Huva or St. Birgitta's Cap

Finally finished up my huva thus bringing my garb one step closer to being better.  The hardest part of this process was the pattern, which turned out to be not hard at all with a talented friend like Lady Elgiva available.  She basically held fabric up to my head and sketched out the curve and voila!  Cap Parts!

The whole piece is hand sewn, which I'm quite proud of, and if you're interested in making one for yourself, the Maniacal Medievalist is the site you need.  She breaks down the documentation and then takes you step by step through the process of making one and how to wear it.  There are even links for the interlaced herringbone stitch in the center of the piece, should you decide to make one with embroidery in the middle.

Of course, my modern short haircut means I'll have to have a filler at the bottom to get it to sit right on my head and I still have to find good veil material to finish off the look for fancy occasions.  It was super easy to do though and is quite comfortable to wear.  I highly recommend this project for any of the 13th and 14th century SCA ladies who are looking to add headgear to their garb.

Yule - Stonemarche

We had a wonderful visit with our neighbors to the west for a Yule event in Stonemarche.  It was a very family oriented event, with lots of activites for the kids.  It was also a pot luck affair, so I put three meat pies together and brought those to contribute.

The event itself was quite small.  There was no A&S or martial activities, but there was a station where kids could cover pine cones with peanut butter and then roll them in birdseed to make rustic bird feeders and a station where they could decorate their own cookies.  Guess which activity the kidlet wanted to do? 

Lady Sine Ruadh Friseal organized a wonderful light event.  There was even a St. Nicholas to give presents to all of the children and who later turned into Krampus to steal the children and sell them back to their families for cookies.  Stonemarche really is full of some wonderful people.

My only regret for this event was that we didn't get our act together and give our customary house gift to Lady Sine for her fine work at this event.  Being so close to Christmas, there wasn't enough time to get it done. With luck, we'll get a chance to see her sometime in the new year and remedy this.

More medieval dinners

This recipe is not directly from a medieval source, but it contains only ingredients used in medieval cooking and follows a medieval flavor paradigm.  It is a soup that is pleasing to modern palates and at the same time, not at all out of place on a medieval feast table.

Sherried Carrot Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
5–6 medium carrots, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup dry sherry (or other fortified wine)
1 tbs cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream

Saute the onion, carrots and spices in the butter until onions are soft and caramelized. Add the sherry, vinegar and stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Puree in a blender until smooth. Return mixture to cooking pot and add the cream. Reheat to serving temperature, being careful not to boil. Serve hot.

Crown Tourney of King Edward II and Queen Thyra I - Endewearde

Having never been to a crown tourney, this was a wonderful time.  There was pageantry and suspense and everything one hopes for when going to SCA events. 

I submitted my two pieces to the scribal largess.  My second scroll won the intermediate category of the competition, as well as the people's choice award.  The first scroll that is a mishmash of periods and styles was chosen to be the January Pikestaff cover.  Not bad for a beginner.  We even got to meet Queen Thyra who is as lovely and personable as she is graceful.  She humored us with pictures and presented my scroll with a token of her approval.  I was quite honored.

The tournament ended with a series of battles between Eorl Kenric of Warwick and Duke Gregor von Heisler, with Duke Gregor emerging victorious.  Meanwhile, the cooks of Endewearde worked feverishly to ready the hall for feast.  And what a feast it was.

1st Remove
Salad with vinegar and oil dressing
Bread
Butters
Dizony Por z Pasternak i Gier served on... (Stew of Parsnips, Leeks and Alexanders)
Kluski z Bryndza (cheese dumplings)

2nd Remove
Kurczak Pieczony z Suszonymi Sliwkami (Chicken Baked with Prunes)
served with
Zielony Sos z Musztarda (Green mustard sauce)
Kugiel z Rzepki  (Turnip Kurdel, sort of like a turnip casserole)
Komposjtum z Kapusty, Cwikly, Kopru i Grzybow (Compositum of Cabbage, Chard, Dill and Mushroom)
 Zupa Piwna z Bryndza, lub Caseata (Beer Soup with cheese and eggs)

3rd Remove
Zrazy po Cyprjsku (Hashmeat in the Cypriot Style meat loaf of ham and beef)
Soczewica i Kruczmorka z Boczkiem  (Lentils and Skirrets with Bacon) 
Surowka z bialej kapusty  (Polish Cole Slaw)

Pieczone Owoce o Krolewsku  (Court dish of baked fruit, kind of like a cakey bread with apples, pears, raisins, almonds inside)

Of these dishes, all of which were quite good, my favorite was the first soup.  I asked Lady Leofwenn of Wytleseie for the recipe and she happily obliged.  


Dizony Por z Pasternak i Gier (Stew of parsnips, leeks, and alexanders)
4 pounds leek greens (use the leafy part that is normally discarded)
3 pounds small parsnips, trimmed, pared, and sliced on a slant to resemble thick potato chips
2 cups sliced leek, white part only
2 cups white cabbage, shredded as for sauerkraut
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, sliced in half lengthwise
6 tablespoons honey
1/8 teaspoon ground saffron
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup coarsely chopped alexanders (leaves and small stems only) or celery, if alexanders cannot be found

Boil the leek greens in 1 gallon of water until soft and until the stock is reduced by one-fourth (about 1 hour). Strain and reserve the liquid, discarding the leek greens. Put the stock in a stewing pot with the parsnips, sliced leeks, cabbage, onion and garlic. Cover and stew 45 minutes, or until the parsnips are tender, then add the honey, saffron, cinnamon, salt, and vinegar. Stew 15 minutes, then add the alexanders. Let the alexanders cook for about 5 minutes, then serve immediately over pieces of stale manchet bread or cheese dumplings.

NOTE:  Alexanders and celery are similar in appearance and flavor.  As alexanders are only available in the spring, celery is a  reasonable substitute.

Kluski z Bryndza (Cheese dumplings)
 1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup barley flour
1 teaspoon mace
4 tablespoons salted butter
2 pounds farmers or feta cheese
8 egg yolks

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Melt the butter and mix into the flour and crumb thoroughly until its a loose mixture. Grate the cheese and combine with the crumb mix. Beat the egg yolks until frothy. Add to mix and work with hands into a soft paste. Form dumplings and place on a baking sheet or plate to dry for 20 minutes. While the dumplings are drying bring 1 gallon of water to a rolling boil in a large kettle. Turn the heat down to a medium low so the water is barely quivering. Add the dumplings. When they rise to the surface in about 15 minutes they are done. Or you can bake them like we did at 350 to 375 for 15 to 20 minutes.

Scroll the Second

Now that I've stretched my hand and learned that I can do scroll work, my second effort is a little less scattered.  It's based on this 16th century Exchequer File from the reign of Henry VIII. It is an account of tackle and other material provided by John Hopton, a bishop of Norwich, for the King’s ships.

I'm still using my homemade Elmer's sizing for the gilding.  The rest of the piece was done with Windsor Newton Spectrum Red, Primary Blue, and Permanent White gouaches and Holbein Yellow Ochre and Jet Black gouches.  Still using Nana's loose leaf gold and it's still a bear to work with.  Gold flakes everywhere!

I'm keeping with the crane and martlet signature on my scrolls.  I like the idea of signing them with marks instead of with a name.

I like how this came out and hopefully the recipient will too. 

Making the most of green before the white settles in

Verdant hues may be gone from this part of the world, but I've got a little bit of summer green in a bottle.  The chocolate mint was exceptionally strong smelling this year and I've been trying to think of a way to make use of it before the frost takes it away.  This is the recipe I came up with.  

Fresh Mint Liqueur

1 1/4 cups fresh mint leaves, slightly packed
3 cups vodka
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water

Wash leaves in cold water several times. Shake or pat gently dry. Snip each leaf into halves or thirds, discarding stems. Measure cut mint leaves to above measurement.

Combine leaves and vodka, steep for 2 weeks. Shake occasionally. Strain out leaves. Boil sugar and water together, cool. Add to vodka mixture. Age 1 to 3 months. Yield: 1 quart.

House Tokens for Crown Tourney A&S competition

Crown tourney is just a few weeks away and a mention was made that for the A&S competition, folks should bring tokens and vote for their favorites.  I thought I'd whip up some House Fulton tokens.  These are a terracotta colored Fimo clay that I baked in the oven to make little markers.  The design is pressed into the disks using a mold that I made from a bit of the Fimo, baked into a stamp.

Not too bad and they'll get the job done until one of us figures out how to make coins.