[Sca-cooks] A small Known World after all . . .

[Ruth Frey]

> Oh, for goodness' sakes!  There really are only 40 people in the world.
> Nigel will laugh his silly butt off when he hears about this.  Remember, I
> taught him everything he knows -- but not everything I know!  <evile grynne>

	Heh.  He was talking to the Duke and Duchess via ICQ when
I visited them last night, and we told him about this chance meeting.
He thought it was really funny, and said you're a marvelous cook
(that's Nigel -- always a diplomat! :) ).

> I hope you like the belt, the color is a little hard to mix, darn near has
> its own 'recipe.' I think Fiebing's turquoise is just a little green-ish, so
> I put in =just a dab= of Navy Blue, not too much.  Half of it got knocked
> over, it came out of the carpet like a champ, with rubbing alcohol but my
> coffee table will never be the same.

	Ouch!  Sorry to hear about that.  At least some of it came
out.  I've got a nice red patch on my carpet as a result of some
spilled acrylic paint.  That'll be fun to explain to the landlord
when I move out, eventually . . .

> Well, you go girl!  Here's hoping for the Masterwork win, do they give you an
> oak leaf cluster on your blue belt for that? <GGG>

	Not that I know of, but it would put me in the position of
having my ultimate A&S Knighthood all sewn up.  I have my Journeyman's
and Knight's list wins already (one for chicken stewed in wine, and
one for rose petal ointment).  The Masterwork is all I'll need, beyond
a certain amount of added participations and demonstrations (for
those unfamiliar with Adria, advancement works on a point-based system).

	<cooking frumenty>
> I'm thinking that means until it's breakable with your teeth, rather than
> hard enough to break your teeth. :-/  OK, I've gone and gotten the book.  The
> exact words are "til yt breste", that's "til it burst"  which makes a little
> more sense.

	Although that alone is not enough, I found out last night
with my most recent trial run.  My impression is that frumenty should
be rather soft and creamy (some recipes caution you that the wheat
must be "soft enow").  After a full hour's boiling, the point at
which a good portion of the grains had burst, it was still pretty
darn chewy stuff.  Even an added 1/2 hour simmering in milk didn't
soften it all that much.  Looks like it'll take a much longer cooking
time than initially anticipated (I figured an hour would do it, based
on rice and barley experience).  Well, we're in this for the
learning experiences, right?  :)  And at least I've got the spice
proportions figured so they're tasty (1/8 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp
sugar, and a moderate pinch of saffron for each cup of dry wheat
one starts out with -- the salt can be adjusted to taste).

> Well, happy times and congratulations on your upcoming honours,

	Thanks!  :)

		-- Ruth