It's a rainy, grey day outside, and cooler than it had been the past few days (down to 10º from 25º), so something warm and hearty was most welcome. I had theoretically been saving this particular can of chopped clams for stuffing steaks, following an 18th century recipe, but my enthusiasm got the better of me, and once I had chowder on the brain it was hard to shake. I've never actually made clam chowder from scratch by myself before, but I have cooked clams, and this would be just as easy to make with steamed clams.

Great Swamp Clam Chowder, New England Style

2 tbsp bacon drippings, or butter
medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 fist-sized potatoes, large diced
2 c/5 dL milk
6.5 oz/180 g can chopped clams in clam juice
2 small carrots, peeled and sliced
2 green onions or stalks of wild garlic, chopped
0.5 tsp fresh sage, chiffonade
0.5 tsp fresh basil, chiffonade
tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp Penzeys shrimp & crab boil mix/Old Bay seasoning mix*
0.25 tsp cracked peppercorns
2 tbsp flour (optional)

*What's in this? According to the catalog: yellow and brown mustard seed, allspice, coriander, Ceylon cloves, cracked bay leaves, cracked ginger, Tellicherry peppercorns, chili pepper, dill seed and caraway seed. If you're overseas and can't get some, I'll be in Europe again next month.

Melt the fat in a large saucepan. Cook the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the potatoes, and cook until the onions start to colour. Pour in the milk. Drain the clams, adding the juice to the milk; reserve clams. Add the carrots and wild garlic. Once the milk is at a simmer, keep the pot at a simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Add the herbs and spices to taste. (If you think by now it ought to be a little thicker, whisk in the flour a little at a time and cook a couple minutes more to thicken.) Remove from heat. Stir in reserved clams. Let sit three minutes to bring the clams up to temperature.

If you need to reheat it, don't bring it the whole way to the boil, as that makes the clams rubbery and contribued to your dislike of clams as a kid, believe me. This was lovely with toasted slices of fresh English Muffin bread. Really good for a cold day.

Have been having problems with bunnies raiding in my pepper patch and eating all the sprouts. Put down strawberry cages to protect the plants. The bunnies have responded by tunneling under.

They're taunting me, I swear.

The trip to Sweden with smarriveurr for celemon and graylion's wedding was lovely. We flew through Helsinki each way, but still managed to spend 6 days exploring and being sociable. The happy couple were married in a lovely church with a fantastically eclectic audience, and the reception held to traditions (like having a Toast-master space out the various speeches) that I think ought to catch on in America.

Aside from wedding-ness, we visited Gamla Uppsala and gawked at the grave mounds (I climbed up the Thing-mound, because I am a dork) and the lovely little church. We saw the cathedral, so I could press my nose against the glass and refrain from drooling over the Sture garments in the Treasury. We toured the Museum Gustavianum, so I could scratch my head over the new Viking women's dress reconstruction (verdict: much ick!). We fed the Swedish economy with our devalued US$ by wandering around some of the design shops in the area. And we certainly dined on/drank some lovely fare. Group consensus among those on the not-quite-pub-crawl seems to be heavily in favour of the local Slottskällens Decennium Jubileum brew, with their blond ale and a brew by Eriksburg at close second. (Just don't expect to see a pub open on a Sunday.)

We'll need to spend a week in Stockholm on our next trek over. ;)

Pictures here, with more to come as the week progresses.

Back from Sweden. Bone tired but happy. Sleep now.

Viking bunnies!

In another week, smarriveurr and I will be in Uppsala via Stockholm and a layover in Helsinki. We'll be there for graylion and celemon's wedding (who else is going to be there for that? I know a few of you are.), so we do have some of our days booked, but we'll have some free days to explore the area.

I'd like to do the cathedral, castle, and old town in Uppsala, and if we get to Stockholm, a couple of museums there, too. Anything we shouldn't miss? Anyone we shouldn't miss? Anyone want to come museum-hopping/exploring/pubbing with us? I promise, smarriveurr only bites when provoked!

Have more than 125 cm done today. I'm using the same technique as I used with my red dress lace, but I've put the loose warp ends onto bobbins (my first attempt got horribly tangled because I didn't plan sufficiently), which hang to create the necessary tension in the warp.

Voicepost and transcription behind the ( cut )

We're going to Coronation on Saturday, so I'm going to show the scarletworked shirt in the A&S display (since we had to give the EK A&S competition event a miss). I've put together five pages of documentation, which with illustrations might lengthen to 8 pages. I think I've managed to justify my choices concisely, and I've treated it, as with my previous SCA documentation, like a slightly-less-formal journal article. Am not generally worried about my documentation; I know I can do research.

Am not entirely certain how I'd like to display the shirt. I do have a dressform, but that sounds kind of creepy for a man's garment, plus I don't want to transport it. Shall probably just lay it out on the table.

The lady in charge of the display has encouraged me to include some of my spinning in addition to the shirt, though. Might bring along the teeny thread I made, and maybe one or two balls of yarn, if I can whip up documentation before then.

There's a new book coming out by Joyce Tyldesley, entitled Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt. Already out in Europe, its U.S. release date is soon, and from the review...

...Octavian staged it? O.o

celemon and graylion, what do you think of this outfit? Not sure yet precisely what to do with the scarf, but I figured it might fit with celemon's green dress. Could also go black, with the scarf. These for shoes.

smarriveurr made Biryani burgers for supper, and I made naan bread to go with them. I didn't get any pictures of the burgers because we inhaled them way too quickly, but the bread was both fun and easy to make.

There are some tweaks to be made and final terms to define, but I'm basically done translating Anna-Maja Nylén's article on the Sture shirts into English. There are a few sticking points.

Den har 2 st. upptill till intet avsmalnande veck nedsydda med efterstygn. I have figured out that there are two pieces at the tope, and that the sewing was backstitch, but the till intet avsmalnande veck is getting me. Is it "not tapering," but widening?

Have figured out that pipkragen and kvarnstenskragen indicate types of ruffs, differentiated by size. Have not yet determined what a krusförsedda collar might be, other than it indicates a high collar like that in the Sture shirts.

Apart from these, it's really just rearranging the English to be more readable, so runolfr's people can make sense of it.

Happy birthday to olethros!

"Your thesis was approved by Council and Board on 26th November.... I will resend the letter and graduation details today."

Er...well, apart from the 2008 thing...I guess that's good news.

I served these tonight with a rice/vermicelli risotto. smarriveurr actually seems to have liked this fish.

Blackened Tilapia, vaguely following advice from the Bass on Hook Fishing Resource Center

3 tilapia fillets
tbsp Paprika
tsp salt
0.25 tsp ground pepper
clove garlic, minced
0.5 tsp chilli powder
tsp dried basil
0.5 tsp thyme
tbsp butter, melted
tbsp lemon juice

Mix seasonings in a bowl. Brush fillets with melted butter and coat with seasonings. Heat tbsp olive oil in large saute pan until shimmering. Place fillets in hot skillet and cook 2 minutes on each side, or until opaque.

Eggplant-Tomato Stacks, inspired by Sara Moulton

medium eggplant, sliced into rounds*
large tomato, sliced*
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried basil
parmesan cheese

* I sliced such that I had equal numbers of slices of eggplant and tomato. You may want different ratios--just plan accordingly. In hindsight, I probably also should have peeled the eggplant. You are forewarned.

Lay down a slice of eggplant, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with basil. Lay a slice of tomato on top. Splash with balsamic vinegar. Add two more layers, thusly, of eggplant and tomato. Top with parmesan and basil. Broil about 15 minutes, or until the cheese has toasted.

If one is discussing the "skjort" separately from the "tröja", would the latter be an overshirt or jerkin? The author of this modern article on 16th-century pieces seems to be using "tröja" interchangeably with "jackor" but I can't be entirely certain she's discussing the same garment. Is it possible to use "tröja" and "jackor" in such a way?

I've a few ready-made topics I could present this summer, since I'm probably going to be working on journal articles for my new material. So, asking the intarwibble:

Poll #1158726 Pennsic Class Options
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Which topic should I present at Pennsic University this year?

They still need to be shrunk/fulled/felted in the wash, but they're complete, and comfy. Made them ankle-height, so that they're nice with my ghillies even in summer.

Since taking this photo earlier today I've managed to catch up the lower sock with the upper, so I've both heels done. All that's left are the ankles, and I'll have another finished pair of socks.

Am looking forward to another quick project using up some cut velvet scraps salvaged from some worn out clothing. Any tips on hand sewing with velvet?