Squee! A new to us 12th Century Cookbook!

Oldest European Medieval Cookbook Found

I would highly suggest reading the article. It's fascinating. Basically, a cookbook from about 1140 was found in Durham Cathedral in the UK. This is lovely since, previously, the oldest Medieval (ie, not Roman) cookbook is from 1290! According to the SCA cooks list, someone was able to get in touch with Giles Gasper, lecturer in medieval history at Durham. Here is his reply:

"Dear Katherine, Thanks you very much indeed for your message, and we're pretty excited bythe news as well. We are planning to publish a cookbook based on therecipes, hopefully within the calendar year, and a scholarly paper on themanuscript context. The event will be covered, I hope, in the BBC HistoryMagazine. I will try and arrange for video as well - I'm sure the mediadepartment can rustle something up. All best wishes, Giles Gasper"

Awesome! I can't wait!

Historical Fortnight #7 Part Two

A Coif and Forehead cloth

Although I do have a lovely embroidered coif I made a couple of years ago, I could always use another. Since I made the ruff, I figured another somewhat simple project would be good.

First, the research:

Coif	Width	Length
V&A Coif T.12-1948	16.5"	9"
Met Museum Coif	16"	8.5"
V&A Coif CIRC.868&A-1924	17"	8"
V&A Forehead Cloth CIRC.868&A-1924	14"	7"
V&A Coif T.239-1960	17"	8"

Although this is a small sampling, we can already see that the coifs look to average between 16"-17" with a length of 8"-9". I did a lot more research, including into the forehead cloths, however pretty much every single forehead cloth is 14" by 7". After looking at about 5 of them, I gave up. Even though these are all extant (ie, the ones that survived!) they probably are a good measurement for what was typical during the late 16th into the early 17th C. I probably could write a thesis on how the extant garments are only the ones that no one reused and why that's a problem- but, for now, these coifs and forehead cloths most likely survived for two reasons: they are small and therefore not useable in other projects and b) the massive amount of embroidery making them keepsakes. Given that, they probably were worn at some point and made to fit a specific person. So, the measurements themselves are probably accurate for the average lady in the late 16th/late 17th C.


So, for my pattern:

The pattern drawn here (the fold is at the top of the picture) is based on numerous coifs, with the small ear curve. I decided to go with a rough 17" by 9" for the coif. I needed to have a small seam allowance for the hem.

Materials:

The fabric is just scrap linen I had in the scrap pile. I used white silk thread since I lost my linen thread and have no clue where it ran off to. Silk thread was used in the late 16th C, particularly on embroidered coifs, which I might do at some point to this one.

Sewing:

Since it was a GORGEOUS day outside, I sat on my front porch for about an hour and managed to sew up the hem of both the forehead cloth (the pattern for that really is your standard triangle) and the coif and chase the pup. She was misbehaving.


Although they are all hemmed, they both need a lot more work. First, I needed to tie them to my head somehow...which is where things got interest.

I had lost my cording as well as the linen thread.

...I blame the cat. He's evil.

Anyway, I ended up having to make cording out of some old stock cotton thread (gah!) that still wasn't long enough but sort of worked for the coif. For the forehead cloth, I very carefully cut a half inch of linen strip, cut it half, folded the edges over and then folded the strips in half...sewing them up to make ties. I then added the new linen ties to the forehead cloth and they worked perfectly.

For the coif, I added a small strip of linen to the bottom edge to act as a casing for the cord. You can see a small white, unembroidered strip at the bottom of many extant coifs. It's just for a drawstring.

Once all of that was done (making cord takes FOREVER!), I ended up with this:


Yay! A coif and forehead cloth! I really love the forehead cloth - I ended up wearing it around while I was still baking bread, cleaning up, and finishing up the coif last night. It came out really well. I like the coif as well but I want my silk cording! The bow on top of the head just looks silly and I really want my coif to be tied behind the base of my bun.

I apologize for the pictures. I did take far better ones; however my camera and my computer refuse to talk anymore. I think it's just an USB cord issue that I hope to resolve this week but, if not, I have the icky mobile phone ones, at least!

Next, the Spanish Surcote assuming I can handsewn the armscyes in an hour.

Historical Fortnightly #7 Accessories

I finished the first of the accessories and I was rather surprised with how quick it went. I made an Elizabethan Ruff.



I wanted a 1570's ruff - the kind that aren't the same width as your farthingale.

I used a scrap of linen from the scrap pile, some dead dino ribbon for the tie in front, and this lovely edged poly organza ribbon I picked up at Pennsic a couple of years ago to make a ruff. It's not a period fiber bit it looks good as a ruff. The lady that sold me ten yards showed me her ruff she made from it and it looked awesome so...

Cost, nothing! All stash stuff. I think the faux organza was maybe $1 a yard? I didn't use the full 10 yards - by a long shot- so maybe a couple of bucks?

The actual project:

First, I needed a base.



I cut out a 14" by 3" rectangle from the scrap linen I had. I have a 13 and 1/2" neck and I wanted to make sure I included seam allowances. With the ribbon closure, I can easily control how tight or how loose I want it to be.

I sewed the ribbons on first so that they would be stable. I then folded the rectangle in half, lengthwise, and sewed down the open side. I turned the tube and stitched closed the two open edges.

Once that was done, I took my measuring tape and marked off dots every half inch and inch on the bottom of the collar and every 1/4" and 3/4" on the top. These were may markers for where to sew the organza down to for each of the folds of the ruff.



I then pinned the organza to the linen collar at each of the bottom markers. It looked nice enough with just the bottom pinned to start sewing.

I then sewed the organza down at each of the markers with three stitches and one long stitch to the next marker, going lengthwise. Once the top of the ruff was done, I slowly took the pins out and worked the bottom of the ruff the same way. This is the result:



Grand total of time from cut to finish: a little less than 2 hours. Not bad for hand sewing!



Not the best picture of me -Mom said I look like I'm on the way to the guillotine - but the ruff fits!

Sewing Plans

This is a hint of what I will be working on tomorrow, hopefully. I need a new 18th C dress to match my beloved quilted petticoat and my newish (I haven't worn it yet) hat. The hat is trimmed in a lovely orange ruffled trim that I bought when I went out to Las Vegas last year. Katherine and I had gone to this store where I bought a ton of gorgeous trims and I really need to start using more of them. ;-) I have a larger version of the orange trim on the hat that I will use on the 18th C dress I plane on making to match all of this.

Right now, I'm working on accessories for an Elizabethan outfit for the Historical Fortnightly. I had a Spanish surcote languishing in the UFO pile that really needs to be finished. Since it's an overcoat and not the dress itself, I'm counting it as an accessory. I'm making some real Elizabethan accessories as well, a ruff and a coif with the forehead cloth. Those, hopefully, will be done today.

After these projects, I need to get started on my Dress U ones and on a dress I need to make for a social function (ie, not historical but the dress will be anyways. I'm totally making a 1920's dress!). I think I've settled on what I want to make for everything at Dress U now. We'll see.

Easter Dress Project!

I apologize that the picture isn't the best.  My Mom apparently thought that my camera belonged in the passenger door side pocket and not on the passenger seat sometime before Easter.  :-)  (I only found the camera this morning!)  So, I had to take a picture with my camera phone. 

The dress is made out of a pillowcase and king sized flat sheet.  It's hard to tell, but I also added red netting to the hem to help make it puff out a bit. 

I bought the pillowcase and flat sheet from a department store clearance sale a couple of years ago.  The fitted sheet was missing so they discounted the sheets down to $9.99, I think.  It was something reasonable for roughly 4 yards of fabric.  I loved the print and thought it would make an awesome retro looking dress.  (Side Note:  When Mom found out what the material originally was, she muttered "Scarlett O'hara" and something about a curtain dress.  Hehehe)

The skirt is just a giant, one piece, circle skirt.  There isn't a seam so I had to cut the front of the skirt down about six inches so I could get into the dress.  I faced the opening with a couple of scraps from cutting out the bodice.

The bodice is lined in the same fabric.  The straps are red cotton from the scrap pile.   The bodice itself didn't come out as perfectly as I hoped and is a bit wonky - the problem with making your own patterns- but the red cardigan hid the worst offending aspects. 

The buttons down the front are gold with rhinestones.  I really want to switch them out for red buttons but I didn't have any red buttons on hand.   And I finished the dress on Holy Saturday.  ;-)

All and all, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.  It was comfy and I have enough fabric still leftover to redo the bodice. 

On the food side of life:

I'm eating chocolate eggs, chocolate peanut butter cups, and drinking soda.   I'm so happy Lent is over!  And yes, I'll probably think that doing the medieval Lent again next year will be a brilliant idea. 

Oh, I even made bread last night with active fast rising yeast rather than my starter.  That was being totally 21st Century...well, the Ikea bread pan I used was at least 21st.  I love that thing.   Far better than just sticking the bread on a cookie sheet and trying to make sandwiches out of very round, very dense bread. 

The bread I made with yeast is quite good and makes for an excellent Turkey sandwich.   The recipe:

About a tablespoon or so of fast rising yeast.  Mix it with another tablespoon or so of warm water and let it sit for a bit.  (I had just taken it out of the fridge so the poor dear needed to warm up!)

About a teaspoon of onion salt.

A tablespoon ish of basil infused olive oil (Rosemary infused works well too!)

A tablespoon of wildflower local honey (Pepper honey from the Bee Folks works really well too)

A large couple of pinches of basil

A pinch of rosemary

A few shakes of parsley

And then mix all that up before adding the three ish cups of whole wheat flour.  You might have to add some water to the mix to get it good and doughy.  Kneed and let it sit in a bowl for about an hour or until the dog whines at you and the cat starts hissing at the fridge because the towel above the bowl has moved!  

Kneed again and throw it into said Ikea bread pan.

After another hour or so, preheat the oven to 380 F/400C.  Cook for about 35 min. 

Yes, it's not exact.  I'm doing all this by sight and not really by the book anymore.  Feel free to play with it.   The bread itself is yummy and it tastes like it would be delightful for buttered toast but since I can't have butter, grr, it's Turkey sandwiches for me!

Maudy Thursday!

I went to mass at 11 am and immediately made a b-line for our little convenience store at work afterwards. I really wanted a soda. I was going to get two sodas but I saw our lovely convenience store had created a gluten free section. I, myself, am not gluten free but have found that many gluten free foods tend to a)be more natural and c) not have corn. I saw dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I checked. No dairy. Woohoo! I *had* to get those because, now that the medieval diet is over thanks to it be post- Thursday mass, I was so having them.

A soda and peanut butter cups was exactly what I needed.

And the peanut butter sandwich. And olives. And chocolate covered peanuts.

Lunch was awesome.

I ended up getting a throwback Pepsi later because, again, it was very much needed.

Tonight, once I get home, it will be black eyes peas for dinner. Although the medieval Church rules were different, in the modern Church, as long as the meat isn't the main part of the meal, it's acceptable on "fish" days (like tomorrow). So, using a meat based broth to cook rice or beans is perfectly acceptable since it's meant to flavor and not be the meal within itself -the rice or beans are the meal. So, using bacon to flavor the peas should be fine. And yummy!

Saturday, I'm going to finish up my Easter Dress and go shopping with Mom. My Easter Dress, hopefully, will be in the style of the 1950's out of cherry printed bedsheets I bought at a discount store a couple of years ago. We'll see how it turns out but I always like the idea of using unconventional items to make neat looking things. That, and the bedsheets were cheap. I will add red netting to the hem of the dress.

Last Full Day of Lent!

I am so excited! Yes, there are still some restrictions until Easter morning but, for the most part, today is the very last day of the Medieval Lent! Yay! Tomorrow's evening meal will so be way too much black eyed peas with BACON and possibly some French fries on the side. I don't care if I won't be able to eat it until 9 pm (I have to work late tomorrow....maybe start with a candy bar? Hmm....) I want food.

Not that I didn't learn from this medieval lent again. First off, living off of nuts, raisins, and bread with herbs as some of the Saints are said to have done during the middle ages is a bit bland but it's not impossible. Raisins and walnuts together make an awesome snack. Second, honey is perfectly fine for Lent. Yay! Third, hummus - or, rather- something hummus like is also period for Italy.

I wasn't as good about keeping a daily diary of my food this time around because it was rather boring. The reason it was boring is because I had way too much to do! I didn't have time to cook constantly so...I had to make up reasonably period foods for on the go.

I only messed up a couple of times. I said at the start of this one that I probably wouldn't hold myself to the Lenten diet on Saturdays due to events and that's sort of what happened. And then I did have soy cream with crushed chocolate chip cookies on Monday because I was preparing for summer in the hopes that all the snow would refreeze and we'd get a couple hour delay for work but no such luck. Oh well! However, that was it. The rest of the time I ate a lot of bread, a lot of raisins, walnuts, almonds, olives, and pickles. I did have fish a couple of times and rice but I really haven't had the time to cook more than the bread each week. I'd cook tonight but I need to go to class!

Today will be more of the same. Maybe some bread and strawberry jam. I can't have peanut butter until Friday. Gah!