Tripe? oh cripe!!!

All our ingredients are ready and waiting for us to start

Does everyone but me know what  Tripe is?   Last weekend my daughter and I went to a Hearth Cooking Class as the George Read House in New Castle DE.   This was my third year and Heather's first year.   I enrolled her as a Christmas present.   (See previous and add this to the mix!)

Same pot we used for the soup.   Used a long
 poker to swing the arm out and bring the pot closer

It was a fun day and the food was great.   My pix are from last year as I didn't take my camera this time.   Anyway a quick rundown of the day ....  there are 12 in the class with two or three instructors.   We pair off and select which of the recipes we will be in charge of.   Heather and I selected the the Pepperpot Soup with Dumplings.   We proceed through the recipe with the occasional references to "tripe".   ....Cook tripe ahead of time; set aside tripe to cool......  This is a case of not knowing if a SmartPhone is a blessing or not.   Heather Googles Tripe on her phone and we are feigning barking when she tells me what tripe is.   Oh, it's a delicacy the internet says.  But  so are other things that I don't believe will ever pass my lips.  Tripe, I learn is the lining of a cow's stomach.   Yuck!   It was bad enough I had to dice the tripe meaning I had to touch it!   Our Pepperpot Soup also had dumplings and potatoes so eating around the tripe was tricky.   I am not usually a squemish eater but TRIPE!  Really? 

This is the Frut Suppa from last year so that is why it is sitting in the pot with snow to chill it.
We used the same tureen for our Pepperpot Soup.   I liked the tureen much better with the Frut than the Soup!

i-Challenge Days VI, VII, and VIII

I am still hanging in there with a couple of hitches in my giddy-up!   For Day 6 - I started Bent Creek's Leaf.   I enjoy doing Bent Creek and Lizze Kate's every now and again.   Not to disminish them in any way but they are no brainers to me.   I don't need to concentrate and figure and stress of accomplishing a specialty stitch. 

Better yet, I got to start this on Thursday night while at My Secret Squirrel Stitching Group - now the real name, in fact, there is no real name.  It is just a group of gals that get together and stitch.  Mr. Wonderful dubbed them the Secret Squirrel stitchers because when I was approached to join the group, I was told it was private/invitation only group and my name would have to go back to the entire group for approval.  No, there is no Secret Decoder Ring we are issued but we Stitchers do know we speak a different language than the rest of  human race.    We had not met for stitching since November and I missed it.

Back track to Day V, I picked up my first square in my Block of the Month Club.   It's an easy one and since I am a relative newcomber, that's a good thing.  I hope to knock that out as well this weekend.  Using my trusty handy dandy block tool, I am ready to go.

For Day 7 - I started a little Halloween stitch that I got at my Retreat at Salty Yarns last fall.   It is so cute and when finished, it is mounted in a shadow box with little ghostie and goulie trinkets.   I am not too keen on working on the black though.  It is WDW but somehow it doens't feel too much my linen I would like to stitch on.   I also thought I would do a neato thing and add some krenik to my floss to stitch the right side of every section.....kind of like to put a glow on one side...maybe from the full moon???



Really an embarrassing too few stitches to make a judgement on.



I am not too sure I am liking this and really need to get a bunch more stitches in before I frog.

Day 8 - Here's the biggest hitch - I pulled out my Little House Needleworks pattern over coffee this morning and started giving the instructions the necessary cursory review and WHAT! NO LINEN!    Oh no!  I must have pulled it out for something else.......but I really don't remember doing that.   I have the floos and buttons though.    I could have sworn it was there when I set up my basket back in December when I was prepping for the challenge.......So not a stitch yet today.   Day 8 is hanging in the balance until I can get into my craft room and do a bit of searching....

....enter the Christmas Decorations......the task of putting away the holiday decorations - oh and this year I have pledged to put them away right....lol......if you are like me, your craft room become wrapping central......oh the domino effect of all the mess!    Thank goodness for a snow day.....to stay in, stay cozy and kind of plow through it all......I am looking forward to some stitching this evening once I sit down for the evening with a big cup of fancy tea or speciality coffee.......and what Day 8 may end up being...........well only the Shadow Knows!

One last thing before I have to stop the holiday de-arornment ritual.......I had posted about going to a Hearth Cooking Class for the last couple of years.....well it is that time again.   Check out my earlier posts that are labeled "Hearth Cooking"  and the George Read website as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The George Read House - more Hearth Cooking info

This is the comment on the Hearth Cooking class from the Curator of Eduation.    I thought I'd make it a post of its own so everyone could get the info

"Anonymous said...

Wow, I must say that I love your entry on the Read House and Gardens Open Hearth Cooking Workshop! The Read House has a different menu each year and holds 3 or more workshops each winter, on select Saturdays. Information may be found on http://www.dehistory.org/ If anyone is interested in signing up for future workshops email (amilej@dehistory.org) or call me (302-322-8411) with your name and email address, and any other contact information you would like to share. Thanks for sharing our work with your blog!

Antoinette Milej
Curator of Education
Delaware Historical Society
Read House and Gardens"

I have been to classes two years in a row.   The first year we made Pies and Puddings.   But these were not the kind of pies you think.   They were meat pies and they were delicous.   With some adaptations for the modern oven, the chicken pie we made has become a family favorite.

This year the theme was of a dutch and swedish variety and equally delicious.   I have already made one of the recipes for my family.  Next year - tentative - they are taking about "Philadelphia Fare" so all things Philadelphian.   I say bring on the Philadelphia Cream Cheesecake!  See the post from last week on Hearth Cooking for more photos!

Hearth Cooking

Yesterday I attended my second Hearth Cooking class at the George Read House in New Castle De.This was my second time and Debbie's first but not her last time to attend. It was way cool. We prepared and cooked a feast as it would have been in the 18th century. Everything was done over the fire. No modern conveniences save a current day hand whisk used to make the whipped cream. We created dishes like Beef a la Lindstrom, Fruktsoppa, Knackebrod, Svensk Salad, Roast Tail of Pike, Vegetable Hutspot and more.

The Vegetable Hutspot

The Roasted Tail of Pike (we had to substitute Tilapia)

Beef a la Lindstrom

The Orange Cake

Here is the Fruktsoppa.   The recipe Debbie and I made.      After cooking, yes, we took the pot to sit in the snow to cool.   When it was time to eat, the Fruktsoppa was still not chilled so we improvised with nesting it is a bowl filled with snow.   We also whipped the cream and set the bowl of the whipped cream in the snow to keep til dessert time. 

Our table....the photos don't do it justice!  There was so much food, much of it on a back table.

Well. looks like I enjoyed it!    

Other items of interest were the historical significance of the house.   Here is the bell system that was ahead of it's time in the late 1700's/early 1800's.  Each wire leads to a room, each room has a lever to 'flip' to ring the bell notifiying the kitchen and servants which room (of the 22 rooms) the servants should report to.   Pretty cool.

Other neat shots.   Photography in the house itself it prohibited so my shots are only of the kitchen and washroom area.   The John Read House is currently shrouded in scaffolding as they are in the midst of a $1M renovation project so I did not take any photos of the outside.   Check their website.   It truly is a treasure and worth a stop if you are in area.

All that and I managed to stitch a bit before and a bit after.......The Between the Sheets Sampler is not necessary my favorite but I find myself thinking about getting home and stitching up the next part.   I think it is the whole band sampler thing.   Just like alphabets, you get to see accomplishment so quickly.    It is either that or the fact that I will not see the ladies of the group I took the class with until April and I want to be able to show lots of progress.    Either way, it's progress.