For the current WTSIM's theme of "Terrines" I have no historical recipes to offer you, as Terrines and Pàtes per seare absent from the repertoire of the medieval cook. There are dishes which might - with a rather large leap of the imagination - be considered forebears (in the same way primordial slime might be considered our forebear) but the ( Read more... )

Lamb roast for dinner this weekend. On which I got to try out my new camera. It's an Olympus EVOLT 510, which What Digital Camera recommended as the best of the entry level DSLRs. The last time I owned an SLR was almost ten years ago, a trusty old Praktika I'd owned since I was 16. It's somewhat amusing to note that digital SLR cameras don't help ( Read more... )

As previously mentioned, one of my friends gave me a commission for a gold & red pendant, a gift for her sister-in-law in celebration of the birth of her nephew. Here are some photos (not great ones I'm afraid) of the end result. The pendant is 28mm long, 20mm wide and about 5mm thick, and threaded on a gold-plated chain with red Swarovski crystals ( Read more... )

Every couple of months or so, myself and a friend, Sooyin, have dinner together. We usually end up turning going Japanese, but other Asian countries such as Malaysia and China get a look-in too. Last week Sooyin introduced me to a new cuisine - Korean, which oddly I'd never eaten before even though there were a couple of Korean restaurants in ( Read more... )

As promised, here are photos of the cast items I made during the 'Simple Casting for Jewellers' course. First up is the sandcasting I performed on the Tuesday:


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Fourth lesson. This evening we sat and talked for a little. Firstly about modern technology as applied to casting; rapid prototyping as done on computers, the software involved, wax prototype builder machines, metal sintering machines, and the new Fabber machines. The latter sound especially interesting, being like a 3-D photocopier that builds up ( Read more... )

Hope you all had a happy May Day! The lovely sunshine is supposed to last for the long weekend, so it's a holiday to definitely look forward to ( Read more... )

As requested, here is the recipe for the prune tartlets from last fortnight's afternoon tea:

To make a Tarte of Prunes. Take Prunes and wash them, then boil them with faire water, cut in halfe a peny loaf of white bread, and take them out and strain them with Claret wine, season it with sinamon, Ginger and Sugar, and a little Rosewater, make the ( Read more... )

Saturday I went to a lovely afternoon tea with some friends. Johanna of The Passionate Cook organised it; she has just had a baby and as she is feeling the lack of culinary outings, her solution is for Mohammed to go to the mountain. I'm certainly not complaining - I had a great deal of fun talking cooking, cooking, and yes, more cooking! and the ( Read more... )

Easter was an occasion of great celebration in medieval times in the Western Christian world - not just for religious reasons, but for culinary reasons also. It was the termination of Lent, the seemingly endless 'tithe days of the year', meaning no more preserved dried fish! Meat, eggs, cheese, milk and butter were back on the menu; fasting was ( Read more... )