Medieval Feast

Today we had our medieval feast to wrap up our unit on the Medieval and Renaissance time periods. At each dinner for the time periods, we set out work that the kids have done. With this unit, the kids had lap books of rocks and minerals and the solar system. They put together a book of the middle ages and Raeley wrote a report of Joan of Arc. Raeley had a sample of her calligraphy work, the kids learned how to crochet, and the boys whittled a boat and a cross out of soap. They also put together a castle, which served as our center piece. While I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, they played an astronomy game the kids made. After dinner, the Jonathan and Uncle Sonny (Bob) played chess.

Our opening prayer:
A Grace for Children
Robert Herrick
1591-1674

What God gives, and what we take,
'Tis a gift for Christ His sake:
Be the meal of beans and peas,
God be thanked for those, and these:
Have we flesh, or have we fish,
All are fragments from His dish.
He His Church save, and the King,
And our peace here, like a spring,
Make it ever flourishing.

The entertainment:
The kids sang Be Thou My Vision as we covered several hymns in the unit. Molly, a friend of mine (Ally's mom, Cameron's best friend) taught the kids how to sing, as they have had no voice training on singing to sheet music. They sang a capella and did a great job!
They also played a little game on saying the books of the bible. Cameron did great, hanging with the big kids!

The Menu:
Pictured below - Ryc Lombard with Dragees (molded rice ring with ginger candies), Cherry Pottage (like applesauce only made with cherries), Farsure (pork and currant stuffing), Spinnage Tart (Spinach Pie), Eyroun(eggs) in Lentyn (almond paste in egg shells)



Not pictured:
Lombard Soup (venison soup)

Funges (mushrooms and leeks)

Farsure For Chekyns (Chicken stuffed with pork and currant stuffing)

Heron Rosted Sauce (ginger mustard sauce) Sauce Alapeuere (vinegar with garlic, pepper, and bread crumbs)

The recipes can be found at A Newe Boke of Olde Cokery and Medieval Feasts websites. A few neat things at medieval dinners: They would traditionally stuff birds with other types of birds, or an animals with another animal. We kept to the theme by stuffing chicken with pork. The eggs in Lentyn (served in celebration of Lent) demonstrated the tradition of making one food look like another. For instance, they would make bread in shapes of other food, one popular design is peas in a pod. We made an almond paste (white) with yellow colored paste layered in the middle to look like the yolk. They were served in eggshells. We also made "trenchers" from pizza crust dough. Trenchers are like bread crust or hollowed stale bread that people ate with instead of forks. Although the trenchers were available, I think everyone opted for the forks.

We had a great time! Martha and Mitchell, Mark's parents, Sonny and Nikki, his aunt and uncle, Hazel and Bessie, his great aunts, and Molly and Ally all joined us for the meal.

I had intended to, but just forgot, to have Gregorian chant music in the background, and have lots of candles burning. We did remember to dress the part!