[Sca-cooks] my menu for upcoming day event

[Susan Laing]

Thought I'd share what I'm making for the upcoming St Florian de la Riviere
Baroness's Birthday Par D'Armes, being held on the 28th of this month (St
Florians is a Barony located in Brisbane, Queensland Australia and is part
of the Kingdom of Lochac) and ask a question or two on presentation (see
bottom of post)

We're expecting about 40-50 people only, the food budgets set at $4 a head
(which is not so great considering that the recent drought has caused fresh
food & meat to skyrocket in price) and St Florians are *very* big on period
recipes so I've tried to vary the menu yet ensure the recipes are acceptable
to the eating masses.

The event is in a park with no facilities so I've decided to make everything
ahead of time and servie it cold

Mushroom tartlets - bite sized (taken from Le Menagier de Paris)

Beef & Currant Meatballs  (actually it's the "Pomes Dorryle" from "To the
Kings Taste" - Golden apples recipe but I'm ommitting the endorising layer
and exchanging minced beef for the listed minced pork, as the Baroness is
allergic to pork in all forms)

served with dipping sauces:
white garlic sauce ("The Medieval Kitchen" by Redon)
Green sauce ("The Medieval Kitchen" by Redon)
Whole grain mustard (purchased ready made)

Chicken pies - bite sized (combination of the two redactions for "To make a
chickin pie" from "To the Queens Taste" & "Sallets, Humbles and Shrewsbery
Pies")

Eggs - boiled & halved - half to be made with stuffed eggs filling  - Source
for Stuffed egg filling (??) - anyone know where this ones from - its' the
one with cinnamon, gigner, sage, parsley, apple, pepper, cder & saffron...
or does anyone have another egg yolk stuffing recipe?

Cheese - served cubed

Pickled Onions

Olives black & green

Minted Cucumber Salad (recipe from this list by Anahita and listed as "both
modern & medieval" - just wondering about the source on it)

Dried fruit & nuts - almonds, pasticcios, dried apricots, sultanas, dates

Stuffed vine leaves (dolmades (sp?))

Bread  - 5 cob loaves

Butter (possibly not a period practice but darn it! I *like* butter on my
bread :-p)

Fresh fruit (whatever's in season and affordable!)

Cordials - lemon syrup & Sekanjabin (Persian mint syrup)

Sweet tartlets
     Good tart of cheries (from "The Good Huswifes handmaide for the
 kitchen")
      Eine Krapfen (apple/honey/walnut tarts) - (from Guter Spise)

Gingerbread  (Curye on Inglysch - taken from Master Caridoc's website)

Excellent small cakes (Digby - taken from Master Caridoc's website)

Birthday cake (iced) - a small square purchased light fruit cake that's
about to be encased in apricot jam, a layer of marzipan and then a layer of
white Icing. I'll be trying to make a flooded icing design of the Baroness'
arms (that's tonights project) - it will be made separately and only applied
to the cake once I get it correct (see! am learning :-p)

The Baroness' is a big one on "properly & artistically presenting food"...
and wants things in the shapes of the Moon & crabs & other "Horoscope style
settings"... however she's violently opposed to using foil to cover dishes
or cardboard.  Anyone have any ideas on how I could make a passable attempt
at presentation without it costing me an arm & a leg?

Mari de Paxford
(aka Sue Laing)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/paxford/