SC - event report

[Laura C Minnick]

Greetings all!

	I just thought that you might appreciate a story about the
event I was at last weekend (and yes, it does have something to do with
cooking). I took my oldest daughter and two of her friends (all of them
15) to the Gatekeeper Tourney in CaversGate (mundanely Cave Junction, OR).
The site is on the Illinois River, which is a protected river and VERY
clean- the best swimming hole in the State. Lovely little event- little
Shire, very relaxed, very silly, and very fun. To be honest, I haven't had
real 'fun' at an event in a very long time (in the middle of a phase of
burnout/bitterness/bad attitude) but I had a BLAST and came home feeling
like I might continues to do this fool thing for awhile yet...

	Now for the cooking story...

	I've been trying to gradually nudge these girls towards maturity a
wee bit at a time- requiring more and more participation, etc. I' took
them all to the grocery Thursday night, guided them though getting what we
needed, figuring out the costs per person, etc, and they each put in for
their share of the $$. They are paying for a full share of the gas now-
and all of this is helping them learn about living expenses, etc. And I
also insisted that they pick up the labor of set up/tear down, camp
chores, etc., as I am less and less able to do for myself. And you know
what? They did a damn fine job! I'd told them that if we are going to
continue to go to events they have to take over. So I am guardian and
driver, and the Wise One Who Knows All (Mom? Where are the lantern chains?
Mom? How do you change the propane bottle without blowing yourself up?).

	Saturday night at Gatekeeper they always have a potluck. Because
it is a very young Shire there is still alot of macaroni and cheese and
such, and I and a couple of friends have been trying to lead by example,
by cooking really yummy period recipes on site, and putting out the little
card with the name, source, and ingredient. Well, this year I decided it
was time to thow the girls into the deep end of the river. So I gave them
each a recipe, redacted, in large print so they could work outdoors, and
the ingredients, and sat back and let them have at it! I was there to
answer questions, but they did the work, and boy, was it ever rewarding!
Kelly made the Icelandic Chicken (her favorite dish), Kim did a big pot of
Rapes in Pottage, and my daughter Rotrude made a Cheesecake from the Digby
recipe. There was a little bit of the pottage left but everything else was
gone. In fact, the Prince ate a quarter of the chicken himself ("I'm a
growing boy!"). And now that the girls have done it once, they'll be more
likely to do it again! And they figured out what I've been doing ("You're
sneaky Mom!") but they seemed pleased that I thought they could do it and
that I trusted them. Very happy weekend.
	All three girls also got their first kisses (courtesy of a cloven
fruit and a very attractive gypsy lad), and.... (trumpet flourish here...)

	I'm seeing someone! Still in the shaking-all-over first flush, and
it's WONDERFUL! Now you can all see what I'm like all goofy and dopey and
silly and... how is that different from usual, you say? I don't know, but
I feel like a new woman....

la la la la la!

'Lainie
- -
Laura C. Minnick
- -
'A Vaillans Coeurs Riens Impossible'
- -
"Libraries have been the death of many great men, particularly the
Bodleian."
	Humfrey Wanley, c. 1731




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