aqua fortis

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Dig that Wench

Rob & Me As you can see from the evidence at left, we went to the Renaissance Faire this past weekend in Hollister, at Casa de Fruta. (Speaking of Hollister--if I may digress a moment--why is it so popular right now to wear clothing with "Hollister, California" on it? What the F is in Hollister? Nothing, except maybe the nearby Gilroy Garlic Festival. The clothing company seems based in Southern Cal, which explains something, since clearly they have not been to Hollister if they are putting it on a shirt. It's like putting Modesto on a shirt. Okay, I'm done, with apologies to Hollister for my rant.)

The RenFaire always makes for good people-watching, though there usually seems to be an abundance of middle-aged-and-older ladies with ample bosoms heaving out the top of their bodices, and not necessarily in a good way. As you can see, my costume was quite modest in the bosom department. It's an awesome costume, though--my friend Jay made it (along with Rob's costume), and she is quite a seamstress. I did buy the bracers--that was my one major purchase for the day besides booze and food (and the admission ticket, which is none too cheap). And yes, I'm wearing hi-tops. I have boots, but they're way too nice to get dusty at a fair, for crap's sake. Seriously.

Speaking of dust, the faire was so dusty I spent the next two days sneezing like a mofo. Dust and hay. They don't call it hay fever for nothing.

Anyway, I have more news, but it'll have to wait for my next post since I'm in the middle of cooking (salmon roasted w/vegetables).

3 comments:

David T. Macknet said...

OK, two things. First, Sous Vide may be your friend. Just had some tonite - went out and bought a good thermometer so I could regulate the temperature of the poaching water right at 140. Marvellous.

Second? Well, look at Rob. Look at the boots. Take away the Renaissance and add a short horse, some fermented mare's milk, and maybe a gur (yurt, in the language of the oppressor). Seeing what I'm seeing? It's probably only 'cause his jeans are like way huge for him, and give the appearance of having bowed legs, but still. :)

tanita✿davis said...

Hey, I could be one of those middle-aged ladies with the bosums next time. Kewl!

The outfits really are cute; I'd wear a top like that in real life if I had a seamstress to design my outfits. Only with jeans... the skirt would be a mite much for my everyday...

Please tell me you got a beer stein shaped like something filthy. I always love those at RenFaire...

Sarah Stevenson said...

No, I was stein-less. Yeah, I should wear the bodice sometime with jeans--you're totally right. That would look cool. I do plan to make use of the bracers, too (firstly for the Halloween costume!).

The Sous-Vide thing sounds quite tasty. We still have quite a bit of salmon left in our freezer, since Rob went fishing in the Feather River in the spring. I've done the poaching thing with the salmon, but on the stovetop. I think we usually use chicken broth, though, carnivores that we are!

One salmon recipe I really like involves pan-roasting the salmon in olive oil with salt & pepper, and then making an orange-butter sauce: take 1-2 tbsp. minced shallots, put in a small pot with 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice; cook at med-high heat until juice is reduced by half. Add 2-3 tbsp. of butter (we use Earth Balance) and one small diced tomato. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and add salt/pepper to taste. Pour over the salmon. Also tastes good over brown rice if you have sauce left over.