Wednesday, December 11, 2013

A Year in Review-2013

2013 was a great year. Full of adventure, new things, fun & more! Here is a sampling of the year- seems like there was not a lot to it, but I know better. Enjoy! 
148th Ft. Fisher- one of my favorite places, two of my grandfathers were stationed here during the Civil War. 
Meet Louisa Mae! 


I got to walk my battlefield with the one & only Ed Bearss- twice!! 

I cut my hair! 10" went to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to make wigs for the ACS. 
I turned 25!

Spent a damp day with some of my best friends at Bentonville. 



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The Summer Was




Well, Summer is over. That horrid, hot, humid season. I am much in love with Fall. The crisp breeze, the colors, the need for tea. This summer was not entirely uneventful; in fact it was full of crazy things. We moved...twice.  My family almost lost my grandfather; but he is a very strong man!!  My family also found out that there will be another baby soon; my brother & his wife are expecting in December ( I will have a nephew!).  I did manage to get to the beach this year, for maybe the first time in years that did not involve me wearing funny clothes :)
Beach Feet



The summer brings a very happy day though, DH and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary. We went to the NC Zoo this year. 


It was a quiet summer, event wise. Very little to do in the summer, plus with the chaos of moving there was no finding needed items. DH did make it to the 150th Gettysburg, I stayed home, stayed dry & stayed cool.  The summer did have one exciting event, the Festival of Yesteryear held at the Museum of the Cape Fear. It was a day filled with Colonial & Regency activities. That evening there was a Regency Ball! What fun it was! I even made a new dress! 

Assembly at the 1812 Ball. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

148th Bentonville


This past weekend brought us to the busiest weekend of the year. We hosted our 148th program here at Bentonville. And while I was mostly running around, working, I did get a change to run around and have little fun Sunday morning.


Me with the boys 
Our new tintype
We managed to have our image struck by the wonderful Chris Morgan of thesilverbath.com. It is inspired by an original image I had found online. After a long weekend I can say that I am still recovering, but it was all worth it!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

A Few Projects

It has been a busy new year! I am excited about all of the things that 2013 has in store!  I have managed to complete a few new projects!
 Meet Louisa! She is a reproduction Jenny Lind. I recieved her as a late Christmas/ Early Valentines gift. She only has one dress for now, but she is equipped with all of the appropriate underpinnings. Look for a more detailed post on her later. 
A new 1860's dress. This wool was part of the fabric.com sale a while back. I started on the dress in November, and well never finished it. I did however manage to get it done for one of  my  Historical Sew Fortnightly Projects. 
 We have been doing more early 19th Century living histories. With that comes a whole new wardrobe. I made my first cap! It was also my first piece to dive into the 18th Century with. 

Also a first for 2013....SNOW!!! Yes, I was excited, yes, I was at work, but I still ran around like a little kid :) 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

A Year in Review 2012

 So I haven't posted on here in a while since I am caught up with my new blog 19th Century Cookery!  But here is a quick look back at some of my 2012 memories!


147th Bentonville- War So Terrible
Plymouth
Wayside Ladies Hospital- 

Our First Anniversary!


A new job means DH can come to work with me! 
Learned that the flag was "3 Jims High"
Fall Festival with a very pretty partner! 

2012 Family Pictures 

Friday, October 12, 2012

Apple Pie Adventure

In preparation of an upcoming event, I decided to try some new recipes, one of those being apple pie. I have never made an apple pie, so this would be my first adventure, and for some reason I seem to have better results with recipes that are 150+ years old, I don't know why, so please don't ask (however, my DH has a theory on this).
 So, the crust.
I chose a simple recipe for the crust and pie out of  "The Practical Cook Book", 1850. It seemed simple enough, and since I can't really have a food processor at a Civil War event I needed a new crust recipe (my usual crust recipe came out of a Woman's Day magazine from last year).  So I chose "No. 1 Common Paste".  Converted to modern measurements it called for 2 sticks of butter ( I used unsalted at room temp to blend better), 4 cups of flour, 1 Teaspoon of salt, and about  1 cup of water.  I mixed the dough with my hands to make sure I had a good consistency. I turned it out on my wooden board that I kneed my bread on. It was almost too much dough for the small board, so I halved it to form a top & bottom crust. With the bottom rolled out nicely, I placed it in my lightly floured pie plate.  Crust, successful, so far....


 The pie. I chose again out of the same book for the pie. "No. 3 Apple Pie" sounded good. The recipe did not specify what apples to use, I chose Gala, they have a sweet taste that I really enjoy.  Peeled and sliced 3 large apples were enough to fill the crust. I heaped them into the crust. Since there were no measurements for the spices, I guessed. I chose the molasses from my cabinet that my grandpa brought me last year from the mountains (that is some good stuff!!!). I drizzled until the apples looked nicely covered. Then added the cinnamon, sprinkling it over the molasses. I did not have any allspice, so I dashed in a pinch of nutmeg,and the salt.  It looked so good at this point that I decided to snap a picture! My DH was excited at this point too, despite the mess I was making in the kitchen. It smelled good too! I was giddy at this point, it really looked like pie!
I rolled out the rest of the dough for the top crust, and pinched it together on the sides, pulling off the excess dough as needed. Cutting a slit in the top as directed for steam to escape. Hmm, this may actually work!
The pie went in a "Moderate Oven" which means anywhere from 350-375. Mine was set at 350. Baked for 45 minutes, the crust did not really brown, except part of the edges. I wasn't sure when I took it out of the oven, it looked the same as when it was put in.  We let it cool for a bit before being too excited to wait any longer. It smelled so good as I cut into it! We scooped out some! IT WAS PIE! I made a successful pie! The apples were so good! The crust was a little bland, but after it soaked in the syrup it was nice too! 

For the future pie I think I will use a bit less flour. It was too much for the size of my pie plate. I may add a little sugar to the crust as well since it was a bit bland. But with less flour it may have more flavor too. I may let it cool longer too. The insides were a bit runny, which I noticed later after cooling became more like syrup. Other than that, it was good experience, and I plan on making it again soon!! 


Thursday, October 11, 2012

New Duds

DH has some new duds!! He is going to look awesome on the 20th! 
 Pants in Plaid Wool 
Overshirt in Grey Linen