Unto the Populace of the Shire, 

Just a few moments of your time please as I know that this is a very busy time of year for everyone. We have had many changes over the last few months and a more still to come, such is the nature of life. 
I am resigning as Seneschal.
I sure you all will welcome Clicy with open arms as she steps up as Sensechal.

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish,

Lady Francisca Sotla

As I am sure many of you know this past weekend was Coronation! As sure as the seasons the cycle of life in the SCA spins.  

The site was wonderful, the food was tasty, the drinks flowing, and the  company enjoyable. 

Congradualtions to our newest Lord and Lady! Lord Mathias and Lady Violet! 

As well as to Lady Fiora for joining the Order of the Argent Comet and and to Violet for the Order of the Guiding Hand.

Thank you to all who donated to present for Their Majesties and to those who helped people in getting ready for the event -even if they were not going.

So I am sure everyone knows that Gulf Wars as come and gone. Did you go? Great! Did you stay home and tend to life? Also, good -even if it is not as much fun.

For those of you so soon that you don't know this is a week long even that has many of our great Kingdoms at it. 

Discoraged or intimated by the idea of going SCA for a week? Don't be with time and planning you will get there. 

I hope those of you who stayed local have had a great St. Patricks Day weekend and maybe even gotten some SCA projects done. 

Here in this house I have used my absense from the festivites to good effect -planning and working to be able to go next year. After all sewing machines love to make you life harder when you are doing last minutes sewing. 

But life moves on!

Time to look forward to Coronation and Fools War! These events are only a few weeks away and much closer to home.

 

This is something we all grow up talking about but the real question is how do we take a club or group of people who just so happen to have the same interests and turn it into something more, that wonderful living breathing thing called a community.


Well in the SCA we are a Society and we have many ways to do this: events where we immerse ourselves in our world for sometimes days at a time -this is the obvious one. But what can we do in between these wonderful moments where we “live the dream” with our friends?


Weekly practice, Arts and Science Class, monthly meetings and Shire Projects!


For those of you who have been missing out because “Well, I am not really a fighter.” Come out to practice, this past weekend we had 16 non-fighters doing things from playing with modern marvels, watching, working on A&S projects/teaching, and just enjoying being around each other.


Think “well that’s not really my gig -I just want to hit things,” give something new a try in A&S -you may find a useful skill. Chainmail, just an example, looks great and hey if you're a fighter who wants to get a pretty aventail without dropping a paycheck this is the way.


“I hate meetings” Come out you never know what we will be talking about at the monthly meeting. Not true we always talk about reports and the going ons of the Shire, but we also get surprise topics like the Shire Projects!


Ahhh….. Shire Projects always a good builder. Why? Cause they help us pull together as a group and forge a sense of not just community but identity.


This past weekend one of the newer members of the Shire came over and was helping me work on one such project (if you go the meeting you can guess which, but if not its a suprise). While we were working she looked at me and commented that this really does make her feel like part of the group. Yes! Mission Accomplished -feeling like part of the group.


Got an idea for a project? Great! Lets hear it!


We are a community and I challenge you to jump into something you don’t normally do!


(PS If you come to practice on March 8 there will be cupcakes!)

Several People have come and asked me for the recipes from the lunch at Jour d'Amour. I made several adjustments to one I found in Moosewood Restaurant: Cooks for a Crowd.  Below is the master recipe  and I will note to edits at the end. -This is meant to make 50 6 oz servings.


                      

Adjustments
1. Instead of using Hungarian Paprika I used what I could find at Kroger, also I added and extra 2 table spoons.

2. The Marjoram was not added, I thought I had it at home and it turns out I had run out. 

3.  Red wine, I am sure that this would of been great in it but I did not add it for a couple of reasons. We have a wonderful member down here who has issues with it in food, and I ran out of cooking wine

4. I used can crushed tomatoes in the soup, not fresh. 

5. To saute the vegetables I used equal parts butter and olive oil.

6. Due to my fears of not having enough I did add a bit extra of each vegetable, also its hard to find things like peppers that will add up to the exact 12 oz, so I went a little over on each. The better to feed the masses!

7. Those of you who ate the stew are might be saying I know I ate meat. Well it is simpler to add meat to a vegetarian dish then to take meat out of one. So below is how I cooked the meat.

For the amount of people we were feeding I got 16 pounds of Boston Pork Butt. 

I cubed the meat into about 1 inch pieces, though cut the meat to a size you like. (I did trim off the larger pieces of fat.) 

Next the meat was dreged in dirty flour (all purpose flour with salt and pepper) before cooking. 

I used heavy bottom enamel cast iron pot and a cast iron skillet. (The meat was cooked in 2 rounds, 8 pounds just did not seam enough.)

I browned the meat in bacon grease, in medium batches. (For those new to cooking I only cooked about two handfuls of meat at time, if you add to much the pan does not stay hot enough and the meat should be in contact with the surface -like cooking a steak.)

After the meat was done I simmered it in tomato juice for about 2 hours, it could of been longer. You can also use a mixture of water and tomato paste. 

At the end about 30 minutes before serving I combined the soup and the meat (with its broth).

If you want the recipe for Thin Mints -happy hunting. Please share when you find it. 

This is a wonderfully healthy and tasty recipe, the master one is 80 calories per serving, I hope you enjoy. I love to cook so lets see what the Shire comes up with to eat in the future!