An update on the challenge

I've been very busy for quite some time so I've done very little on the challenge.

I've tried another dye recipe. Nothing written about it yet. But so far that makes 4 authentic dye recipes.
I've also sneakily started a corset making class in my shire so I think the sum of people I've so far have helped do something 16th century has reached 15 unless my count is off.

I've learned to bake a fantastic dessert pie but I've forgotten the homepage for the recipe. I'll add it if I relocate it. :) I have an idea for something to develop my persona challenge, hopefully I'll be able to work it though and get started.

/ Felicitas (Malin)

First item of the persona challenge

I have a persona challenge to learn things that 16th century housewives in Germany/Augsburg would have known.

Right now I'm making an apple drink from a recipe from The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened. It is 17th century but I'm hoping the food habits didn't change too much from the 16th century nor between English food and German food. It feels like such a basic recipe I'm hoping it will be ok.

The recipe is: APPLE DRINK WITH SUGAR, HONEY, &c
A very pleasant drink is made of Apples, thus; Boil sliced Apples in water, to make the water strong of Apples, as when you make to drink it for coolness and pleasure. Sweeten it with Sugar to your tast, such a quantity of sliced Apples, as would make so much water strong enough of Apples; and then bottle it up close for three or four months. There will come a thick mother at the top, which being taken off, all the rest will be very clear, and quick and pleasant to the taste, beyond any Cider. It will be the better to most taste, if you put a very little Rosemary into the liquor, when you boil it, and a little Limon-peel into each bottle, when you bottle it up.

So what I'm doing is coring apples, slicing them thinly, boiling them with water and two twigs of rosemary. Once it's cooled down a bit I'm going to remove the worst of the apple peels and add some water. I'll taste it with some honey and see how much honey I should add. Then I'll pour in the yeast. I'm using a Wyeast Cider 4766 that my husband have bought for me. Once it seems to have fermented enough I'll add some lemon peel and let it steep before I bottle it.

I'll return in a few months and let you know how it tasted.
I tested this recipe on some apple juice without fermenting it and that was very tasty so I'm hoping it will be the same when fermented.

I'm counting this as part of my persona challenge for the A&S50 challenge since I figure something like this would probably have been made by 16th century housewives in germany. :)

My A&S 50 challenge

Hi all!
My name is Malin, or Felicitas in the SCA. I live in the shire of Gotvik in Nordmark.

I have chosen two depth challenges and one persona challenge:
-To recreate 50 autentic natural dyeing recipes. So far I've done 3.
-To help 50 people with 16th century garb. So far I've helped 11 with a couple more talking about it.
-To learn 50 things that my persona would know. I've mostly just thought about this so far but I'm thinking I'll learn to cook a couple of period dishes, learn some appropriate games, learn to write like she would have, read a couple of books that she would have read and so on.

I've written up my first two dye recreations in my blog, so far I haven't had time to sit still and write up the third. It can be read in my blog: http://bippimalin.livejournal.com/tag/a%26s50


Regards,
Malin