Orchard War IV - Hadchester

When most SCA folks have gone south to participate in Pennsic, the "bandits" conduct raids on the Royal orchards in the Shire of Hadchester.  The people there have sent forth a cry to rally and help defend the lands and the people while the bulk of the armies gather to the south.

Orchard War is held up in Union, ME and was an awful lot of fun.  We only went up for a day trip, as dogs were not welcome on site, but it was a camping trip for some folks.  The event was small and it was Brenden's first.  He thought having a Chinese persona might be interesting.  I didn't quite have time to finish his garb, but he made do with a safety orange robe in a 14th century Han style. 

Archery was a big theme of this event and they had a great range that included smaller and closer targets for kids.   A wonderful gentleman named Eric loaned Abby a bow and she and Brenden shot a few arrows at a bunny target.

They did a marvelous job of having activities for kids. There were crafting projects and a hobbyhorse race and all sorts of things.  We even got some dancing in at the end of the day. 

There was an embroidery competition as well.  Basically they gave us a small hoop a square of fabric, a needle, and a couple threads of embroidery floss.  The theme was campfires and I did a quick piece that was basically an apple with a campfire where the reflection should be.  It wasn't really enough thread to do anything super complex, and I thought the design was alright but it turns out that it took the gilded apple for best embroidery!  My first prize!

Of course, we left before they handed those things out, but it was nice to know that I won.  Yipee!

Toys for the Kidlet

One of the tricks I've read on SCA with kids is to have special period toys that are only brought out at events.  The kidlet is still young enough that she finds enjoyment in blocks and bowls of water, so I painted up this trio of clothespins to go with a selection of blocks for building castles.  I also painted some smaller pawns left over from our Pandemic boardgame expansion and turned them into goblins who can attack the castle.  Simple, yet timeless.

Sunday Medieval Dinners

There are so many things that I'm excited to try my hand at that now that I've returned to the current middle ages.  The trick is that I've also got a mundane life that needs tending as well, so I can't simply rush headlong into too many projects at once.  

My solution for my cooking interest is that Sunday dinner is now a meal from the past.  There are many great period recipes online and I thought for our first Sunday dinner, I'd try something pretty simple - the basic meat pie.

The recipe came from the Boke of Gode Cookery.com.  It is essentially a list of options to choose from to make a filling.  These were the choices I made and the amounts of the various ingredients.  This was very tasty and would be good cold as well as hot.  Anything with raisins and dates makes me think of fall through, so this would be a much better dinner for right when the leaves are starting to change.

Beef and Pork Pie
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 c raisins
1 lb ground pork
1 lb minced beef

1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup stock
4 dates, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
4 egg yolks
1 9" pie crust with top crust

Soak raisins in wine until plump, anywhere from an hour to overnight. Sauté pork, beef and onion until onion is translucent. Add the stock, dates, soaked raisins and wine, salt, and spices. Let filling reduce and thicken slightly. Remove from heat and let cool. Add egg yolks, stirring well after each and put filling into a prepared, uncooked pie crust. Top with remaining pie crust and bake at 350 for 45 minutes until crust is golden.

Returning to the Past

I've been away on a pilgrimage of sorts.  Back in my college days, I was a member of the Bear Isle College in the Shire of Endewearde, in the East Kingdom.  I wore the black scarf of the Northguard.  For a short time, I served as Endewearde's chronicler.  And then life happened.

I wandered away from the Society and had adventures in the mundane world for a spell.  Then, in the summer of 2012, my captain, mentor, and friend, Gregory Finche, passed away.   At his memorial, I was gifted with the chance to reconnect with long lost companions from my days in the SCA and was easily persuaded to go to the Great Northeastern War in Malagentia.  I scrambled together to come up with garb for my daughter and myself and we had a marvelous time.

So, now we've come back to the past.

In many ways it's like starting from scratch; reassembling the pieces to build a medieval life.  The society I return to seems grander than the one I left.  It's bigger and more elaborate with talented artisans and fighters at every turn.  But, for all it's changes, there's something still so familiar about the SCA.  The generosity of total strangers.  The shared love for the old ways.  The terrible puns of the heralds.

Some things never change.

I remember being young and broke and dreaming of a day when I could afford the beautiful pavilion filled with gear that would secure me a place on enchanted ground.  Now, I'm older and less broke than I was, but with more financial responsibilities to consider.  I still can't afford the perfect medieval world - not all at once anyway, but I would love to make that dream a reality.  This is the story of my return to the current middle ages.  I share it in hopes that other new people, or perhaps gentles who are returning from their own pilgrimages to the mundane lands will find use and inspiration from these words.

In service,
Christiana Crane