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jducoeurBefore it slips away into the fog that is my memory, a quick recap of the Snow Ball, this past Saturday evening.
I had volunteered to give a lift to Rachela (sp?), who was visiting town from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zachkessin's Incipient Shire over in Israel. Quickly establishing that she was a well-rounded geek (moderately new to the SCA, but lots of experience in both fandom and LARP), we found lots to talk about. She was looking forward to seeing what a "large" SCA event looked like -- I explained that this would probably be a fairly small event by our standards, but since the largest she'd previously seen was about 25 people, it still counted.
Anyway, I spent much of the evening introducing her to folks and generally making sure she settled in. I needn't have worried -- everyone welcomed her properly (thank you to everyone), and she seemed to have lots of fun. I wound up at High Table since I was accompanying the visitor; I have to say, High Table just feels kind of strange at a potluck event.
The evening's activities started out with a lovely concert by the Quire, and then into dinner. The potluck worked great, better than most: just about the right amount of food, a wonderful mix of it, and most of it thoroughly period. Having only half a kitchen and no time, I went the simple route and made a roast with a couple of basic sauces (aliper and verde). For dessert, I did the increasingly-reliable gingerbread recipe. (Notes to self: a half recipe is plenty unless I'm trying to serve the entire hall. And the platter needs to be dusted with a lot of cinnamon. No, more than that.) My personal favorites off the sideboard were probablymadamebuttery's tartlets, and a bacon/chard fry that was probably dreadful for my arteries but utterly yummy.
Court ran a bit longer than usual, with a lot of business. I wound up coming in with several groups: the Cooks presented the recipe pamphlet, the Bowmen changed hands (Yaacov is now officially in charge), and the Daystars inductedlucianus1. (Finally -- the clamor had grown consistent enough that everyone agreed it really needed to happen.) Rachela presented a token from Ma'ale Giborim (I've probably butchered the group name); she was terribly nervous, but did quite well when called in. There was also a brief Royal Court, where jdulac presented Yaacov with his well-earned AoA.
The Ball itself went quite smoothly, despite starting a little late. We had about as many people as could comfortably fit into the hall (I gather there were 80-90 people there), so it was full but not unpleasant early in the evening, and felt comfortably roomy for the last set. Lots of new faces trying out the dancing, which was very gratifying, although by the end of the evening it was mostly the usual hardcore.
Overall, a fine event --hfcougar deserves a pat on the back for a very good first outing...
I had volunteered to give a lift to Rachela (sp?), who was visiting town from
zachkessin's Incipient Shire over in Israel. Quickly establishing that she was a well-rounded geek (moderately new to the SCA, but lots of experience in both fandom and LARP), we found lots to talk about. She was looking forward to seeing what a "large" SCA event looked like -- I explained that this would probably be a fairly small event by our standards, but since the largest she'd previously seen was about 25 people, it still counted.Anyway, I spent much of the evening introducing her to folks and generally making sure she settled in. I needn't have worried -- everyone welcomed her properly (thank you to everyone), and she seemed to have lots of fun. I wound up at High Table since I was accompanying the visitor; I have to say, High Table just feels kind of strange at a potluck event.
The evening's activities started out with a lovely concert by the Quire, and then into dinner. The potluck worked great, better than most: just about the right amount of food, a wonderful mix of it, and most of it thoroughly period. Having only half a kitchen and no time, I went the simple route and made a roast with a couple of basic sauces (aliper and verde). For dessert, I did the increasingly-reliable gingerbread recipe. (Notes to self: a half recipe is plenty unless I'm trying to serve the entire hall. And the platter needs to be dusted with a lot of cinnamon. No, more than that.) My personal favorites off the sideboard were probably
madamebuttery's tartlets, and a bacon/chard fry that was probably dreadful for my arteries but utterly yummy.Court ran a bit longer than usual, with a lot of business. I wound up coming in with several groups: the Cooks presented the recipe pamphlet, the Bowmen changed hands (Yaacov is now officially in charge), and the Daystars inducted
lucianus1. (Finally -- the clamor had grown consistent enough that everyone agreed it really needed to happen.) Rachela presented a token from Ma'ale Giborim (I've probably butchered the group name); she was terribly nervous, but did quite well when called in. There was also a brief Royal Court, where jdulac presented Yaacov with his well-earned AoA.The Ball itself went quite smoothly, despite starting a little late. We had about as many people as could comfortably fit into the hall (I gather there were 80-90 people there), so it was full but not unpleasant early in the evening, and felt comfortably roomy for the last set. Lots of new faces trying out the dancing, which was very gratifying, although by the end of the evening it was mostly the usual hardcore.
Overall, a fine event --
hfcougar deserves a pat on the back for a very good first outing...![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-08 09:12 pm (UTC)I wish I had known - I would have tried harder to be there.
It would have been funny if the entire order had stood before His Excellency while a boon was begged. Especially if we could have done a modern sort of House of Commons ("hear, hear", "bloody well about time", "well done") mob noise.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-08 09:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-08 09:45 pm (UTC)It's just, given
Ah well. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-08 09:14 pm (UTC)2 pounds bacon, chunked
4 big bunches swiss chard, made into smallish pieces (including stems)
Onion and leeks to taste (we used 1 large and three medium)
Cook the bacon and scoop out with slotted spoon. Pour out fat and get rid of the most egregious grungy carbon. Pour half the fat back in, heat, cook half the aromatics, then cook half the greens (stuff some in pot, cook down to make room, stuff more in pot, repeat). Stir in half the bacon. Remove to serving dish, repeat with other half. (We realized that if we crammed in all the greens at once, a lot wouldn't really get any bacon goodness.
Serves...um, a lot but not as many as you hope while tediously cutting chard.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-08 09:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-08 11:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-09 03:49 am (UTC)Potlucks don't get organized, no matter how hard one tries. That's just part of the program.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-09 03:58 am (UTC)I didn't tell Anna what I was bringing, either, because I thought Rozi was telling her what we made together, and it was nearly Shabbat by the time we were done making it.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-10 05:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-09 04:42 am (UTC)So far Ma'ale Giborim's biggest event has been about 25 people, but it was in a crusader era hall, here are Pictures from shire birthday (http://www.sca-israel.org/coppermine/)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-09 11:36 am (UTC)מזל טוב יעקב
(Mazel Tov Ya'akov!)