House Capuchin Shield2Very, very busy week on the mundane side! We started with the last of the cookery from the potluck day, doing cheese tarts, and jam and peach tarts on Monday. Anja was braiding all week, and finally got something accomplished on the doll when the braiding was finished. Plants take tending, etc. Other than that this week was mostly mundane projects.

Strawberries

With Phase 2 starting in September, we hope, some of our real world classes, etc, will start up again. Project Day will be first and Herbs pretty soon after that. We’ll still be doing Virtual Potlucks for awhile and keeping the Virtual Project Day going for those who are at a distance.

We’ll continue the mini-potlucks, just Anja & Loren and one other “pod” at a time. Let us know if you’re interested!

  • Herb Bunch – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 11am-1pm
  • 2nd batch with one with chopped lil smokies, bottom are fig jam to the left, wild blueberry to the right

    Sewing Time – At Ancient Light, Saturdays, 3-5pm

  • Project Day – At Ancient Light, Sundays, Noon to 6pm
  • Cheese and Wine happens irregularly, usually announced with little notice on our Facebook group.
  • Next Virtual Potluck – 8/16, 9/20
  • Next Winter Feast tentative Date is 2/15/21, Probably not being held….

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/

Posted by Kendryth Filia Gerald on Facebook on 8/17/20 Used with permission.

To start off with, you have the Affable Host. The person/people whose house is just a bit too big for them, which was a selling point because they knew they would be hosting these pre-event parties. They would make sure to stock their refrigerator during the work week in anticipation for Friday, paying especial concern to having everyone’s favorite beverage. Basically, your classic Hobbit.

The first to arrive will be the Cranky Old SCA Veteran. He got into the SCA right after the military. He’s also got quite the collection of Michael Moorcock books at home. He’s not exactly sociable – in fact, the Affable Host and the forthcoming members of the Pre-event Party are pretty much the only people he speaks to on a regular basis – but it seems like everyone in the Kingdom has a Cranky Old Vet story, usually involving a punchline where he either growls at someone, or knocks them silly with his pike.

The second to arrive is the Charismatic Old SCA Veteran. Like Cranky Old Vet, he joined right after the military, or, if he didn’t join the military, he joined while in college. If in college, he was one of those All-American Sports Hero types that everyone liked and who treated everyone well. He’s the one who likes to tell stories, to train up the newcomers, to always bring a bottle of particularly fine booze, which he will happily share with you while he regales you with a story of the time when he and Cranky Old SCA Vet were younger and liked to hijack golf carts at War so folks could “surf” around the site on their shields.

The third to arrive will be the Young Upstart Fighters. These are the ones who, in a year or two, are going to be Monarch, and they know it. Cocky but not arrogant, they spend all their money on armor and weapons, which is why they look *fabulous* on the field, but are still driving the hand-me-down Subaru their parents gave them when they moved out on their own. Eventually they will marry someone that will be described as “no nonsense,” and “the reason why [Young Upstart Fighter] got their shit together.” Incidentally, it’s when they find their No-Nonsense Partner that they finally win Crown. For now, though, they will happily drink with the Charismatic Old Vet, discuss technique with the Cranky Old Vet, and smile at any younglings sitting in the hallway nursing their crushes with blushes and giggles

The next to arrive are the Co-workers. A collection of Squires, Proteges, Apprentices, and students, they all work together on the same tech company campus (you know they’re all in the computer technology industry), or work really near each other. They have an unofficial leader, who is responsible for sending out the emails and messages to the rest of the Co-worker team reminding them of the upcoming event and organizing the carpool to the Affable Host’s house for the pre-event gathering party. Note the reason why they always arrive sort of the middle of things: at least three people have to go home for something, two need to make a grocery run for something they forgot to get earlier, and someone has to be picked up from downtown.

The Stoic Leader arrives next. Basically a young Cranky Old SCA Veteran, the Stoic Leader has a Very Important Job where they have Many Serious Responsibilities and Make Serious Money. Unlike the Young Upstart Fighters, the Stoic Leader is either currently a Monarch, or has been a few times. You can feel the change of energy in the room when the Stoic Leader arrives, like everyone had been waiting for them to show up.

Last, of course, to arrive (which they didn’t include in The Hobbit) is the Crazy A– Mofo. The person who appears so frequently in folks’ “No S–t, There I Was” stories that there’s an entire subsection in the Kingdom (and probably a few neighboring Kingdoms, as well) called “No S–t, I Was There When Crazy A– Mofo…”. Crazy A– Mofo is probably not a Peer, or if they are, they’re either a Knight or a MOD because the Pels and Laurels have a well-founded concern about what elevating Crazy A– Mofo would say to the kids of the SCA (the kids, BTW, are already trading in their own “No S–t, I Know Someone Who Was There When Crazy A– Mofo…” stories). Crazy A– Mofo, of course, arrives in either the Hooptiest of Hoopties, or a cherry-sweet sportscar. How the hell they pack that thing for War is a complete and total mystery.

Once everyone arrives, of course, the party gets down to business. The Affable Host always tries to hold off bringing out the food till everyone has shown up, but the Young Upstart Fighters are always hungry, and the Co-workers meant to stop for food but there wasn’t time with all the extra driving around, so by the time the Stoic Leader shows up, most of the food has been picked through and folks are in the midst of working on their pre-event projects, playing chess, talking about the latest scifi/fantasy series on TV, or doing pick-ups in the back. At some point, Crazy A– Mofo will go into bardic mode, and everyone will join in. That is the official sign that it is Officially Past the Kids’ (if any) Bedtime. Four hours later, the Stoic Leader bunks down in the guest room, the Co-workers crash out in the living room, the Young Upstart Fighters are already passed out at the kitchen table, having lost their drinking game to the Old SCA Vets and the Crazy A– Mofo, who are now opening the bottle of whatever the Charismatic Old SCA Vet brought with them…

Classes – 

How to sew an easy Medieval T-Tunic (DIY)

A&S Competitions – keeping it fun and personally successful by Duchess Eleanor de Bolton

Landis Studios Coin Making Demonstration 1992

How to sew an easy Early Medieval Hood (Viking Skjoldehamn)

Early Week – Anja was braiding and did a batch of savory tarts.

I couldn’t resist!

Cookery – On Monday we used up some more of the tart makings, doing a batch with tvarog as a cheese and egg tart (recipe below), then having just enough for one more tart, we chopped up some little smokies and split the amount between two shell, and did jam tarts with the last of the blueberry and almost the last of the fig jam. Then one more batch from a modern recipe (Joy of Cooking Peach Pie) used up all but two of the

2nd batch with one with chopped lil smokies, bottom are fig jam to the left, wild blueberry to the right

prepared crusts. The cheese and egg tarts were *good*! …and who can go wrong with little smokies? 🙂

Loren got the blueberry jam and Anja the fig jam. Yum!

We used up more of the crusts on peach tarts, adapted from the Winter Peach Pie recipe from

Peach tarts…. the one to the right is “barfing”. You can see where it overflowed into the pie-maker. They cooked just great, but were too juicy. I think the canned peaches need to be drained longer.

Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking. We need to find a way to dry the peaches more. They turned out more than a bit liquid, which led to one “barfing” on the towel.

Later in the week was eating up leftovers. Anja added some microgreens to the buttered wortes and we made a kind of sandwich mix out of about 1/3 of the pork roast.


A Medieval Breakfast. Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread – https://historicalitaliancooking.home.blog/english/recipes/a-medieval-breakfast-wine-carbonata-and-millet-bread/?fbclid=IwAR0Ug2n-pUXovx4rGN9U9WMV7fVIwUT6YOuROrGcpQUdSdRItMDxM88K_hU

Beef and Cheese Pie, 16th Century, Netherlands – https://thequeensmeal.blogspot.com/2020/08/beef-and-cheese-pie-16th-century_21.html

Jane’s Medieval Kitchen Recipe 31 Chicken Pie

Jane’s Medieval Kitchen was live. – Spit Roast Capon with Honey Roasted Carrots and Herb Sauce

The box of fabrics.

Sewing – Anja was working on the doll some more plus starting some patchwork. A local sewing type was getting rid of fabrics. She offered a ziploc of pieces for $5. Anja offered, “$20 for all?” What we got was a *huge* box of already cut squares, fat quarters, 1/2 fat quarters and some yardage, plus a bag of already cut pillowcases! The fabric ended up filling two banker boxes and taking up the space of a 3rd on the shelves!

Doll…. lotta doll. Anja kept braiding and braiding, finally finishing the braid on Saturday. It turned out to be 9 feet long, less the 9 inches or so that went on the baby earlier in the week. …and I started with 9 yards…

Braids

Baby (Thursday)

 

Doll Cap (Friday)

Hair

More next week!

Herb Bunch – Mostly the same tending, watering, harvesting this week.

Project Day – Anja was sewing and Loren plant tending, pretty much all day. Peggy was working on scrolls, but lost power and wasn’t able to accomplish much.

Recipes

Volker Bach posted another of his interesting recipes from period cookbooks last week. We didn’t get to try this one, yet.

A mock pear – Recipe # 129 Ain essen gestalt als die piern mach also – Make a dish shaped like a pear thus

Item take well-selected Italian raisins and pound them in a mortar. Take blanched almond kernels and pound them together with that. Mix ginger and sugar into it. When that is done, knead it in your hand so that it is shaped like a pear and stick a stalk into it.

Easy Traditional Jam Tarts Written by Elaine Lemm – Updated 05/14/20 (edited for our version)

Raspberry

Ingredients

  • Purchased pie crust
  • 1 cup strawberry jam(or any fruit jam, or lemon curd) for 4.

Method

  1. Let crusts come to room temperature or zap for 10 seconds at 30% power in the nuker.
  2. Cut, using mini-pie large cutter.
  3. Once pie-maker is hot, put 4 crusts into the pie-maker and press down with the press….gently.
  4. Put 1/4 cup jam in each crust.
  5. Use a fork to make sure it spreads all the way across the crust.
  6. Repeat until all the pastry is used up—you can squish the pastry trimmings back together and re-roll as needed.
  7. Bake in the pie maker for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pie-maker and leave to cool completely. Yes, completely, or you’ll have burned fingers and mouths!
  8. Once cooled, serve and enjoy!

For full recipe and pictures – https://www.thespruceeats.com/easy-recipe-for-traditional-jam-tarts-435295

Crusts were a little overfilled, they sank in the middle

Tart of cheese and eggs

  • 8 oz Cheshire cheese or similar (We used a savory tvarog)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 oz butter

Method

  1. Measure your cheese into a medium mixing bowl.
  2. Zap the butter until melted. (I use a coffee mug for 30 seconds. )
  3. Pour the butter over the cheese.
  4. Use a fork to attempt to mix (it’s going to be frustrating….)
  5. Add your egg and keep going. As it comes closer to room temp it will start to mix.
  6. Let stand for 10 minutes, covered, and mix again. This time it ought to mix pretty well.
  7. Prepare crusts and fill as in the Jam Tarts above.
  8. At 10 minutes, check the center temp of one tart with a thermometer. It needs to be over 165F.
  9. Close the pie maker up and let bake a little longer. If the crusts were still pale, maybe 5 minutes. If they were already browning, no more than two.
  10. The centers should need appear liquid when you shake the pie-maker.
  11. Remove pies. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving warm, or refrigerate and serve cold.

Take good fine paste and drive it as thin as you can.  Then take cheese, pare it, mince it, and braye it in a morter with the yolks of Egs til it be like paste, then put it in a faire dish with clarified butter, and then put it abroade into your paste and cover it with a faire cut cover, and so bake it: that doon, serve it forth.

Bibliography: A BOOK OF COOKRYE. Gathered by A. W., 1591 in https://jducoeur.org/Cookbook/Cookrye.html

Brears, Peter – Cooking and Dining in Tudor and Early Stuart England, Prospect Books, 2005.

Peach Tarts (recipe adapted from Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking) (makes 4)

  • Peach tarts…. the one to the right is “barfing”. They cooked just great, but were too juicy. I think the canned peaches need to be drained longer.

    1 can of peach halves

  • 4 prepared crusts for mini-pie maker
  • 1 egg
  • 2 TBSP flour
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted butter

Method

  1. Drain the peach halves, the drier the better. Pat them down with paper towels, even…..
  2. Start the pie-maker heating.
  3. Quickly whisk the rest of the ingredients together.
  4. Once the pie maker is hot, put in the crusts and push down with the tool.
  5. Center a 1/2 peach, face up, in each crust.
  6. Pour 1/4 of the batter over each and close the pie maker. As you’re pouring put the batter directly into the center of the peach and let it ooze over the sides into the bottom. Trust me, it will. Pour slowly, so it can let bubbles out of the way.
  7. Let bake for 12-15 minutes and check the crusts. If they’re dark brown, you’re done, if they’re pale, give it another 5 minutes.
  8. Pull out of the pie maker to a pad of paper towel. Let cool, undisturbed, for at least 15 minutes before serving. Don’t just hand these to people, serve on a plate with a fork. They’re a little liquid….

Music

ancientfm.com this week.

Links

Video Links

Combat of the Thirty, A Tale of Chivalry from 1351

Funnies 

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 – 222 plus 4 puppets, 3 hippocras mix, 4 powder fort, 8 cheese spice and 9 powder douce packets, 10 tiny bobs, 7 pincushions, 3 pins, 4 snip case w/snips, lucet cords, 25 pouches for block-printing, 1 medium pouch, 4 small pouches, 12 bookmarkers, 14 unfinished pincushions, 1 sewing kit (except for bone needle), varnished stuff (124), 2 emery strawberries.

Total as a Household = 4053 handed off

moving writing pen motifIn ministerio autem Somnium! Anja, graeca doctrina servus to House Capuchin
Page Created 8/16/20 & published 8/24/20 (C)M. Bartlett
Last updated 8/24/20