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AS-classes-msg - 5/28/98

 

Comments on various Arts and Sciences classes in the SCA.

 

NOTE: See also the file AS-classes-lst, AS-ideas-msg, AS-events-msg.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that

I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some

messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with

seperate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes

extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were

removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I

make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the

individual authors.

 

Please  respect the time  and efforts of  those who have written  these

messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this

time. If  information  is published  from  these  messages, please give

credit to the orignator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  Lord Stefan li Rous

    RSVE60 at email.sps.mot.com             stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 02:41:24 -0500 (EST)

From: EowynA at aol.com

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re:  A&S Classes

 

There was a question,

"Of all the A&S classes that you have attended, which have been the most

helpful to you and which did you enjoy the most and why?"

 

The most helpful ones also tended to be the ones I enjoyed the most.  For

instance,  Many, many, years ago (could it be about 20 now?) were some

scribal classes for beginners and intermediate scribes taught by (now Master)

Allyn Samildanach of the West Kingdom.  We drew, we laid gold, we played with

the forms.  It was wonderful fun and taught me a lot about doing SCA scrolls.

 

About a year ago, I took several classes in panel painting (intermediate to

advanced level) from Mistress Miriel Ty A(mmumble) that I found a great deal

of fun, and quite useful. We drew, we broke eggs, we painted, we laid gold.

  I learned a lot about panels and icons.

 

< there is a recurring theme in my interests >

 

There was a "History of the SCA" class with slides of people many years ago,

taught by Master William von Schlussel that was fascinating (who are these

people?  why did the SCA  go this route instead of that? )  And there have

been periodic "history of the Kingdom" classes also.

 

A few years ago was a class on quality clothes-finishing techniques taught by

Mistress Mela de Prion (who teaches that to her college students) that was

filled with tricks of the trade, and sewing facts that I (a primarily

self-taught seamstress unafraid to ask friends for help) had never known.

 

Now I mostly teach classes, but when I take them, I most enjoy the hands-on,

practical knowledge of crafts sort of classes.

 

Eowyn Amberdrake,

Caid

 

 

Date: 22 Apr 1998 11:58:06 -0700

From: "Marisa Herzog" <marisa_herzog at macmail.ucsc.edu>

Subject: Re: SC - Help thinking up a

 

<snip>I have just under a month, two weekends free and little free

weeknight time.  I'd prefer not to do a class on cooking a feast,

since it's already being done, so I'd like to find a good food

topic.  ...

Suggestions?  Ideas?  Thing's you'd like to attend?

Ruadh

- -

Not that I can attend... but considering some of the recent threads- how about

something like and "Intro to Medieval Flavorings/Spices" give people who

haven't had access to saffron, galingale, etc. a chance to eyeball, smell,

taste- give basic overview of powder-forte, powder-duce (sp?) and such- and

list things to get away from, like vanilla.

- -brid

 

 

Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 19:46:26 -0500

From: "Chicago Jo" <kelson at ameritech.net>

Subject: RE: SC - Help thinking up a class

 

how about a class on feeding a hungry fighter out of a picnic basket with

only period foods.  There are a lot of sources out there but to actually

have a class with samples and examples....  I would love it

Deborah

MKA Jo

kelson at ameritech.net

 

 

Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 20:12:34 -0700

From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>

Subject: Re: SC - Help thinking up a class......

 

Some more ideas:

- --a 50 minute survey on food and eating in the real middle ages. kinda a

basic whirlwind tour of what they ate, and why. I base mine around the

seasonability of foodstuffs and agricultural practices in 15th century

Britain.

- --a hands on cooking class where they get to make their lunch on the fire.

Using documentably period recipes, of course :)

- --a tastebuds on class on beverages, again, with documentation

- --I took a GREAT class in Calontir, where she had a bunch of ingredients

and their possible substitutions. We got to compare all kinds of vinegar,

why wild rice isnt a good sub for white rice, why you cant really use some

spices in place of others, what the heck does a lignonbery taste like

anyway, etc. The piece de resistance is that she had made three batches of

rice. One used yellow food coloring, one used tumeric and one used saffron.

She also made numerous batches of shortbread, subbing in different kinds of

sugar (turbinado, white, brown, etc) and different flours (rice vs whole

wheat, etc) and different fats (butter vs margerine vs oil). Kitchen

Science! and no more "hmm...well, this SHOULD be fine..." :)

- --pick a period cookbook, and make some treats from it. Spend your time

discussing the history of that particular book while your students get to

nibble bits. Time permitting, you can discuss reconstruction of recipes

from period sources.

 

- --Anne-Marie

 

== Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 06:55:33 EDT

From: WOLFMOMSCA <WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Help thinking up a class......

 

One of the classes I'm currently working on myself is "Where Did They Get

Their Groceries?"  Take a sampling of original recipes from various lands in

period and explain how the cook obtained the ingredients.  A little cooking

info, a little history, some trade route tracking, and a dollop of

agricultural info, and voila, it's a class.  I always like to try to broaden

the scope of my classes this way because I feel that the SCA focuses too

narrowly on the "things" of the Middle Ages.  We need to learn more about the

rest of the picture, IMHO.

 

Wolfmother

 

 

Date: Fri, 24 Apr 1998 09:23:03 +1000

From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>

Subject: SC - Hello, Edible Flowers and Classes

 

On classes...

The most popular food classes I've run have been on Medieval Ingredients and

Redacting Recipies. For the first one I have a list of ingredients and their

modern names and some substitutes, but the real aim is to let people look

at, small and taste real saffron, verjuice, galingale, long pepper, etc and

give people sources for these. Sampling foods made with these things is part

of the fun.

 

Redacting can be done in theory and/or practice. The theory includes handing

out a glossary of terms and looking at the original recipies, learning to

trasnlate them into modern English. Then a discussion on methods for

recreating the dish - cross referencing to other sources (medieval and

modern), assumed knowledge of ingredients and techniques, the how and why of

all the decisions you make on the way and coming up with a dish which is

hopefully to your taste as well.

 

The practice is great as an extension. Having done the theory, a fun option

is to divide the class into groups, give them all the same original recipie

and ingredients and encourage them to redact the recipie and produce the

dish. Finished products can be compared and you can get a lively group

discussion on which they like best, which is the best "period"

interpretation and why they made the choices they did. This can also be done

as a demo if short on time/resources or have students who are not competant

cooks.

 

Rowan

- -----------------------------------------------------------------

Robyn Probert

Customer Service Manager               Phone +61 2 9239 4999

Services Development Manager           Fax   +61 2 9221 8671

Lawpoint Pty Limited                    Sydney NSW  Australia

 

 

Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 15:04:38 -0400

From: "LHG, JRG" <liontamr at ptd.net>

Subject: SC - Help thinking up a class

 

I have found that the best way to do a cooking class without actually

cooking is to pick a theme and run with it, information-wise, but to offer

already cooked samples. So Cold foods (period salads, syllabub, flummery,

or pickled foods) are good. I do a class on preserved foods as a sort of

appetiser thing. Goes over very well, and you'd be surprised who shows up

when you teach it late afternoon (all those hungry fighters actually have

to learn about food if they want to eat---I'm evil and I admit it!).

 

Another good one is "Period Use of Almonds", covering lenten stuff,

endoring with butter-fried almonds, I even attended a class with almond

sausage once!

 

Period Garnishing is a really neglected SCA art.

 

I like the idea of "Fine tuning a feast theme" .

 

How about "The differences in regional cuisines in the year _________."

Show regional foods, imported foods, and common diet staples in 4 or 5

different places such as Scotland, London, Paris, Rome, Norway. Actually, I

like that idea. I think we should ALL attend a class like that! Perhaps you

could pick an early date and a late date to illustrate the effect of

commerce on the cuisine of the areas.

 

Perhaps a good one would be "Common foods you have in your kitchen to

'medievalise' any meal". This would show quick tricks to make any meal in

to a "feast" with minimal menu rework. Why make hamburgers when you can

make hedgehogs, salad, and bread?  Why make oatmeal when you can have

Pottage? Why have cheese whiz when there's Savory Toasted Cheese?

 

How about "25 great recipes you can make at Pennsic"? Or, a week of Meal

Menus for  Pennsic with NO cooler! Sounds like the right class for your

target audience. If geared to minimal equipment and ingredient-sharing

(with spices, cheese, etc.), could be a winner!

 

How about "Emergency Solutions for the Panicking Cook"?

 

A Good One: "Starting a Cook's Guild".

 

Aoife

 

 

Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 23:09:39 -0500

From: "Mike C. Baker" <kihe at ticnet.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Help thinking up a class......

 

Rebecca Tants wrote:

> I volunteered to cook a fill in cooking class for AEthelmearc

> war practice next month on "whatever subject isn't covered

> by all the OTHER cooking classes people usually teach at

> such things". Seemed like a good idea at the time, but it turns

> out that there are only two other food-related classes:

> Herbs & How to Cook a Feast for Beginners.  So now I actually

> have to THINK of a topic.

 

<SNIP>

 

> We won't have a kitchen (it's at the Pennsic site), so

> if it's a hands on class it would have to be on a campfire or

> without heating.

> Suggestions?  Ideas? Thing's you'd like to attend?

 

"The *Proper* Use of Cheese In the SCA Feast Setting"?

 

"Adapting Available Commercial Foods to Feast Use?

(e.g., what breads work and don't work, and under what conditions)

 

"Techniques & Tools For Fire-less Camp Meals"?

(e.g. going beyond bread, sausage, cheese, fresh fruit -- or making

those staples more palatable / better presented)

 

HTH - Amra, Kitchen Idiot

- --

For "official" purposes: Mike C. Baker

For "fun": Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra (SCA)

           Kihe Blackeagle (Filk, Scouting, etc.)

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
All other copyrights are property of the original article and message authors.

Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org