Classes and Basics

Resources, recipes, and how-to documentation from historical cooking classes and feast planning workshops. Includes guides on almond milk, spice measurements, medieval preservation methods, and budget strategies for SCA feasts.

Basic Information and How-To

• Almond Butter (or Cheese) – A 15th-century method of using almond milk to make a dairy-free butter or cheese. Ideal for Lent or dairy-free feasts.
• Almond Milk – How to make almond milk, with notes on its importance in medieval cuisine.
• Comfits – Spiced sweets for breath freshening, digestion, or decoration. Common in Elizabethan banquets.
• Dashi & Furikake – Three ways to make dashi (1603 recipe included), plus a recipe for Furikake from leftover kombu and bonito.
• Homemade Vegetable Stock & Bouillon – Reduce feast costs and enhance flavor with shelf-stable stock powder and fridge-stored bouillon.
• Homemade Beef Stock – Save scraps and bones to make rich stock, perfect for canning or freezing.
• How to Render Suet – Stove, crockpot, and oven methods. Includes notes on non-food uses like soap or candles.
• How to Brine Fish & How to Smoke Fish
• Fruit Paste – A method of preserving fruit common in Elizabethan banquet courses.
• Measurements and Conversions – Tables for scaling, converting units, and temperature adjustments. Frequently used by the author.
• Potash / Cooking with Ashes – Make your own leavening with wood ash; includes a primer on saleratus.
• Spice Conversions (Ounces to Tablespoons) – A helpful guide for converting spice quantities when working with bulk purchases or feast-scale planning.
• Spice Substitution Chart – Historical and modern swaps for hard-to-find spices. Great for feast stewards and reenactors.
• Sugar and Gum Arabic Preserved Flowers – A 17th-century method of sugaring edible flowers for decoration and preservation.
• The Importance of Color in the Middle Ages – Brief overview of medieval color theory and symbolism in food.
• Wortys – An exploration of the Brassica family in medieval cooking (cabbage, kale, mustard, turnip, etc.).

Classes

• Apothecary Weights – Covers scruple, dram, grain, ounce, and pound measurements used in historic medicine and recipes.
• Arranging the Feast – Applying medieval dietary theory and feast structure to modern menu planning.
• Cooking with Kids – Tips, age-appropriate skills, and safety for introducing children to historical cooking.
• Feast Budgeting – How to plan and cost feasts by servings, tables, and diner counts—plus tips to save without sacrificing quality.
• Interpreting Manuscripts: My Process – An overview of how the author works through medieval texts to recreate recipes and techniques.