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Stuffy head... check.
Low energy... check.
Veracious appetite... check.
Icky stuff... check.
Yep, looks like I have a cold. Well, more like I *had* a cold, and am now just getting over it. I know this is the case for all people, but I really, really hate being sick. I'm not one of those lie languidly on the couch acting helpless kinda sick people. I'm much more of a "this sickness is cramping my ability to go in 12 directions at once, and it really pisses me off!" kinda people.
Speaking of several directions, last night was quite productive. In preparation for my husbear's presentation to the Anaheim Historical Society this evening, last night I became one with a 1903 cookbook putting together some Victorian noshies. I'm pretty used to historical cooking, so using a cookbook that assumes the reader knows temperature and time was not a problem. What was most interesting were the flavor blends that I did not expect. After giving Giles several choices, he chose that I put together four dishes:
Boston Cookies
Savory Stuffed eggs
German coffee cake
Grape shrub
The "Boston Cookies" seem to have been a popular dish at the turn of the century. Made with flour, butter, currants, raisins, and walnuts, they sounded nummy. In the long run, they are kinda nummy, but not what I expected. They really are more biscuit-like than cookie-like in my opinion. Inteddesting.
The stuffed eggs are a not-so-different version of deviled eggs. They use ham, paprika, egg yolk, and butter. Non-threatening enough.
The coffee cake just seems strange to me. It isn't done yet, as it is a last minute thing. It calls for a milk-based bread dough that, at the end, is baked after being drizzled with butter, cinnamin and sugar. So, if anything, it really is more of a surface-sweetened bread than what we consider to be "coffee cake." I was sooooo tempted to change the recipe, but decided to stick with it. I don't think it'll be all that good as written, but we'll see.
The shrub is interesting. Between a couple of my Victorian cookbooks, I have found several recipes for fruit shrubs. I need to research this further. A "Shrub" seems to be a generic name for a conserved fruit-juice. Sorta like period Kool-Aid if you will. This particular recipe creates a grape syrup using grape juice, sugar, and vinegar. When I read that, I thought to myself, "Sikanjaban!" For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, sikanjaban is an ancient drink syrup with its origins in the Middle East. It is typically a mint, sugar, vinegar syrup that makes a wonderful, wonderful drink. Sound weird? Yes. But it is delicious! Anyway, the grape shrub is most unusual, but quite refreshing. It is one of those drinks that just seems to conjure up a hot summer day, sitting on the porch swing on the veranda. I think I like it.
Hopefully, the guests will all like it.
Low energy... check.
Veracious appetite... check.
Icky stuff... check.
Yep, looks like I have a cold. Well, more like I *had* a cold, and am now just getting over it. I know this is the case for all people, but I really, really hate being sick. I'm not one of those lie languidly on the couch acting helpless kinda sick people. I'm much more of a "this sickness is cramping my ability to go in 12 directions at once, and it really pisses me off!" kinda people.
Speaking of several directions, last night was quite productive. In preparation for my husbear's presentation to the Anaheim Historical Society this evening, last night I became one with a 1903 cookbook putting together some Victorian noshies. I'm pretty used to historical cooking, so using a cookbook that assumes the reader knows temperature and time was not a problem. What was most interesting were the flavor blends that I did not expect. After giving Giles several choices, he chose that I put together four dishes:
Boston Cookies
Savory Stuffed eggs
German coffee cake
Grape shrub
The "Boston Cookies" seem to have been a popular dish at the turn of the century. Made with flour, butter, currants, raisins, and walnuts, they sounded nummy. In the long run, they are kinda nummy, but not what I expected. They really are more biscuit-like than cookie-like in my opinion. Inteddesting.
The stuffed eggs are a not-so-different version of deviled eggs. They use ham, paprika, egg yolk, and butter. Non-threatening enough.
The coffee cake just seems strange to me. It isn't done yet, as it is a last minute thing. It calls for a milk-based bread dough that, at the end, is baked after being drizzled with butter, cinnamin and sugar. So, if anything, it really is more of a surface-sweetened bread than what we consider to be "coffee cake." I was sooooo tempted to change the recipe, but decided to stick with it. I don't think it'll be all that good as written, but we'll see.
The shrub is interesting. Between a couple of my Victorian cookbooks, I have found several recipes for fruit shrubs. I need to research this further. A "Shrub" seems to be a generic name for a conserved fruit-juice. Sorta like period Kool-Aid if you will. This particular recipe creates a grape syrup using grape juice, sugar, and vinegar. When I read that, I thought to myself, "Sikanjaban!" For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, sikanjaban is an ancient drink syrup with its origins in the Middle East. It is typically a mint, sugar, vinegar syrup that makes a wonderful, wonderful drink. Sound weird? Yes. But it is delicious! Anyway, the grape shrub is most unusual, but quite refreshing. It is one of those drinks that just seems to conjure up a hot summer day, sitting on the porch swing on the veranda. I think I like it.
Hopefully, the guests will all like it.
