[Sca-cooks] Apprentice? was Chickpeas, was Duh

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Thanks for the good and sincere vibes from several listees.

I hope i didn't make The West sound bad. It really isn't. There are 
no doubt Laurels here who would have me, but, as i said, i don't know 
who... The whole Apprentice/Protege thing is not as strong a 
tradition here as it is in other areas. Of course, we do have 
*masses* of Squires...

I gather that to become an Apprentice, one has to go up to a Laurel 
and ask if they'd be willing to take one on. I am on speaking terms 
with quite a few Laurels, but, well, i'm kinda shy to ask, although i 
can be rather assertive in other ways.

Second, i don't want to be known for food alone. There's nothing 
wrong with having this as a primary skill, but i'm one of those 
people who likes doing all sorts of stuff, and i'm trying to become 
somewhat well-rounded in Near Eastern cultural stuff.

I do a lot of costume research, although i haven't got my garb as 
refined as my research. Since most of our events are camping events, 
well, i just don't have much call to wear several layers of silk out 
among the foxtails and star thistles. I managed to make a prototype 
16th c. Persian outfit late last fall (out of silky but sleazy 
inexpensive synthetics), and a prototype 16th c. Ottoman outfit the 
week before Twelfth Night (some good fabric there - silk salwar and 
cotton lawn gomlek). I need to make new versions of each outfit in 
better cloth. Since i've been losing weight, the Ottoman support 
garment (a fitted under jacket) is not so fitted anymore, so i may 
wait to work that out after i've lost more weight. But i should make 
another Persian, since those garments are not so fitted and i've 
been, uh, collecting appropriate fabrics.

I did manage to win an A&S competition this past weekend - it was 
only the second one i'd ever entered, and stressing over the project 
was giving me sleepless nights for almost a month before. It was for 
"Knitting, Nalbinding, or Sprang". The competition was fierce - a 
friend of mine had entered a beautiful Sion pouch (tiny knitting in 
fine silk) and a nalbinded Egypto-Roman split toe sock. I made a pair 
of Mamluk period Egyptian child's socks, but with the feet 2 inches 
longer than the originals so they'd fit me. They were unusual in that 
they had animals and trees on them - most are either abstract or have 
bands that say "Allah" over and over. I want to make an Egyptian 
sprang hat and a sprang drawstring for my pants "some day".

I also do some illuminations, concentrating on Near Eastern styles, 
for which there is not much call... I have, on one of those endless 
lists of "things to do", making illustrations for the stories of 
Kalila and Dimna, two sibling jackals, one "good", the other, well, 
not so good, sometimes downright mean. Dunno when i'll get around to 
it. But i've been doing research...

Gee, i don't mean to sound anti-food... I really enjoy cooking 
feasts. In fact, i've got to gear up for the Roman Bardic Feast on 
Sept. 6.

Anahita