Party with the Vikings

[fbhjr]

It was a fairly cool, cloudy, day so was perfect for a Viking party.


A friend of ours runs Hurstwic, a Viking reenactment living history group. Each spring he has a party at his house.
Normally we have practice on Sunday, but today my wife and I skipped to go to the party.

blue_micha & morgan_lafaye were nice enough to run practice for us while we went to the party.

A fair number of folks showed up, some dressed like Vikings, some not.


Bill does a great job of cooking a meal that is historically correct.


I really like the tools he uses for it.


Even the stream that runs by his house adds a nice touch to the whole thing.


Bill makes a stew with lamb, purple carrots and other things that were used at the time.


Cooking the purple carrots brings the purple out of the vegetable and puts it in the broth leaving an orange carrot left in the pot.


While it cooked we had a chance to try archery and knife throwing.


There is something about watching folks dressed as Vikings doing archery through wood smoke that seems very fitting.


We also had some knife throwing practice.


I tried it too. I did not get a knife to stick. But, I managed to break the bungie cord that held up the board...


My wife took a turn at knife throwing.


Bill gave her some pointers.


And she was at least able to get the point to hit the board, which was more than I could do, even if it didn’t stick.


Then, the stew was ready. Bill brought forward his very impressive bowl of wooden spoons.


The cooking of the bread also began. I have to admit, I love the special bread Bill makes for this.


The stew and bread were both very good.


After the archery was over, my wife explored the stream some. I waited behind to make sure no one tried archery while she was back there.


Then, the Vikings gathered for their Thing to discuss the groups business.


My wife and I headed back home.


It was a VERY good time and I’m glad my wife and I went.

Comments

[ravena-kade.livejournal.com]

I never knew that the purple ran out of purple carrots. Cool.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Yep, it goes into the water in which you boil them.

[angelamermaid.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of a New Year's Day jaunt across the border to a house in Maine. A group had built a Viking longhouse and was builing a ship. On property owned by a custom harp maker. He had a private turret in his house - there was something very touching that he had a private space that he wouldn't permit us to visit.

Thanks for prompting memories of that day! Now I want to visit something Viking. :-)

[morgan-lafaye.livejournal.com]

Cool. Where does one get purple carrots?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I'm told he bought them at Roche Brothers Supermarket...

[codemancer.livejournal.com]

This is all so cool! I had no idea that purple carrots existed and transferred their purple color to whatever liquid they were cooked in!

Looks like awesome fun, I'd LOVE to try archery :D

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

From what I'm told orange carrots are fairly modern and purple was more common in the past.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

From what I've read- which may or may not be true- purple and other-colored carrots were standard in the past. At some point fans of William of Orange decided to breed an ORANGE carrot as a political thing, and they did, and it kinda took over.

I've seen purple, red, and white carrots (which are not parsnips) at local supermarkets. Sometimes yellow, too.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Bill tells me that the purple ones show up in Viking literature, and that's why he uses them.

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

You guys always do the most amazingly interesting stuff! Thanks for sharing the photos.

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

Nice!

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

since i will be growing purple carrots this year, i'm glad i'm prepared now for them to turn orange after being cooked. i wonder if that also occurs if you roast them? hrm.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sure that at least 1 kind of purple or red carrots i used kept their color after roasting or sauteing. If the purple is water-soluble, this wouldn't give much water for it to dissolve in. They DO tend to be orange in the middle, at least the darker colors.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

If he would be willing to share the bread recipe, I am quite interested in it! Thanks!