SC - Re: What's the oldest thing in your fringe?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

harper at idt.net wrote:
> 
> And it came to pass on 15 Jan 01, , that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> 
> > Obviously a great deal of work went into every entry. From what I saw of
> > each, Lady Oksana did a lovely tableful of fancifully varied stuff, with
> > a large arch of what appeared to be feathers from where I was standing,
> 
> It was a swan.  She also had a chicken (a real, roasted chicken),
> with an apple for a head, "riding" on a papier mache steed, and
> brandishing a wooden spoon as a lance. 

Straight out of Taillevent, IIRC, a helmeted coq on a piglet. Yes, she
said a lot of people laughed at that one, and that it was one of the
great pleasures of her time as a cook in the SCA to _see_ and hear the
pleasure she was bringing people. Would we all had such an attitude!

>  And she had a boar's
> head sculpted of ground meat, I think.  Delightful, creative, and
> humorous.
> 
> > Baron Joram did what appeared to be a sort of treasure-chest theme, with
> > an assortment of boxes, jars and urns containing various dishes, some
> > gilded sugar-plate, etc.
> 
> I believe I would label his the prettiest display, though I wonder
> about the authenticity of certain items, like the molded hard-candy
> "jewels".

His Excellency will have to tell you himself; he's a subscriber. I agree
it was a beautiful display, and while there are some things I would have
done differently, that does not detract from his accomplishment. 
 
> > I finally did one ship, just under three feet
> > long, sailing between small islands made of single-serving cakes of the
> > same Digby fruitcake.
> 
> You get my vote for yummiest.  I tasted many (too many) delicious
> things on all the tables, but the fruitcake was very nearly addictive.

Hey, blame Digby. His recipe. Actually, a consideration I had hoped
would be raised, and wasn't, was that the main cake was made from
Digby's uncut recipe. How often do we cut a recipe down for a more
"appropriate" number of servings, and then find ourselves tinkering with
the remainder a bit, to get it right? I wanted to see how well the
recipe works as written, for the number of quarts of flour specified,
the eggs, the sugar by weight, etc. Other than the fact that it was
touch and go whether the cake pan would fit in my oven (my specs were
supposed to produce as large a cake as possible and still have it fit),
I did have to bake it slightly longer than the two hours or so that
Digby's recipe calls for; this may be due to a different shape. I get
the feeling Digby's cake is baked right on the floor of a brick or
earthen oven, possibly in a hoop of some kind.
 
> > Lady Andrea MacIntyre did another truly magnificent display, focused on
> > the spice trade and the Age of Exploration.
> 
> Splendid, delicious, and impeccably researched.  She had dishes
> from almost every major European cuisine.  You can't see it very
> well in the photo, but the ship atop her display was incredibly
> detailed, with a wood-colored marzipan railing on the quarterdeck,
> and the Eastrealm arms on the ship's sides.  Fruit-leather banners
> flew from the masts, above the pita-bread sails.  Very, very
> impressive.

In my two-hours-sleep-each-night-for-a-week state, I found myself
transfixed by the question of just what the blazes those sails were made of...
> 
> > All in all, competitions aren't my
> > favorite venue for achievement or, for that matter, recognition,
> 
> I have been very happy about the regular A&S exhibitions at
> Eastern events lately.  It gives me an opportunity to show off, share
> what I know, and get feedback, all in a comfortable way.  I am one
> of those people who gets anxious and stressed in competitions.  I
> like recognition (is there anyone who doesn't?), but I am perfectly
> happy to get it in informal, non-competetive ways.

As I've said before, I get taxis at 5 PM on Madison Avenue on a Friday,
and will kill ruthlessly to protect my family. What more competitive
spirit do I need? Take the prize, enjoy...
 
> For me, as a spectator, the Subtlety Battle was inspiring, and
> made me want to try all kinds of new things.

And that is why I remained in it after it became clear that it _was_ a competition.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com