bunnyjadwiga (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bunnyjadwiga) wrote2005-06-27 02:58 am
bunnyjadwiga) wrote2005-06-27 02:58 am
The Herbal Event
This weekend, Concordia ran an Herbal Event. It confirmed everything I knew about the wonderfulness of Concordia, too. Mistress Eleri was great as the autocrat, she arranged excellent classes with great teachers, including Annys Wolfe's Anglo-Saxon Herbs and Herbal First Aid, Johannae Le Mercer's Herbaria and Strewing Herbs classes, A class on Cordials from a member of the local brewing guild, Eleri's class on sweet bags, another class on herbal illuminations, a class on uses of tumeric, and more.
I also taught a class on making comfits. It was rather disjointed. I had asked Eleri to get me a stove to work on, so we used a Coleman, but I did not have a source-of-flame and kept having to have Angus Kerr light it for me, so I started the sugar syrup and started talking at the same time. Of course I kept having to stop and change topics as things came up. We made coriander comfits, anise comfits, and gingerbrede (which isn't a comfit, but I wanted some for the tasting board), and we talked about candied citrus and candied ginger, and the better period technique with rolling the seeds in a hot pan with sugar, which I've never done or managed to do. People seemed to think they got a good class, though.
The dayboard was very nice, with stuff from Apicus in it. The Feast was more herb-related, with herb focaccia, olive tapenade, ricotta cheese with herbs, feta cheese with herbs and pine-nuts etc., asparagus in a coating, a chicken and rice dish, a sallet, bacon-onion pie, and finally strawberry pie/pudding. All of it very good and period. The feast itself was lovely, the small number of us were in a u-shaped table arrangement and much conversation ensued.
It says something about me that while I had to scramble for feastgear I had the supplies for handwashing in the car even though I hadn't packed them. I had a nice talk with Mistress Peyton, and another with Master Emerson, and I got to spend some time 'discussing' the state of the Maunches with other Maunches. I also put a foot badly wrong by a joke that a few people took to be insulting fighters; I feel very bad about that. I stayed with Mistress Brid for the weekend and we had long and lovely talks.
I also taught a class on making comfits. It was rather disjointed. I had asked Eleri to get me a stove to work on, so we used a Coleman, but I did not have a source-of-flame and kept having to have Angus Kerr light it for me, so I started the sugar syrup and started talking at the same time. Of course I kept having to stop and change topics as things came up. We made coriander comfits, anise comfits, and gingerbrede (which isn't a comfit, but I wanted some for the tasting board), and we talked about candied citrus and candied ginger, and the better period technique with rolling the seeds in a hot pan with sugar, which I've never done or managed to do. People seemed to think they got a good class, though.
The dayboard was very nice, with stuff from Apicus in it. The Feast was more herb-related, with herb focaccia, olive tapenade, ricotta cheese with herbs, feta cheese with herbs and pine-nuts etc., asparagus in a coating, a chicken and rice dish, a sallet, bacon-onion pie, and finally strawberry pie/pudding. All of it very good and period. The feast itself was lovely, the small number of us were in a u-shaped table arrangement and much conversation ensued.
It says something about me that while I had to scramble for feastgear I had the supplies for handwashing in the car even though I hadn't packed them. I had a nice talk with Mistress Peyton, and another with Master Emerson, and I got to spend some time 'discussing' the state of the Maunches with other Maunches. I also put a foot badly wrong by a joke that a few people took to be insulting fighters; I feel very bad about that. I stayed with Mistress Brid for the weekend and we had long and lovely talks.