Christmas Croquet?

Christmas Party number two. On the weekend, I organised the 2013 Christmas Party for the Queensland branch of the ACG. Planned, an open theme croquet picnic. One of our members was wonderful enough to bring along her croquet set for us to play a round. Unfortunately though, we were a little bit too hot an lazy to bother. I guess that is one of the unfortunate side effects of an Aussie Christmas Party – Summer Heat.

We arrived at New Farm Park on the Brisbane River for an afternoon picnic. Everyone brought along a small item of food to share and we were all dressed for the occasion. Vintage 1950s, 1960s and 1920s, Medieval and Minoan. There was only a small number of us in attendance, however we spent the afternoon chatting and relaxing under the shade of a tree with the breeze flowing off the river. The ice cream truck made a pass by for our snack pleasure, and a few of us chased it down for a hit.

It was a pretty relaxing and easy going event, but all said and done, I had a lovely time.

It was a hard choice picking from my plethora of costume options for what I was going to wear. I eliminated anything too hot to wear first and then went through my options. In the end I came down to choosing from three. A quick chat to my lovely cousin, and I had made the decision to wear my Minoan ensemble. While the outfit covers a lot of skin, it is made entirely of linen and cotton, so that the fabric breathe nicely when worn. It makes for a cooler ensemble. I decided to top it off my combining my reproduction bee pendant with the beaded necklace I bought on my recent trip to the museum. I really like the combination, and have decided to keep it as a pretty permanent one.

Ancients Style

Last weekend my reenactment group was invited to attend a Roman Feast, to be hosted by another group. There were only two of us in attendance, due to the 2-year-old falling ill, but it was a lovely evening with some incredible food. And we were able to catch up with a couple of members who have recently joined the Australian Costumers Guild as well.

 This is the list of food that we enjoyed (as per the menu):

• Fresh Fruit
• Ovis Hapalis - Soft-Boiled Eggs in Pine-Nut Sauce
• Dulcia Domestica - Stuffed Dates
• Vitella fricta: Fried Veal Escalope with Raisins
• Aliter Isicia: Pork and Spelt Sausages
• Pernam - Baked Ham with fig and honey in pastry
• Aliter Caroetas: Carrots in Cumin Sauce
• Aliter Fungi Farnei: Wood Ear Mushrooms served with salt, olive oil, wine and chopped coriander
• Lenticula - Spicy lentils cooked with vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, coriander seeds, black peppercorns and sumach
• Aliter cucumeres - Cucumber with Fennel Seed 
• Betas - Beetroot and Leeks with coriander and cumin cooked in wine
• Fabaciae Frictae - fried green beans with olive oil and liquamen
• Tyropatinam - Baked Custard
• Aliter Dulcia - Fried Flour Cakes with Honey

I didn't get many photos of the evening as we were going for an authentic air and lighting was very low. I did however beg my father to take a few good shots of my minoan costume that I got to wear again along with the new wig - which took me hours to do. The fishtail braid in the back took 2 hours alone to braid. But I am really happy with it this time and look forward to the chance to wear it all again.

Ancients WDR

Next on the agenda was the RIFF christmas party (my re-enactment group). This year we decided to do a simple Ancients Wine, Dine and Recline.

I have long loved the history of the Minoan society - from ancient Crete. Ever since I did a school project, I have loved the myth, the legends and the history. So, I saw this as the perfect occasion to fulfill that and make a Minoan womens costume. There isn't much information out there and I really struggled for how to put it together. I ordered a couple of books from Book Depository for some help and got cracking. There are a number of components that I made:

The skirt. Skirts are depicted as full of ruffles. So after a bit of fabric research, I purchased some linen and go cracking. The base skirt is a simple six gore out of some cotton sheeting that I had in my stash. It then has six flounces sewn onto it. They are made out of three varying shades of blue. The next part was to for the bodice. Most of my research shows bare breasted women with fitted bodices. I didn't really want to have the girls out on show for everyone to see, and was lucky enough to find images where the women are wearing a chemise under the bodice. I simply used one of my regency chemises as it gave the correct style of neckline. Then there was the bodice. It is made from two layers of red linen and it laces up the front with hand stitched eyelets and some red lacing cord. It is also trimmed with a band of black and blue banding running down the seam of the arm. If I had more of the trim, I would really liked to have added some around the cuff of the sleeves - but it was something from my stash. The bodice is cut as the back on a fold and the front shaped around the bust to support and lift. The sleeves are cut into the piece with a seam running along the shoulder and under the arm and side seam. It is made to fit very snugly. I topped it all off with a leather belt around my middle and some quick wig styling of my long black wig. Next time though, I am planning a whole new wig.

As for my contribution to food, I stumbled across a vague description for a pork Minoan casserole style dish. Since I had such trouble finding a recipe, here is how I made it...

Ingredients:

• 800g pork steak
• 1/2 bottle of white wine
• 1 Tablespoon dried Thyme
• 1 Leek, sliced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup honey

Dice the pork into cubes and marinade in the fridge with the white wine for at least 1 hour. Heat oil in a large pan and lightly cook the leek. You want it to be soft but not too browned. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Serve.

And with that, I leave you with some photos.