I started in the SCA in 2002 and have been active during most of of it. My Persona is a 13th century traveling Celt who is enjoying the Silk Roads. I am a protege, and primary interest in the the SCA was service. Retaining, baking cakes for auctions, helping at events, etc. Then March 2020 hit us, and I learned to enjoy Arts and Sciences.
Norse festoon making
I do Norse festoon making. I do not make the beads since I live in a small apartment, but I will purchase proper Norse lamp work beads. I enjoy working with them, plus it helps with my dexterity after having a stroke. A very dear friend of mine from The Mid Realm makes lamp work beads, and gifted me some for a festoon I did for East Kingdom’s Brennan & Caoilfhionn’s Ducal Challenges V.
Brewing Competition for The Crown Province of Østgarðr
This is was absolutely fun to do! It was a whim of a brewing competition and I am glad I did it! Lavender Lemonade! “BUT Gráinne, that is not…..” SHHHHHHHHHHHH, Lemonade is brewing, trust the process!
6 cups water (divided)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dried lavender
¾ cup fresh lemon juice (about 7 lemons)
Lavender Simple Syrup
Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Remove from heat and pour over sugar. Stir until dissolved.
Stir in dried lavender buds and let steep for at least 2 hours
Lemonade
Combine juice from lemons and lavender simple syrup in a pitcher.
Add the remaining 4 cups of water and stir well. I add ice which “cuts” the tart of the lemonade. It is so refreshing for any event!
I was awarded this goblet and an on line gift card for my winnings!
Honey Butter
Second place Populous choice, The Barony of Ion Bog Olympic River Wars. I am quite honored that the people chose me.
Honey Butter
Lady Gráinne inghean Uí Néill
Historical Notes
Honey Butter has been around for thousands of years. Some of the most documented uses were in Sumeria for medical reasons, then to Egypt for medical, beauty, and food, then off to Greece and Rome for food and medical use. This all around food is world famous, and very easy to make.
I could not make the butter as it was made per folklore milk in a sheepskin, jostled about on horseback. From The History of Butter, Live Journal, Alisa Wetzel writes “The oldest known butter-making technique still in use today is remarkably similar: Farmers in Syria skin a goat, tie the hide up tight, then fill it with milk and begin shaking.” Early people used churns, mason jars, and paddles, but I made the butter by KitchenAid then added fresh honey I purchased from a local beekeeper.
Honey is a wonderful food, offering, and drug. From the National Library of Medicine,“Honey was the most popular Egyptian drug, being mentioned 500 times in 900 remedies. It’s prescription for a standard wound salve discovered in the Smith papyrus (an Egyptian text dating from between 2600 and 2200 B.C.) calls for a mixture of mrht (grease), byt (honey) and ftt (lint/fiber) as transliterated from hieroglyphic symbols . Almost all Egyptian medicines contained honey together with wine and milk. The ancient Egyptians offered honey to their deities as a sacrifice. They also used honey for embalming the dead. Honey was utilized for its antibacterial properties that helped heal infected wounds. Moreover, honey was used as a topical ointment. Oenomel is an ancient Greek beverage consisting of honey and unfermented grape juice. It is sometimes used as a folk remedy for gout and certain nervous disorders . Hippocrates, the great Greek scientist, prescribed a simple diet, favoring honey given as oxymel (vinegar and honey) for pain, hydromel (water and honey) for thirst, and a mixture of honey, water and various medicinal substances for acute fevers. Also he utilized honey for baldness, contraception, wound healing, laxative action, cough and sore throat, eye diseases, topical antisepsis, prevention and treatment of scars”.
Historical Recipe
I was able to find one documented recipe in a book titled, “The World History of Beekeeping and Honeyhunting” by Eva Crane. Page 509, ‘Marcellus Empiricus, a medical writer who lived in Bordeaux about AD 400, said ‘Honey, butter and oil of roses. Of each like quantity, warm, helps the pain of the ears, dullness of the sight and white spots in the eyes.’ Not edible.
My Recipe
Homemade Butter
1- 32 oz container (1 quart) of heavy whipping cream or heavy cream, ice cold water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional. To start, set the cream out on the counter for about an hour to let it come to room temperature. This will help the mixing process go more quickly. If the cream is cold it will take longer to separate.
Pour 2 – pints of heavy cream (32 ounces) or whipping cream into your KitchenAid bowl. Turn the mixer on and start on low speed gradually increasing to medium – medium high speed.
First the cream will turn into soft whipped cream, then whipping cream with stiff peaks. Keep mixing until the cream separates.
You will start to see the mixture stick to the whisk attachment. At this point cover the mixer with a dish towel to prevent splattering (this is a must).
This usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes and you will hear (a sloshing) and see the butter fat separate from the liquid (buttermilk).
Once the butter has solidified, pour off the buttermilk and save it for baking or use in homemade biscuits, pancakes or waffles.
Now you want to rinse the butter to remove all the buttermilk. If not, the butter will turn rancid.
Rinse the butter by pouring ice cold water over the butter and pressing the remaining buttermilk out using a small spatula or knead with your hands.
Pour off the water and repeat the process until the water runs clear.
Once the water runs clear, keep pressing the butter to remove as much of the buttermilk as possible.
At this point add a bit of salt (optional) and work it through the butter using your spatula.
Pat the butter dry with cheese cloth and place butter in a covered bowl or shape into sticks and wrap in parchment paper.
Chill for 24 hours. Pull from refridgerator and allow to soften for 15 minutes.
Cut 1lb of fresh soft butter into cubes
¼ cup honey *more if needed* Mix on low.
Scrape bowl and chill. Repeat the chill, mix, and add honey if needed.
Log Notes
I followed the recipe as listed, and had no issues, except the first go around with the butter being too warm, it caused the honey butter to “break.” The butter was too warm or I used too much honey. I tossed it out of fear, and I started again, and chilled the next batch of butter for 24 hours, then had it sit out for 15 minutes to soften. I went low on the measurement of the honey, a little does go a long way with better honey *non store bought fresh honey*.
Serving suggestion:
Serve at room temperature to ensure proper mix before serving, and spread. I suggest serving this with a nice hearty bread like rye or sourdough.
Bibliography
Butter Journal, Alisa Wetzel
The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting, Eva Crane https://www.routledge.com/The-World-History-of-Beekeeping-and-Honey-Hunting/Crane/p/book/9780415924672
Traditional and Modern Uses of Natural Honey in Human Diseases: A Review Tahereh Eteraf-Oskouei1,2 and Moslem Najafi https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758027/
Homemade Butter, ‘Mommy’s Kitchen’ (2020)https://www.mommyskitchen.net/2020/04/how-to-make-homemade-butter-using.html
Honey Buz Apiary Honey 255 State School Rd. Warwick, NY 10990 WWW.honeybuz.com
Deputy Fest-O-Crat
On December 10, 2023 The Barony of Bhakhail hosted the East Kingdom's royals at their Yule. My Laurel was tapped to cook feast, and I given the honor of being Deputy Fest-O-Crat. It was a long day, but in the end it was worth it to see the happy faces, my friend get a high merit award, and enjoy time with people I've not seen in a long time.