting History with Max Miller

The first 100 people to go to https://www.blinkist.com/tastinghistory get unlimited access for 1 week to try it out. You also get 25% off if you want the full membership. Watch Invicta dream up an ancient Roman hamburger:

Sewing – Anja was working on mundane projects this week, although during the A&S night she got a few licks in on a couple of UFOs. No pix

A Five-Minute Guide to Medieval Fabrics – https://www.medievalists.net/2015/06/a-five-minute-guide-to-medieval-fabrics/

Sundials, etc. – 

Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance – CSMBR added 3 new photos to the album: Medical Technology.

Medical Technology Series 8:The Invention of Rivet Spectacles, c. 13521) Portrait of Hugh of Saint-Cher by Tommaso da Modena (1352) in the Chapter House of the Seminario in Treviso, Italy2) Replica of Rivet Spectacles, London College of Optometrists3) Replicals of Rivet Spectacles (1400-1600) kept at Ocular Heritage Society, London.The earliest type of spectacles had no sides. They secured to the face by clamping the nose between two rivetted lens rims. Even then the wearer could only keep them in place by remaining relatively still. Sometimes it was necessary to tilt the head back a little to prevent them falling off. All of these spectacles contained convex lenses for the correction of presbyopic long-sightedness. They were generally suited only to those few who lived beyond their forties and had the ability to read. Several names and places are associated with the supposed ‘invention’ of spectacles though the truth is they were probably invented anonymously and developed over a period of time. It is now generally accepted that spectacles were ‘invented’ (more likely improvised) no later than the last quarter of the thirteenth century by the Italians (rather than the Dutch or even the Chinese) and that their specific area of origin centred possibly on the Veneto region, rather than Pisa or Florence.It thus makes sense that the earliest depiction of spectacles [eyeglasses] in a painted work of art occurs in a series of frescoes dated 1352 by Tommaso da Modena (1326-1379) in the Chapter House of the Seminario attached to the Basilica San Nicolo in Treviso. Cardinal Hugo of Provence [Hugh de St. Cher] is shown at his writing desk wearing a pair of rivet spectacles that appear to stay in place on the nose without additional support. Of note that, the Cardinal actually died in the 1260s and could never have worn spectacles! Across the room Cardinal Nicholas of Rouen is depicted using a monocular lens in the style of later quizzing glasses. The artist has even tried to represent the physical effort of straining to see the book through the lens. It is notable that visual aids are portrayed as devices for the use of literate men as well as aesthetes – they had, after all, commissioned this important work of early Renaissance art.

Herb Bunch – THe first in-person in most of 1 1/2 years was Thursday evening. There were just two. We spent the time prepping dried herbs for storage and harvesting new and prepping that to dry.

Food plants

Herbs

Flowers and general

Shop (Saturday)

Home (Saturday evening) – finally got these potted up and otherwise attended to (Thyme garden purchase)

Project Day – 

Tamra Prior – I’m in the middle of the woods. 🙂  … Well…the first day and half were hot, buggy and gross. But I “sacrificed” good views (not really) to go back to the car on day 2 instead of go forward and then took the car to the north end. Most of my weekend’s backpacking was on a hot dusty road but I missed the worst mosquitos and I got a shower and pizza. And determined my newer car is comfy to sleep in. And still got a good view on day 3.

Isabeau – Using the pin cushion pattern as inspiration, I’m making a pattern weight. I’m sewing together 10 squares instead of 15.

Recipes

Trysenet (spice mix) from Heidelberg Cod. Pal. Germ. 511 (makes about a pint)

• 4 TBSP ground ginger
• 4 TBSP ground cinnamon
• 3 TBSP ground mace
• 3 TBSP ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 TBSP ground cloves
• 1/2 TBSP ground galingale
• Sugar (amount varies, but less than two cups)

Method

1. Measure spices into a pint glass canning jar.
2. Add sugar to taste (which for most will fill the jar).
3. Mix thoroughly.
4. Using good quality 2 inch plastic bags, bag up the spice in tablespoon amounts.
5. Pack back into the jar. This keeps the mix fresher or if you wish to gift some, makes it easy to count.

If you would prepare a good tryesenet (spice mixture), take two pounds of sugar, pound it, and searce it through a sieve. Afterwards, take four lot of ginger, four lot of cinnamon, three lot (each?) of mace and nutmeg, one and a half lot of cloves and half a lot of galingale and pound each separately. Searce the ginger, the cloves and the galingale through a sieve together. You must not searce (? on account of oiliness or fibrousness?) the cinnamon and mace. If you would have it stronger (?), make it as it seems good to you.

Miscellaneous pix

Music

In Praise of Chocolate – Passamezzo – 17th century ballad extolling the virtues of chocolate. From Chocolate, or an Indian Drinke, 1652. Richard de Winter: tenor Robin Jeffrey: guitar Alison Kinder: treble viol http://www.passamezzo.co.uk

Links

Love, Sex, & Marriage in Ancient Rome – https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1592/love-sex–marriage-in-ancient-rome/

A Quick Guide to Medieval Literature – https://www.medievalists.net/2020/07/guide-medieval-literature/

Medieval Silkworm Farming: A Global Perspective – https://www.medievalists.net/2020/07/medieval-silkworm-farming/

Labyrinths in Medieval Manuscripts: The Liber Floridus (ca. 1121) – https://www.medievalists.net/2021/07/labyrinths-medieval-manuscripts/

Věstonice – archeological heritage – https://czech-archaeology-news.estranky.cz/articles/history-of-czech-archaeology/vestonice—archeological-heritage.html

Video Links

Great Medieval Books: A Shakespearean Decameron – The Creative Contessa – A Shakespearean version of the tales from the Decameron! Leather-bound, beautifully gilt, and translated into English by John Florio in 1620 (see below for links). We will also be publishing several costumed readings from this delightful version, so stay tuned!

What Medieval Animal Bones Teach Us – Medievalists – Digging up animal bones can teach us a lot about the Middle Ages – in fact, zooarcheologists are able to make them speak! Today’s guest is Erin Crowley-Champoux, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities. She talks with Lucie Laumonier about zooarchaeology and how animal remains of the past can speak to social changes.

From Moneylending to Hell – Medievalists – Moneylending was serious business in the Middle Ages. You could be risking your very soul! Lucie Laumonier talks with Sama Mammadova, a PhD candidate at Harvard University, who studies the history of usury and moneylending in fourteenth and fifteenth-century Italy. How did medieval moneylenders reconcile their business with the fear of sin?

Faire Play – Episode One: Rosalie, a Modern-Day Medieval Tailor – St Ives Medieval Faire – Welcome to our brand new video series,”Faire Play”, where we take a look into the lives of living history heroes all around Australia. In Episode One we head to Brisbane to experience a day in the life of Rosalie Gilbert, a modern 14th Century medieval re-enactor and historical clothing enthusiast. Video: Lowanna Daoud-Opit & Dani Marsland for St Ives Medieval Faire.

Funnies 

Probably public domain, but posted by Eric Knibb on Facebook on SCA KNOWNE WORLD HUMOR. I remember a story about an SCA event. Two fighters were getting ready when one of them discovered that the hose clamp on his basket hilt was broken. The two of them, in armor, jump into the one guy’s truck and drive to a local hardware store. When they enter the store all Conversation stops. They quickly find the needed hose clamp and take it to the counter to pay. The clamp was a dollar and some change so the one fighter put two one dollar coins on the counter. The poor girl behind the counter just stares at the coins for several seconds before she says “oh right” takes the coins and gives the man his change.