A Medieval Day

Now that this season is over, I've been suffering from Game of Thrones withdrawal. It's so bad that I actually started to read the books (the horror!). Anyway, I was searching for the book series on my nook, I found an interesting Game of Thrones cookbook, which I promptly downloaded. The recipes look tempting so I decided to try my hand at some. Elizabeth and I designated Saturday as "Medieval Day."

This was not in the cookbook, but this is my favorite medieval style lunch. I typically bring this to Dagorhir events.

 A simple lunch of bread, cheese, and sausage with mustard on the side.

I also prepared a medieval dinner. The menu included a salat (salad), beef and bacon pie, and sweetcorn fritters. We washed the meal down with a strawberry champagne punch and then finished with Sansa's favorite - lemon cakes.

The table setting: red tablecloth, wood or "gold" plates and bowls, no forks.

We went for a medieval look as much as possible. I have some wood plates and bowls, but not enough. We picked up some nice gold plastic plates (left) from Party City. The don't look conspicuously modern in this picture. We did not use forks, because they weren't really used in medieval times.

The meal: Pie on the left, fritters on the right, salad in the background (far right), and punch behind the fritters.

I couldn't find all the ingredients called for by the "Sansa Salad" so I just whipped something together. The pie and fritters recipes came from the book. I know - corn was not known in medieval Europe. George Martin does mention sweetcorn fritters in one of his books, though.

A prepared plate

The beef and bacon pie was very interesting. In addition to the meats, it included raisins, dates, and prunes. The dried fruits added a note of sweetness that nicely counterbalanced the heaviness of the meat. The fritters were awesome (even if I got a minor burn from splattering oil). The punch did not come from the cookbook. Most of its drinks were like hot mulled wine. We wanted something cooler for a hot summer day. Elizabeth found online the recipe for a punch made with champagne, ginger ale, and strawberries. Refreshing.

Dessert: lemon cakes - Sansa's favorite

We ended with the lemon cakes. This is a medieval recipe that is more like a cookie than a cake. Nevertheless it was very tasty!

All in all, a very good meal. It certainly attracted some attention.

Who could that be?

It's Cooper!