[Sca-cooks] RE: Welcome, a birthday party

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

Medieval-themed Birthday Party
10 guests
1200-1600 north of France/The Netherlands
standard kitchen cooking facilities

main course/main courses
Waterzooi (a thick soup of chicken/fish,veggies and cream/water)
Desert(rice in milk with safron)
Beer

Ok, just wanted to consolidate what you've got so far.  I would like to
throw another slant your way having to do with the concept of the birthday
party.  Mostly, they didn't recognize the Natal Day so much.  What with high
infant mortality, poor record keeping in many areas (often a traveling
priest would come through an area and record all births and deaths that had
occurred since his last visit, but they would all be set down for the date
he recorded them), and in general not knowing in advance whether this was
someone who was worth remembering their birthday or not, the day you were
born was not considered as big a deal as we do here.  Much more common was
the practice of celebrating one's Saint's Name Day.  As a matter of fact,
all Saint's days are based on the day they died, for all of those same
reasons.  These happened every year on a more-or-less scheduled date, and
had the advantage of being able to emulate the Saint's good works or
virtuous qualities for the day.  So, what is the name of the person who the
celebration is for?  What is their birth date?  What is the date of the
party (if different)?  I can give you some ideas for Saint's Days based on
that information.  Since many have patronages (those that consider them
their Patron Saint), and many more have specific festivities associated with
them, it could give you a whole lot of ideas about what you can do for party
activities.  (I know, a martyred saint doesn't sound like lots of fun, but
we did that the "Feast of the Saints" once which included Martyrs in Pitch -
gingerbread men served with chocolate dipping sauce, the diners got to dip
their own martyrs - lots of fun for the whole family)
Welcome to the list, and thanks for an interesting new topic!
Mistress Christianna MacGrain
Barony of the South Downs, Meridies (Atlanta, GA)