[Sca-cooks] Twelfth Night Gifts
LordGrise at aol.com
LordGrise at aol.com
Tue Oct 25 04:02:55 PDT 2005
In a message dated 10/24/05 10:34:56 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
gordonse at one.net writes:
With the weather becoming a bit cooler, I've started thinking more about
upcoming holiday events? What are some of your favorite gifts to give (or
receive) for Twelfth Night that are food or broadly food related? What's on your
holiday wish list or dream holiday wish list :-)?
Foods that keep well?
Foods that are best eaten soon?
Medieval versions of gifts in a jar?
Specialty ingredients?
Promisories for special meals?
What would your ideal meal for 8 consist of?
What sort of beverages would round out your meals?
How about dishes or cooking tools or outdoor cooking apparatus? Dream camp
kitchens? Modern tools to help with large feasts? Tools for food art? Table
decor? Baskets? Picnic baskets or chests? Spiffy folding tables and chairs?
Personal and table linens? Ideal garb for cooking? Garb you'd most like to
dine in (and what meal would it go well with it?)?
Herbs and Spices or mixtures? Herbal plants? Herbal preparations? Soaps?
Heirloom trees, shrubs or seeds? Period growing containers? Garden tools?
Books of recipes or food history? Translations you'd like to see done? Herb
books? Medical nutrition or herbal medicine books? Brewing or other
stillroom arts? Garden books? Collections of food art?
<<snip>>
What I would like, mostly, is preserved foods - esp oddball cheeses (no
fungus, please!) and pickled stuff that you don't find everywhere. A buddy of
mine one year made me up a gallon jar of pickled carrots and small onions -
thoughtfully loaded in with a center core of jalapenos and a single habanero.
He told me to hang onto it for at least three months before opening. I put
it up on the top shelf of the pantry (at the back, of course) and found it
the next Christmas - so I had ready-made Texas-hhhhot munchies for my
christmas party that year...
Drink-wise... I have this thing for single malt scotches? I want to try
them all. _Not_ at the same time. Of course, I happen to like Laphroaig, so
I've been told I ought to be perfectly happy with a bottle of Pine-Sol...
The ideal meal for eight... ::grin:: My family was a bit non-traditional,
at least for the US; we usually had beef for Christmas dinner, because my
Dad liked beef roasts. My Lady and Wife, all praises to her, goes along with
me on this because we go with her family traditions at Thanksgiving (Turkey,
sweet potatoes, cranberry dressing...). Thanks to Food Network and a
gentleman name of Alton Brown, I have a favorite cut for large gatherings... the
standing rib roast. The heck with a twenty pound turkey; I want twenty pounds
of this. With potatoes and rutabagas done round the meat. And winter mix.
With a really nice herbed bechamel sauce. And Homemade Bread from Scratch.
With butter and cheese. Eat until you just can't; there'll be plenty - as
in plenty- for later. Dessert? Non-traditional, again, but definitely
practical - Tiramisu. with ice cream. As for beverages...? I don't care for
red wines in general; me and tannins don't get along so well. Last year we
had a really good liebfraumilch (I hope I spelled that right) and it went
excellently with the main meal; not overpowered at all. I don't recall the
label. With dessert we had mead and coffee. Don't laugh; it's what we had, and
everybody went home fat and happy...
Book-wise, I'm a total noob when it comes to SCA cookery, so mostly I'm
working on the reference library. I want A Gode Book of Cookerie , my own copy
of Chiquarts, Take A Thousand Eggs or More, and just a few others...
Something I would like to see, and will probably work towards if it isn't out there
already, is a directory of period vegetables, by decade and by area. What is
period here is a novelty there, and is definitely, definitely not period over
there. Of course, I need to build up the library first...
In service,
Grise
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