We did it. After almost twelve weeks of preparation and work, and feeling like we would simply never be ready, the day of the banquet arrived. It went well, really well. The children did their presentations and answered our guest’s questions fairly intelligently. The food was remarkably good, considering we used authentic medieval recipes and everyone played their part perfectly. We couldn’t have had better guests. Thanks Andy and Nik for all your encouragement and your enthusiasm and for joining in with such aplomb!
We had spent most of the day preparing food and laying the table. I have to admit to more extravagant plans concerning the décor, but the illness which has been making the rounds in our home has been a particularly virulent one and to be honest all of those recovering lacked the energy to carry it off, whilst those currently suffering just wanted to be in bed. A mantra oft heard in the last week or so by every member of this family is KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Stupid is a disallowed word in our family, so the children kept giggling each time it was said, but it had an important effect. In order to pull off the feast and to feel like we had done the last twelve weeks justice, we really did need to keep it simple.
So we ignored the artistic pleadings off our hearts to recreate an indoor medieval castle and focused instead on a beautiful table, spread to the brim with L11’s tasty food.
The table was laid with white table cloths, trenchers, wooden spoons, goblets, candles and greenery from the garden:
Once the table was done and the food was all merrily cooking away, everyone turned their attention to their costumes, with older ones helping younger ones:
And sure enough the guests began to arrive, all dressed in their own version of medieval costume. I was so grateful to Nik for taking the whole thing so seriously. As her boys are adopted she has requested no photos are put up of her sons, so I have done my best with the photos I have which were just of the adults or my family.
It had been decided that L11 would give her presentation just before the feasting began, outlining medieval banqueting etiquette and expressing what would be expected from our guests:
She did a great job and at the end of her speech/presentation she led her guests to the banqueting table to be seated.
Once seated, the servants (AKA Gary and I) began to bring out the food:
None of us had tasted Goose before, and it was gorgeous. Although the bird had been 8 kg, a large percentage of that was fat, so there really wasn’t a huge amount of meat. Next time I would get an even bigger goose.
Whilst Gary was carving the goose, the banquetors were washing their hands in some prepared apple blossom water:
In addition to the goose, there were many different types of vegetables, a pork and sultana pie (home-made by L11 and absolutely delicious) and a lamb pie, which was going to be a lamb stew. This was less popular. Trenchers were filled with all the feasting foods available and gravy poured over:
The trenchers were the biggest surprise of the evening. The children were concerned in case they went soggy with the gravy and were badgering me to put plates underneath. As we were attempting as much authenticity as possible I declined. These medieval people knew what they were doing though, as there was absolutely no sign of the trenchers going soggy, and they were as hard at the end of the meal as they had been at the start:
L11, in her presentation, had invited the guests to give toasts whenever the fancy took them. Nik did so with alacrity!
After the main course was completed, everyone was invited to move away from the table, into the living room, to watch C11 and her presentation on medieval fashions. I was so proud of her, because she really wasn’t well and probably should have been in bed. She did a grand job in between sniffles and coughs:
Afterwards she passed her dolls around and answered questions Nik had for her.
Whilst she was finishing answering questions, Gary and I were re-laying the table with the desserts course. L11 had talked about the subtleties and these were brought out as well:
After the dessert course it was T12’s turn to present the War of the Roses. T12 had been a little nervous about this. He had pretty much done all the work himself and thus had invested a big part of himself into his play and film.
As you can see (above), he used PowerPoint for his presentation, bringing it up on our TV screen. He also showed his film using our TV:
If anyone knows how to put a film up on a blog, I’d be happy to share it. I just don’t have the requisite skills to do so. He had done an amazing job pasting the various scenes together to create a fairly seamless film. He also had title music and credits music, which played as the credits rolled:
I was very proud of my three older children and I realised yet again, that next time I needed to include A5. She is so ready to do her own presentation.
New term begins tomorrow, with new projects, new goals and new ideas for presentations. It is always pretty exciting to finish a topic, but even more exciting to start a new one!
Home school is kind of cool, don’t you think?
Great job done by all. Have to say I didn’t like being the servant only getting the scraps!!! Lol
Scraps, indeed! You must be the best fed servant in medieval-dom!
Home school – especially your home school – is indeed very cool! I loved every bit of this – how everyone rose to the occasion in the face of illness, how you and Gary waited on everyone, the costumes, the food, how your guests joined in, your lovely photos… Such attention to detail! I hope everyone’s better now, ready for another great term.
I’d love to see the video. If you have a YouTube account you can upload it there – there’s an option to only make it available to people who have the url. You can then share the url here. (There’s also a WordPress plugin to have the video embedded on your blog but I don’t know whether it’s available on your version of WordPress.) Feel free to email if I haven’t made that very clear!
Thanks Lucinda!
Re. video, how do I upload it? T has it in Icloud at the moment. I am so incredibly useless at all of this!
I’m so impressed with how much effort, time and detail you all put into this! Really, really wonderful! We are just starting Medieval times and I’m pretty sure I have the energy for a peasant feast (is there such a thing?!).
LOL! Yes, maybe we should have plumped for the peasant feast and then it wouldn’t have taken so long to recover from the one we did host!
Oh so impressive! I wish I could have been a guest 🙂 The girls are beautiful ladies, and the feast looks incredible! Such an incredible array of food at the feast – and none of those dishes are simple..I’m at a loss for words at the feast – goose, subtleties, lamb, wine soaked pears – to name but a few (!!). L may have her calling as a chef at the finest restaurants. I hope everyone is feeling better, and looking forward to the new term!
Thank you Marie. We are gradually getting over the infection – it has been a particularly nasty one with Gary needing to get an inhaler to help with his breathing! (he’s not asthmatic at all). Everyone still sounds like they are full of gunk, but we started back at school last week.
Wow, what an amazing job they all did. I’m a bit jealous I wasn’t there to witness (and taste!) it all 😉
LOL! You would have been welcome to pop in!
You always impress me with your attention to detail. I can’t believe how much you all got done despite illness, and yes, your dear C11 does not look well. The costumes are wonderful. The decorations are gorgeous and the food is incredible. I am running out of appropriate adjectives to apply to this wonderful event you all have created. Oh, to be schooled by you…what an experience. Thank you for sharing all your gifts and efforts with us.
Oh, it’s my pleasure Phyllis. Thank you for all the encouragement you give to everyone.
Very impressed people!!
Thanks Danielle. Have you moved house yet?
I’ll send you a wee private message on Facebook
I’ve been saving this in my reader until I had time to actually sit down and really read it all and look at the photos. Amazing!! Really, you are providing your kids with such an excellent educational experience! I love reading your posts.
Thank you Kris. I’m glad we did it but I am so glad we have had a couple of weeks off to recuperate – I think I might be getting too old for all of this!!
I love it! Now you’ve got me dreaming about our own version……
Like was said up above, you can upload it to youtube to share a video, which would be so cool if you can. If you need help let me know, and I’ll try to show you how in a step by step somehow.
I wouldn’t have a clue how to upload anything! Is it easy?
Claire!!! This is MAGNIFICENT!!! Honestly I wish Keilee and I could have attended. This is such an amazing learning experience that your kids will never, ever forget!!! LOVE IT!! And yes Homeschool is VERY Cool!!
We would have loved to have you! Keilee and my older ones would have had so much fun together
What a great example of project based learning! It all came together so well and what a wonderful memory.
Thank you Carol, and thank you for the mention on your blog!
Oh, Claire, I am not sure where to begin. Everything is just fantastic. Love the costumes. The food looks absolutely, amazingly delicious. It looks like everyone was well prepared for their presentations. I, too, wish I could have been there. Maybe you will be able to get a video up for us to see.
So sorry C wasn’t feeling well, but it looks like she did an awesome job. It is neat that even Gary was involved, even though he was a servant eating scraps;)
Looks like your guests had a marvelous time and what fun to have them participate with costumes and toasts.
You all should be very pleased with the outcome. I’d say it was well worth the effort. Congratulations.
I hope you have enjoyed a much deserved rest. I’m excited to see what is next.
Thank you Donna! Don’t feel too sorry for Gary – he had a feast too!
We did enjoy the rest, thank you. And we have been back at school for the past week. I thought I’d give myself another week off blogging as Gary was unwell with the infection and actually took time off work (which is very rare).
Enjoy your weekend, Donna!
The detail and amount of work put into this feast is amazing. Your homeschool is definitely the place to be. Everything was impressive. from the array of authentic food to the lovely costumes. We will be studying medieval times next year with my daughter and I’ve been snatching small ideas from you to attempt. Thank you for showing us your wonderful projects.
It’s my pleasure, Christy. Thank you for visiting and leaving a lovely comment.
What a marvelous experience for your entire family and friends. I wish I could have been there.
Blessings, Dawn
Thanks Dawn (you would have been more than welcome to drop in!!)
Claire, have you thought of having T upload video to youtube? It seems with all his computer experience this past term, he could figure it out in a jiffy 🙂
I had a look myself, but couldn’t figure it out. I hadn’t thought to let T have a go!! I’ll certainly do that and see if he has a bit more luck than his hapless mother!
Oh yummy! And everyone looks so nice and like they had a wonderful time!
We really did, thanks Chrystal.
Oh my goodness! I am so totally beyond impressed! You all did such a beautiful job! Everything looks so authentic and lovely! I can’t believe how hard you all worked on this incredible presentation, especially while also feeling under the weather! I wish we could have come!
Thank you Sylvia. You would have been very welcome!
What a BEAUTIFUL feast! You guys have the most fun in your home!!!! Love it =)
Hello Beth! Thank you so much. We do have a wee bit of fun at times…!
What a fun way to wrap up a unit and give the kids a chance to share what they learned.
Thanks Julie