I think I'll move to Carthage
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| Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 | | 3:55 pm |
jumping tracks
I need to distract myself for the next half hour while my brains leak out my ears. I have reached the limit of website work for one day. So here's what I'm cooking for Thanksgiving! An appetizer pizza of roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, sage and maybe walnuts on cracked pepper focaccia Sweet potato cheesecake (the ricotta kind) with candied ginger and a gingersnap crust (crap! I need a springform pan) made with various sugar-substitutes and maple syrup Butternut squash brioche cinnamon rolls with maple-apple cider reduction glaze and plenty of local pecans (for breakfast Thursday, to use up the rest of the squash, of course) Spoon bread, which is like a corn pudding with extra butter Grilled endive with Roquefort cheese and toasted walnuts (hopefully no one else will like this and it will be MINE ALL MINE) icbhod is making a turducken, because my office is awesome and gave everyone Publix gift cards for an early bonus so we splurged and bought a turducken. I know he'll do something amazing with it. This is in addition to whatever my dad cooks, which I know will include several other vegetable sides and a regular turkey. I know my mom's baking a few pies. We're hoping to be overwhelmed with leftovers, we'll pack it all up (note to self: bring tupperware) and take it with us to icbhod's parents' house for "Thanksgiving, Redux" Friday night. I might sneak in another feast test recipe in there, too, who knows? | | Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | | 10:20 am |
[sca] Moar feast notes!
Recipe testing last night went very well. I tested three dishes because only ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) thalassak was able to come over, and four would have been way more food than we'd be able to eat. Each dish needed minor tweaking but all were good. I am very pleased so far with the combination of flavors. Now I have to figure out whether I'm going to forge ahead with the artsci project. I feel very strongly about getting it out there... I feel like we've sat on it long enough, dammit. I want people to start using it. I think I'll haul just this project down to Sebastian when we leave Friday and see what I can shake out of all the source materials. I'm entering as a teaching display not as a costuming entry, but I still want it to be as solid as possible. greetpg how do you feel about this? | | Saturday, November 21st, 2009 | | 7:01 pm |
[sca] feast notes- ArtSci
Tomorrow I'll be testing several recipes... basically the first two courses of the feast, minus the simplest recipes I already know how to do. Here's the tentative menu, recipes tested tomorrow are starred. 1st Course- Christian Catalonia Genestada- tarts of almond milk pudding* Panades D'Aucells- roasted onions stuffed with chicken and spices* Sosenga- thickened beef and pork stew sweetened with pomegranate and served over toasted bread* Salsa de Bolets- fried sweet and sour mushrooms Esparrecs- Asparagus in white wine and cinnamon Pastaganat- carrot puree with almond milk and cheese 2nd Course- Jewish Valencia Eggplant stuffed with lamb, garlic and thyme* Green Tafaya of Fish- Fish baked in a green herb sauce on a bed of fennel Flat bread fried in oil Dates and figs 3rd Course- Muslim Cordoba Tharida of al-Bunani- vegetarian "stuffing" with spinach and cheese, dressed with eggs and olives Royal Sanhaji- tajine of beef, beef sausages, poultry, chickpeas and vegetables spiced with cumin and pepper, served over rice A tasting plate of pastries and conserves I feel good about this menu... really good. I have several Spanish art books here for website pictures. I am trying to write a "scene" like we did for the Biyari, complete with pictures of garb and feasts. The setting is a Feria, a fair in medieval Spain, which will encompass the feast, Artisan's Row, the A&S Faire, all of it. Ferias in this time period were well-regarded as places of religious tolerance and cross-cultural trade. | | Thursday, November 19th, 2009 | | 10:05 am |
[sca] Double reality smack
Uh, jonaskaite just called my attention last night to the fact that Winter ArtSci is only 6 weeks away. I don't have a menu yet. I have only tested a handful of recipes. This weekend will be test kitchen weekend, by Monday I'll have a menu. Also, I will not be able to make Magna Faire because I have to get a wisdom tooth pulled. lepidopteragirl I will ship you everything I have so you will have several outfits to choose from. Someone must swear to take a video so I can watch the performance! And take lots and lots of pictures. I miss you guys so much, but Gulf Wars isn't that far away. Sad Madhavi is sad. | | Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 | | 9:38 am |
[sca] Associates and Peer-like Qualities?
I had quite the clue-by-four at the event, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I was in a small conversation over the weekend which a stranger overheard and decided to briefly join. This stranger related an uncomplimentary story about someone she had a monetary dealing with. What sparked the stranger relating the story was that the woman had commented about how she couldn't understand why she wasn't a laurel. When pressed for a name, the subject of the story turned out to be the apprentice of one of the people in our conversation. Though the apprentices present cackled quite heartily at the time, I sobered quickly after we parted company. How deeply embarrassing for that Laurel. And the telling of the story hit me too. How many people have been told that story? How many people will retell that story, adding juicy details? How many people will lose respect for that apprentice after hearing this story? As apprentices, what we are doing is building word fame. I just went back and read the excellent " what makes a guru" discussion from a few months ago. You can't say "Why aren't I a Laurel yet?" without seriously reviewing your own behavior in *all* areas and figuring out where you're lacking, what people are saying about you behind your back, and especially what image you are presenting. Chronic obliviousness, a trait I share with many SCA folks, is not an excuse. This is a subject for much thought. A person cannot elevate themselves, no matter how much he or she feels as though it is deserved. That is not for me to decide. It's like being a druid or shaman in the actual societal context of those titles... they did not name themselves. They were named by the community. I can be the perfect Peer in my own mind. I can make non-pareils left and right, I can study my ass off, I can teach at every event. But if I am not consistently exhibiting what are considered by my community to be Peer-like qualities, none of that matters a whit. Especially if I have never even bothered to find out what those qualities are.
Am I hitting close to the mark? | | 9:14 am |
[sca] Martinmass Moot=Density
This was an incredibly dense weekend. So much happened it seems to break the laws of time and space that I was only gone 48 hours. There were so many "Win! Fail! Win!" moments, I'm still frazzled. Here is the happy stuff. Pretty Princess Land- After working our arses off for about four hours straight the vigil Friday evening I was helping with became pretty princess land, and all was lovely, and the food was amazing, and I helped my friends pull off something cool. I don't know the household members well and the woman being elevated not at all but I like helping. "Being Seen"- I changed clothes four times Saturday, and I was absolutely showing off, and I was pleased with all four outfits. I even wore the full Mamluk get-up with face veil and izar and tiraz band while we distributed A&S flyers Saturday morning while it was still cool, which took me all around site. Meetings- all of the meetings, both scheduled and unscheduled, were productive and even relatively brief. I have a few new projects and responsibilities to add to the list, but I crossed a few things off that list, too. I was introduced to a million new people including (finally) That Trimarian Indian Laurel. Who was wearing a cotehardie. Ha. Happy- I got to see one of my longest-term SCA friends belt a new squire whom I also adore. The ceremony was lovely and I cried a little. There was another vigil Friday night for a man with an Ethiopian persona and he did a coffee ceremony with each and every person who came to speak with him. No idea if it was medieval or not but it was lovely and full of intent. He gave each and every person the gift of his effort in return for their gift of advice. It touched me. I hope I meet him sometime. All of the things I promised to bring I remembered, and everything was delivered to its appropriate destinations. This included booze, baked goods, a portable fire pit, handouts, and a hookah. I worked things out with my breakfast cook for WAS and all is good. I went to my first Kingdom Financial Meeting and Kingdom Officers Meeting, made chai for everyone and helped set up breakfast for the peanut gallery, and learned a lot. I drummed a little and I did not suck. I danced with a beautiful woman. | | Thursday, November 12th, 2009 | | 8:57 pm |
| | Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 | | 11:37 am |
| | Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | | 10:44 am |
47 and 48 of 50 Book Challenge
( 1-46 )47. Lord John and the Hellfire Club- Diana Gabaldon Set of three long short stories fleshing out Lord John. All were decent but left me trying to figure out how they fit in with the main timeline. 48. Kingdom Beyond The Waves- Stephen Hunt Oh, this book had so much potential. Fantasy-steampunk-gritty Victorian setting complete with magical assasins and steammen and politics. Unfortunately the author was only moved to describe interactions between characters. No physical descriptions, no ambience, no emotional grounding. Just dialogue and action, which seems nice until you're halfway through the book and realize you still don't know what the main character looks like, how she feels about the way things are going... very shallow experience of what could have been a rich and deep character and a complex sensuous world. I think Hunt was trying hard to be Mieville and unfortunately, failed. I slogged through 400 pages of this book and when I got to the end, the final climactic battle, I tossed the book aside because I realized I just didn't care who won. I'm *still* waiting for the next Outlander book... it's been so long I'm tempted to read the whole series over again. I'll only do that for a few series, ones I will read every few years when a new book comes out. | | Monday, November 9th, 2009 | | 9:43 am |
[sca] Test recipes, feast notes WAS
Saturday and Sunday I spent several hours going through the manuscripts I'm using for the Winter ArtSci Feast. I covered each book with sticky notes and narrowed myself down to 12-15 dishes to test for each course. Eventually I must weed them down. I could easily do an entire feast out of each manuscript but I really love the idea of the theme, so I'm sticking with it. There will be lots of tasting plates for the weirder and more expensive dishes. The current structure for the feast is three courses, one each for Christian, Jewish and Muslim foods, with a subtlety between each course and a tasting plate for one and three. Each course will have a sweet dish, a vegetarian dish, a bread, a savory meat dish, and a sauce, at minimum. I just can't limit myself to two or three meats for this feast, I just can't do it, but I'm am trying to be mindful of portion sizes. I cannot promise any more vegetables than usual though, medieval European feasts just do not roll that way. The additional research has begun... serving information and drinks is the next step in the research. I tested two recipes last night. As usual for me, the weirder one was the bigger success. I was eager to test the tharida recipe and even though I personally think the texture was incorrect, everyone liked it the best. Tharida amounts: 1 onion, pureed=3 c of veg broth=caraway, pepper, coriander=1 lb shredded french bread=1 block frozen spinach=1 lb full-fat feta cheese=>9 ppl. Sent Sovi Carrot dish: 2 lb carrots=4 tbl pork fat=2 oz shredded romano=>9 ppl. I will refine the spicing and presentation for both, the carrot dish needed work. | | Saturday, November 7th, 2009 | | 10:19 am |
[sca] plan for this weekend
I have so many projects I want to at least touch on this weekend... This is not a to-do list because posting those is just a recipe for guilt for me. This is just a list of current projects. Choli Project- research, bibliography, patterning, sewing WAS feast- florilegium article thread and AAC printed and needs to be covered in sticky notes, list of recipes to be tested TRU Database- data entry done, database relationships Garb for kids- Alex's 14th century outfit, Elizabeth's Mongol faux-caftan sleeves, James' proper caftan Garb for icbhod- Blue fighting caftan, silver brocade caftan, hat WAS Artisan's Row- Contacting artisans | | Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 | | 8:47 am |
[sca] Winter ArtSci- so effing excited!
Okay so we have made some major leaps in the planning of Winter ArtSci in January and so far I am feeling really, really hopeful and excited about this event. The site is gorgeous, small, completely handicapped-accessible, and CLEAN. The KMOAS liked my idea for an artisan's row at the event, I talked to Master Thaalibi last night and he liked it too, and he is going to start spreading the word amongst the "hard arts" people. I have someone (very much in the "see and be seen" category) to do the judge's luncheon. He's good, we work well together, and he has agreed to do something period but not from the same manuscripts as the rest of the meals. I want this guy to stand out. lalitadasa , the ever-wonderful, is already starting to test recipes, thereby giving me a boot to the ass I needed. Everyone I have talked to about the theme for the feast seems interested and excited, which makes this all so much easier. The autocrats started a yahoo group so the far-flung staff can communicate much more effectively. I still have several positions to fill in the kitchen staff, though, and I'd like to pull from the Scribes household but I don't know many of them very well. Most importantly I still need a hall steward and head server, which for my feasts are positions with significant activity and responsibility. lalitadasa and finngualadagimp what do you think? Any suggestions? Curse limits on ILLs, I foolishly filled up my request list with books for one project and now have no room for the other three I'm working on. Dammit. | | Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | | 9:20 am |
Party, Halloween, Brandon, distraction
This was a very busy weekend. Friday is fired. I was off-kilter all day like that horrible drunk woman at parties spilling her drinks all over everyone. That was me, stumbling around. The kids were able to go off and do fun things, which was good. We all went to a wedding party at a karaoke club to finish off the day. This was every bit as tragic as it sounds. My lesson from this is to just not go to karaoke, ever again, no matter how much I happen to enjoy the other people going. Alex did get up and sing "Soul Man" and we cheered and I waved a lighter at him. I did not drink anywhere near enough. Saturday was fun. icbhod and I resumed our Saturday expedition for groceries, drove all over Gainesville hitting farmer's markets and specialty grocers, and finding new foods with which to terrorize our children yummy things. I am thrilled to see greens again at the farmer's market, and of course we bought a basket of the very first citrus fruits of the year. Then after we unloaded our baskets and canvas bags, icbhod and Alex headed off to play warhammer. James followed soon after, dropped off by my mom after he had spent the morning with her creating a short ceramics how-to film for class. Elizabeth and I did a little sewing, a little laundry, a little kitchen puttering, just relaxed. Then when icbhod and the boys got home it was time to start packing up makeup and food to take over to my parents' house for trick-or-treating. After the chaos of feeding everyone dinner, guests arriving, getting the fire started, creating four zombies out of my husband and children and the requisite photographs immediately thereafter, the kids ran off to eat brains and get candy and the adults gathered around the fire bowl in the front yard to hand out candy and relax. By the time the kids got back from their trick-or-treating and retreated to the porch for candy trading, the fire was burning down and we were exhausted. icbhod and I had planned on dropping the kids off at home and hitting at least two parties, but instead we just crashed. Sunday I was up at the grotesque hour of 6:30am to get ready to leave for Brandon. Roxanne and Amanda, who had also been at my parents' the night before, showed up to pick me up at 7am sharp. After I begged for a stop at starbucks we headed for Brandon and the rotary camp to tour it for Winter ArtSci. The walk through went very well, the site is compact, in good repair, completely handicapped accessible, and the kitchen is small but clean and well designed. It's really too bad the kitchen is so damn small though... there are two halls that would easily fit 75 people each and I would much rather feed more people than less, but that kitchen just will not work for that many people. After the site walk we met up with even more people and eventually made our way to Taste of India with a party of 11. There was a buffet which just thrilled me, and I guided several people through the buffet line describing everything there. I luuuuurve South Indian food, and the buffet was an excellent mix of Southern and Northern food. The most fun part was the gol-gappa bar with all the ingredients to make your own gol-gappa. They also have the best idli and coconut chutney and dahi vada, and gajjar halwa and rice pudding... I literally ate myself sick. And then I ordered more coconut rice to take home and snuck out some idli and masala dosa. If there was an Indian restaurant as good as this one in Gainesville I would be a great deal heavier and poorer, so I guess I should be thankful for the rarity of my visits. When we got back to my house we found a party already happening. I was drained already but it was only good friends... as close to a "household" as I guess we have here. They ate and we all talked about the site walk and made plans. It was a really good evening. Everyone went home fairly early and I think we were all in bed by 9. I needed the sleep. I was distracted all weekend by words unsaid, phone calls not made, and an ugly self-confidence head trip. I am completely drained from Too Many People. Where's a sensory deprivation chamber when you need one? | | Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | | 9:21 am |
[sca] Time for some other projects
Before I dive into the next feast, icbhod made me promise that I would give some attention to other projects. I currently have four ziploc bags of unfinished garb for him and the kids, a choli project that has completely stalled, and the Trimaris Royal University database needs development work before it can be added to the Trimaris A&S website. Yesterday I got on worldcat and found a good score of books on Rajasthani textile production, Rajput and Mughal textiles, and historical textile production in India. Tonight I'll start typing them into the ILL forms. I have a deadline for icbhod's garb, which is good. I swear I'd never get anything finished without a deadline. I think this is why I enjoy entering A&S, the hard deadline is good for me. | | Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 | | 11:19 am |
note to self
You are now officially too old to think you can have beer, hot wings and onion rings for dinner. Oy. I feel like I have been poisoned. Today is granola and ginger tea. And vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables. On the positive side, I did fall asleep at 10pm and sleep until 4am. | | Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 | | 9:41 am |
[sca] Michaelmas 2009
The event is over! This feast went as smoothly as could possibly be expected in this reality. Seriously. Nothing broke, no one got hurt, nothing caught on fire, and I had plenty of volunteers. The weather was nice, the hot food was hot, the cold food was cold, and all of my kitchen team did amazing jobs. The pig cooked perfectly. The best compliment all weekend came from a very nice lady from Russia who drove all the way from Ft. Lauderdale, five hours away, to come to our Russian-themed event, specifically for the feast. She told me late Saturday evening that this was the best feast she had been to in the five years she had been in the SCA. It was an excellent event, smaller than hoped, but laid back and fun. James and Elizabeth both authorized and were the only two kids in the youth tourney, so they fought best five out of seven and Elizabeth won. I got called out of the kitchen to Court and received the Serpent's Gem, a much-coveted Baronial arts award. Both kids were asked to sit at High Table and earned a lot of praise for asking if they could still serve feast (which they did). Alex got to arch a bit and then talked to some fencers and is now interested in fencing. icbhod rode herd on the kids all weekend, acting as dad, armorer and fighting coach, and drove back and forth helping everyone pack and unpack. Then he gave me the best gift on Sunday when we got home... he drew me a good hot epsom salt bath with candles and let me soak and then put me to bed where I slept for the rest of the afternoon. Two down, three to go. | | Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 | | 11:41 am |
#45 and 46 of 50 Book Challenge
( 1-44 )45. A Singular Hostage- Thalassa Ali Enjoyable and rather fantastical historical fiction centered around an English girl sent to India to find a husband. She finds one, but not the one she was looking for. The author is most definitely an Englishwoman, the characters all have that emotionally stunted feel. 46. The Glass Palace- Amitav Ghosh I was swept away by this. The story of a family told over four generations and four countries and an entire century of war, politics, babies, death, and technology. I knew nothing of 20th century history in south Asia and found the history fascinating. The story of the family is told in scenes, sometimes long and sometimes short, of surprising emotional intensity, and then years and sometimes decades pass in a matter of paragraphs. To be honest, I didn't think I was going to like this book when I read the jacket. There is a constant undercurrent of language that pulled me in from the beginning, the idea that so many languages are spoken by the characters in the story, yet the reader is removed from this by reading in one language, and being forced to imagine all of the voices and languages of the characters. This is not a light read but it is sympathetic in its descriptions of the brutality and horrors of the period. It is realistic without being gory, which is a difficult balance to achieve. I can't wait to read his other books, The Hungry Tide looks particularly interesting. First though, time for a bit of fluff. I have the first three Keri Arthur books on order at the library! | | Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | | 1:57 pm |
[sca] building a team, event in two days, Fall Coronation
The baronial meeting last night was good but I am now feeling very anxious. There are so many details to a large feast like this, there were things I never even thought about, people that had to be checked in with. Minor crises averted. I have also lost sous-chef #2, which is the largest cause of my anxiety. I like Qaratai, I respect his cooking skill and I work well with him. I was relying on having him there for the minor meals and to oversee the sides dishes so I could concentrate on the meats and the sauces, and now I have to oversee it all. I'm not panicking. I'm not. I am questioning the wisdom of spreading out the work (and the recognition) to so many people, though. I have four feasts between now and September. The plan was to form a new team for each feast. I've always done feasts this way, it's insanity to try and do everything one's self, and there are required parts which I am just not great at. I have always found other people to do these specific jobs (bread baker, subtleties/plating, masters for special dishes, sous-chef, hall steward, breakfast cook) and made sure that each person received as many accolades as possible for their work. The breakdown comes when I assume a person knows exactly what they are supposed to do, and they don't, or can't, or expect me to micro-manage, which I don't. To avoid that happening in every feast, should I try to find people who can commit to every feast, and then work closely with them to build a stronger team? It seems unlikely that anyone would be willing to do them all, though. Re: Four feasts. I received word also about Fall Coronation. Apparently it was announced quite a while ago and I missed the announcement. The Baronial Coronet bid was accepted. I am the cook for Sunday night at Fall Coronation, which is also Trimaris 25th year. I already have the theme. This particular feast is more important to me than all the others combined, but I'm not even going to start looking at it until after Spring Coronation in March. I'm cooking for both Coronations in one year. Heh. | | Monday, October 19th, 2009 | | 7:31 pm |
My kids, they are so funny.
So we have been messing with James, Jim was having so much fun getting him to laugh until tears were running down his face. Alex and I were discussing whether it would be better to dress James up as a "chick magnet" (by sticking small rubber chickens all over him) or a "babe magnet" (by sticking little plastic baby dolls all over him) for school on Friday the 30th. James, righteously indignant, was attempting to give us the evil eye. Alex says "Wow Mom, he really looks like you when he tries to give us the Evil Eye." I said "That's not the Evil Eye. He just looks constipated". James laughed so hard he turned purple. I'm so glad my family is home. | | Sunday, October 18th, 2009 | | 7:44 pm |
Hooray for decongestants!
Last night I turned the heat on for the first time since April and this was of course followed by a major allergy attack. I was still up sniffling and sneezing well after two am. So this morning, still miserable, I admit defeat and take a half of one decongestant. I was drooping badly until it kicked in around 11. Since about 11am I have: cut out the faux-caftans for James and Elizabeth's fighting kits and sewn all the construction seams, made the decorative trim for Elizabeth's caftan, painted for an hour on the banner, tidied up the back yard, cleaned the boys' bedroom down to the floor, vacuumed, and re-hung all their jeans and coats, started on the kitchen plan for the feast, and briefly looked at Google website set up instructions. All I've had to eat today is two pastrami-and-swiss-on-rye sandwiches (with extra sauerkraut, of course) so I might think about eating something. I still have so much to do... |
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