It has been a year, more than actually, since I last blogged. My life over the last year has been growth. Pure and simple. I have grown, changed, learned, stretched. It has been, as one of my friends frequently says...epic. At least from my perspective. This year looks to be no less substantial. So I bring to you the new topic header: Random Knowledge
Under this heading I will let you in on some of the random knowledge and skills that I have aquired over the last year and what I am working on now. Be warned...much of this information will be completely useless to a great majority of people out there. Much of what I am learning are skills that were rendered obsolete centuries ago. However, if that apocolypse ever actually happens and you need wool socks to stay warm...where you gonna turn? Yup...I will be me. And I don't come cheap people. Errr person. I take comfort in the knowledge that really only one person is reading this and he aready has to listen to me ramble about it all the time anyway.
This week I am planning the menu for a cooking group I meet with about once a month. Being a part of this group is slightly humorous in that I am really not a great cook. But the people in this group ARE great cooks. Some of them mind blowingly good. I hope to some day be half as good as even one of them. That would be a tremedous accomplishment for me.
My area of study right now is medieval Ireland since much of my cultural roots stem from there.
Unsurprisingly, there are no recipe books from that time period. The people just didn't write that stuff down at that time. So, I have spent much of my time when planning the menu pouring over archeological history books. I was hoping to determine what types of foods and cooking equipment they would have used to prepare foods. My hope is that the menu would at least reflect those aspects of their history. What I have learned:
The Irish had apples. I don't know why that surprises me but it does.
They did not have potatoes in medieval times.
They fried foods... a lot.
They ate very little pork...eating mostly beef and game animals.
Most of what we know as "traditional" Irish food is post medieval.
Who knew?
Next post: adventures in teaching myself to knit
