Cook's Symposium

This was my second ever Cook's Symposium. click here Mom I didn't take the camera tho when I find the link to everybody else's pictures. I will link to them, especially the shots of Helewyse (my sausage muse) when she quartered a chicken in about 30 seconds flat. I will never pay for somebody else to cut up my chicken again.

So--we left Ypsi about 8:40 and got to Kazoo in great time but then a cute (but fierce looking) cop wouldn't let us off the freeway where we wanted to so we took the grand tour all around Kalamazoo including a quick jaunt through the "Holiday Parade" they conveniently forgot to tell us about. Rollo has the best toys--his GPS on his phone pointed out that we were still off by two miles--we corrected course and finally got to the site about ten to 11; thus effectively missing Hauviette's 16th C Ottoman class. Serious bummer. Okay be flexible--next class? YAY Helewyse and the afore mentioned "Knife skills" class--dude..she is a goddess. The care and feeding of one's knives is an important thing and I trust the daughter of a butcher. I learned much--had some basic beliefs confirmed and got reprimanded firmly for putting my knives in the dishwasher. CAVEAT: The fact that they get their own space, not touching anybody else or anything only earned tightly pursed lips. Okay so then I finally found Faillen and Kassia (I knew Vickie would be in the lunch tavern) and we scooted off to different classes.

Rollo's Anglo-Scandinavian Feast class (really more of a guided discussion brainstorming session) went really well-- and I repeat I have never met a Viking I didn't like. We had a great discussion centered on the reason FOR feasting and how the SCA feast is really a hybrid animal--a mythical beast perhaps? I learned that the Oseburg Burial Tripod is really prly an honorific grave site token thing and not actually a functional kitchen item. I don't care cuz the replica somebody brought along was sooo damn sexxxy--sigh

I didn't make Alys Catherine's comfit class but that is okay cuz I spent a VERY happy two hours in Giles' class learning about period food preservation. Giles shared an anecdote he found during his research that is a little icky--but I like icky and I'll bet I have you attention now eh? Okay so these archeologists are working and they find some sealed amphoras--yay for them--bad form they pop the tops off and discover 10,000 year old honey--and damn! It still tasted good--second brave (but scientifically irresponsible) archeologist wants to taste ancient honey too and dips his hand down in further into the jar for a bigger scoop and pulled up...( i had guessed a cat) EWWWWW BABY HAIR!!! EWWWWWWW. They mummified a kid in the honey!!!

I of course start thinking it had to be a slave kid or something cuz wouldn't an honored heir (hair heir get it? bad pun) get better treatment than a cooking jar full o honey? Then I start thinking oooh maybe they murdered the kid and this is where they hid the body---hmmm I think I smell a short story--or an Amelia Peabody plot!
Later in the class a tiny light bulb went off over my head when I realized..I OWN A CHIMNEY!!! EEEEP!!

I bought the CD with the facsimile cookbook and everybody's handouts (Oh--in case you were wondering? Vikings don't give handouts--they take them!) Can't wait to check it out--it better be Mac friendly!

Rollo and I split after Kassia & Faillen announced that we would be getting together for a whole new holiday twixt xmas & newyears--- GLUTTONY DAEG!! (More details later)

We hit Bell's YUM for dinner. They moved the general store to the front of the block and we did NOT go in--that would have been too much unsupervised fun--I finally tasted the 8000 batch that is like $15 for a freaking six pack and found it to be a tangy yummy VERY strong ale. They served it is a tiny little brandy snifter--which was clever cuz that shit was heady--wowsers!

We got home a smidge before nine and I, pathetic geezer that I am-- was asleep by 9:30.

de-decorating

Humph. It really isn't as much fun taking down the decorations as putting them up... nor enjoying them. Our fun new additions this year included a bat that flies around in circles in a very realistic fashion (Very funny L. ha ha) and a collection of tiny action figures from The Rocket.

One set is "B" movie victims and the other is Glo in the Dark zombies. I mingled these little peeps in amongst the candles on the mantle. So it looks like the zombies are chasing the movie extras. Of course, like the letters that hold Solstice stockings and spell out "S" "A" "N" "T" "A"--the figures kept getting re-arranged and placed into compromising positions--loyal readers will remember Peter's prison deer-- OI!-- so instead of "Santa" our mantle often reads "Satan" or "a Stan". Pete & Matty keep joking they are gonna buy more letter shaped hooks from target (there is often Joy and Noel available) and expand the lexicon.
Yeah--so our first official Samhain mantle decorations were zombies hunting b movie victims and more often then not the zombies and screaming women would be "interacting", similar to the reindeer for the yard--Pete placed them in "rutting mode" sigh...

But all the porch lights are in and the punkin candles rewrapped and serving platters tucked away. My favorite holiday is done till next year--happily we have lots of sugar leftover.

Why haven't the kids eaten it all yet? Because we filled a large plastic cauldron with treats for our NEW neighbors while we went tricksy treating back in NPNA.

I turned on the skull lights & the orange lights lining the front porch...when I placed the "Take one! Happy Halloween" sign
BUT-- I failed to flip on the porch light. The "international symbol that we want to play" signal (alternately known as the "Bitch, the light is out! The candy is GONE! beacon) I suck. *bad neighbor* At least nobody TP-ed us & now we are up two bags of Reese's! Yay us!

oh my head hurts

*WARNING BORING EDUCATIONAL THEORY FOLLOWS. There is nothing funny or conversational or slightly entertaining in this blog post just my exasperated mental vomitus. hey... it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.*

It isn't like riding a bike; teaching I mean. Three and half years off was apparently enough of a break to hold the cheerful level for one month. Today sucked. Sometimes I am pretty sure the kids are smarter than me. At other times I wonder how the idiot standing in front of me managed to get his pants on. Oh wait --they do seem to be sagging pretty horribly...perhaps he can't generate a complete sentence because he knows we can all see his underwear. I personally would be distracted away from compositional topics if I knew the entire Halle Library could see *MY* drawers.

Today was a very frustrating experience for me. It was another day of spinning my wheels and jumping through somebody else's hoops. I am trying to maintain my respected colleague's syllabus with the dawning realization that I cannot read her mind simply by running my finger over the printed words of her handouts. This lack of understanding on my part should in no way diminish the plan said colleague laid out for the students, but I am at a loss as to how to "discuss" something we have already covered for an hour & 15 minutes. You see dear one,much of what is coming up makes more sense in my head to have been done early in the writing process. I have looked ahead in the syllabub (intentional pun there as I need a drink) to see another day spent at the library--then a week of conferences, and the assigned readings are some sample papers from past terms and really..honestly not a lot to work with--buzz words and useless page numbers. Thank the gods that Turkey Day is in the middle of this last month or my brain might implode. I have to keep her scheduled due dates because we are on that path now--but I am gonna have to dig and I mean dig deep to get at least three more class periods organized into a more efficient use of these kids' time. There is time allotted for presentations?? WWHHAATT??? why weren't these done back by the proposals when questions and discussion generated could help formulate a thesis statement. It is kinda late in the term to start questioning one's topic choice. ARRRRRGHH.

I can't just sit there and stare at them--we have to DO something. Maybe I'll teach them how to play poker for Halloween candy. That would be just as effective a time waster as going to the library en masse.