SC - open fire bread baking question

[Bonne of Traquair]

Greetings--

I've promised an introduction.  Now seems to be the time to do so.  I'm in
my mid-30s and I've been playing in the SCA over five years.  Mundanely
I've finally broken into technical writing, and I work for a company that
manufactures fire-alarm systems.  I live in Connecticut (in the East
Kingdom's Barony Beyond the Mountain).  I have also lived/cooked in
northern California (Principality of the Mists) and suburban New York
(Crown Province of Østgardr...Greetings Master Adamantius).

I answer to the names Mary (what my mother calls me), Kirwin & Aiofe (names
I used before the heralds found me), Emme Atewater (my SCAdian name), and
sometimes "She who washes dishes with wolves".

I've attended a couple of conferences in NYS on medieval food & drink,
transliterated the frontispiece to Curie on Inglysche for the hell of it,
ran the kitchen for one 80-person SCA feast, and have helped out at many
others.  My favorite medieval dish is leeks & mushrooms cooked in butter &
chicken broth.  I have cooked stews & breads in cast iron on an open fire.

My husband's a better cook than I am; he worked his way through college
that way.  He once turned a batch of recalcitrant bread dough into fried
dough for two dozen people at Pennsic, cooked over a keyhole fire no less.
We raise honeybees and brew with the results (beer, wine, mead, melomel).
Robert has made medieval English style skeps--the old-fashioned straw hive
that is no longer used in the US because it can't be opened to check for
bee diseases.  However he did work the bees while wearing a beekeeping hood
he patterned on renaissance woodcuts (unfortunately we just learned his
mother threw that out during a move--oops).  Ask me about the SCA's
beekeeping mailing list if you're interested.

We have at least four bookshelves of books on medieval cookery & brewing &
gardening.  I would pay for a copy --even a transcription--of the Family
Recipes y'all have been discussing.  In fact I could probably be persuaded
to help you with layout if you decide to self-publish.

We have eaten ostrich and I think it tastes like veal.

In non-food matters, I'm a lousy but enthusiastic musician & woodcarver.
When we get our next house I will be setting up a lapidary workshop to
delve back into something I loved when I was in my teens. (Duke Cariadoc,
I'm the person who came to one of your Ithaca workshops and promptly
deposited herself on your back porch to sketch your Indian lapidary
wheel...still have the plans but haven't found the right stone yet.)  I've
got a hankering to try 3-d sculptures but don't have a clue where to start.

My answer to Rachel who says <<I have never found a satisfactory
explanation as to what it is all about, or one that would tempt me to
join.>> is that it's worth joining for one year just to check out the
magazine "Tournaments Illuminated".

My short explanation of the SCA:  We're a not-for-profit group of history
buffs who learn the European middle ages & renaissance and play with what
we've learned; any aspect of medieval/renaissance life is fair game.  The
expanded version:  We hold 'events' where we show friends things we've
learned to do or to make, workshops & classes where we share that info, and
tournaments.  At some tournaments, called "Crown Tourney", the victor is
put in charge until the next one, but there are people who hold elected
office for continuity's sake.  Our events are open to anyone who chips in
to pay the site fee and wears clothing that tries to look like clothing
from before 1600/1650.  Although the martial aspect is most prominent,
there are an incredible number of serious researchers and crafters
involved...including the armorers & blacksmiths who make the equipment the
fighters use!  If you have web access, take a peek around some of the links
off of www.sca.org--look particularly for anything by "the chatelaine" as
that office is specifically for handling questions about the SCA from
newcomers & from the media.

I probably shouldn't be sending e-mails from work, so if you ever have
reason to write to me directly please direct it to mary11 at usa.net.  And I
must say this is much longer than I'd intended so I apologize and will sign
off immediately!

Lady Emme Attewater (aka the unintentionally verbose)

work:  Mary_Hall_Sheahan at pittway.com
home:  mary11 at usa.net

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