Elsa's Event Write-Ups

Calontir's Cook's Symposium 2013

As posted on the Mooneschadowe list, 4-29-2013, when Jean Paul asked how the event went.

I thought was several kinds of awesome. Let me describe the event:

Friday night is social - people saunter in as their time allows, and since this is a gathering of cooks, someone brings nice wine, someone else has home-brew, someone has a collection of cheeses (some of which may or may not be banned), and someone else has bread. Someone brought a few kinds of jellies including one made with port wine. [edit: I've since heard that this is a fairly rare phenomenon in Calontir, and it is a great honor to be included in the festivities.] When Sabine and I arrived around midnight, the party was fairly quiet in decibel but well attended.

The classes on Saturday are a nice blend of hands-on and show and tell. Many classes have a "here, taste this" component when they are not "let me show you this hard-to-find resource." Teaching classes is gratifying because the audience knows how to use the thing you brought as an example of how your recipe can go wrong. :-) Her Majesty Calontir [Catalina] participated in classes and brought grace and beauty to the day.

Feast is "potluck" in that people bring things that they've made at home or on site in the course of their classes [sausages, some bread, Rumpoldt's apples]. There were several kinds of sausages, lots of breads, exotic desserts, and fancy vegetables (including armored turnips). Everything was tasty and plentiful. And the company was lovely and interesting and engaged.

I think we'll be better able to tell stories at the Revel - about the Food of the Bayeaux Tapestry [and shown on a large scale in the thread by a person recreating a section], and Nostradamus's opinion of what to do with cherries [mash them into jelly, and make the pulp into fruit leather], and how to start translating German works from the 1400s into tasties to share [most markedly Rumpoldt's work by Mistress Gwen Cat].

~Elsa

Class List

Classes I Attended:

• A Cook's Book of Hours by Brother Francis of Paola [discussion only]
• Gwen Cat Shares Her Books by Mistress Catrin von Berlin [discussion only]
• Andelusian and Arabic Sauces by HL Jaida de Leon [discussion only]
• Food in the Bayeaux Tapestry by Melisent McAffee [with visuals and the in-process Tapestry! I was in-and-out]
• No-Hassle Yeast Bread for Feast by HL Elsa [discussion, taste-testing, and limited hands-on]
• Nostradamus's Recipe for Cherry Jelly by Lord Dov [discussion and taste-testing]

Other Classes Available:

• Cheese Making by Lady Hedewig
• Finding Resources by Lady Hedewig
• Food Safety by Lady Amelyn
• German Beer by Lady Elyssa [discussion]
• Getting Started in Outdoor Cooking by Cathus
• Hands On Apples from Rumpolt
• Hands On Mustard Making Class by Mistress Gwen a'Brook [I took this class in 2011]
• Hands On Making Sausages Class by HL Aline
• Hard Cheeses (The Care and Feeding of Your Spoiled Milk) [discussion only] by HL Lisette
• Hearth Cooking by HL Giraude
• How to be a Feast Steward by Mistress Gwyneth
• Oh Deer!, Playing with Venison by Herrick
• Portable Feasting by Mistress Gwyneth

Gulf War XI

First War! Mississippi. March 2002

• Did a lot of wandering around and Waterbearing. I got caught in the rain at one point, and ducked into a Merchant's tent where I bought a brown floppy wool hat for shelter.
• Shelter: Army half-shelters in the Mooneschadowe Ghetto.
• Highlight of the War: Chatting with then-HL Maggie at the Ghetto campfire for hours. The Ghetto-dwellers didn't have a good run of food supplies, so we had to use some creativity to get anemic grilled cheese sandwiches.
• On the way home, we stopped by Gulfport to hang out on the beach for a little while - until we all got 2nd degree sunburns. Then we went to dinner in Lafayette, LA with the father of one of our party.

Very First Event

Ainar and Mercedes' Investiture, at Will Rogers. October 2001

I wore garb out of the Northkeep loaner box. I loved that dress! It was stretchy - the texture was springy and mesh, entirely see-through. They gave me an electric blue satiny half-slip to wear under it, so I hiked that up like a strapless dress and was perfectly happy with it. You couldn't see the underdress in the fading light - until we took commemorative pics after Feast and the flash made it shine. The photos earlier in the set came out nicely.

I served Feast and received a strand of black and white freshwater seed pearls as largess. I still have them, and I still daydream about what I'll do with them when I become fancy enough to wear such finery.