Our Medieval Feast

It has been requested that I update my blog! Apparently the last post on Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donuts has been quite tempting.

I have been wanting to share this next post with you for a while but life has happened.  I am so grateful I am getting some time tonight to share.

One of the curriculums that I have been using this year is Konos. In particular I am using Konos in a box for Obedience. It has really been a lot of fun.  We have studied Light, Kings and Queens and now we are studying Horses. 

In Konos curriculum you have the option of doing various activities to really help the child learn (through hands on activities) about the certain subject. In this case we learned about Kings and Queens for 8 weeks.  I focused more on the biblical Kings and Queens and there were certain secular ones we didn't even touch.  We will save that for when my boys are older. It is important that they start out having a rooted biblical understanding in the early years. 

To culminate our unit Konos suggests holding a Medieval Feast.  While this seemed daunting at first once we got into it we had a great time. We went to Goodwill and shopped for costume apparel (or sheets and curtains to make apparel out of.)  We also got "Great Hall" decorations there and at the local craft store.  We had to be very creative because we were on a tight budget. It was also really nice because Steve had off during the time we were studying this so he was able to help Corbin and I out a lot in various activities. 

At the Medieval feast Corbin was going to be the King.  During our unit we created all the items a king would have:

Here is King Corbin's Orb (Kings hold to represent the church and the authority of the church)

We found a coconut candle at Goodwill and painted it gold. We added some sparkly decorations for the bling.  Corbin loved painting this and adding all the embellishments.  He also learned about a Maltese cross which we topped our orb with.

Here is King Corbin's Scepter (Represents protection like a shepherds staff)

Corbin is very proud of this scepter.  Mainly him and his Dad worked hard on this for many days.  The top gold ball is a squishy tennis ball painted gold and drilled with a hole to put the dowel through. The middle ball is a plastic lemon painted gold and drilled with a hole as well and the bottom blue ball is tinfoil.  As you can see I didn't comb Corbin's hair that morning.  Who knows I could have even still been in my PJ's taking that picture?  Oh the joy of homeschooling!

Here is a close up

We made an authentic (or almost authentic) invitation for our feast.

Here is the scroll rolled up with our wax seal.  I actually have red wax for sealing and a seal but I couldn't find it so we improvised and used candle wax and a pin.  It looked kind of weird but it did seal the scroll.

Here is the inside of the scroll.  Corbin helped me write the invite, type the invite and put them all together. He really got a kick out of giving them to the invitees.

There was quite a bit of sewing to do which is what took place of me spending time on this.  That creation will be coming soon.  I promise.  Anyway, Corbin helped me plan our costumes, cut fabric, glue various embellishments and he watched me sew.  I will let him sew soon.  (Yes I think sewing is something a boy needs to learn along with cooking and cleaning PROPERLY.  What happens when and if he is on his own someday?  He needs to be able to take care of himself or the family if his future wife gets sick or goes out of town.)

We made banners for our great hall, runners for our tables, tablecloths for our tables, King Corbin's costume, Cody's Knight in Training (or page) costume, Daddy's Lord of the castle costume and my Lady of the Land costume.  We also made a family coat of arms (not sewing related but you will see it in the pictures.  I forgot to take a picture of just the coat of arms.)

Here is our Great Hall (the area the nobility and their guests eat in.)  We told our guests that our "Great Hall" wasn't that great in terms of size.  We were a bit cramped but it all worked out.

You can see our banner in the background.  We also made and hung one on the front door of our castle.  The head table is always higher than the guests table.  Steve made some risers for our head table.  Traditionally there were no utensils at these feasts.  The guests just brought their own knives. I couldn't find any goblets to drink out of that worked for this feast. It would have been fun though.  We didn't use electric light.  We only used candles.  Traditionally the guests table did not have a runner on it either but I thought I would treat them nice and give them one.  I did not end up making our guests eat with no utensils either.  Hot food in our hands just wouldn't have worked quite right.

I printed the table manners for each guest.  I thought they were so funny.  These weren't on the traditional table either, it was just a known fact.  This is what they were in case you can't read them in the picture: Table Manners

Do not spit on or over the table. If you wash your mouth out while at the table, do not spit the water back into the bowl, but instead spit politely on the floor. Do not pick your teeth at the table with a knife, straw or stick. Do not leave bones on your plate, throw them on the floor for the dogs.

You can seen the coat of arms in the background on the shelf.  We had three of these in various places decorating our Great Hall.  Two of them were shields that we made and one was just for decoration. They had a lot of symbolism in them and Corbin really enjoyed making these. 

We got this candle holder for .50 or a $1 at Goodwill.  The salt cellar on the table was only for the head table.  Salt was scarce in those days and so at feasts only the royalty used salt.  It cost as much as gold back then!

Corbin had to write up a schedule of events for our feast.  Usually there are ten courses and in between and during each course there was entertainment.  There was no way I was making ten courses but I did make three.  In between each of those we had some entertainment.

Here is Corbin schedule of events (part of it is on the back of the paper so you can't see it all.)

Since there were only four of us with roles to play at the feast I ended up playing about 20 different roles (isn't that true of my life already?) I was the Lady of the castle, the surveyor, the peasant, the sculley maid, the pantler and more!  We ate off of "trenchers."  These were loaves of bread used for plates.  All the food went on them except the pasta dish which went in the bowls.  In between the first course Corbin read his paper he wrote about what it would be like to be a squire for a day and he also told us Titus 3:1 which he memorized during this unit.  He has jewels on his crown for his memorization. After the second course we all sang "God is so good".  At the end of the feast we sang "He is Lord" and recited Philippians 2:9-11. Usually there is more going on in between courses but I wasn't about to be the Jester or the Minstrel too!

Here is King Corbin in His Costume

We modeled his costume after King Richard the Lionhearted.  We mimicked some of the traditional costume.  He was supposed to wear a grey sweatshirt under his tunic but I totally forgot!  Oops. He was taking a Armor of God class at his Co-op this term too so he made these sandals (the shoes of peace) and sword (sword of the spirit) in that class.  They worked well for our costume.

Here is our Page (actually a little young for a page - they started at age 7), our little knight in training

Cody played along well during our feast.  He liked that his costume almost matched Daddy's.  Steve's costume was similar to this except his draped more over and around him rather than a tunic style. He also had a plastic sword to carry around unlike the dagger Cody has.  The absent minded professor (aka me) did not get pictures of it!  I also forgot to get pictures of my costume, the food and the guests.  My cousin dressed up as a monk!  My costume was a floor length cape style with a bright sparkly broach in the front.  I wore a dress underneath. I even put my hair up all roayl like! I wish I would have gotten a picture.

Here is King Corbin coming down the stairs.  I was so proud of him.  He usually does not like to be the center of attention (I never did either.) 

When all our guests arrived we announced him and presented him to the guests. He came down the stairs while everyone was staring at him. Then we all bowed to the royalty. I told him "Don't get too used to this part!"

Here was our menu:

Drinks

Wassail

Water

First Course

Bread and Cheese Platter

Second Course

Apricot Pasta (from Konos - you will have to buy the book for recipe due to copyright.  This was a favorite of the night.)

Roasted Pork with Carrots and Onions (I didn't use potatoes because there were no potatoes back then at this time. I slow cooked the pork and I know there were no crock pots either!)

Roasted Turnips (I have never had turnips before, they were quite interesting)

Third Course

Poached Pears with Raspberry sauce

*I didn't eat off of a trencher because of my need to eat Gluten Free.  I did, however, buy a GF baguette (yep I was in a pinch, I didn't make my own) so that I could enjoy the bread and cheese course!

This feast was truly a celebration for all the hard work we had done for those eight weeks.  We made great memories.  Ones that I hope Corbin will remember fo a long time.

~Blessings~