A Miscellanea
I have an acquaintance that has a habit of making updates in the form of a list so that he can cover a multitude of topics in a compact space. Taking my cue from his form, this part of the update will be in the form of a list.
- The feast menu and notes are up: Here’s the link. The notes are found at the bottom of the page if you follow the link for “Feast Notes”.
- There was a rumor that there was to be a whole pig served for coronation feast, now that seems to have been nixed, this means that my plan of pork loin for the “stuffed pig” may be back-burnered in favor of tasty, tasty roast piggies.
- I have decided to make the sausages for the Agincourt feast and that is a daunting, but exciting prospect. I will be learning a lot about how to do that and sharing what I learn here.
- The column is a nicely-sized challenge and I’ve finally targeted how to tackle it in a reasonable way. I’m going to determine a focus topic for each month.
Creativity
The thing that I have been struggling with the most lately is a sense of disconnectedness from other people and a dip in creativity. I’ve been struggling with what to do with myself now that I don’t have a child at home all day and we live in the middle of nowhere, so there aren’t people to talk to during the day. This has taken a toll on my creativity as I busy myself throughout the day with home projects to try and stay away from the computer as I don’t wish to sit all day. Last night, I had a breakthrough - I decided to learn how to gild.
Gilding is using a sheet of gold leaf or foil to create a metallic effect on a painting or scroll. You can even use gilding on wood for an Icon or to fancy up a wooden box. The process is to use gesso, which is slaked plaster, either colored or plain, as the glue to affix the gold leaf. I had some colored (brick red) gesso and a book of gold leaves and figured that I’d do something on pergamena (my preferred medium) to learn how to do it. Previously, I’d used Schminke’s Gold Gouache, which I love and will continue to use when necessary. During the Middle Ages, the substitute for gold leaf would have been “shell gold” which is ground gold leaf in a medium. My understanding is that it’s called shell gold because it was typical to use a shell for a palette for this color.
My attempt was mostly successful. I got the gold leaf onto the pergamena without too much trouble and with only some spots left uncovered. I figured out that you can re-wet the gesso with a brush and then re-apply the leaf where there were larger holes. I then used a piece of smooth glass that a friend of mine had gifted me after a trip to Wales to burnish the gold. I did that entirely because I don’t have a proper burnisher and it did the trick nicely.
Once I stepped back and looked at my work, the floodgates opened for me. I felt accomplished and enjoyed the process of learning greatly. The things that had been blocked were no longer blocked and it was such a creative rush that I am having trouble finding words to describe it.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, really.
Agincourt Feast
As mentioned earlier, I have decided on a menu for this feast, and I’m pleased with the outcome. I’ve already started making chicken stock for the soup and the plan for pre-cooking is falling into place nicely. The feast itself is going to be a significant challenge as it’s being held in a private home, with a kitchen to match. There is, fortunately, a dumbwaiter from the garage to the kitchen so we can put together a kitchen in the garage and move the food upstairs easily. The plating will be easier as I’m doing it as a series of trays so we can move each course from the basement to the kitchen for plating and just stage everything upstairs. I’m excited about the feast and will be talking about it a lot in the upcoming weeks before the event itself.
That’s all I have for this week and hope to be a bit more prolific now that I am no longer creatively blocked.
Tags: creativity, food history