[Sca-cooks] Midrealm Coronation Lunch

[johnna holloway]

Hello, All.

I return from my latest activity to find nearly 400 messages in the 
inbox. I have been preoccupied of late with doing this little lunch for 
the Midrealm Coronation which was held here at the local fairgrounds 
last Saturday.
For TRM Alasdair & Guenievre, I researched and created a menu based in 
part on the household accounts of William Douglas, The Earl of Angus and 
his Countess, Elizabeth. They were internally exiled for political and 
religious reasons to Glasgow in 1608, and five months of their household 
expense accounts from that period of time can be found today in the 
National Library of Scotland. I used those accounts, along with numerous 
other sources,  to form the basis for the luncheon.

I did a 20 page booklet detailing all the dishes with a massive 
bibliography of course.
  The Menu included:
Oatcakes and  Barley Cakes, Assorted Breads and Manchets,
Honey, Marmalade, Preserves, Butter,
Selection of Artisan and Imported Cheeses,
Feather Fowlie Soup, Salat
Grilled Beef Steaks and Roasted Beef on a Platter,
Peas with Mint, A Dish of Barley,
Roasted Assorted Fowl on a Platter,
Spiced Carrots,  Rice Florentine,
A Jacobean Dessert Sideboard  of Various Sweet Fare
Shortbreads, Wafers, An Arrangement of Autumn Fruits, Tarts of Autumn 
Fruits, Candied Fruits, Lady Anne’s Cheesecake, A Cream, Something 
Chocolate! Marchepane, and Numerous Other Sweets.
Drinks of Various Sorts with Ice.

TRM  requested something Chocolate, so I did a rich brownie topped with 
whipped cream and melted white and milk chocolate followed by a topping 
of cocoa and more grated chocolate. The fresh whipped cream won rave 
reviews again.

In terms of how it went the one major thing I could have done without is 
still bothering me even on Wednesday which is 4 days after.
As many of you know, I already have the bad knee on the left leg. We 
ended up with wasps in the house as my husband and son and a local 
helper were carrying the food out to the cars. One got under my skirt 
and I was stung. I knew about the bite on the upper thigh; I also ended 
up with two more bites. One on the bad knee and one on ankle. The leg 
eventually went numb. By 2:30 when it was over I could hardly drag 
myself up the stairs from the basement where the luncheon was held. That 
of course didn't help as I don't do stairs well these days. Then it took 
until 10 pm Saturday night to get dishes done and packed away at home. 
There were other minor things like I forgot to iron the tablecloths. 
There were no electrical outlets in the basement where we were placed, 
although the event steward said there were lots that we could use. Good 
thing I didn't count on those. I supplied and donated all the food, 
tableware, linens, and decorations with the exception of the cheesecake, 
two potted mums, and some of the drinks.

So I'm back and I will make my way through this backlog and be up to 
speed playing librarian again sometime in the next couple of days.

Johnnae llyn Lewis