You know how you suspect people aren’t actually listening to you? (Husband, children, pets) Oh, they say they are, and really want you to believe them, but you then find out . . . well, here’s how it all transpired:
We were having breakfast, something like toasted Bruegger’s bagels swathed in cream cheese, with turkey sausage on the side. Yum! We were having our second cup of coffee and my darling husband was typing, typing, typing on his laptop, trying to get ready to teach his next chemistry class.
As I’m reading the morning paper, I casually asked him, “Are you still hungry?”
He said, not looking up, “Yes.”
I wasn't sure he was still hungry and said, “Really?”
His eyes glued on the laptop, he immediately responded, “Yes.”
And I said, “Should I make you something more?”
And he stopped typing, looked up at me - like I was asking him to tie my shoes - and said, “Yes?”
So back to the stove I went . . . making a fluffy omelette with veggies and popped some bread in the toaster. About five minutes later, I presented this Second Breakfast (as in Hobbit-Second-Breakfast) to him, presenting the plate at the same level as his eyes on the laptop. He stopped, looking at me with a slightly amused and quizzical expression. I declare triumphantly, “Ok, here it is. Second breakfast.”
He hesitated for only one second, took the plate, thanking me, still with that little amusement in his eyes and I started laughing and insisted, “You just said ‘yes’ because you had no idea what you were saying ‘yes’ to.” He started to laugh and said, “You think I wasn’t listening to you.” And I said, “THAT’S RIGHT. You weren’t listening.” And he started laughing harder and said, “Oh, I’m never gonna live this down.”
He’s right, of course. He will never live this down. But he did eat the omelette. And the next time I think he’s not really listening, I’m going to make sure he says “yes” to a trip to Ireland.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Friday, September 8, 2017
A Delectable Dessert . . . from the 16th century
In a recent BBC television show, a special Ana von Kleve torte was made in honor of Anne of Cleves 500th anniversary. This was not an historical recipe, but a new recipe created in 2015.
Most likely, Anne of Cleves would not have had cake at all. Some of the dessert recipes featured in the 16th century would have been A White Leach (a.k.a. Sweet Cubes of Jellied Milk), Posset Curd, Apple Moyse (Apple Mousse) Trifle, Fruit Tart, Custards or Bread Pudding.1 Flaky pastry was unknown, and a tart could be either sweet or savory, depending upon available ingredients. A description of “fine cakes” or cookies would yield more along the lines of a small cracker.
Tudor Cookery by Peter Brears, first published by English Heritage in 1985, features transcribed recipes from The Good Huswifes Jewell,1 published in 1585. Although Anne was born in 1515, a good 70 years before, these recipes would undoubtedly be handed down from parent to child for many decades before being printed in book form. Most European "cookery books" did not change much from the 13th through 16th centuries.2 By comparison, back in America at Martha Custis Washington’s first marriage in 1750 to Daniel Parke Custis, she was presented with a handwritten cookbook from her mother-in-law, Frances Parke Custis. Frances was born in 1685, and those transcribed included a recipe for mead, a fermented alcoholic beverage described in the epic poem Beowulf, believed to have been written between 925 and 1025.3 Although our palates of today prefer entirely different flavors, Medieval and Renaissance foods were quite similar.
Some 16th century recipes were gleaned from letters written by Katerina Lemmel, a nun forced to leave her German monastery by a peasant uprising in 1525.4 The food she describes includes Apple Pillows, Cheese Buns and Krapfen (doughnuts) and marchpane, a mixture of almond paste or a marzipan-like creation of colored sugar-paste, also called sugar plate. Most dough recipes were fried in palm oil or steamed first, then partially fried, and steamed again. Rudimentary techniques of the time include cooking over an open fire, thickening sauces with bread, crushed nuts or hardboiled eggs,2 whisks made of a bundle of twigs, spices - still used today and many now unknown or out of favor - used judiciously, payste, paest or paste (dough) to cover meat or fruit, then steamed or baked.
In the 15th century, A Boke of Gode Cookery, contains a recipe for Bryndons, small cakes served in a sauce, which are small strips of pastry fried in a skillet. 5 There is also a Frutowr for Lentyn, a fruit and almond milk cake, which is actually a fritter, fried in a pan. Another popular item was the Sambocade, an elder flower cheesecake cooked in a pie crust. Preparing any of these dishes - thanks to the translations of many authors and the ability to convert recipes into a more modern language - will truly give one a taste of history.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Huswifes_Jewell
2 http://www.oldcook.com/en/medieval-cookery
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
4 https://asunow.asu.edu/content/16th-century-recipes-still-tasty-today
5 http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec44.htm
Most likely, Anne of Cleves would not have had cake at all. Some of the dessert recipes featured in the 16th century would have been A White Leach (a.k.a. Sweet Cubes of Jellied Milk), Posset Curd, Apple Moyse (Apple Mousse) Trifle, Fruit Tart, Custards or Bread Pudding.1 Flaky pastry was unknown, and a tart could be either sweet or savory, depending upon available ingredients. A description of “fine cakes” or cookies would yield more along the lines of a small cracker.
Tudor Cookery by Peter Brears, first published by English Heritage in 1985, features transcribed recipes from The Good Huswifes Jewell,1 published in 1585. Although Anne was born in 1515, a good 70 years before, these recipes would undoubtedly be handed down from parent to child for many decades before being printed in book form. Most European "cookery books" did not change much from the 13th through 16th centuries.2 By comparison, back in America at Martha Custis Washington’s first marriage in 1750 to Daniel Parke Custis, she was presented with a handwritten cookbook from her mother-in-law, Frances Parke Custis. Frances was born in 1685, and those transcribed included a recipe for mead, a fermented alcoholic beverage described in the epic poem Beowulf, believed to have been written between 925 and 1025.3 Although our palates of today prefer entirely different flavors, Medieval and Renaissance foods were quite similar.
Some 16th century recipes were gleaned from letters written by Katerina Lemmel, a nun forced to leave her German monastery by a peasant uprising in 1525.4 The food she describes includes Apple Pillows, Cheese Buns and Krapfen (doughnuts) and marchpane, a mixture of almond paste or a marzipan-like creation of colored sugar-paste, also called sugar plate. Most dough recipes were fried in palm oil or steamed first, then partially fried, and steamed again. Rudimentary techniques of the time include cooking over an open fire, thickening sauces with bread, crushed nuts or hardboiled eggs,2 whisks made of a bundle of twigs, spices - still used today and many now unknown or out of favor - used judiciously, payste, paest or paste (dough) to cover meat or fruit, then steamed or baked.
In the 15th century, A Boke of Gode Cookery, contains a recipe for Bryndons, small cakes served in a sauce, which are small strips of pastry fried in a skillet. 5 There is also a Frutowr for Lentyn, a fruit and almond milk cake, which is actually a fritter, fried in a pan. Another popular item was the Sambocade, an elder flower cheesecake cooked in a pie crust. Preparing any of these dishes - thanks to the translations of many authors and the ability to convert recipes into a more modern language - will truly give one a taste of history.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Huswifes_Jewell
2 http://www.oldcook.com/en/medieval-cookery
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
4 https://asunow.asu.edu/content/16th-century-recipes-still-tasty-today
5 http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec44.htm
Friday, February 17, 2017
A Whiff of History
Ok, this sounds strange, but I got to smell George Washington yesterday.
Picture this: You are in Philadelphia in 1787 at a lively party. You’ve had a glass of Madeira, and several glasses of the spiked fruit punch-1. The musicians are playing, the crowd is rowdy and suddenly you find yourself standing behind a very tall, imposing man - at 6 feet, two inches he stands head and shoulders above everyone else. It’s General George Washington who will be elected the first President of the United States in just two years. He will most likely have his wife, Martha Custis Washington-2 by his side, and he’ll be tapping his feet, ready to dance a minuet as soon as he hears one.
He’s most probably dressed in brown wool, with matching breeches that end fashionably at the knee and white stockings-3, and suddenly you catch a hint of fragrance wafting away from him. You lean forward, inhale, and smell the fresh scent of a gentleman in the 18th century: lavender with citrus-y orange mingled with other aromatics. How do we know it’s Caswell Massey’s Number Six cologne? Because the cologne first landed on the market in 1780 and George Washington presented a bottle as a gift to the Marquis de Lafayette, his good friend and loyal patriot fighting in the American Revolution-4. Lafayette fought with George at Valley Forge, and even managed to ward off an insurrection among George’s troops-5. Now, that’s a good friend, deserving a special gift just for getting through the war.
I’m a history buff. I love Williamsburg and Monticello. Even our Village is modeled after 19th century Connecticut Western Reserve architecture. How could I resist buying my darling husband a bottle of Number Six? How could I resist buying him TWO bottles of Number Six? This past Valentine’s Day, he spritzed some on, and smelled divine. So, my handsome James, George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette all have something in common.
And I got a whiff of history.
1 http://www.neatorama.com/2014/02/26/George-Washington-Knew-How-to-Party-Hard-Heres-His-Bar-Tab/
2 http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/martha-washington/george-marthas-courtship/
3 http://georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/dress.html
4 https://www.caswellmassey.com/products/number-six-cologne-spray-3-oz
5 http://www.ushistory.org/Valleyforge/served/lafayette.html
Ok, this sounds strange, but I got to smell George Washington yesterday.
Picture this: You are in Philadelphia in 1787 at a lively party. You’ve had a glass of Madeira, and several glasses of the spiked fruit punch-1. The musicians are playing, the crowd is rowdy and suddenly you find yourself standing behind a very tall, imposing man - at 6 feet, two inches he stands head and shoulders above everyone else. It’s General George Washington who will be elected the first President of the United States in just two years. He will most likely have his wife, Martha Custis Washington-2 by his side, and he’ll be tapping his feet, ready to dance a minuet as soon as he hears one.
He’s most probably dressed in brown wool, with matching breeches that end fashionably at the knee and white stockings-3, and suddenly you catch a hint of fragrance wafting away from him. You lean forward, inhale, and smell the fresh scent of a gentleman in the 18th century: lavender with citrus-y orange mingled with other aromatics. How do we know it’s Caswell Massey’s Number Six cologne? Because the cologne first landed on the market in 1780 and George Washington presented a bottle as a gift to the Marquis de Lafayette, his good friend and loyal patriot fighting in the American Revolution-4. Lafayette fought with George at Valley Forge, and even managed to ward off an insurrection among George’s troops-5. Now, that’s a good friend, deserving a special gift just for getting through the war.
I’m a history buff. I love Williamsburg and Monticello. Even our Village is modeled after 19th century Connecticut Western Reserve architecture. How could I resist buying my darling husband a bottle of Number Six? How could I resist buying him TWO bottles of Number Six? This past Valentine’s Day, he spritzed some on, and smelled divine. So, my handsome James, George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette all have something in common.
And I got a whiff of history.
1 http://www.neatorama.com/2014/02/26/George-Washington-Knew-How-to-Party-Hard-Heres-His-Bar-Tab/
2 http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/martha-washington/george-marthas-courtship/
3 http://georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/dress.html
4 https://www.caswellmassey.com/products/number-six-cologne-spray-3-oz
5 http://www.ushistory.org/Valleyforge/served/lafayette.html
Monday, March 14, 2016
My 12th Great Grandfather and Mary Boleyn
My 12th Great Grandfather
So I’ve been really really
invested in Ancestry.com, to find ancestors I never knew I had. We all have a
ridiculous number of great great grandparents, all of whom lead to our birth.
Think about it:
Sixty Four Great
Great Great Great Grandparents
Thirty Two Great
Great Great Grandparents
Sixteen Great Great
Grandparents
Eight Great
Grandparents
Four Grandparents
Two Parents
Me
It’s just simple mathematics, and yet, it’s mindblowing.
(And doesn’t that simple equation above look like a tree? I KNOW.)
When you’re exploring the family tree, you begin to see more
than just names and numbers. You see when the young wife died, giving birth to
their child. You see the children who died at birth, or in early childhood, or
when two people die on the same day and you guess it was poor medical care or
the flu or a car accident, all depending on the dates.
This weekend, I discovered that my 12th great
grandfather, William Stafford, was married to another woman before he married my 12th
great grandmother, Dorothy. He married – in secret – to a young widow with
children. They couldn’t tell her family because they would disapprove. It was
only when she “fell pregnant” that they could no longer keep everything secret.
1
To put things in perspective, “Staff,” as he was called by
Henry VIII, was a soldier, who accompanied the King, along with 199 other close
friends to France to try to secure an annulment so Henry would marry Anne.
That’s when Staff first met Mary. William’s first wife was Mary Boleyn
(1499-1543). YES, THAT BOLEYN. That would make Anne Boleyn my 12th
Great-step Aunt. Anne (who was now married to Henry VIII in 1534) was so angry
that Mary had married in secret – and beneath her station – to a mere soldier -
Mary was disowned and the couple was exiled from court. In all likelihood, they
fled to safety back to Chebsey, in Staffordshire and later, Mary’s
family’s estate, Rochford Hall in Essex. 2 In a letter to Thomas
Cromwell, Mary admitted her deep and passionate love for William.
After Mary’s death in 1543, William served as a soldier in
Scotland, was knighted and married my 12th great grandmother Dorothy
in 1545. The rest is history. Fortunately, my history.
Sir William Stafford (1500-1556)4
If I ever get to see Eddie Redmayne, we’ll have something in
common. After all, he did play my 12th great grandfather in the
movie, The Other Boleyn Girl.3 Pretty impressive.
Eddie Redmayne as my 12th great grandfather 5
1 http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/85374047/family?cfpid=48579084866,
accessed 14 MAR, 2016
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Boleyn,
accessed 14 MAR, 2016
3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467200,
accessed 14 MAR, 2016
4 http://haydenbarbiero.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-other-boleyn-girl-william-stafford.html,
accessed 14 MAR, 2016
5 http://addictedtoeddie.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-other-boleyn-girl-filmography.html
© 2016 Becky Burrington
Monday, February 1, 2016
Archeology 2600 BC. So, nothing has changed.
I was perusing the news on Yahoo today and found a most
interesting archaeological dig in a tomb found in Abusir, southwest of
Cairo. Khentkaus III was a queen in the era of
the Old Kingdom (2649-2150 BC). Her husband, Pharaoh Neferefre (sometimes
called Reneferef), ruled some 4,500 years ago. Carbon dating can predict her
age and they can determine if she suffered from physical ailments, how she
died, how many children she had.
Archeologists did find fragments of
pottery, woodwork, copper and animal bones. It’s amazing how much they can
determine by looking at a tomb and its contents.
The painstaking reconstruction of each
item will show how she lived during that time period with one exception. They
cannot reconstruct her face. Unfortunately, her skull was smashed, most
probably by tomb raiders.
The writer of the article, Thomas Page for CNN, writes:
"(It was) a
crucial period when the Old Kingdom started to face major critical factors: The
rise of democracy, the horrific impact of nepotism and the role played by
interest groups," he says, adding that climate change also played a role
in bringing an end to not only the Old Kingdom empire, but those in the Middle
East and Western Europe at that time.
Within 200 years
of the Queen Mother's death, the Nile no longer flooded and drought consumed
the kingdom.
So that
is clearly climate change for ancient Egyptians. The article went on to say the
drought brought about poor harvests and ultimately, financial ruin. No taxes,
no more pyramids, no more building an empire on the backs of the commoners.
And I
thought to myself, wow, nothing has changed in 4500 years: “a rise of
democracy, horrific impact of nepotism and the role played by interest groups” and
climate change. That frightens me. Those who do not learn from history are
doomed to repeat it.
I can only
hope that the world has the capacity for change in the next few centuries:
where we can eliminate greed, crime, war, poverty, hunger and disease. A world
where people are truly equal and truly free.
Can we work towards bettering ourselves and humanity? If it sounds like
Jean Luc Picard’s vision of the 24th century, that’s what I’m going
for. Can I get an “Alleluia?” More importantly, can I get a replicator?
Accessed
1 FEB 2016
Friday, July 4, 2014
The Wedding Gift by Johannes Brahms
The Alt-Rhapsodie,
composed in 1869, combines an alto soloist, small orchestra and men’s chorus.
Intended as a wedding gift to Julie Schumann, daughter of Robert and Clara, its
first performance in Jena, a German town over 40 miles south of Leipzig, in
March of 1870, brought wide public acclaim for the composer.1 We
imagine, a wedding gift? This must be the Brahms version of an American
greeting card, an insight into the composer’s psyche for his thoughts about her
impending marriage and future with her beloved. Or perhaps it’s just Brahms’ idea about the
institution of marriage.
Although a
rhapsody by its very nature is free-flowing, generally without form, it is
quite possiblethat Brahms’ love of classic form pervades the piece in some manner. This possibility will be
explored. The text for the Rhapsodie comes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Harzreise im
Winter, a poem written in December of 17772, as the poet traverses the rugged Harz mountains, the
highest mountain range in Northern Germany.3 There are three distinct sections which present the
three stanzas, gleaned from this poem by Goethe. The first adagio section begins with the small
orchestra of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns and a full compliment of strings,
including string bass, and after a melancholy mood is established, the alto solo begins. The poco
andante second section brings alto and orchestra together immediately. The third stanza and section,
again in adagio, begins with a glorious four-part men’s chorus joining the soloist and orchestra.
Written late in Brahms’ career, the Rhapsodie has all the elements of a late Romantic piece: less
functional, more extended tonality, chromaticism, a more ambiguous meter.
2 Answers.com, whttp://www.answers.com/topic/harzreise-im-winter,
accessed June 25, 2014
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