Just Dandy

Everyone eats.

Which makes food a very good subject in the living history setting; it provides a great ice breaker for interacting with the public.

At a recent event, we made food a focus - each of us researched and prepared receipts accurate to the mid-19th century, making sure each item was typical, not exotic and in season.

We enjoyed pork pie, ham, a variety of pickles, applesauce, chess pie, grape catchup, tomato jam, canned peaches and dandelion salad.

Tradition has it that the first foods to appear in spring are tonics – medicinal plants that cleanse the body of a winter’s worth of toxins accrued from eating fatty foods and few, if any, fresh fruits and vegetables. Certainly the early greens of spring are packed with nutrition, perhaps none more so than dandelions, which are loaded with vitamins A, K and C and E, as well as calcium, iron and heart-healthy omega acids.

The idea of spring tonic runs deep in the folk wisdom of many cold weather cultures, reputed to get the blood coursing, like sap in trees, to clear out winter’s stodge.

Dandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia. They have been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history. They were introduced to North America by early European immigrants. Dandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered since prehistory.

What these early edibles have in common is an acidic, sour flavor that awakens us from winter’s slumber.

I used a recipe from The National Cookbook published in 1856, the author a "Lady of Philadelphia".

"Pick and wash your dandelion and cut off the roots. Drain it and make a dressing of an egg, well beaten, a half a gill of vinegar, a tea spoonful of butter, and salt to the taste. Mix the egg, vinegar, butter and salt together, put the mixture over the fire, and as soon as it is thick, take it off, and stand it away to get cold. Drain your dandelion, pour the dressing over it and send it to the table."

The dressing definitely mellows when cooled - it was quite tart when first off the heat. The group really enjoyed the salad and it provided the start for many conversations with the visiting public.

I wish I could share a photo of the salad, but I wasn't able to discretely shoot one without the public noticing, and digital cameras did not exist in the mid-19th century.

Some hints if you'd like to try dandelion greens:

1.) Pick the leaves before the flowers form; the leaves become quite bitter after blooming.

2.) Be mindful of where you pick your greens, keep possible chemical application or pet usage in mind.

3.) Wash them well, and then wash again - they seem to pick up a lot of grit.

4.) A gill equals approximately four fluid ounces or half a cup.

We will be repeating this experience at future events, as summer continues we will be able to add a great many additional dishes. By fall, we hope to assemble a cookbook of all the "winning" recipes, but we'll actually be the winners - this is a project that will deepen our knowledge and appreciation of life in past.

2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life - Meet the Presenter: Sheri Giffin

Meet the Presenter: Sheri Giffin - Scribbling Spencerian

I have been reenacting for over 15 years, serving many of the years with the 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry. I have enjoyed traveling to events, collecting friends along the way, and even finding a husband through the obsession, I mean hobby. Now my traveling buddy is my seven year old daughter and we enjoy teaching the public and continuing to learn from period sources and research. With the anniversary years looming, I feel that we, as living historians, have an even more captive audience. I find that The Academy of Mid-19th Century Life is a great way to gain knowledge and challenge my impression.

I have been interested in history most of my life and have been able to get close through living history in the 1860s. I enjoy many topics within the mid 19th century especially the ones that add the little touches to first person impression. Spencerian handwriting is such a topic.

The handwriting style created and taught by Platt Rogers Spencer was popular during the late 19th century and characteristics can still be seen in the handwriting of the older generations. In the class, the rules and guidelines will be outlined in the Academy class as well as some practice of letters and connectors to form words

A bit of background:

The predominant handwriting style seen in the nineteenth century is known today as Spencerian Handwriting, named after the originator of this style, Platt Rogers Spencer. This particular style replaced the style that dated back to the 18th century which we now call Copperplate style. Spencerian style is characterized by sweeping and ornate upper case letters, with lower case letters that look strikingly similar to the modern style. This style of handwriting will dominate American correspondence until the advent of the Palmer method of handwriting in the 1920s.

This is not to say that everyone wrote with a particularly elegant hand. Quite the opposite. Existing samples such as letters and military forms show us that, just like today, there is quite a variety of handwriting within the basic Spencerian style.

Please consider joining us for the 2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life and increasing your knowledge of the penmanship of the period, plus more!

Cost for all four presentations: $25.00.

Final registration date: July 1, 2011

Complete details available here.

Sister Dresses - Update

The "sister" dresses made their debut at the Greenfield Village Civil War Remembrance event this past weekend - and they were definitely a hit!

The fit was acceptable, a little large, but that's okay - it leaves some room for the inevitable growth of little ones. The loose princess cut was also great considering the very hot weather, a bit more comfortable than a dress with a waist band. These dresses were intended as casual, play wear, not high style and the girls really seemed to enjoy wearing them.

The girls were asked to participate in the fashion show:

They had a great time and were a favorite of the audience, receiving a resounding round of applause.

Distractions

I've been distracted lately - too many projects (which I will be sharing, hopefully in the near future) but even more so by spring having finally arrived, making it just too tempting to be outside.

There's new growth bursting out everywhere you look and there's just something so enticing about those new greens:



We've had a bumper crop of trout lilies, the flowers are so cheerful, but it's the namesake leaves that I find very interesting:

The trillium have come into bloom in just the past couple days, dappling the forest floor with bright white:

The beauty of the blossoms draws us to them, but the real purpose is to entice the proper pollinator, thus allowing the plant to reproduce itself. This is potentially a future wild strawberry .


This last one isn't a wildling, but a carefully cultivated magnolia, tucked away in a sheltered corner. The blossoms look as if they could take flight and float away if they weren't tethered to the tree.


Surrounded by such delightful distractions, is it any wonder I'm having trouble keeping myself on task?

How to Wallow in Your Food: A Tutorial

Step 1: Locate an abundant food source.

Step 2: The Approach

Step 3: Evaluate the Possibilities

Step 4: If it Looks Good, Go On In!

Bonus Points for Checking Out All Angles!

Step 5: Move On to the Next One

Disclaimer: No photographers were injured in the making of this tutorial, despite having irritated the bumblebee!

(However, several tourists probably have questions regarding the photographer's mental well being)

Sister Dresses (Sort of)

Some projects just seem to go on and on - one problem/solution leading to another and this pair of dresses is a good example.

I didn't intend to make two dresses, but that's what happened.

Here's my inspiration:

This is a portion of project "Dressing Diamantina", that I discovered on the fantastic V and E Historic Costuming blog. There are over a dozen patterns for a variety of children's outfits including underpinnings and they are all free!

While I loved the style, I was not making this dress in white - the young lady it's intended for is a bit too rough and tumble, she needed something a bit more utilitarian. I was gifted with a length of pink/black/green plaid and I have yards and yards of green cotton wavy braid in my stash - perfect for this project.

So I printed the pattern, cut my fabric and sewed it up (it went together beautifully), but...

It was way to small for the seven year old in question.

Time to size up the pattern, and now I'm running short of fabric. The bottom ruffle and the bias binding have many, many places where it's been pieced.

In the meantime, my husband makes the observation that the first dress would probably fit another little one in our group - so now I'm finishing two dresses.

The wavy braid took a fair amount of time too; I intentionally trimmed each dress a bit differently and neither is done as the inspiration dress.


But I'm left without enough fabric to bind the edges or to add a ruffle to the little dress:

Thus the contrasting binding and the fake "ruffle".

The "stash" yielded some really cute glass buttons made to look like thread buttons.

I had a set of black glass buttons I has intended to use on the larger dress, but I did not like the way they looked at all. So now I had to make buttons - the full button story is here.



I'm pleased to finally be done and pleased with the final result(s). I'll be seeing the recipients (who aren't sisters) in a couple weeks and I hope they'll be pleased too!

Spring!

The wildflowers are finally starting to bloom...

As well as the not so wild:

The geraniums are arriving by the drayload...

And the wild life is waking up - this guy was not pleased with me raking out the garden!

Even the birds like the blue skies and the blue water... and so do I!