Blacksmithing for Farm Day at Burgundy Farm Country Day School

We had a great time blacksmithing for the 1st graders and Kindergartners at Burgundy Farm Country Day School this past Friday.   In honor of farm day, Jeff made hoof picks, as well as nails and S hooks.  And, as always, the children got to try out how it feels to hammer like a blacksmith using our child-friendly anvil and aluminum pieces.   It's a joy to be part of such a special school!

Medieval Barley Bread Challenge

My older son's class at Burgundy Farm Country Day School has been studying the medieval time period and their study is culminating with a Medieval Festival tomorrow.  Parents were asked to sign up to help provide food, and I took on the challenge of baking barley bread.  I'd never baked with barley before, although I bake plenty of wheat-based bread.  Nor had I ever cooked in the medieval time period.  But, I am a historical interpreter of other time periods, so I was excited to try.  And, I've been watching a lot of Ruth Goodman's television shows, so the timing was perfect!

Working with barley flour was very interesting, and I had a fair number of fails.  But, I did learn a lot.  In the end, I will be serving an upper class person's barley bread, which used ale, yeast, and more white flour than barley and wheat flours (ignore the air bubble in the photo, please!); I also made a middle class person's barley bread, using the ale and yeast, but more wheat flour than white flour; finally, I found a recipe for what would be a lower class person's barley bread, using no ale or yeast or wheat flours at all.  This unleavened bread turned out to be more of a pita or tortilla.  Fascinating.

And, I learned that barley bread tastes fantastic, too!

Scenes from My May Garden

Setting up for a Very Wet Blacksmithing Demo at Claude Moore's Colonial Market Fair

 

New Soap!

Lots of new soap has been packaged and lots of other blends are getting ready for sale.  All these blends are available at the River Farm gift shop in Alexandria.  River Farm is the headquarters of the American Horticultural society.  And, Washington's Green Grocer has several other blends (honeysuckle/lavender, peppermint, a citrus blend, and lemongrass/rosemary) for sale.  Of course, you can always contact me and I'll see what I have on hand, as well! 

Our Demo at St. Aidan's Celtic Spring Fling

We demo'd at our church this past Sunday in an effort to support the Celtic Spring Fling at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.  Despite damp conditions, the event was a huge hit with the community with lots of music, dancing, a corn hole tournament, blacksmithing, a silent auction, and good food.   The kids' anvil was a hit as usual.  And, it marks the first ever demo of ours where we served cake -- we might have to continue with that tradition!   

Scenes from the 16th Annual Fairfax Civil War Day

 

 

 

My Soap Offered by Washington's Green Grocer!

We are very excited that Washington's Green Grocer, a wonderful home-delivery grocery company, is offering my soap for the 1st time this week!  We are loyal customers of Washington's Green Grocer and really appreciate their dedication to locally grown food and sustainable agriculture.  Plus, they offer a variety of boxes (organic, local, mixed) and then allow you to swap items and add other items....like my soap!  And, they deliver to your door.  You can't beat it.   It's like the best possible community supported agriculture program.

So, please consider adding a bar of my soap to your order, if you are already a member.  And, if you aren't, you might just want to check it out.

Spring Fling is Tomorrow -- Red Velvet Cake is Decorated!

Liam and I just finished decorating a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, made from Duff Goldman's wonderful recipe.  The cake is donated to the cake walk at tomorrow's Celtic Spring Fling at St, Aidan's church in Alexandria.  Jeff will also be blacksmithing and it is a wonderful opportunity to chat with him and see what blacksmithing is all about.  Plus, there'll be live music, food, Irish dancing, a petting zoo, crafts, and a corn hole tournament.  What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  Please come and join us!