Weekend recap

Project day happened. I got my new device all colored, in triplicate, using period crayola colors. Lissa and Violet helped me make beef pies. We even have the first 55 pies done and in the freezer awaiting feast. Strawberry crack, black raspberry merlot made an appearance (NOM). I love brewers. Sioban helped with the sugar salt dishes. The last 7 are done, and that gives me one for each above the salt table. This weekend will be painting and varnishing. Ian and Annys worked on Scrolls. The menu scroll is going to be freaking awesome!

Yule food trials are nearing an end. Tried the fried dough. Everyone thought it was great (I suspect it was the sauce). I was a little disappointed with it. Ok... a whole lot disappointed. It was like chewing sweet shoe leather. So we are keeping the sauce, and ditching the dough, and going with the fried profiterole dough (still period- and the one we had at court of love) with the spice royal sauce. That will be better all round. The cheese and meat platter for the first course went over really well. Last up on the list will be the venison slated for this weekend.


Swan is done. Debating as to actually entering it into A & S. There is documentation for the swan, but I am concerned about the duck tape and rice crisp/marshmallows. Even though modern foods were used, the construction is pretty much the same as they would have done in period.

50 yards of linen will be coming my way this week, including all the materials for the King's waffenrok, and her Highness' saree (yes... that is the project for next year, list legal saree in time for Pennsic).

Lastly, I purchased The Princess Bride book for my winter project of philosophical analysis of fiction and society. Now all I need to do is find a period style of philosophy that I like to use as the basis for analysis.

A & S Dilemma

I have a dilemma.

I have Bubba, who represents a significant amount of research and work. He had a catastrophic injury (2x decapitation) and had to be duck taped together at the join. Really this was the best solution for the substandard cereal/marshmallow form. And as most of it was sugar covered, anything wet, like say plaster of paris (yes they used plaster in subtlety sugar work) would be detrimental to the sugar work already done. Water and sugar are a really bad mix.

Subtlety work could be mixed media, sugar, plaster, wax or other materials to help it last through out a banquet. Sugar is heavy. If there isn't support, bad things happen. The object of a subtlety is to successfully create the illusion of something, in this case a royal swan.The outer work is pretty much exactly what they would have done in late period England for sugar showpieces. Even the technique of forming sugar around a form is period. It was also period not to eat the sugar sculptures.

What isn't period, is my form is shaped rice crispies and marshmallow, with 2 yards of duck tape to stabilize the head and neck.

So LJ hivemind.... Is Bubba a project that can be entered as an A&S entry (full disclosure of course of non-period parts). Or is it best just to let him do his job holding down the head table?