Historically Food Fortnightly 1: Meat and Potatoes

The Challenge:  1. Meat-and-Potatoes (January 1 - January 14) They’re a staple for the tables in the most rustic cottages as well as the fanciest banquet tables - and it’s also an idiom meaning a staple or the most basic parts of something. Make a historic “meat-and-potatoes” recipe - however you interpret it.

The Recipe: (where did you find it, link to it if possible)
The link to the recipe  To boyle a Capon. TAke strong broth of Marrow-bones, or any other strong broth, put the Marrow into a Pipkin with Salt: boyle your Capon in the Pipkin, and scumme it cleane, before you be ready to take it off, put in your Salt. Take a pinte of white-Wine in a Pipkin, for one Capon, if you haue more, you must haue more Wine: halfe a pound of Sugar a quarter of a pound of Dates sliced, Potatoes boyled, and blauncht, large Mace, Nutmeg sliced: if you want Potatoes take Endiffe, and for want of both, boyle Skirrets & blaunch them: boile all together, with a quarter of a pint of Uergis, and the yolkes of Egges, straine it and stirre it about, and put it to the Capon with the strong broth.

My translation: To boyle a capon.  Take strong broth of marrow bones, or any strong broth, and put the marrow bones in a stew pan with salt.  Boil your capon in the stew pan, and scim it clean.  Put your salt in before it's almost done.  

Take a pint of white cooking wine and put it in a stew pan - enough for one capon.  If you have more than one capon, you must have more wine!  Half a pound of sugar, a quarter pound of dates, sliced, boiled and whitened potatoes, large mace and nutmeg sliced.  If don't have potatoes take endif (no clue what that is)  endive and if you don't have either, take skirrets, whiten and boil them in a quarter pint of verjuice and with egg yolks that have been strained.  Stir it and then add this to the chicken and the broth in the other stew pot.  (Edited because this makes way more sense)


The Date/Year and Region:  England, 1615

How Did You Make It: (a brief synopsis of the process of creation)

First, I have no idea what is meant by "endiffe" so I ignored everything after the nutmeg part - it seemed to be another way to cook the potatoes for the stew.   Edit:  I found out that the author probably meant endive for endiffe.  Endive is an herb.

 Second, I don't have access to capons (eunuch roosters) so I used modern chicken breast.  Honestly, I doubt there is much of a difference due to how much chicken has changed in the 20th and 21st centuries due to our farming techniques.   The entire reason they neutered the roosters back then was to make them more plump.
I used redskin potatoes because a) I like them and b) despite this being a sweet recipe, you can't make sweet potatoes white, which is what the recipe called for so...

1 box of chicken marrow bone broth - my grocery store actually sells this
1 chicken breast, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 pint of white cooking wine
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of chopped up dates
2 large redskin potatoes, chopped
a pinch of mace slices
1 teaspoon nutmeg, grounded up since I didn't have the sliced kind


I boiled the chicken in the broth in one pot and boiled the potatoes with pretty much everything else (minus the salt) in another.  That's really it.  Once the potatoes were boiled, I mixed the two together.


Time to Complete: Half hour
Total Cost:  Maybe $15?  The cooking wine was $4.29, the chicken breast was $2.99, the potatoes were about $1.29 for a lb, the dates were $2.99 for the entire bag which I didn't use all off, and the chicken broth was $3 ish, I think.   Everything else I had on hand.   

How Successful Was It?: (How did it taste? How did it look? Did it turn out like you thought it would?)

It was so much better than I thought it would be based on the ingredients that not only will I make it again, I finished this bowl.  I seriously chomped down on every bite.   It's sweet (of course) but it's absolutely delicious.  It's roughly about 400 calories per a bowl - not bad since I'm on a diet.

I knew it would be sweet but I thought it might be too sweet and the chicken broth wouldn't blend well with the super sweet wine and sugar mix I boiled the potatoes in.  Instead, it actually blended perfectly and the broth cut down the sweetness of the sugar and wine to a point that it's more "fruit" sweet than super sweet.  The pinch of mace and the teaspoon of nutmeg added just the right amount of spice.  I thought I might add cinnamon or ginger to it but I really now think that would ruin the balance of the dish.

How Accurate Is It?: (fess up to your modifications and make-dos here)   Chicken rather than capon is really the big one. The potatoes were a bit of a guessing game but I doubt they are very different from what was available in the early 17th century. Of course, I used a nice modern electric stove top as well.  Overall, I'm very pleased with this one.

Modern Party Dress

I was invited to a semi formal Epiphany Party that took place last night.  Of course, this meant I needed to make a semi formal dress!   I honestly had no clue what to make.  Something vaguely 1920's? More 1950's?   I went through my entire pattern collection and came back across this:

It's Simplicity 5246 which is now out of print. The short strapless with the jacket looked appropriate for a semi formal and I had just enough fabric to make it work. I chose a remnant of pink metallic organza for the jacket and some super slubby pink dupioni that I've had in the stash forever for the dress. They matched perfectly.

I wasn't sure what size to cut out since I'm between sizes right now. I cut out the 12 and should have cut out the 10. It wasn't hard to take in. I used cotton for the lining and basted it to double check how the dress fit. The single biggest issue with the pattern was around the top front - I had to take the top of the princess seam in about two inches on both Princess seams. This wasn't a "I should have cut out the 10" issue but a problem with the pattern. It's easy to adjust for, just cut the angle above the breast more sharply than it is on the pattern. However, it's something to be aware of it anyone else wants to try this pattern.

I added straps for two reasons - I'm too big to get away with strapless and this photo:

Strapless just doesn't look right if you are sitting down. Ever. Plus, it was a Catholic event so...yeah, no.

Adding the straps was easy. Cut out two strips that are 3" by 15". Fold it in half and sew down the 15". Turn the strap and attach it at the seam where the back pieces and the side back pieces meet. (I undid the stitches here where the lining and the silk were joined and just flipped the dress, sewing the strap in place. This way, the only visible seam ended up being the hem) In the front, the straps go to the outside of the princess seams. I tried the dress on and marked how short the straps should be to make the dress fit appropriately.

Another change was with the hem. I'm not sure why they have the hem so terribly long but I ended up cutting 6" off in the front and just did the "hi low" thing for a hem. I'm not short (5'7") and the original hem length was only and inch or two shy of being tea length on me. To the lining, I got to use my new ruffler foot for my singer sewing machine. It was a learning curve but I finally got the hang of it and added silver tulle to the hem. Once that was attached, I flipped the edge up and sewed it down so that the tulle didn't curl under the silk and stayed down.

The jacket - I didn't make a single change to it but you can tell it looks vastly different than the pattern picture.  I have no idea why.

Overall, I'm pleased with the dress.  I wasn't sure at first but after getting a ton of compliments on it last night - I had ladies and gentlemen coming up to me to ask me where I got my dress- I realized it looked better on than I thought.  My favorite compliment of the night was a lady who said she had been admiring my dress from afar and that it reminded her of something out of Pride and Prejudice.  I'll totally own that.  :-)

HSF/M 2015: Challenge #12: Re-Do Early Bustle Era Dress

The Challenge:  December – Re-Do:  It’s the last challenge of the year, so let’s keep things simple by re-doing any of the previous 11 challenges.

Fabric:  Silk taffeta, silk dupioni, cotton, netting

Pattern:   My own!

Year:   1869

Notions:  The turquoise trim, thread, hooks and eyes

How historically accurate is it?  Well, if it weren't for the crazy lining, it would be okay.  

Hours to complete:  Too many :-)

First worn:  Jan 2nd 2016  for the Christmas Tea

Total cost:  I have no idea.  I know the Valentine's day lining fabric was $2.50 a yard and I have a lot of it left over.  I think the silk taffeta was the $4.99 stuff I got from Golden silks this fall.  The dupioni was $3.84 a yard and I maybe used 4 yards of it?   The turquoise fringe trim was stash and I have no idea where I got it or how much it was.  Knowing me, it was probably ebay and therefore under$20 for the entire thing.  The Santa fabric was stash.  It was left over from my sister in law's quilt that I probably should finish posting....

My inspiration came mostly from a fashion plate at the Bartos Collection and a dress from the Met.   Loren of The costumer's closet gave me great advice on lining the skirts so they don't look de-puffed.  Thanks, Loren!

Somehow, my dress grew a tail while I was working on it.  I'm not sure how that happened.  You might be able to make out a black and white blurry shape in the upper left - that's Abigail.  She was excited that there was something hidden beneath the skirt!

The bodice lining.  I didn't have any cheap fabric or any scraps big enough on hand to line the dress with so....quilting cotton it was.  Santa was one hand but I only had enough for the bodice.  The sleeve and the underskirt are both lined in the Valentine's day print.  

Front of the dress.  The shoulders are a bit funky on me as well as the dress dummy but it's not super horrible.  Although, everyone was trying to look at my shoulders to figure out what the heck I had lined the bodice in .  I do need to add trim, buttons, and rework the bodice slightly.  

Close up of the apron skirt and the hemline of the underskirt.  I want to add puffs out of the blue/gold fabric.  The fabric is WAY prettier in person than in pictures.  It's a cross of aqua blue and an almost coppery goldish color.  The gold fabric is really a cross of gold and true royal purple (think a deep wine color).   

Back of the dress.  Obligatory butt bow is obligatory. 

Side view to show it really is a bustle dress.  :-)

So this qualifies for four of the 2015 challenges - blue, sewing secrets, stash busting, and out of your comfort zone.

• Blue - The crossway of the silk is blue and I added a gold trim with turquoise stones to the hem.
• Sewing Secrets- I doubt having a cat beneath your bustle counts but Santa and Valentine's day fabric probably does.   
• Stash busting - everything is stuff I've had for at least a few months.  The trim is something I've had for years.
• Out of your comfort zone - as some of you know, bustle scares me like nothing else in Historical costuming.  Give me 1890's sleeves, Elizabethan, or even something to completely hand sew that isn't a bustle and I'm fine.  Tell me I have to make a bustle and I immediately freak out.  I love the look.  It's a gorgeous period.  However, this is my fourth dress and this is the only one, in my opinion, that looks remotely like something they would have actually worn.   

I plan on adding a few bits to it before the next wearing.  I'm glad I finally made a bustle dress that looks halfway decent and not like a frumpy hot mess.   At least the skirt on this one came out okay without tears.   Although, there almost were tears when having to pleat the bottom hem - it took almost the entire movie of Castaway to get it right!

1830's Black Cotton Dress

A lot of us have talked about making the ridiculous sleeved dresses of the Romantic era for ages.   Some were actually starting on theirs so I joined in the fun, in secret.  :-)  The pictures aren't the best - I'll try to get better photos later-  but you get the idea of the dress.   All my inspiration is here on my pinterest board.  Some of the dresses are from my website, some are from museums.  

I saw the black floral cotton in Joanns and knew it had to be my new dress - of course this was Thursday and the dress was to be done today!   So, I dragged out my old 1840's pattern and made a few changes to it.  First, I shortened it.  Then, I change the curved seamed front to a darted front.   The rest was pretty easy.

The sleeves of the 1830's are really pretty simple - the bottom half is relatively normal, it's just that the top half blooms out.  I just pleated the top of the sleeves - as you can see in the close up photo- and sewed that to the dress.

The dress is a mix of handsewing and machine sewing.   The piping is just bias tape (no cording. in the original ones I have, there isn't any.  It's just bias tape rolled over the edge).   There is piping on the shoulders, neckline, sleeve cuffs, and along the edges of the "belt".   I wanted to bring out the pink as much as possible.

I might add some ruffles or take in the sleeves - as they did with the late 1830's styles- but the dress is wearable as is right now.

Historical Sew Monthly - The silver screen

Thanks to Maggie for her helpful page on Costumer's guide

For the silver screen, this was actually plan C. I used fabric I had on hand since the stuff I ordered didn't get here in time for the other ideas I had. I wanted to go with Eowyn's outfit because it's actually not too far off from the late 12th century/ 13th century fashions across Europe. Spain had the lacing on the sides for the surcote in the mid and late 13th century.

The gathered at the neckline blue underdress doesn't look much different beneath the surcote from what was being worn in elsewhere in Europe.



So, I decided to recreate Eowyn's dress but in a more historical style.

I just have the surcote over my sweater for now.  I promise pictures with the linen blue underdress later.



The Challenge: Silver Screen

Fabric: Linen for the surcote; linen, wool, and silk for the underdress when it's done

Pattern: My own! The underdress is based off this extant garment and the surcote was made similar to the sideless surcote pattern.

Year: 13th century

Notions: Thread...lots and lots of thread...

How historically accurate is it? Unfortunately, it's now mostly machine sewn. However, the shape is correct and the colors were available so it's not horrible

Hours to complete: The surcote took two hours on the sewing machine. The blue underdress still isn't done.

First worn: Not until next year, probably. It's a good Pennsic dress if nothing else

Total cost: I think I got the linen on sale but I can't remember how much. Everything I used was stash.



EDIT: Here's the blue dress finally!!!



It's very full but it's also somehow slimming.  I absolutely love it.  What you can't see is all the embroidery.



Close up of one of the sleeves. On Eowyn's dress, there is a hint of gold embroidery. I found an excellent close up of the fabric on Photobucket.



It looks like it's really a gold embroidered crinkle cotton. For my version, I used blue linen with both wool and silk thread in gold.



Some of the embroidery around the neckline. The sleeves to this dress are handsewn and heavily pieced. I think one sleeve panel (there are four) is constructed out of 11 pieces of fabric. Another is, thankfully, only two. Piecing those together, embroidering them, and then using the herringbone stitch along the seams as well is what took so long.



Now that I have the proper blue linen on under the surcote rather than the super bulky sweater, I hope you get a better idea of what I was going for.

New Diet Just in Time for the Holidays!!!!

Oh yes. A new diet. Once I realized how many calories I was eating, I decided to do a drastic cut back a couple of weeks ago. So far, roughly 10 pounds gone. I'm hoping to be down by 15 lbs come the end of the year. I'm not really eating anything different, I'm just not drinking as much soda or tea as I used to.

However, Thanksgiving and Christmas means food. So for anyone else trying to keep jolly but without the belly like a bowl full of jelly, here's a nice Christmas favorite that isn't horrible on the calories.

Hot Chocolate:

1 tablespoon of powdered baking chocolate (10 calories)
1 tablespoon of sugar (or to taste) (15 calories)
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (3 calories)
1/4 teaspoon of ginger (4 calories)
a dash of nutmeg (about 3 calories)
1 cup of almond milk (60 calories)
1 tablespoon of Ricemellow Fluff (20 calories)

Heat the milk as hot as you like, mix everything except the ricemellow in. Use the Ricemellow to top off your cup of hot chocolate!


The best part? Hot Chocolate is known to be an appetite suppressant. So, it will help you to feel full as well as being a perfectly festive holiday drink! The way I end up making it, it's about 150 calories - or about the same as your can of coke cola. I like my sugar and ricemellow. :-)

Another not too bad Christmas food? Homemade chocolate chip cookies. Each are about 78 calories. So if anyone else is counting their calories, don't feel left out of holiday cheer. Drink a nice mug of Hot Chocolate and have a cookie too. :-)

It's Mario!!! Happy Halloween!

My two oldest nephews declared that they wanted to be Mario and Luigi this year. Their younger brother was to be toad (he was throwing a tantrum in the corner. 3 year olds.) and my sister in law was to be Princess Peach. My brother was to be Bowser.

Every year I make their Halloween outfits.  This year was a little bit different, however.  Most of what you see, besides Princess Peach's dress, is thrift store or Wally World finds.

Mario:  Red thrift store shirt, overalls from Wally World, the hat from Michaels.  I did add an M from Joanns to the hat and I also hemmed the overalls but that's it.

Luigi:  Green thrift store sweatshirt, overalls from Wally World, the hat from Michaels. I tried to dye the hat green and it came out sort of a lime mint green color. I also added the L from Joanns to the hat.

Bowser:   Yellow thrift store hoodie, red yarn from Joanns, bubble yellow fleece like stuff from Joanns, green fleece for the tail and turtle shell you can't see, yellow ric rack from the stash.  This one involved sewing.  I hand sewed the oval you see on the front of the sweatshirt.  I also hand sewed the red "hair" to the top of the hoodie.  The black straps are to the bookback turned turtle shell.

Princess Peach: My sister in law's dress is my own design. I made it big so she could wear a shirt beneath it if she wanted to.  The fabric is from Joanns, the puffy bridal petticoat I attached to the dress is from the thrift store.  The basic of the dress is simple - it's a basic bodice front with darts and an angled bodice back.  The skirt is just two panels of fabric sewn together and pleated.   The bright pink puffs were a circle that I cut in half, gathered along the circular edge, and then sewed to the skirt.  The straight edge was hemed.  

Toad:  Not seen but heard in the photo.  I took a straw hat I had lying around, added what was basically a large white circle, gathered at the edges, to make a cover.   I glued big red linen "dots" to it in a random pattern.   I then added some stuffing to it  to make it puffy like a mushroom.  The two older nephews tried it on and loved it.   I also made a basic brown fleece jacket and bought a tan t-shirt  at Wally World to go beneath that.

So that's what I've been working on and why I haven't been posting!   I had to gather up and/or sew all of that!