sotelte-tols-msg – 4/18/08
Useful tools when creating sotelties.
NOTE: See also the files: sotelties-msg, pig-heads-msg, About-Marzipn-art, edble-embrdry-msg, entertaing-fds-art, molded-foods-msg, Sgr-a-Cnftns-art, Food-Coloring-art.
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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 separate 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.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: Judy Gerjuoy <jaelle at access.digex.net>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 17:16:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: sca-cooks Corn and Marzipan
On Thu, 10 Apr 1997, Beth Morris wrote:
<snip>
> Back in our heyday of marzipan concocting, Jaelle & I used commercial
> candy colors to color it, and molded it using everything available -
> plastic candy molds, the PlayDoh pumper, hands, any available tools.
Not to mention metal cookie cutters. You would be surprised what you can
use to model it!
There are some good books out there on marzipan modeling - although these
days I am trying to get into using period dyes for coloring it (provided
they are safe to eat - not all are).
Jaelle
jaelle at access.digex.net
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 13:23:19 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Re: Illusion food
>From: "Louise Sugar" <dragonfyr at tycho.com>
>
>Actually I once saw, in one of the myriad catalogs that I used to get,
>pre-blown out goose eggs and I can remember my great grandmother making
>aspic eggs. she filled the blown out eggs with a beef aspic, chilled them
>to solid, peeled, and arranged them on wilted greens with other stuff....I
>was only 3 yrs old at the time so forgive my lousy memory of what else was
>in the dish......
I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner...... There actually exists a
gadget for poking holes into eggs and then blowing out the stuff. It's a
bowl shaped object with a pin, and then a seperate blower sort of like a
baby's ear syringe. You can buy them wherever you buy Pysanky Egg supplies
(ie: a well supplied craft store near Easter time).
The syringe would fill, as well as blow. You could put all sorts of stuff
into those eggs. Come to think of it, you could dye the shell, first, then
fill the eggs. No that would be cruel! Hmmmmm.......
Aoife, who knows a SCAdian Pysanky egg maker, and is going to call him for
local sources.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 10:28:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - piping bag
<< I saw a late-period or mid-1600s reference to paper tube
with a hole in one end. Of course, I have no idea now where I saw it.
Alys Katharine >>
Simply take a clean sheet of paper or baker's parchment, form into a cone,
fill and fold down the long edge. Snip the pointed end off and use as any
other piping bag. Works great and it's throwaway. :-)
Ras
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 11:24:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Something to blow/fill egg
<< Does anyone know of an inexpensive source of something to blow/fill an egg? >>
Huge sterile syringes with long plastic points are available at any farm
supply store. They are used normally to inject medicine (usually for
mastidis) into the cows teats. I use these for all my injection needs merely
cutting the tip back to enlarge the hole. The tips are also available
seperately negating the need to purchase a new syringe each time.
Ras
Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 13:16:07 -0400
From: Richard Keith <keith.78 at osu.edu>
Subject: RE: SC - OT OOP Dragon cake special effects cookbook
>BTW watch the theatrical type fogs. They have a smell to them and I don't
>know how well it would work with food.
Rosco fog juice is pleasant to smell and breeze. Theatre Magic (forget new
name) is also very pleasant. Both are considered non toxic. Neither leave
a residue. So I would not be afraid to use either.
Frederich
Mka Richard Keith, Mansfield Osu Theatre dept.
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 13:54:07 +1000
From: "Drake & Meliora" <meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Subject: SC - Rubber stamping food
> Wow! Lightbulbs going off in all directions! I love this idea. Please, can
> you tell me details on just how you do this? (Any tips on food color paste
> brands? a regular rubber stamp? before baking?) Oh boy, a new way to decorate
> my food. Happy dance.
> Aelfwyn the easily amused
Glad to please <g>. Actually to the best of my knowledge this is a really
OOP method of decorating food. And not just the use of rubber - I have not
seen devices or animals painted onto food items in any period texts.
However, it is a fun up-oneship to do to your neighbouring Barony. We
originally arranged these for an illusion feast I ran (and Mari - the now
Clerk of the Lochac Cooks Guild ran the kitchen at the last minute for me).
A good friend of mine (who alas is not in the Society anymore) took a copy
of the Griffin rampant from our Baronial device into a rubber stamp store.
The produced two stamps. One about an inch square and one about 2 inches
square. When she went to collect them from the store the clerk opened a pad
of ink and was about to push the stamp into it when she screamed at him. He
just wanted to test it so she could see the design <lol>.
Anyway we use red food paste (as our device is red and white) which is
diluted slightly with water until it has a creamy consistency - kinda like
the thickness of gouache pain that illuminators use. And simply stamp into
the paste and them onto the food. The brand of colour paste I use is: Bakers
Preferred, Manufactured by Berghausen Corp in Cincinnati. The colour I use
is Gel Paste Food Color 5416 Super Red. I am sure that could use a more
appropriate media such as sandalwood in egg white or somesuch - frankly we
haven't bothered with alternatives yet.
Due to the nature of the dye and the hecticness of my kitchen, we usually
stamp the food after it has been cooked. The colour media we use needs a
fairly strong flat surface to adhere to - and we find that as it is a
shallow stamp, uncooked foods such as pastry and cookie dough do tend to
stick to the stamp.
For the illusion feast we had some chicken drumsticks dressed up as soldiers
inside a gingerbread fort (an idea I took from someone on this list). The
soldiers inside the fort had griffins stamped on their shields. The
soldiers besieging the fort had black griffins (I think my friend painted
those freehand).
Incidentally the moat around the fort was the supposed cerulean blue sauce -
that stayed red!!! I'll get a summary of that discussion to Stefan someday
soon.
Since then we have used the stamps to decorate biscuits (we took to another
Barony's event - heh heh heh) and to differentiate between different sorts
of lidded pies.
Hope this helps - but as I stated earlier, I have no knowledge of this being
a period practice with western European foodstuffs.
Mel - who should REALLY get back to her Chemistry study.
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 14:03:06 US/Eastern
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish
> What did you use for a mold? Or did you sculpt them freehand?
> margali
[She is asking about some peach pit sotelties made out of marcepane that
Brighid did for the SCA-Cooks pot luck dinner at Pennsic 29 - Stefan]
I used Sculpey. I pressed each half of a peach pit into a separate block, then
baked them until hard. To make the pits, I sprinkled a little sugar into the
bottom of each mold, put 1/2 tsp. of paste into one, placed an almond and
another 1/2 tsp. of paste on top, and pressed the other mold piece over it.
Then I carefully removed the top mold, scraped away the excess paste, and eased
the peach pit loose. However, though Sculpey is labelled non-toxic, it is not
recommended for food use. I was willing to use it for one experimental batch,
but I would not want to do so on a continuing basis. This is why I went
looking for a potter at Pennsic. If you have access to a kiln, you might want
to try making one yourself. I do not know if unglazed or glazed will work
best -- the potter has promised to make me one of each.
Brighid
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 14:00:46 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish
If it works like the cookie presses I've purchased, I suspect unglazed will work
best...I have several that I have used for shortbread, etc. Some came from the
Bakers Catalogue and a couple from (I think) Williams Sonoma.
Kiri
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 16:11:17 -500
From: "Tara Sersen"<tsersen at nni.com>
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish
>I have a nice heavy latex mini-scallop shell candy mold I use for buttercreams.
>I wonder where I might get a few custom made with peachpits?
At good art stores (like the kind you find in cities near art schools, not neccisarily
ACMoore,) you can buy latex for making mask and sculpture molds. My store of
choice is Pearl Arts and Crafts on South Street in Philly.
The latex is a powder that you mix up. The stuff I've used turns into a soft
mold. They might also have some that dries hard. They have lots of darned
cool stuff.
With the soft stuff, you could fill a dixie cup with the liquid latex and dunk
a peach pit into the center. When it is set, peel off the cup and cut all the
way or half-way around the pit to pop it out. So, you could have a one-piece
or two-piece mold. For something as thick as almond paste, I'm guessing a two-piece mold would work best. For something that starts as liquid and ends up solid, like chocolate or (yuk) Jello, I'd use a one-piece mold.
If you try it, let me know how it works. I've done mask-making for theatre,
and I've seen this done for sculpture, but I'd never thought to try it for food
before today!
Magdalena
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 15:55:00 -0500
From: "sdrake" <steldr at home.net>
Subject: RE: SC - pennsic pot luck dish
Ok - I have a friend who is a professional clown - this is how she makes her
noses (don't laugh!!) She has an impression of a nose in a plaster of paris
mold set in a styrofoam cup - she pours liquid latex into the mold, lets it
set for a little until there is a layer of solidified latex in the mold and
then pours out the excess. after the latex hardens she has a new nose which
she then trims......I've long been intrigued byt the thought of being able
to mold other things this way but didn't know where to get the liquid latex.
Lo and behold I saw a can of it at a candle/incense store here in Tulsa the
other day - and if I can find it in Tulsa!!!!! Of course you wouldn't
really need the plaster of paris mold , you could just pour some latex into
a cup about half way up the pit and later, just peel it off the
pit......maybe.
Mercedes
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: transportable nibbles
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 14:17:10 -0000
>Also (yeah, another question), how did you make the edible bouquet? I
>can recognize starfruit, but that's about it....Are they stuck on the
>end of bamboo skewers or something?
>--Maire
Yes. I used extra long bamboo scewers. The blue ones are small white
onions cut in a jagged fashion and sliced part way down each V to help the
'petals' open up and then they are floated in some ice water with lots of
blue coloring. The "cala lillies" are made with thin slices of rudabega
with a tiny corn for the staimen. I used tiny portabella mushrooms with
wiggly lines cut in and used as the center of rudiccio. There are the tiny
red hot peppers cut jagged edged with small hot green straight peppers
sticking out of the center. The large yellow are nothing more than a turnip
cut in half and tiny cube cuts are made almost all the way through then set
in ice water to open up some. These I dyed with straight food colour out of
the jar. The spring onions added a lot with their curley ends. You know
how to do that? I used daikon radish that was cut with a star shaped cookie
cutter to act as the base to lots of the 'flowers' so they not only had a
base but it kept them from sliding down the scewer. I think there were
others but cann't recall at the moment. The fun part was watching peoples
faces when the "grazed" at the hospitality table and they suddenly realized
what they were looking at!
Olwen who believes food should be FUN!
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 06:34:57 -0500
From: Amanda Whiteley <siancr at shaw.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan fruits, the crash course
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Another quick way for getting the citrus skin effect on marzipan oranges,
lemons and limes is to use a thimble. The imprints from the thimble look a
lot like orange skin.
Sian
From: Marilyn Traber <marilyn.traber.jsfm at statefarm.com>
To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 09:58:49 -0600
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Coloring breads
Well, they make spinach powder [available from kingarthurflour.com] for
coloring pasta, so I would assume that you could toss it into bread, and add
the freshly made juice of more spinach in place of some of the water for a
better green.
margali
From: "Diamond Randall" <ringofkings at mindspring.com>
To: "sca-cooks" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 19:56:10 -0800
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Stuffed carrots- what would happen if
> It seems you would have to cut the carrots into sections since they have a
> tendency to split. I have done lots of carving in
> veggies and carrots are darn hard to do without them just suddenly deciding
> to split. I have not seen the references Brighid
> mentioned that can be
> found in Granado where she says he describes hollowing out the inside of the
> carrot to make a tube.
> Would like to though. I wonder if he says to
> par-boil them for a bit to soften them.
> That would make sense. Olwen
Tubes? No problem, no splits. Just go to Home Depot and get a new 1/4"
paddle style wood drill bit. Put it in a cordless drill and voila! The very
long shank of this item makes it easy to put a hole for stuffing in most
carrots. As it is new and unsoiled, you can use the shreaded carrot
leftovers for making all sorts of garnish and salads too.
Though not a kitchen tool and especially not a period one, it does the job
without having to have a $50 kitchen gadget to clutter up your drawers. Heck,
you can even recycle the the thing and use it when building stuff. What a
concept! Need a bigger hole? Just buy the size you need. The big bits are
great for excavating large perfect holes in small cabbages too without having
to struggle with using a knife to cut out the bottom of the core. Again it
makes great coleslaw too!
Akim Yaroslavich
Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 13:13:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Peach Pits
-------Original Message-------
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
I seem to recall that some time in the past, someone on this list
sold some peach pit molds. If that person is still on list, please let
me know if they are still available, what they're made of, and how much
they cost.
------------------
The molds were sold by Mistress Olga Belobashnina Cherepanova, of
Calontir (MKA Stephanie Howe). She made them of unglazed earthenware.
http://www.ashandgriffin.com/steph.shtml
Brighid ni Chiarain
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 20:21:01 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Egg cuber was new kitchen appliance OT OP
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> Olwen commented:
>> Our Atlantian past and future King (current Prince) has dice as his
>> household device. I got a couple of these cubers and made egg dice for a
>> private supper that House Blackstar did for him and his guests a year
>> or so ago. He loved it!
>
> That's an interesting idea! Did you put dots on these egg dice? How?
>
> Stefan
Well, I was going to use whole cloves but for some reason we didn't have any
with us, so I used whole peppercorns that were pressed into the egg. They
were served on a small silver stemmed plate. He liked them.
Olwen
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 09:05:30 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Edible Pearls was Pistachio source and
marzipan question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
mollirose at bellsouth.net wrote:
> I didn't make the pearls a mundane friend did and sent them to me. She uses
> a mold to get a more uniform shape then individually dusts them. I found
> some on the web for $20.00 a hundred! I now know how to get rich.
>
> Molli
Most good cake decorating catalogs sell those molds
to make pearls and beads.
Full instructions on how to make them---
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/whatshot/beads.aspx
Try
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?
T=1&productId=621406
for a picture of the mold.
Johnnae
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 07:28:57 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] New cooking tool! ;o)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Gee I mentioned that on November 3rd in an early response to the Count--
Small batches and what they don't tell you is that
if you want it thin you roll it through a pasta machine's rollers.
Start thick and keep running it through so it gets thinner and thinner.
Then cut and roll for artificial cinnamon sticks.
If you do a huge batch, then only work with a part and keep rest in
fridge.
----------------
I keep one machine around just to use for things like this now. The other
has been co-opted for clay stuff in the basement. I don't touch theirs;
they leave mine alone.
Johnnae
Sue Clemenger wrote:
> I saw something this evening in Michael's (craft store, where I was
> eyeballing some inexpensive carving tools for this new thing I learned to do
> at Collegium last weekend*), and maybe because I was thinking of Papa's
> story of the Cinnamon Sticks of Doom, and maybe it was just serendipity, but
> there in the aisle with all the varieties of modeling clays and sculpies and
> stuff, are these $24 small-sized "pasta machines" meant specifically for use
> with stuff like sculpy.
> Ba-da-bing! Wouldn't that work just as well for marzipan or sugar plate? The
> tool looks to make a pretty good-sized sheet of the stuff, and looks (on the
> box) to be very similar in style/function to the pasta maker that my Dad
> had, many years ago.
> At any rate, I thought I'd mention it, for those of you who are inclined to
> make these sorts of things.....
> --maire
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 06:04:04 -0700
From: "Sue Clemenger" <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] New cooking tool! ;o)
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Small batches and what they don't tell you is that
> if you want it thin you roll it through a pasta machine's rollers.
> Start thick and keep running it through so it gets thinner and thinner.
> Then cut and roll for artificial cinnamon sticks.
> If you do a huge batch, then only work with a part and keep rest in fridge.
Yup. Which is probably what I had in mind when I saw the similar thing at
Michael's. If I'm not mistaken, though, yours is an actual "pasta machine,"
and the one I saw is called a "pasta machine for clay," so it's meant less
for noodle and more for playing? I suspect that cost may be a factor as
well...
--maire
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 09:18:44 -0500
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Cakes
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Nancy Kiel wrote:
> But how do you copy onto rice paper? Can you run it thru a copy
> machine?
Rice paper (also called wafer paper) is not opaque. If you place the rice
paper on top of a drawing you can, with proper lighting, see through most
of it, at least well enough to sketch the outline of the item. For the
spots I can't see, I carefully lift up the paper (to not move it from the
lines I've already done), eyeball where the missing section is and lightly
draw it on. Usually I use a non-toxic marker - black being the most
commonly used color since it will leave an outline within which I will
paint. However, other colors can be used.
Regarding non-toxic...
Crayola children's markers are labeled non-toxic. They are pretty cheap. I
Will also admit to using a black fiber tip pen which has no particular label.
Most folk aren't going to eat the picture and if they do, there is such a
small amount of fiber-tip-pen ink that it shouldn't do anything to anybody.
If I'm feeling particularly paranoid, I'll use the Crayola marker. Please
note that there are food-grade markers now available for those who are
really cautious. They are fairly expensive, at least compared to Crayola
non-toxic markers. You can also decide that the finished rice paper is not
to be eaten and trace the picture with pencil, although I doubt that eating
faint pencil lines will harm anyone.
If you can't see well enough to copy the picture on a table, you can always
tape both the drawing and the wafer paper to a window and trace that way.
If the original picture can't be removed from its book, photocopy that and
use the copy to put under the rice paper. Years ago I purchased an opaque
projector so that I could project an image onto the surface of the rice
paper or cake and directly ice/paint that way.
Alys Katharine
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 23:15:35 -0500
From: Robin <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cleftlands Event Subtleties
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Elise Fleming wrote:
> I asked him about using Sculpy since previous discussion on one list or
> another had indicated that Sculpy was not usable for food items. His
> opinion was that just pressing in an item and removing it right away would
> not make the item inedible. I'd like commentary, if you please, since
> that's my feeling as well. I can't imagine that Sculpy would be so "toxic"
> that using it as a mold where an item was pressed in and immediately
> removed would cause the item to be unfoodworthy. I wouldn't see
> baking in a Sculpy mold, but pressing???
>
> Alys Katharine
I use a Sculpy mold (and a couple of pottery ones) to make my marzipan
peach pits. To the best of my knowledge, no one has died yet. Sculpy
is labelled non-toxic, and though I wouldn't use it for a coffee mug, I
don't thiink that brief contact with food is hazardous.
I found a link to a material safety study at the manufacturer's website:
http://www.sculpey.com/Products/PR_ACMI.htm
I am not a chemist or any kind of medical professional -- perhaps
someone with better qualifications could take a look at this and
comment?
--
Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:43:15 -0500
From: "RUTH EARLAND" <rtannahill at verizon.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sculpey molds and/or decorations
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Brighid ni Chiarain wrote:
> I found a link to a material safety study at the manufacturer's
> website:
> http://www.sculpey.com/Products/PR_ACMI.htm
>
> I am not a chemist or any kind of medical professional -- perhaps
> someone with better qualifications could take a look at this and
> comment?
> --
> Brighid ni Chiarain
> Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
> Robin Carroll-Mann *** rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Well, I am a chemist, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it for something which
will contact food briefly. I read the results of the materials study in the
link provided and am satisfied that the safety of the product in question is
fine to use as a mold. To summarize, the study found no harmful effects in
dosages up to 24 mg/day. Put another way, if someone actually ate the
Sculpey, the person would have to eat something the size of a peppercorn
each and every day to consume more than the amount found safe by the study.
And even then, they are not saying it would be harmful, just that
they don't know what it would do.
The study indicates that a marginally greater exposure risk is present
during baking, and even then only at temperatures that blacken the Sculpey.
So if you want to minimize the risk of exposure, you could make sure you use
the exhaust fan and ventillate the kitchen as much as possible.
As I suspected, though, the safety issues are connected to the dyes. The
phthalates mentioned usually show up as blue or green dyes. So if you want
to be extra safe, use the white sculpey, which is probably colored with
titanium dioxide, a biologically inert material used to lend opacity to
non-dairy creamer.
Berelinde Cynewulfdohtor
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Ruth Tannahill
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:45:16 +0000
From: Olwen the Odd <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] one-trick ponies
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> From: karobert at unm.edu> > cailte > still seeking the perfect leaping
> stag
When I do those for the Outlands, or any other Arms, I simply print
out the picture of the device then enlarge or reduce the picture, or
part of the picture, to the size I want/need then cut out the image
and use it as a pattern to cut around. I either cut through a thick
piece of marzipan and round down for the muscle/bone/item structure
so it isn't just a flat piece of something. With stuff like the Arms
of An Tir that has that cool lion rampant I even use that nifty
playdough extruder to make the "hair" of the mane, tail, etc.
Anyway, by using the copy/enlarge method you can use some nice copper
or tin flashing to bend around the picture and make your own cutter.
Olwen
<the end>