Orla's Little Corner of the World

Team Wench Dickens Tea Dec 13

2009-11-23T18:13:12Z

The walls have been decked and the holly hung

The holidays are here for all to be merry.

The organization of Team Wench offers for your enjoyment a respite from all of the hustle and bustle of the season. On Sunday, December 13, 2009 from 3 to 5 pm, we will be hosting The Dickens Tea as a fundraiser for the National Brain Tumor Society.

This elegant high tea will be of the Dickens – Victorian time period and all are encouraged to dress in the period style, steampunk or in their best tea clothing. Enjoy a delectable selection of teas, savories, and sweets while listening to period chamber music, provided by a string quartet. Win that special and unique gift you have been searching for at our silent auction.

The tea shall be held at the beautiful Hawthorn Center in Columbia, Maryland. Tickets are $35 and may be purchased through the Team Wench website at www.teamwench.org.

There are limited seats available so reserve your party today.

Team Wench, Inc. is a non-profit (501c3) charity organization

Text thanks to the lovely feymaker

Lessons Learned

2009-10-13T18:59:08Z

Lessons learned on the walk

1) No really drink more water - Two days after the event and I'm STILL thirsty - I did NOT drink enough during the walk

2) NEVER leave a pit stop or grab n go with less than two full bottles of beverage - you never know what the terrain is going to be like and if you'll need it

3) Practice on hills and pathways - not just sidewalks and mall walking (or treadmills). Saturday a lot of the walking was on the edges of roads walking on asphalt and we faced some fairly major hills each day.

4) The SMART people brought knit hats and gloves so that they had them available on Saturday night when it was freezing - what I wouldn't have given for a ski cap

5) Bring knee braces - the ace bandages that the medical stations had weren't long enough to deal with knees well and really ace bandages don't do a good job for knees anyway

6) Take pictures everywhere - and put an extra set of batteries in your fanny pack even for opening ceremonies

7) When doing training walks make sure you practice with your water bottles full and carrying everything you think you're going to carry on the walk - my fanny pack weighed a lot more than I expected it to with full bottles

8) Don't forget to bring scissors capable of cutting moleskin

9) Reconsider the fanny pack - I liked mine up until this event but the catch kept releasing at inconvient times. Maybe a backpack would be better?

I'm sure I'll add to this list as I think of things

The Komen Walk Post - I warn you this is longer than some of my SCA event posts....

2009-10-12T23:58:34Z

Friday morning we got up about 5 am so we could be out of the house by 5:30. frederich was nice enough to get up early so he could drive us down to the opening ceremonies at Nationals Stadium.

We dropped our bags at the truck first thing. Then we walked over toward the stage. When we got close I pulled out my camera and found that somehow over night my batteries had drained. Seriously - on Thursday night I had pulled the camera out to make sure the card was clear and it did't seem to be having any problems. But Friday morning all I got was a message that said "please replace batteries". Even taking them out and putting them back in to readjust them didn't help. Of course I'd packed extra batteries - in the bag that was on the truck. So we walked over to the tent where they were selling tee shirts and stuff to see if there were any batteries, but no such luck. LLT pointed out that it was strange that considering Energizer is the main sponser of the walk there was no way to get batteries at opening ceremonies. But we did manage to take pictures of each other with our cell phones. So we have one picture each of us with the goofy rabbit ears. Of course I just went into my cell phone to pull the picture out and found that I apparently didn't hit "save" so there's no pic of LLT with the rabbit ears :(

By the way, this is the ONLY picture of me at the walk that we have - guess I should have handed the camera to LLT once in a while huh? But she's much more photogenic than I am.

We did manage to see pinkribbonwench who was giving out stickers and foam rabbit ears. She said she would see us at Pit Stop 4 but we never managed to see her again at any point of the weekend.

At 7 they started the opening ceremonies with a set of stretches. Then after some speeches, they let us start walking. The area the around the stage was divided into two sections with a pathway down the center. When they released the walkers they alternated letting a bunch go from each section. So when it was our turn to leave I grabbed on to LLT's backpack to make sure we got to stay together.

We went down the path to the actual starting point of the walk - where our credentials got scanned for the first time and LLT picked up the "Patience" banner. She carried the banner to the 2nd pit stop.

LLT with the Patience banner, taken at the 2nd pit stop

I probably should explain about the banners - there are a bunch of them. Eight that represent qualities for dealing with breast cancer like Paitence, Love, Courage, Commitment, Optimism, Healing, Belief and Hope. And a bunch that represent who people are walking for like Daughters, Sons, Mothers, Fathers etc. All of the banners are carried for the entire route by various walkers. When one person is tired of carrying a banner it is picked up by someone else - usually at the pit stops.

We also got our Route cards - which don't actually say what the route is. It's just a general idea of how many miles you've walked by the time you reach each pit stop plus the times that the stop is open. If you get to a stop before it opens they will hold you there until it opens and if you miss the stop they will make you get on a bus that will take you to either the lunch stop or camp depending on what time it is. This is so they have all the walkers in a controlled area of the route.

We walked from the front of Nationals Satidum (the side away from South Capitol Street) up to the corner of the next road. Then turned on it and walked to South Capitol Street. We turned there and walked toward the Capitol - losing our first groups of people to the McDonalds where they left the route to grab breakfast. LLT said something about waiting to pass a Starbucks and it became a topic of conversation as we kept walking. We walked down to the National Arboretum and then around to the side walk that curves in front of the Captiol. I remember wondering if the people who planned the walk did the mileage based on streets or based on the actual distance of what we walked - all those curves and such.

Then we walked up North Capitol Street to right across from Union Station. LLT and I thought about ducking in there for Starbucks, bathrooms and batteries but decided against it since that would have meant an extra 1/2 mile walk. So we kept on the route. Luckily the route next took us down by the Captiol Hill Hyatt right next to the Starbucks - all we had to do was cross the street. When we went inside we found we weren't the first to decide to make an unexpected pit stop - heck we weren't even the 20th. One wonders if the staff had any warning or if they just had an unexpected windfall of several hundred people to deal with. There was also enough people in line for the bathrooms that we were using the men's as well as the women's. I kinda wonder what the baristas said when the day was over. This is also where I made my first voice post. We left Starbucks and went down to 7th Street where we crossed over to Independence Avenue. Along the way we actually got to the first pit stop, by the Canadian Embassy where I sat for a few minutes to look at my feet and put a blister bandaid on (I didn't have a blister but wanted to be proactive and I'd forgotten my scissors for the moleskin). I also made my second voice post there. I was somewhat disappointed that we weren't going to go by the Department of Commerce (where aluminmug worked for so many years) but I shouldn't have worried because we followed Independence to 14th Street and then walked up to New York Avenue. At that point we FINALLY passed a CVS where I was able to buy some batteries - and of course LLT made me get Energizers.

We continued to walk up New York Avenue to somewhere close to the convention Center. We walked over by the park where Avon had their closing ceremonies last year (when LLT and I took the Team Wench sign).

Then we walked down K street. We stopped at another CVS store so LLT could get an umbrella to act as a sunshade. We walked around part of Dupont Circle and then down Q Street (I think?) Then over a bridge into Georgetown. We stopped at a park (that had a baseball field) for our 2nd pit stop (park was at O and 27th). There we made the mistake of sitting down for a bit too long and so got stiff. I also made my 3rd Voice post, which I managed to screw up by hitting the pound key one to many times so it got marked private (I've marked it public now).

Next we walked farther into Georgetown, where I saw a cool looking shop called the Dutch Lady on M Street. We went down to Water Street on Wisconsin then back up again on 33rd Street. For those of you who don't know the area, this is the view of 33rd street from Water:

yes it's a BIT steep. There's also a section of stairs in the middle of it and a bridge before you get to M street. Of course once we got to M street they didn't let us turn but kept us going up through the neighborhood. The incline didn't get any smaller at that point really. I'm wondering how they managed to build buildings on this hill, but I guess there are steeper places - hey I wonder if Komen does a San Francisco walk and how that affects the training of those who walk there. Anyway, by the time we got half way up the neighborhood section (at the corner of 33rd and Q) I was down to my last bit of water - teach me to leave a pit stop without both bottles full to the brim. I was having significant problems to the point that LLT made me stop for a while. There was a group of women who stopped to check on me and one of them was very worried - to the point that she wouldn't leave even when I sent LLT on with the promise that I would hop a sweep van as soon as one stopped.

After 10 or 20 minutes with no sign of a sweep van I was feeling better and I'd pretty much figured out that the vans weren't going up 33rd. I'd also finished the last of my drinks and I knew there wasn't going to be any more liquid until I got to the grab and go which was somewhere ahead of me. So I got up and started walking. Right as I got to the corner a member of the motorcycle crew came by and told me that he'd had reports of someone who needed help. I told him that was me and that I felt good enough to go on until I found a sweep van. When I got to the next major road crossing I talked to the crossing guard (part of the Motorcycle crew) and he said that he had been unable to get a sweep van to stop for someone he had sitting under the shade a little ways off. Apparently every time one passed him they were full. But he also gave me the good news that the next stop was only about 4/10 of a mile away. I figured I could make it the rest of the way and I was actually feeling halfway decent by the time I got there. But then the crew person at the entry told me that lunch was "only" 2.5 miles away and I realized there was NO way I would make it. So I went and filled up my bottles with water and sat on the curb to wait for a sweep bus. I had actually finished one of my two bottles before the van got there - they had to call a van for the few of us who needed it which I didn't think much about at the time. But later I was told by one of the drivers that the sweep vans don't actually go to the Grab N Gos which seems kinda silly to me. Anyway we followed the route of the walk picking up people as we went. The route went through Embassy Row which was kinda neat - the area was beautiful and I wish I'd been able to walk it. When we passed LLT I saw that she'd thrown away the umbrella that she'd bought - which made sense since it didn't even make it to the 2nd pit stop before breaking in the wind. Instead she was carrying the "Father" banner, which she got at the Grab N go. For those of you who don't know it, LLT's Dad died of Lymphoma, and she wore his ring on a chain around her neck all weekend. So I knew that carrying that banner was important to her. Which meant that when we got to the lunch stop I found a place to sit where I could see her coming and I made sure to get a picture of her with the banner.

Then we grabbed lunch - a chicken sandwhich, chips and cookies. The park where we had lunch had NO shade (have I mentioned LLT is allergic to the sun? No kidding, she's actually allergic to Vitamin D which means she needs to stay out of too much sunlight). Luckily there was a parking lot by the park that we were able to sit in so we were able to get in the shade of a nearby building - but we traded shade for eating RIGHT next to the Port-a-castles (yes after 10 years in the SCA I have to think in order to say "port-a-potty").

By the time we were done LLT had decided to join me on the bus ride back to camp on the concept that it was better to give up at lunch than it would be to not walk on Saturday. So on Friday I managed to walk 10.2 miles and LLT walked 12.5 (all mileages may vary as they're based on the route cards).

We got on the bus going back to camp and we had to wait a while since the bus couldn't leave until it was either full or the lunch stop closed. Luckily it was one of those big fancy buses with a DVD player and we got to watch most of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I also got the joy of listening to the woman in the next seat over from me throwing up multiple times into a cup - I guess the heat and the walk was too much for her.

Finally we made it to camp where we were each given a little bag of goodies which included (you guessed it) a set of batteries!

First things first, we went to find our bags which were much easier to find than all the black bags some other people brought. The number of all black bags was only outdone by the number of ones decorated with Pink! We were also given this lovely little bright pink land zit (really it was too small to be called a land pimple).

We set up the tent as easily as you would expect from a couple of people who camp as much as we do. Of course the whole time LLT was mourning the fact that we didn't have her lovely canvas tent. We also set out our solar yard lights that we brought to make sure we could find the tent if we needed to stumble to the port-a-castles in the middle of the night. Finally we covered the tent in the shower curtain that LLT brought for that purpose - the poka dots really helped to identify which tent was ours and helped our neighbors too (on the last day someone actually thanked me for not taking the tent down until she'd gotten back from breakfast because she'd been navigating based on our tent all weekend).

While I filled the air matress LLT helped another walker set up her tent and gave some advice to a couple of other people. At last we were done and decided to head down to the food tent. I don't know what I did, but as I started walking I lost my balance RIGHT next to the tent and all I could think of was that I couldn't fall on the tent or I might squash it. So I staggered for a bit trying to get my balance back and finally fell on the spot next to us (which NEVER got a tent). Luckily I managed to fall without catching myself on my hands.

On our way down to dinner we stopped at the mail tent because I knew LLT had at least one piece of mail and I thought I would find something there for me too. Sure enough in addition to the note I'd written LLT at the Expo we each had a card from aluminmug and Gimpy LLT was fooled for a minute because apparently our mothers have similar handwritting. then she saw the New Jersy post mark and thought that maybe it was from eridun. But I had faith and sure enough the card was from aluminmug. I'm still wondering about that NJ postmark though - aluminmug assures me it was mailed from Delaware.

Dinner was salad, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and a really bad chocolate brownie. LLT decided she didn't want much spaghetti so she filled her plate with salad and her salad bowl with the getti. LLT and I each made the mistake of grabbing iced tea which was REALLY bad - not only unsweet but powdered as well. Luckily they also had soda and I was able to make do with orange (I usually only drink root beer or ginger ale).

Afterward we went to the massage tent where we were able to sign up for a free 10 minute Thai Massage. They had a bunch of chair massage stations set up and one Thai Massage person (who used a mat). Since we both were having problems with our legs that's the one we went for. LLT also got to snuggle for a little bit with a very cute minture poodle mix (forget what mixed with) named Lucky. They also had these wonderful lounge chairs (apparently they're "zero gravity recliners") that we got to sit in.

After our massages we went back to the tent, replaced the batteries in our tent light and while LLT read for a while I wrote some letters to be mailed on Saturday. We left the tent open except for the the netting layer and every so often we heard people come by and admire our lights. Yes apparently we had some of the coolest camping toys in our row. :) After a while we TRIED to go to sleep - note the TRIED in there. It was a "bit" windy and there was a lot of noise from the nylon and tarps covering tents flapping in the breeze. Plus the whole tossing and turning thing that I tend to do. And then it started raining. In short, I don't think either of us got a lot of sleep.

Saturday morning we got up to have breakfast, eggs, wimpy bacon, biscuit, potatoes, oatmeal, yogurt and cereal - well that's what they had available but we didn't eat either the yogurt or cereal and I didn't have potatoes. You should have seen the look I got from the server when I didn't take potatoes but I had oatmeal instead. While we were eating I finished up the last of my letters.

Then we got on the road. We were a bit later than we had been on Friday since we waited a bit after they announced that the route was open. But we were by no means the last people out of camp. LLT suggested that we walk a bit slower than we did the day before in an attempt to be able to walk longer. But we thought we weren't doing that badly even though people were passing us. We did stop at one point to let me put moleskin on a hot spot - I don't think LLT put anything on her feet the entire weekend!

Saturday's route actually started and ended with camp, which was in Bethesda some place close to the golf course where they hold the Congressional Open Golf tournament. Very chi-chi neighborhood with lovely houses. We were most of the way to the first pit stop when we saw the caboose rider - a girl on a bike with a cowbell that rang whenever she wiggled her hips. Yes - we did end up being the very LAST walkers there for a little bit.

The caboose rider told us that we only had 10 minutes to get to the next pit stop and get out on the road again or we would be forced to ride the bus to the lunch stop. She suggested we grab a sweep van in order to catch up - so that's what we did. Of course what we found is that we were about 500 feet from the stop but didn't know it because of the hill in the way. By this time my knees were already hurting due to the sucky asphalt path that we were walking for the day. Not to mention that there were very few flat spots either from walking up and down hills or from side to side on the pathway. I'm not surprised they had issues with turned ankles during the day.

Because we were trying to make up time we just refilled our water bottles (I'd learned from the day before) and got back on the road. We didn't even sit down. We also started walking a bit faster and LLT mentioned that she didn't have a problem with us taking the sweep van into stops if we hit the caboose.

By that time my only goal for the walk was never to be the first person to take either the sweep van or get on the lunch bus - quite a step down from at least walking 10 miles a day and trying for 15.

Anyway I thought we'd at least made up some time - I only had to stop and sit for a minute or two once and as I say we were walking faster. But when we got to the light at Pit Stop 2 it was 10:16 and the stop was supposed to close at 10:15. We basically had enough time to hit the port-a-castle and refill water bottles before going back out on the route. I just couldn't do it - I'd been telling LLT for about the last mile that I NEEDED to sit down and do something for my knees as they were becoming more and more painful. So LLT decided to keep going and I decided to meet her at lunch. Another walker suggested that I go to the medical tent to get them to wrap my knees. But the medical tent was really busy and the stop was closing so I just grabbed a couple of ace bandages and hit my knees with some tiger balm before trying to wrap them myself.

As I started to walk toward the bus one of the staff members stopped me and let me know that the bus was full and therefore I could slow down. There was another walker that was stopping here as well and she was going to call a sweep van for the both of us. So we sat in the parking lot and watched as the crew pulled down the tents and packed up. Finally a sweep van came to pick us up and it turned out to be the van who had been following the front runners for the morning. So we were actually the first people that particular van had picked up. The driver/assistant pair were from out of the area and I think they took some wrong turns getting to pit stop 3 (Sweep vans don't go directly to lunch or to Grab N Gos so they were taking us to the 3rd stop where we could grab a bus).

Once we got to the stop I went straight to the med tent and had them rewrap my knees since the bandages had already slipped. They wrapped them and applied tape to try to keep the bandages up. But it took a while for them to get to me so I got to watch people getting blisters lanced (when you came to the med tent for a blister they asked if you'd tried self care first and if you hadn't they wanted you to try it). The most popular thing people were requesting is something called Bio Freeze which is kinda like Ben Gay without the stink. But what amazed me was that the most popular request for treatment after blisters seemed to be knee issues. While I was there they ended up wrapping several knees besides mine.

I got out of the med tent and grabbed a pb&j sandwich while refilling my water bottles. Then I called LLT to ask her where she was in case she was anywhere close to pit stop 3. It turned out she only made it to the Grab N Go before having to stop because of severe pain in her left ankle. They were calling a sweep van for her and a couple other people so I told her I would meet her at lunch. Then because I was feeling okay I decided to walk the 2.5 miles to lunch.

When I got to the lunch stop I waited for LLT by the port-a-castles. I also took the time to re-wrap my knees because the bandages had slipped during the walk from Pit 3. After a while I tried calling her to see where she was in case she had already gotten there. She was just limping in so I went to meet her. We limped her straight to the med tent and she got a chair to wait in while I got us lunch. Then I went and got her more chips since she was craving salt by that point. When the doctor looked at her the Doc decided that she needed to go to the ER to get her ankle x-rayed since there was a possibility she had broken her ankle.

I should note that the weather had gotten downright chilly - to the point that I was regretting my decision not to carry my fleece jacket during the day. But at least I was in long pants. The most popular thing at lunch was the mylar emergency blanket and they must have gone through cases and cases of them.

I waited with her until the ambulance got there and they were taking her away on the stretcher (there was another girl that they took away in the same ambulance who ended up having a severe leg problem as well). Then I got on the bus back to camp - Walk totals for the day Orla 7.4 miles, LLT 8.7.

I got back to camp and went to see if I could find the Bank of America internet station that the signs were talking about but apparently they couldn't get it working. So I couldn't do any updates to LJ. So I went to the electronic post card station and sent out a couple of those. Then I went back by the Bank of America booth to find that while they had a really cool cell phone charging station with lots of different cell phone connectors they didn't have one for the Palm. So I was out of luck there.

So I went to the massage station and sat there for like an hour waiting for the sign ups to start - I was the 2nd person to get a Thai massage on Saturday with the first being the first person to walk back into camp having completed the whole 22.5 miles - who walked in at 12:30 - before either LLT or I had made it to the lunch stop! (BTW the route card says the walk was only 21.5 miles but at dinner they announced the extra mile - who knows where it was?)

When I got out of the massage LLT was up at the medical tent with the verdict of severely sprained ankle (apparently she stepped on it wrong a few too many times). So I walked up to the medical tent and then back down with her to dinner. Then while she sat I went and got her dinner - again with the whole majority of salad thing, plus chicken picatta, wild rice, overcooked broccoli, garlic bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Then I headed back over to the dining tent to grab mine.

After dinner LLT headed back to the medical tent where she was spending the night and I went to our tent to get her a blanket, pillow and sweats. Then I walked back over to medical and hung out with her until about 8 pm. Went back and crawled into the tent to read for a bit before turning out the light to get some sleep. It was so cold I tried to use the mylar blanket that Acelina had given us but it just kept ending up in a ball. So I gave up and tried to sleep with just the two blankets that we had brought for LLT and me (she had the big comforter with her). The coldest spot was of course my nose, since I spent lots of time making sure it was the only part of me outside the blanket. Finally I got out the disposable boot warmers that Acelina gave us. I would open one up, put it close to my face and go to sleep. Eventually it would run out of juice and I would open the next pack up. I ended up opening all four packs although I could have gotten away with 3 (I lost one).

In the morning I heard people stirring at about 5:30 but I was stubborn and stayed in bed until about 6. Then I went and grabbed breakfast before checking in with LLT to make sure she'd gotten something to eat (breakfast was sausage, eggs, cheese blintzs with strawberry goo, potatoes, muffins, yogurt, cream of wheat, apple and cereal - I ate sausange,a cheese blintz and cream of wheat).

On the way back to see LLT I found out that there was a bus that was going straight to lunch from camp so that I could just walk the 7.3 (ish) miles from lunch to finish. So I decided to take that option and since LLT was riding a bus to lunch (in order to cheer for a while) I decided to just wait with her for the gimp bus.

I went back to my tent and started packing the rest of our gear now that I had the big item from LLT (the blanket). Someone stopped by and thanked me for not having taken down the tent yet since it was the way she was navigating to get to her tent. Someone else said that a lot of people had been doing that. :)

I packed up our tent, pausing several times to give people advice on how to pack up the tents. I made the comment to someone that I'd wondered about our having a brand new tent for the walk right up until the point that I realized everyone was packing up wet nylon. When I said I really hoped they were planning on using the tents next weekend in Philly so they at least wouldn't be packed away for too long someone said that they pull all the tents apart and clean and dry them before they are used again. Not sure how much I believe that.

Anyway, I was able to get everything into the bags with only one large zip lock bag worth of trash. I only needed help with one of the bags getting it zipped closed. Then I started hauling bags to the truck. On the way I stopped to talk to someone and help her shut her bag. When she talked about how much trouble she had packing everything back into the bag I asked her if she'd used everything she'd brought and she admitted that she didn't use all of the clothes. Note - LLT and I used EVERYTHING with the exception of one pair of pants (on Saturday night I just stayed in my two layers of pants and didn't change them on Sunday) and whatever LLT didn't use from her stuff on Sunday because she spent most of the time in her Saturday clothes).

When I dropped off the 2nd bag the truck lady said "next time you won't pack as much huh?" At which point I told her that between the two of our bags one was just under 20 lbs and the other was about 23. So I think we did pretty well and I'm not regretting anything we brought.

I was so impressed by the tetris fu of the truck packers though that I took a picture of our truck at the point I dropped the bags:

I went back over to the Medical tent and hung out with LLT and her group of gimpy people (there were 4 people on crutches by the end of the 2nd day). I also put some Bio freeze on my knees and got LLT to re-wrap them. Even she couldn't get them to be wrapped right and I ended up wrapping them for a final time at lunch this time keeping the wrapping to below the joint and just living with it.

After everyone else was gone and we admired the way that camp was being packed up for a while they came and got us to go on the bus. They'd brought a mule up to take the gimps to the bus and one of them walked with me so they were able to get everyone down in one load. But when we got to the corner they just had us stand there waiting for a while. Finally I decided to see if I could get the route card for the day and I was able to get enough to give all of the medical tent walkers one. But I wasn't able to sign out because the scanners had already been packed.

They made us cross the street to get to the bus and when the crew person on the bus saw how much trouble that was they pulled the bus as close to the road as possible. Then they drove the bus around in a circle so it was back in the bus area for a while and we waited while snarking the hispanic shopping network (selling colon cleanser) that apparently was the only thing we were allowed to watch.

We also spent time talking to the other walkers and told them about our plans for next weekend - LLT's head cook for a feast of 100. Oh yay joy. Luckily mysticsablewolf is coming. :)

Then they pulled the bus into camp so that the crew people could get on! LLT was kinda annoyed that they made people who were on crutches (including one who had broken her knee) walk across the street but moved the bus for the crew people. It would have been better if they had just moved the stupid bus in the first place.

We got to the lunch stop and I made sure that I saw LLT sitting down before I went and grabbed my lunch (which I never ate - turkey sandwhich, chips and cookie) then headed out. The timing was good and I was able to get out about 10:45 - I figured that was something that would help me finish.

Then I started walking, and walking, and walking. Why do I make this point after 3 days of walking you ask? Because the next stop was at the convention center - more than 3.8 miles away! I'm sorry but when someone who doesn't drink enough water based on their recommendations goes through two more than 16 oz bottles than they need to have at least a water stop somewhere in there.

I also spent a bit of time trying to get knee braces at a couple of pharmacies but they were all sold out (whoda thunk?).

The walk was pretty much straight down Connecticut Avenue until Dupont Circle then to Mass Avenue to the Convention center.

By the way, did you know there is a trapez school in the DC area? At least they were set up in the park by the Convention center this weekend.

From there we went to Freedom Plaza - where we had the fun of having to wait while they re-routed us. It seems that the National Equality March march from the White House to Congress screwed up or route (I'm so NOT surprised) by this - whoever decided both things should go by freedom plaza at the same time wasn't thinking.

So we spent time cheering the marchers and they returned the favor cheering us. Then we had to walk through the march to keep going. At that point they took us up 14th street to Constitution - and I realized that while it was a long walk it was still something where the end was in sight. Right up until they walked us up 17th Street to C Street. I got so excited when I saw someone carrying the Patience banner on C street that I made her hold up the banner so I could get a picture for LLT - at the time I thought it would be cool that I'd be following the banner into the holding area much like I'd followed it at the start. But then several more blocks of walking happened and they easily outdistanced me. Of course the stop at Starbucks for a flushie and to get LLT a Vanilla Chi didn't help. ;)

Then we walked up 19th Street to H Street and over to 23rd Street (right past a quad of cheering College Students who were so loud I thought surely we were at the holding area and then wondered exactly how far away from the closing ceremonies they were going to be holding us - it turned out they were cheering something else going on in the quad and didn't even pay attention to us).

We walked straight down 23rd and into the holding area which was on the mall at the corner of 23rd and Constitution. The whole last bit of the way there all I could think about was finding LLT and seeing how she was doing. Plus, ya know, getting a hug for having finished the walk.

To my surprise when I got to the holding area there was LLT right in front! I thought "how sweet, she's waiting for me". No - the stupid bus took that long to get her there from lunch! They had to wait 45 mins behind the march and then the driver made a wrong turn and took them into Virginia. She literally got off the bus as I was walking down the final hill!

But this meant we did the coolest thing EVER - something I never expected would happen - we crossed the finish line together! Yep - we started the walk together and we finished it together - both of us limping and her on crutches. Then we got our t-shirts and roses and hobbled across the grass to find a place to sit.

We talked to mysticsablewolf and got confirmation that she was coming up next weekend. We so love her!

Then we got a text message from museclio and I decided that it was easier to talk to her than deal with messaging on LLT's phone. It turned out that they were on their way down to cheer us on.

We moved LLT to a chair on the sidewalk near where fredrich was going to pick us up since she was having real problems walking on the grass. And she spent some time telling me that apparently she was one of the biggest picture opportunities at the lunch stop - her and everyone else who was broken to the point that they had a cast or crutches! Actually the BIGGEST photo op was the 4 of them together - everyone wanted to have a picture of themselves with the 4 people who had to go to the hospital. :)

I think the only one who had more photos taken of him the entire weekend was this guy:

Who has the goal of walking in all 16 Komen walks this year. His website is www.3day.me but apparently it's down at the moment but his name is Trever McGhee - go donate to him! He's apparently required to raise all the money from one walk before he can do the next and since the next walk is this weekend he can use all the help he can get! The total he needs to raise this year is $35K but his actual goal is $100K.

Anyway, then I left LLT alone while I went to go get our bags. Someone asked if she could help me find them and I said they were in the "E" line. She asked me what number to look for and I said "oh, there they are". Yes the colored duct tape helped again. :) The girl helped me to take the bags over to LLT and then we just stood/sat and waited for a while.

I was just about to head to the Port-a-castles when I heard webqatch shout "go Team Wench" so instead I hung out with them until fredrich showed up. Apparently it took him a while to figure out where the closing ceremonies were listed on the website.

We'd thought about doing the closing ceremonies but there was just NO way that LLT needed to be walking across the grass anymore than she already had. She kept having issues with her crutches catching on the grass. Plus I was in serious pain and decided it was best for me to go home so we skipped them.

Anyway, frederich came, we loaded up the car and then headed for home. We hung out for a little bit then went to the Bonefish Grill to have an excellent dinner - and while we were there someone who had done the walk came in. :) We went over and talked to her as we were leaving.

Thus endith the Komen Walk report - next year we'll consider crewing. While I'd like to walk again someday I won't do it if I am in the same condition that I was in this year - really I felt guilty every time someone cheered me on considering that I only walked about 25 miles total. I kept telling people that yes I walked but I didn't do the whole 60. :(

The guilt is somewhat weird to me, since I keep telling myself what is important is raising the money and walking at least a bit of each day - not how far you walked. But there I am, not being happy with what I accomplished. Oh well...when we tell people that we're considering crewing they look at us and remind us that it's really not any easier at which point I remind them that kitchen crew for SCA events is what we do for fun - I think crewing is more suited to our personalities than walking is.

PS all of my Komen related pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orlacarey/sets/72157622421038219/

Oh - and I forgot to write - my favorite team name for the entire event was the one we saw right at the beginning. :) They were the Ta Ta Taaaaaaaaaas (okay really you have to say it just right)

back in camp

2009-10-10T21:58:39Z

Voice Post

2009-10-10T17:58:11Z

Day 2 pitt stop 2

2009-10-10T14:56:43Z

Voice Post

2009-10-09T20:29:02Z

Voice Post

2009-10-09T16:43:09Z

Pitt stop 3

2009-10-09T15:27:12Z

Pit Stop 1

2009-10-09T12:57:49Z

Voice Post

2009-10-09T12:37:29Z

The Tenative menu for Dun Carraig

2009-09-22T18:49:38Z

Dun Carraig Baronial Birthday and Investiture
10-17-09

All dishes are from “Platina”

First Course
A Dish of Sausages
Langoustine with white sauce
Saffron Broth

Second Course
Roasted Chicken with lard sauce
Salad of Several Greens
Carrots & Parsnips
Frictella from Rice

Third Course
Roasted Stuffed Pig
Cabbage
Noodles
Cucumbers with oil & vinegar

"dessert" as a side board with ....

Hard cheese, apples, pears, walnuts, pistachios, chestnuts, honey, quince paste, ....

As usual, menu is subject to change, but this is LLT's current plan

A repost on some walk information

2009-09-10T00:09:15Z

Because aluminmug requested it I'm posting this info again.

So you know how LLT and I are planning on walking for 3 Days in the Komen walk?

If'n you have the money to spare please consider donating some to our walking accounts. My donation site is www.the3day.org/goto/Orla and LLT's is www.the3day.org/goto/Tirzah.

But what if you don't have any money to donate? Or what if you want to do something extra special to encourage us? The Komen people have something that you can do too!

From the August Newsletter:

There’s nothing like a letter from a loved one to inspire you to keep going. Your friends, family and supporters can write a letter to you, which we’ll deliver to you on the event at the Breast Cancer 3-Day Camp Post Office.

Send letters to:
Breast Cancer 3-Day Camp Post Office
ATTN: INSERT NAME OF PARTICIPANT**
PO Box 299
Gore, VA 22637-0299

Envelopes only, please. No boxes or large packages. Mail must be postmarked no later than September 29th in order to ensure delivery at the Breast Cancer 3-Day Camp Post Office. Any mail that is not retrieved by the participant by October 23rd will be destroyed.

**LLT's name is Evelyn Brady and mine is Elizabeth Nelson

Also here is information if you want to come and cheer us on during the walk!

Now planning January 2010...

2009-08-28T12:56:36Z

So LLT just asked me what weekend we're going to MD Renn. Ummm...not a clue? Started to work out the next few weekends and here is the list I came up with:

This weekend - Coronation/faire opening weekend
Next weekend - mysticsablewolf visit
Sept 12 - Birthday/parent's visit/Barony meeting
Sept 18 - sewing/walking
Sept 25 - Glengary
Oct 1 & 2 - sewing/walking/barony meeting/shed inventory
Oct 9-11 - Komen walk/~~will be missing Barony meeting~~
Oct 17 - Dun Carriag Invest (LLT Feast)
Oct 24 - House warming party in Richmond/Faire closing weekend
Oct 31 - Philly weekend with eridun
Nov 7 - Fall Crown/Roxie Visit
Nov 13- dogsitting weekend
Nov 15 - deadline for finding new job/layoff date
Nov 21 - Holiday Faire
Nov 26 - thanksgiving at the shore
Dec 5 - Unevent (Winston-Salem State University, 601 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27110)
Dec 12 & 13 - Dicken's Tea (Saturday Prep Sunday Tea)/will be missing Barony meeting
Dec 19 - Last weekend before Christmas
Dec 25-27 Christmas
Jan 2&3 - Free weekend?
Jan 9 - 12th Night.

Keep in mind during all this we have to figure out how to get two halloween costumes done including a run to JoMar's to buy fabric.

BTW, just as a reminder for Storviki's LLT and I will be missing Barony meeting in October & December. In October we will be dealing with the Komen Walk recovery (closing ceremonies are at 5 pm that day) and in December we will be cooking for the Team Wench Dicken's Tea

Komen Walk Info

2009-08-20T13:25:34Z

As I mentioned last night LLT and I are now checked in through the online system. We're sharing a tent (go figure).

At this point LLT is still about $150 short of the minimum for her to walk. Here is her donation link.

Thanks to everyone who has already donated I have made my minimum, but not my goal. Here is my donation link.

If you would like to donate but don't want to do it online you can find a printable donation form on the bottom of each page.

Remember, we're still planning on giving a bobbin lace hankie to one lucky person who donate $25 to either of us. At this point it looks like the hankie won't be done before the walk but I will do my best to get it to you as soon after as is possible.

Meep! I just looked and there are only 51 days to the event!

The pictures are posted!

2009-03-30T04:25:15Z

You guys know how eridun is a professional photographer right (Erika Morton Photography)? And that this year she took her camera to the Privateer Feast right? Well this weekend I got the pictures!

We decided to save bandwith on her photo page, we decided to post the pictures on Flickr. Here's just one sample

IMG_1808, originally uploaded by OrlaCarey.

I broke up the photos into five categories but they're all located here.

[Public] Tirzah's documentation from the Pentatlon

2009-03-09T14:46:21Z

Persona Pentathlon
Kingdom A&S March 2009
By Lady Tirzah MacCrudden

Persona: 15c., A cook of a large kitchen in manor house of northern Italy.

Studio Arts:
Calligraphy:
• Recipes of the kitchen

Costuming & Needle Arts: Costume: AD 1451-1600
Costume: AD 14-51-1600
• Red linen cote and white linen underdress

Domestic Arts & Sciences:
Cooking:
• Supper: A platter containing rice, eggplant and a piglet.

• Dessert: A dish with zabaglione, figs and tartlets of elderflower.

Brewing & Vinting:
• Beverage: Raspberry-Wine

Bibliography:

“Cuoco Napoletano / The Neapolitan Recipe Collection”
ISBN: 0-472-10972-3
English Translation by Terence Scully

“The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened”
ISBN: 978-1-4346-0054-7
Edited by Anne MacDonell

“Curye on Inglysch”
ISBN: 978-0197224090
B.L. MS. Harley 1605 Pt. 3, f. 107v

Studio Arts:
Calligraphy:
• Recipes of the kitchen

Jacket illustration from “The Neapolitan Recipe Collection” Folio IV of Bushler, 19
Inner illustration from “Curye on Inglysch” B.L. MS. Harley 1605 Pt. 3, f. 107v

Costuming & Needle Arts: Costume: AD 1451-1600
Costume: AD 14-51-1600
• Red linen cote and white linen underdress

The layers of this dress would have been wool for the outer layer, and linen for the underdress. I chose to do two layers of linen because the climate we have here is less suitable for the wool overdress. I used linen thread on both dresses. The button holes were done by hand, but I chose to use a shortcut for the eyelets on the white underdress. The eyelets were constructed by first using grommets and then covering them up with thread.

Domestic Arts & Sciences:
Cooking:
Supper: A platter containing rice, eggplant and a piglet.

Cuoco Napoletano/ pg. 45, 177 #8
Riso alla Italiana / Rice in the Italian Style

Piglia una pignata he mettice borodo grasso he magro he fa bullire; he poi piglia lo riso bene nettato he piu volte lavato cum aqua tepida, he metello dentro he fa bulirre menando cum lo cghiaro alcuuna volt ache non se apichi alla pignata; poi, quando serra cotro, piglia ova he caso gratato, sbatuto ogni cos insieme, cum uno pocho di pipere; poi fa le scutelle.

Put fat and lean broth into a pot and boil it; then get cleaned rice that has been washed several times in warm water, put it in and boil it, giving it a couple of turns with a spoon so that it does not stick to the pot; when it is cooked, get eggs and grated cheese, and beat everything together, along with a little pepper; set it out in bowls.

2 cups rice
4 cups beef broth
3 eggs
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Pinch of pepper

Clean rice in cold water then cook it in beef broth for 20 min., beat eggs, cheese and pepper together; add mix to rice after it has cooked; stir then serve.

Cuoco Napoletano/ pg 50, 180 #50
Marignani / Eggplants

Piglia li marignani he falli bene netare he bene mondare sutilmente; poi pone a focho uno pocho de aqua he falli dare uno bullore; che siano tagliati in quarti hepone in quella aqua uno pocho de sale, he non li lassare bullire piu che doi Pater Noster; poi cavali for a sopra uno tagliero he falli sugare; poi infarinali he frigeli; et como li harai friti, scola for a quasi tuto lo olio; poi piglia una spica de agloi he pistala bene cum uno quarto de quisti marignani; he poi habi uno poco de rigano de quello se mette sopra le alice, he pistalo cum lo aglio cum pocho de pane, pipero, saffrano he sale; poi destempera tute queste cose insieme cum agresto he cum uno pocho de aceto; poi getta ogni cosa insiema in la padella a frigere un pochetto; poi meteli in piatti he manda a tavola cum specie fine.

Get eggplants and wash and peel them well, then set a little water on the fire and bring them to a boil; cut them into quarters and add a little salt to the water; do not let them boil more then two Our Father’s; then tack them out onto a cutting board and let them drain; coat them in flour and fry them, drain off almost all of the oil; get a clove of garlic, grind it up with a quarter-piece of the eggplants; then get a little oregano, of the sort that is put on anchovies, grind it up with the garlic and a little bread, pepper, saffron and salt, then distemper all of this together with verjuice and a little vinegar and throw everything into the pan to fry a little, then dish it out and serve it with mild spices.

3-4 eggplants
1 cup flower
1 clove garlic
Sprig of fresh oregano
2 Tbl to 1/3 cup bread crumbs (panco)
Vinegar
Saffron, pepper, salt
Mild spice (nutmeg, pepper, allspice)

Quarter pieces of eggplant boil for no more than 2 “Our Fathers” (5 min is what I found to be best). Drain eggplant and then dust it in flower and pan fry on all sides. Mince garlic and one piece of eggplant and add the chopped oregano, bread crumbs, saffron, pepper, salt and vinegar. Mix all together and then sauté with the pan fried pieces of eggplant. Dust with mild spice mix and then serve.

Cuoco Napoletano / pg 73,197 #73
La Sancta Porcheta Arosto reversata / The Holy Piglet, Roasted Inside-Out

Piglia una porcheta he spelala che sia bene biancha he bene nettata cum aqua calda; da poi fedela per la scina he cacia for a l’interiora, he lavala bene dentro per pgni lato; he riversala como se fa cum le tenghe; poi, per sua impitura, piglia una spicha de aglio minuzato he lo fitgato dela porcheta bene sabatuto, he petrosillo, maiorana un quatrino, he pipero uno baiocho, he alter bone specie, he caso gratato he gratato he quarto ova he zafrano, prune he uva passa, he miscola cum lardo ogni cosa insieme; he mette queste cose in la porcheta, he chepetuto ci ne sia; poi cucella bene cusi reversa,he ponela in spito ben ligata cum bastoni, ho vero mettela sopra una graticula; he falla ben cocere; he poi, mettendola supra la graticula ho arosto in spito, falli questa salmora: piglia aceto bono, pipero pisto, assai zaffrano he sale he cum questa bagnaralla cum rosomarino: in questo modo ser bona.
Get a suckling pig and remove its hair so it can be blanched well and cleaned well with hot water; split it open right along its spine and eviscerate it and wash out everywhere inside, and turn it inside- out as is done with tench; then, for its stuffing, get a clove of garlic, ground, and the piglet’s liver, well beaten, and parsley, a quatrino’s worth of marjoram, abaiocho’s worth of pepper, and other good spices, grated cheese, four eggs, saffron, plums and rains, and mix everything together with lard; put this everywhere inside the piglet; then sew it up well, turned inside-out that way, mount it on a spit fastened carefully with skewers, of else set it on a grill; cook it well; then, whether it is grilled or roasted on a spit, make the following basting sauce: get good vinegar, ground pepper, a good lot of saffron, and salt, and with this you baste it using a sprig of rosemary. Done this way it is good.

1 suckling piglet
Stuffing: Basting sauce:
2-3 cloves Garlic Balsamic Vinegar
½ lb Liver Pepper
¼ cup Parsley Saffron
¼ tsp. Marjoram Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper Rosemary sprig
½ cup Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Spice Spice:
4 eggs Ginger
Pinch of Saffron Mace
¼ cup Plums Cardamom
¼ cup Currants Cinnamon
2-4 Tbs. Lard Nutmeg

The recipe starts by eviscerating the piglet down the back. I was not able to eviscerate the piglet myself so it is split down the belly; this is the way they are sold now. Wash the piglet, turn it inside out and stuff. Stuffing: mince well together garlic & pig liver, add mixture of parsley, marjoram, parmesan, eggs, plums, currents, pepper and spices with lard. After having read this and other similar recipes I decided to first brown the skin/outer side of the piglet before stuffing and finishing the roasting. The browning adds an extra depth of flavor to the dish which improves the overall outcome. Once the piglet is stuffed roast it for 15-20 min per pound at a temperature of approximately 300F. The piglet should be basted every 15 minuets with sauce. Sauce: vinegar, pepper, salt, saffron basted with a sprig of rosemary (used like a brush).

Dessert: A dish with zabaglione, figs and tartlets of elderflower.

Cuoco Napoletano/ pg 73,197 #135
Torta de Fiori de Sambuco / Elderflower tort

Habi fiore de sambuco quando sono ben mature, he scrola che cada tuto el fiore da quilli ramiciolo, he questo fiore incorporalo cum la compositione dita de sopra in al Torta Biancha,ma questa compisitione de fiore vole esser piu stetta he piu spesaa; he falla cocere como he ditto de le alter torte non discordanti del zucaro he aqua rosata.

Get elderflowers when they have fully bloomed, shake the branch-ends so that all the blossom petals fall off and mix these into the White Torte mixture described above, though this flower mix should be stiffer and thicker; cook it as I directed for the other tortes, not forgetting the sugar and rosewater.

To Make White Torte: pg.195 #125
Get ten or twelve eggs, as you prefer, beat them thoroughly; cut up small a pound and a half of new cheese, then grinned it with half a pound of fine sugar, a further half ounce of peeled ginger, half a pound of lard or butter, and a small foglets of milk, then mix the milk, egg, cheese, sugar, ginger and butter thoroughly together – and note that, o make it whiter, there should be fifteen egg whites; then make thin pastry on the bottom of the pan, put this mixture on it, and cook it slowly over a moderate fire; when it is almost done, give it a little color on top with hotter fire; when it looks done, take it out and put rosewater and sugar on top , and serve it. (Note that, when it is done, the top of this pie should be sprinkled with an egg yolk beaten with saffron, and then put on plenty of well ground sugar.)

1-2 oz. elderflower petals
6 Eggs / 4-whites, two Yolks
4 oz. mascarpone
¾ cup milk
2 oz. super fine sugar
3 oz. sugar
¼ tsp. ginger
1 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. rosewater
4-6 strands saffron
Pastry shells/ flower, butter, egg, sugar, salt, nutmeg

Make pastry crust and bake for 10 min in a 325 oven. Cream one egg yolk and sugar together and then add cheese, milk, ginger and butter. Whip egg whites to soft peaks and fold into other mixture. Put all into the pre-baked tart shell and put into oven for 15 min. Beat one egg yolk with saffron. Take out tart from the oven and pour saffron mix over tart, then put back in oven for 5-7 min. Remove tart from oven and sprinkle with sugar and rosewater.

Cuoco Napoletano/ pg 80,202 #175
Frilellede Fiche Piene / Stuffed Fig Fritters

Piglia amandole he pignoli, he pists molto bene – dico, che ogni cosa sia bancha – he pista insieme due bone fiche he un uva passa; poi taglia un pococ de petrosillo ben tito, he habi bone specie he miscola insieme; he se questa material fusse troppo dura, pone insieme un poco de aqua rosada; poi piglia fiche belle he grossw he falli un buco dove sta el fiore suo he impele de questa material; poi falle frigere in bono olio, adsio dico.

Get almonds and pinenut and grind them up – I say everything must be white - and grind in two good figs and a few raisins; cut up a little well chopped parsley and mix in good spices; if this mixture is too thick, add in a little rosewater; then get fine big figs, make a hole in them where their flower is, fill them with the mixture and fry them in good oil – slowly, I say.

¼ cup Almonds
¼ Pinnuts
12-18 Figs
2 Tbls. Rains
Sprig Parsley
Enough to moisten Rosewater
Pepper, cinnamon, clove, anis, ginger, mace
Oil

Grind up pine nuts and almonds and add one minced fig, some minced raisins, a chiffonade of parsley and spices. Add enough rosewater to moisten. Stuff the mixture into the remaining figs, and then slowly sauté.
Cuoco Napoletano/ pg 88, 209 #220
Zabaglone / Zabaglione

Per fare quarto taze de Zabaglone, piglia .xii. rossi de ova fresca, ter onze de zucaro he meza onza de canella bona he uno bucale de vino bono dolce, he fallo cocere Tanto che sia preso como uno brodeto. Et poi levalo fora he ponello in uno grandopiatello davante alli Compagnone. Et se vorai, gli potrai ponere unopezo de butiro fresco.

For four cups of Zabaglione get 12 fresh eggs yolks, three ounces of sugar, half an ounce of good cinnamon and a beaker of good sweet wine, cook this until it is as thick as a broth; then take it out and set it on a plate in front of the boys. And if you like you can add a bit of fresh butter.

4 egg yolks
2 Tbs. Sugar
¼ cup marsala wine
Pinch cinnamon
½ tsp. butter

Wisk together eggs, sugar and wine. Once it has been whisked put over a double boiler using low heat and whisk until thickened to desired consistency. At the end add butter.

I did not add much cinnamon to the custard for the simple reason that I don’t like the flavor with that much cinnamon added. And I have more sugar so it would be sweeter for a more modern pallet.

Brewing & venting:
• Beverage: Currant Wine

“The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened”
Page 140 / Rasbery-Wine

Take four gallons of Deal wine, put it into an earthen jugg; put to it four gallons of Rasberries; let them stand so infusing seven days; then press t out gently; Then infuse as many more Rasberries seven days longer, and so three times if you please; put to it as much fine Sugar as you will make it pleasant; Put it into a Runlet close stopped, let it stand till it is fine; and then draw it into bottles, and keep it till it be fine.

2 cups wine
2 cups Raspberries
2 tsp. supper fine sugar

I could fine no information on “Deal wine” so I tried two different kinds of wine one red and one white. I used frozen raspberries. I exchanged the raspberries every 7 days for 4 weeks at which point I added the sugar, and then bottled. I preferred the ---- wine it was more flavorful.

Ah-ha news on “Deal” wine although spelled differently it is pronounced the same; “Deihl” wine, which is a German rislling, a sweet white wine.

[Public] It's Food Pr0n time!

2009-03-09T13:38:27Z

Thanks to flt we now have pictures of two of LLT's latest ventures.

First, the Beauty - in cooperation with the talented feymaker, we have the Soltie from mysticsablewolf's Tournament of Love and Beauty Feast:

Venus, originally uploaded by UpperClassGlass.

For this, LLT did the shell with help from feymaker, but the Venus herself was all feymaker's work. The picture comes from her display at KA&SF this weekend. We haven't seen pictures from the Tournament of Love and Beauty feast yet, but feymaker added fruit and rose petals much the way mysticsablewolf described them displaying it at the feast.

Next, the cool - This is part of LLT's KA&SF entry.

Piglet, originally uploaded by UpperClassGlass.

La Sancta Porcheta Arosto reversata / The Holy Piglet, Roasted Inside-Out

Piglia una porcheta he spelala che sia bene biancha he bene nettata cum aqua calda; da poi fedela per la scina he cacia for a l’interiora, he lavala bene dentro per pgni lato; he riversala como se fa cum le tenghe; poi, per sua impitura, piglia una spicha de aglio minuzato he lo fitgato dela porcheta bene sabatuto, he petrosillo, maiorana un quatrino, he pipero uno baiocho, he alter bone specie, he caso gratato he gratato he quarto ova he zafrano, prune he uva passa, he miscola cum lardo ogni cosa insieme; he mette queste cose in la porcheta, he chepetuto ci ne sia; poi cucella bene cusi reversa,he ponela in spito ben ligata cum bastoni, ho vero mettela sopra una graticula; he falla ben cocere; he poi, mettendola supra la graticula ho arosto in spito, falli questa salmora: piglia aceto bono, pipero pisto, assai zaffrano he sale he cum questa bagnaralla cum rosomarino: in questo modo ser bona.

Get a suckling pig and remove its hair so it can be blanched well and cleaned well with hot water; split it open right along its spine and eviscerate it and wash out everywhere inside, and turn it inside- out as is done with tench; then, for its stuffing, get a clove of garlic, ground, and the piglet’s liver, well beaten, and parsley, a quatrino’s worth of marjoram, abaiocho’s worth of pepper, and other good spices, grated cheese, four eggs, saffron, plums and rains, and mix everything together with lard; put this everywhere inside the piglet; then sew it up well, turned inside-out that way, mount it on a spit fastened carefully with skewers, of else set it on a grill; cook it well; then, whether it is grilled or roasted on a spit, make the following basting sauce: get good vinegar, ground pepper, a good lot of saffron, and salt, and with this you baste it using a sprig of rosemary. Done this way it is good.

1 suckling piglet

Stuffing: Basting sauce:
2-3 cloves Garlic Balsamic Vinegar
½ lb Liver Pepper
¼ cup Parsley Saffron
¼ tsp. Marjoram Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper Rosemary sprig
½ cup Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Spice Spice:
4 eggs Ginger
Pinch of Saffron Mace
¼ cup Plums Cardamom
¼ cup Currants Cinnamon
2-4 Tbs. Lard Nutmeg

The recipe starts by eviscerating the piglet down the back. I was not able to eviscerate the piglet myself so it is split down the belly; this is the way they are sold now. Wash the piglet, turn it inside out and stuff. Stuffing: mince well together garlic & pig liver, add mixture of parsley, marjoram, parmesan, eggs, plums, currents, pepper and spices with lard. After having read this and other similar recipes I decided to first brown the skin/outer side of the piglet before stuffing and finishing the roasting. The browning adds an extra depth of flavor to the dish which improves the overall outcome. Once the piglet is stuffed roast it for 15-20 min per pound at a temperature of approximately 300F. The piglet should be basted every 15 minuets with sauce. Sauce: vinegar, pepper, salt, saffron basted with a sprig of rosemary (used like a brush).

Crossposted to food_porn.

[public] The 2009 Privateer Feast kitchen post

2009-03-02T20:00:58Z

Friday night (Saturday morning?) I didn't sleep well and ended up getting up about 7:00. LLT was already up. Soon everyone was up and we split up. While eridun and LLT went to Restaurant Depot to pick up a few pieces of equipment (a couple more chafing racks, a large bowl, containers for the salad dressing and sterno). feymaker and I headed straight to the Ihop and got the table. LLT and eridun headed met us at the Ihop and we had a good breakfast with a really motivated server (really he brought us ALL grits even though only 2 of us had actually ordered them...yumm grits) - he got a BIG tip. We stopped at Starbucks for coffees then headed to site.

Sadly, this year the decorating crew managed to miss the load in of the kitchen stuff. I don't know what happened, but they were LATE ;). But then we were early enough that the site cleaning crew was still there. So we cleaned out the cars (luckily the site has 2 rolly carts). Then while the rest of the gang organized the kitchen I headed out again. My first stop was the liquor store for Rum (151), Kaluha and Butane for the torch. Got the first two - but they didn't have butane. 2nd stop was a hardware store for rope lights, but no Butane again. I also picked up a roll of what I thought was duct tape, but turned out to be something else (I think eridun said it was gaffer's tape?). Then finally to Shopper's for ice and lighter fluid (again no Butane). Of course when I got back to the site and showed LLT what I'd gotten she said that the torch couldn't be filled with lighter fluid, so that was a bust. Oh well.

While I'd been gone the crew had been busy, setting up the dessert alcove with levels made of kitchen crates and covering them with fabric and setting up the kitchen tables. Before we knew it pinkribbonwench and cozit showed up to start in working as well. First thing feymaker made three apple braids, one of which we sent out to the decorating crew while it was still hot. Part of that was to make sure the ovens got turned on early and were working properly. The lentils also went on the stove to start cooking. Then on to the chopping. In addition to the gianormous bag of red onions that feymaker set to, we had carrots and potatoes that needed to be chopped, while some of the potatoes needed to be sliced finely (luckily we had a mandoline). Finally we had to chop the chicken into chunks. Of course, I say "we" like I was doing any of this. Nope, except for carrying food to the buffet I didn't touch a vegetable all day.

Don't get me wrong - I kept myself busy. First off I needed to make mini crustless cheesecakes. The problem with this is that we've managed to lose LLT's Microplane (I pause now for a moment of silence). This was about the time that museclio showed up. She asked what she could do and I said zest the limes. She came up with the idea of running out to Shopper's for a box grater, since she wanted a new one anyway. While she did that I started the rest of the cheesecakes. To flavor the cheesecakes I put in a good glug of the rum. So we tasted the cheesecake filling and decided that the first batch was good without the lime zest. We also decided that it was good enough that I should make two double batches instead of one. So I called museclio and asked her to get some more sour cream since I thought we'd only brought one of the tubs. By the time she got back I was in the midst of making the 2nd batch and that one had lime zest in it. I didn't taste the baked off cheesecakes so I'm not sure how much difference the zest made.

While the cheesecakes were baking I started working on the creme brulee which was our special treat for the kitchen staff. We actually ended up never baking the last tray of cheesecakes because by the time the cheesecakes and creme brulee were done enough to pull LLT needed the ovens to start baking the actual dinner. We intended to go back and cook the last tray of cheesecake after the last food came out of the oven but it just never happened.

So once the last of the desserts went into the oven I left the kitchen for my little alcove in the hall (behind the brig). There museclio and I started by filling small cups with a mock Tiramisu. "Mock" because rather than layers with lady fingers each cup only had one a butter cake, soaked in a combination of coffee, rum and kaluha then topped with the ricotta layer that feymaker had made for me. Then we filled eclair shaped pieces of choux paste with pastry cream - we stopped when we ran out of pastry cream with choux paste left over! Next we filled shot glasses with pistachio cream and pots de creme. When it came time to fill the cream puffs museclio and I decided that the cream cheese icing that I'd made would be a better filling then the lemon curd, but we also decided that it was a bit too sweet. So I doctored it with some more cream cheese, sour cream and rum. Finally we added the juice of about six limes to the batch and the filling came out tasty. museclio had to go do her "real" job of working with the entertainers and by this time I was in the midst of piping lemon curd into the mini filo shells. So pinkribbonwench gave me an assist by filling the cream puffs with the mixture (which eridun took to calling mojito cream). She'd also spent some time making nutella sandwiches by spreading nutella on meringues and sticking two together. feymaker and eridun also spent time helping out with both filling shot glasses and plating desserts. For a final step with the desserts I took a full quart of heavy creme and whipped it with some honey then piped it on top of the lemon curd and pots de creme.

Keep in mind that while I was working on all of this in the hallway LLT's kitchen crew was busy working their tails off making all the food that went on the buffet. There was chicken with Marsala sauce, roasted potatoes, grilled onions and mushrooms, noodles and roast beef. Plus salad with 3 kinds of salad dressings plus bread and butter (both plain and honey).

I'm not even sure who all did what in the kitchen other than that feymaker ended up in charge of the marsala sauce and cozit was an angel, spending most of her time washing dishes. As I say, I was too busy with the dessert bar. I do know that when Chris came in about 4 pm he said he felt like he was late (I'd put on the email to the crew that we needed them by 4 at the latest). It wasn't that he was late, it was that we'd all been busy. LLT said that actually Chris came in at a perfect time because he was fresh when the rest of us were tired and he was able to stand by the ovens for the rest of the night lifting pans.

Each of us also snuck out to go through the raffle room (although I had to practically force LLT out of the kitchen to do it). And of course eridun spent some time taking photos. I think she said at last count she had something like 400 photos - I've suggested that she let me put them on flickr to save the bandwith/storage on her website. I'll make a post when they are up. Of course LLT and I carried through with our usual luck - each of us put int $20 worth of tickets in the raffles and won nothing. However cozit won a big jar of honey and gave it to LLT so that was really cool. The other really cool thing is that I know that the hairstick went to a good home (where I might see it worn in the future) - museclio won it!

I got a treat as well - keltique gave me a very spiffy apron perfect for the event.

So once service started museclio took charge of making sure that the table was stocked, either letting us know what needed to go out or taking food out herself. eridun and I mostly concentrated on making sure that the dessert bar was kept well stocked - most of the time we replaced plates before they were even half empty.

To our surprise, the thing that we seemed to run through the most of? The salad - we came fairly close to running out - by the time people stopped eating we'd gone through ALL of the salad in the kitchen and there was less than 1/4 of a bowl left on the buffet. The other funny thing was that while museclio came back and said that there were people looking for the roast that was more "medium" (we served the majority of it at medium rare) she came back later and said people weren't taking the "medium" meat, they wanted the medium rare.

The food seemed to go well, I only got a couple of comments later. 1) faireraven's mother-in-law said that the mushrooms tasted weird to her - to the point she couldn't eat them. It wasn't until I tasted some on Sunday morning that I realized that what she was tasting was the thyme which was put on with a fairly heavy hand. 2) feymaker said that some people didn't really like the roasted potatoes since they found them a bit hard. Funny - people keep telling us that this crowd likes roasted potatoes and that's what they were. Last year we served potatoes that had not been roasted (due to the ovens issue) but were cooked in a butter sauce. I guess people liked those better. 3) Someone mentioned that there were a lot of "creamy" desserts this year that would have done better with small spoons. That would have to do with our serving the pots de creme and the pistachio cream (plus some of the tiramisu) in 2 oz shot glasses. Another point on that was we didn't get around to deciding what ALL of the desserts were early enough to get Dee to making the signs. So there was one sign that said "mini cheesecakes are gluten free" but no other signs. This caused people to not eat the pistachio cream as much because they didn't know what it was. To a person, everyone who I actually said "this is pistachio cream, do yourself a favor and have some" tried it and loved it, but those who didn't know what it was seemed to stay away from it.

As far as I can tell the only real issue the entire night was with the Alaska Bombe. Against my better judgment LLT was trying it for the FIRST time that night - you guys all know how much I HATE that. Well the kitchen was warm so feymaker had a hard time getting the meringue to peak. Then LLT couldn't get it to flame when it was presented. She made up for it by taking the table some of the creme brulee when it was done, but still I'm not thrilled about it.

The other issue is that by the time LLT toasted the sugar on the creme brulee the Pyrates Royale were onstage so the Captain didn't get his dish until after the last song of the night. He seemed to really appreciate it though.

The worst part of the night is that I went to move a chair by the dessert table as I was packing some things up and didn't realize that feymaker's leg was in the way so I banged the chair into her knee. This caused issues because her knee was already acting up anyway. She ended up being down for the count for the remainder of the night - which made her feel guilty for not being able to help with the load out. I keep telling her she did enough during the last two days to make the rest of us more than happy with her, but she seems to have problems believing me.

The good thing is that the kitchen crew did a fabulous job with cleaning to the point that we were able to sit outside and watch the last bit of the jam session at the end of the night with feymaker, eridun, LLT and me sitting on the fireplace to finish out the night. Once the lights came up we finished packing up the food and started the load out. We gave faireraven the great majority of the dessert leftovers so she could take them into her office.

Everything got loaded into the cars and we all headed for home, where we sat up decompressing for a while before all getting to bed somewhere around 1 am.

Sunday was a recovery day with much napping, eating and watching of tv/movies. feymaker headed home around 2ish I think? and eridun headed home around 7:30. I think today is going to be more of the same.

All in all things went fairly well. If you count the things that LLT turned in receipts for we came in about $14 over budget (IIRC $800). I'd say that between us LLT and I spent an additional $150-200ish on stuff we didn't turn in receipts for (food table/dessert area decorations and most of the dessert supplies).

edited: the weirdest thing of all? I actually did something I NEVER do - at the end of the evening I made myself a plate of food - salad, noodles, beef and chicken. I can never face the thought of eating more than nibbles after a feast kitchen but for some reason the idea of both the noodles and the salad was really good to me and I felt the need - of course part of that might be skipping lunch.

The important part of all this? We raised over $10K this year (in a bad economy) for Breast Cancer research - in one night!

So who wants some lace?

2009-01-23T03:42:06Z

As most of you know, over the last several years I have made several bobbin lace handkerchiefs for the Atlantian Lace Guild, with LLT assisting on the most of them. Up until now the ONLY way to get a lace hankie made by me was to become Queen and then hope that I was the one who did that reign's hankie.

In an effort to raise money for the 3 Day Walk Tirzah and I will be raffling off a lace hankie, with the lace made by me and with blackwork/construction by Tirzah.

The rules
1) Donation must be to either My fundraising page or Tirzah's fundraising page. If you want to mail in a donation and have it count the donation must be received by the site and acknowledged on one of our pages by the raffle deadline - Saturday, September 27 (the Saturday before the walk).
2) Donations can be made to either account
3) For each $25 donated you will get one entry in the raffle. While you don't have to donate all funds at once, $25 increments cannot cross the accounts. This means if you donate $25 to each of us you get 2 tickets. If you donate $50 to one of us you get 2 tickets. If you donate $10 to one of us and $15 to the other you don't get a ticket. Sorry, but I need to do this to make life easier for me.
4) If you have already donated $25 or more you already have entries - thanks for the donation!
5) On Saturday, September 27 I will tally all donations and hold the raffle. Tirzah will draw the winning name out of the bag and I will announce the winner here.

Rules may be added as I think of them, but the basic rules should stay the same.

I'm Registered for the 3-Day!!!

2009-01-15T20:12:31Z

Here is my fundraising page for the 3 day walk!

Wish me luck you guys. Somehow it's a little on the scary side realizing that I've now commited myself to not only walking 60 miles in 3 days but raising $2,300. But it's important, and I'm strangely looking forward to it.

Expect to hear more about this during the next few months, but I've set up a blog on my personal page so that I can keep track of my training there.

Next step is a "Getting Started" meeting next Wednesday (1/21) at 7 pm at Holy Cross Hospital.

Privateer Feast tickets still available

2009-01-12T21:52:41Z

The Privateer Feast still has tickets available!

For several years this feast has sold out in under 5 minutes so this is an unusual opportunity to go to a very neat evening.

For those of you who don't know, Team Wench throws the Privateer Feast every year to raise money for Breast Cancer research. The money is split between members of Team Wench who walk in the various Breast Cancer fundraising walks during the year. It's a worthy cause, but even more than that it's a VERY cool night.

There's wonderful food (cooked by LLT and her crew) and music from some well known music groups (including Ship's Company Chanteymen, The Salty Dogs, and The Pyrates Royale). So click the first link in this post and buy your tickets before they sell out!

The Privateer Feast Announcement - Reposted from the mailing list

2008-10-15T13:43:06Z

Ahoy!

Team Wench be happy ta' announce that the eighth occ'rence of that
premier piratical party - the Privateer Feast, will be happenin' on
schedule.

Fer thems new ta' this shindig, that means that the crew of Team
Wench'll once more be settin' sail from Cherry Hill Park with the
evenin' tide on Saturday, February 28, 2009. Keep yer eyes peeled ta
this list closer ta the calendar's horizon fer information on when ya
might be able ta git yerself tickets.

It be fer a good cause -- even one a pirate can git behind!

============================
Translation from pirate-ese:
============================
Team Wench, Inc. will be keeping the /traditional/ date (last Saturday
in February) for the 2009 Privateer Feast.

Once again, the Feast will be held at the Cherry Hill Park Conference
Center on Saturday, February 28, 2009. Information regarding ticket
sales will be announced on the Team Wench Events email list
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeamWenchEvents/) closer to
the year's end.

As always, all proceeds from the Privateer Feast will go to benefit
breast cancer research.

--
Ralph E. Nelson
Chairperson, 2009 Privateer Feast
Team Wench Inc. - http://www.teamwench.org/
--
NOTE: permission is specifically granted to repost this information in
any forum so long as:
* the complete message is included; and
* reposting it is not a violation of the ToS for that forum

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Icon
Thanks to webqatch for the link. Hrmmm...wondering if they'd be willing to make this strip a tee shirt?

For those of you not on the Merry Rose

2008-09-04T17:21:21Z

Coronation has been cancelled

Official announcement from the autocrat.

Katharine

THL Katharine Devereaux

Barony of Ponte Alto

Kingdom of Atlantia

Baronial Seneschal

St. Anne's Clothier's Guild Mistress

Per Saltire Erminois and Pean

Subject: [Branchseneschals] Fall Coronation ANNOUNCEMENT

Greetings Atlantia!

As of 11AM forecast, Tropical Storm Hanna is protected to pass almost directly over the event site for Coronation Friday night into Saturday morning. Since the state of NC has already begun voluntarily evacuations for the low lying areas in the county of the site, TRM, TRH, and our Kingdom Seneschal, in consultation with myself have decided to cancel Coronation for this weekend.

The Coronation of Jason Kinslae and Gerhild the Willful will be held next weekend, September 12th – 14th, at Chalice of the Sun God in the Barony of Ponte Alto. Please contact the event staff for Chalice of the Sun God for more information about cabin and feast space availability for next weekend. http://acorn.atlantia.sca.org/event_flyer.php?event_id=8f1ff147

Detailed information concerning the refund policy in regards to this weekend’s Coronation will be forth coming as soon as possible. Please feel free to cross post this notice as you will.

Please contact me with questions and concerns. 704-293-4443

On behalf of the populace of Raven’s Cove, I thank you for your patience and apologize for the weather,

Alesia

Baroness Alesia Gillefalyn
Regional Seneschal for North Carolina
Familia Wylderosarum
mka Bonnie A Harvey

Well so much for my plans for the weekend. It looks like I'll be at work tomorrow...

Attention Dr Horrible Fans!! TODAY ONLY

2008-07-30T20:21:57Z

Apparently TODAY ONLY Hulu.com has posted Dr. Horrible - even better it's all one file as opposed to 3.

Note: there's at least 2 commercials though.