[Sca-cooks] OT - Anyone here live near Ithaca?

[Katja Orlova]

> So if there is anyone one this list who has lived
> near or now lives  near Ithaca, New York, I'd love
to get your impressions of the place  

Hi Stefan!

<Katja waves from Rochester NY, about three hours west
of Ithaca>

Ithaca is home to one of the oldest SCA groups in the
Kingdom of AEthelmearc (and, possibly, the eastern
side of the country), the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn:

http://www.lightlink.com/myrkies/

Activities are centered in and around the University
of Cornell, with a core group of long-time SCAdians
playing with a rotating flow of students. Myrkies are
a fun group of folks, with some interesting quirks.
(They are firmly but politely not royalist, as a
group... hence the "dominion" rather than "barony"
nomenclature. They really focus on having fun and
prefer to stay out of politics.) 

There are a variety of interests and activities for a
relatively small group. I can direct you to some great
folks there, including a laurel for underclothes,
pelican for chirurgeonate/laurel for handgonnes, a
gentleman who is a mainstay of the fencing community,
a ladyship for hound coursing, a knight, and a master
of arms. 

Did I mention that Cornell has THE most amazing
library facilities? I and several friends got to look
up-close-and-personal with several stunning 14th,
15th, and 16th Century books of hours there once (by
which I mean in a private room, no glass case, turning
the pages myself with gloves). 

Plus, there are all those WONDERFUL period cookbooks
-- the ones His Grace Cariadoc photocopied for his
Collection. Imagine looking at Forme of Curye or Hugh
Plat "in the flesh"...

The weather is, well, it's Upstate New York. ;) There
will be weather. Expect metric tons of snow. 
However, Ithaca literally is "gorges," as the joke
goes. The gorges *are* gorgeous, and the summers are
lovely and not very humid. 

There are several spiffy restaurants, including the
famous Moosewood vegetarian cafe.

Ithaca is a not-bad drive to many of the active SCA
groups along the I-90 corridor (including my group,
Thescorre!!!), plus it's not far from several groups
over the border into the East Realm.

AEthelmearc, in general (and especially the northern
part of the kingdom), strongly supports serving period
food at feasts, and we are blessed with many talented
and energenic cooks. Most of those cooks are also very
conscientious about ensuring that menus accomodate
diabetics, vegetarians, etc. in addition to
carnivores. 
So, you'd be able to eat feasts, plus there are a lot
of nifty folks to chat with about food and food
history. Some you may already know from this list:
Aoife, Odriana, Margaret, Mathilde.

If you want me to give your email to some folks from
the area to ask them more specific questions, please
let me know.

toodles, Katja