[Sca-cooks] new to list, what do you eat & making cheese

[PKSARGE at aol.com]

Greetings to all from Mykael Halfdan (mka- Dennis Olson = pksarge), I reside 
In Meridies, Shire of Thorngill, and am related (brother-in-law) to Mordonna 
the Cook and share an interest in cooking and all things Medieval. I have read 
with interest the postings for the past few weeks. I would like to share some 
of my experience/thoughts on some of the topics.  
On what do you eat? I would love to be able to provide all period prepared 
meals, but alas I would not want to spend all my time at an event in the 
"kitchen". So I do what I can and “cheat” when I must.   
At Gulf Wars XV, I camped with household Alekeep, at the time they had a 
loosely organized meal plan and camp kitchen. I "volunteered" to help with a 
couple of meals and managed not poison anyone with what I potted from the leftovers 
in the coolers and cupboard. In a moment of weakness I committed to being the 
"chief" cook for Gulf Wars XVI and found that nearly everyone was overjoyed 
to have some one else do meal planning, organize the kitchen and cook?? I enjoy 
cooking so much I have a hard time understanding the reluctance of people who 
don’t.  
I whole heartedly agree that period meals help set the mood. So I planned 
most of the dinner meals around period themes and we ate as a group under the 
torches. I posted my planned menus, we have a household website that makes it 
very easy to do such, and asked some of the other folks in camp to fill in the 
gaps, as I did not really plan on cooking every meal!! I then computed the cost 
of food and supplies and prorated the cost for each individual to buy into the 
meal plan. We found it a very inexpensive way to have quality meals available 
for everyone. It does take a committed head cook (me for now) to make it work 
but for those who want more time to play at other things it frees them of the 
worry of making time to cook or buying meals at food court. Here is what we 
ate: 
Monday night we had Saxon: Pot roasted ham with root vegetables + cabbage, 
bread, cheese & fruit. 
Tuesday; a guest cook made Swedish spaghetti?  
Wednesday: Middle Eastern (mini-feast for 50+) Dolmades, cucumber & yogurt 
salad, pita w/humus, mixed grilled meats (lamb/beef/venison), couscous, grilled 
eggplant and squash, and finished with melons, dates, dried apricots and 
almonds.  
Thursday: Mongol: Stir fry chicken w/rice. 
Friday: before Court: English: plowman’s plate, sliced cold roast beef, 
cheese & bread. 
Saturday: German: Grilled garlic venison patties and boiled vegetables (clean 
out the coolers) 
For lunches we had a dedicated cooler with sandwich fixin’s. I did have one 
planned lunch. Garlic and onion chicken soup w/rye bread. 
Breakfast was pretty mundane bacon & eggs - pancakes w/ ham - oatmeal and 
raisins, milk, juice, coffee (my addiction) and tea. Late risers were on there 
own.   
I also kept a bowl of fresh fruit (aples/pears) and a jar of pickles on the 
side board for snacks.  
The only asked that everyone share in the camp chores and cleanup - and they 
didJ 
On making cheese: if you make your own yogurt using goat milk you will get a 
really nice labna, the traditional (Balkan) way of storing it is to make it 
into fist sized balls that fit into a glass jar and covering them with olive oil 
-This does not work well with cheese made from cows milk it is not as firm 
and breaks up- These cheeses are similar to “farmers” cheese, soft and 
spreadable. I am going to try and slow smoke some with apple wood; it should dry out 
and form a nice skin-- I will post the results when done. (after the weather 
gets a bit cooler)  
My apologies for the length of my first entry but I find the list inspiring 
and enlightning and would like to meet all of you that I can.  
God's grace and protection. 
Mykael



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