angharad_gam

So I had the feast dream last night. This one was a bit different from the usual one. Normally, in the feast dream, I turn up to the hall only to discover that I've somehow neglected to bring most of the food with me, or we don't have all the proper gear, or are in some other way seriously disorganised and we have to muddle through and scrape together what dishes we can. This time round I dreamed that I myself forgot to show up - or rather that I turned up to the event but didn't remember I was actually supposed to be cooking until the food started to come out. It's funny how these things seem perfectly normal in dreams.

Anyway, I thought I would post the planned menu for Baronial Changeover (5th April - there's still time to book if you are interested). This is what we'll be eating assuming that I don't forget to turn up (or catch 'everyone crammed into a tiny room at work so they can rearrange the furniture' crud (although I think it might be too late for that :-()).

First Course
Lombard pasties (chicken and bacon)
Spinach tarts
Sallat
Urchines (little meatballs made to look like hedgehogs)
Darioles (custard tarts)
Entremets (cheese, olives, etc)


Second Course
Potage d'Ognion (your basic (and original!) French onion soup)
Brouet de Cannel (chicken, almond and cinnamon soup)
Makerouns (pasta)
Pollastri Uva Negra (Roast chicken with Black grape sauce)
Haedus in Alio (Roast lamb with rosemary and garlic and a verjuice sauce)
Cavoli ala Romanesco (Broccoli)
Rapa Armata (turnips, but cooked like potato bake)
Cariota (roast carrots)

Third course
Strawbery Gely (yes it is period!)
Trifle
Bizcocho (cinnamon/anise cookies)
Caliscioni (marzipan pastries)
Tartis in Applis.

It's a bit of a mix of times and places, but I think it will work.

I have also been thinking a lot about garb lately. It's been a while since I've made any. Or at least, it's been a while since I felt like I accomplished anything by making any. There was an attempt at a new kirtle that just didn't seem to come out right, and a new shift that I've been noodling away at off and on for ages. But I think that putting all my garb books right there on the shelf, and reminding myself about all the fabric that I have (in the course of moving) has sparked the juices. There are three things urging me to make them right now, which means if I am careful (not to push it with the RSI) and persistent I might actually get one done in the next year. I think I've decided to go with a late 15th century gown. I bought a length of yellow-orange wool a couple of years ago that is an almost perfect match for a shade you see a lot in manuscripts of the latter half of the 15th century (which is not, of course, any guarantee that people were wearing that colour). I am not very keen on Burgundian, but I have long had a yen for a style that appears briefly and almost exclusively in England for a fairly short time in the 1470s and 1480s. There's a few examples of it illustrated here (most notably the portrait of Elizabeth Woodville).

I found a variant in a drawing from a brass (evidence for these kinds of gowns comes almost exclusively from brasses) in The Mediaeval Tailor's Assistant, which does not fit tightly to the torso, but falls into full skirt folds from just under the high-waisted belt. It's probably a more transitional form from the earlier Burgundian style, but struck me as a bit more middle class as well. I am finding myself drawn a bit more to middle class outfits these days as easier to pull off in a sufficiently authentic way than noble outfits. If I can't find anything more suitable I have some brown velveteen to use for the collar and cuffs.

I started drafting a toile this weekend. Because it has been a while and I am feeling a bit rusty I wanted to go slowly before hacking into my lovely wool. I haven't quite gotten the pattern right yet, especially the collar shape. I don't know why I am drawn to these off the shoulder styles. They are not suited to someone with narrow, square shoulders and a large bust ie me. However, having had a look around at some more images it is clear there is a wider range of variation there than I thought, so hopefully I'm not quite as far off as I thought. Anyway, I took some photos and I'll take some more as I go along, so there might be a dress diary in this yet.

My new phone is awesome. The handwriting recognition will read my handwriting! In cursive! My handwriting! That looks like a bunch of spiders have gotten tangled up in Arabic!

This is also awesome: now you can get free books from the Met - many, many awesome free art books.

Also my phone is awesome.