SC - Question on Butters

[DianaFiona@aol.com]

Greetings, good Gentles all,

	I'm new to this list, and I understand I should introduce myself-
my name is Elaine de Montgris, in the modern world Laura Minnick. I live
in the Barony of Adiantun, in the (very wet at the moment) Principality of
the Summits in the Kingdom of An Tir. My primary areas of interest
(SCA-wise, at least) are in costume (1100 to about 1420, mostly 1380 to
1420), hats and headdresses from the same era, Troubadours and Trouveres
and their culture, period poetry forms, literature and literacy, the
Medieval Roman Church, in particular issues surrounding heresy, and the
Canon Law and Marriage Law (these last three I will be teaching at an
upcoming University of Ithra Session here in An Tir so if you're in the
area, look it up and sign up for my classes!).I have a BA in Medieval Studies
(Jack of all Trades, Master of none of the Academic world but a fun
program anyway) from the University of Oregon, and I'm currently working
on an MA in English, specializing in (you guessed it) Middle English,
mostly late 14th and early 15th c. lit. But I'm currently suffering
through 19th c. novels and such. S*I*G*H. I'm also a single parent of
three adolescents, which might explain my Lithium consumption!
	As to cooking, I was introduced to the idea of period cooking in
the modern day by Peregrine and Katherine Payne (Ray Lischner and Cheryl
Klipp), and we started off easy by cooking once a month from Cariadoc's
_Miscellany_, and shortly branched out into other documents, doing our own
redaction, etc. I have been doing some work over the past couple of years
on my own redactions, mostly of things available in the E.E.T.S. row, such
as _Curye On Inglysch_. I don't do feasts- I know my limitations, but
during tourney season I have a fairly elaborate kitchen (a !@#$%^&
kitchen, to hear various menfolk say it. They just don't like to lug it
around- but they're always happy to eat there!) and generally invite
friends for dinner, as well as feeding the herd of teenagers that are now
travelling with me fairly often. My piece de resistance was at an An Tir/
West War a couple of years ago, when I went all out, doing a feast at
which everything was as period as I could make it, from the creases in the
tablecloths (3 layers worth) and the bread trenchers to the gilded
chickens and Cormarye roasted on site. I collapsed in exhaustion but it
was worth it just to peek over the screen and see the tableau. (Never
again she says- until some bug bites and the urge to try it is
overwhelming...).
	Some of my current curiousities are middle-class diets and the
specific dishes/ingredients/spices etc. the serve as markers for crossing
class boundaries. The time around c.1400 was very fluid as to social
mobility, and I'm wondering what an upwardly mobile hostess might put on
her table to impress the guests. (The Pastons are interesting but a but
late). There has been a good deal of discussion of late on Chaucer-net, as
well as Ansax-net (Anglo-Saxon studies, NOT neo-Nazis), but other input is
delightful!
	I suppose that I have said enough for now and a hot cuppa is
calling me (calling me the most outrageous things, too!) so I will sign
off,

respectfully,

Elaine de Montgris (with alphabet soup but I already ate)
	(most often known as 'Lainie)
- -
Laura C. Minnick
University of Oregon
Department of English
- -
"Libraries have been the death of many great men, particularly the
Bodleian."
	Humfrey Wanley, c. 1731




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