RubyToo

um yeah. I’ll be buying them in the future. After 3 full days of them in the oven at 170 degrees, cracked to keep humidity out, they still weren’t dry. Out of about 100 berries, maybe 5 were completely dry another 5 almost dry and the remaining were in varying degrees of shriveledness. I tasted 1 of the dried ones and it was the consistency of a raisin. Didn’t really think of it, but raisins are dried fruit. So.. duh.

Anyway, cost efficient, not. Too humid here to dry fruit outside.

I had a package of blueberries that needed to be used before going bad. So I put about 3/4 of it in the oven to dry and use later in pemmican or for other meal stuff.

The other portion I used to make a blueberry sauce. I differed from the recipe that I had in hopes of making it more authentic. I don’t see the 1830 trappers having access to orange juice or cornstarch (that one I will research). So instead I skipped the orange juice and substituted flower for corn starch. It was a bit… floury. I was hoping for more of a syrup type sauce. Flavor was ok, not as fruity as I was hoping for, but it was a beautiful color when done.

A work in progress. Picture attached.

I’ve been researching this. The Rendezvous is similar to a Renaissance Fair, only from a different time period and local. The Ren encompasses the early 1800s in particular the years of heavy trapping in the mountains. People get together and re-enact this lifestyle. I’m intrigued by it and interested in getting involved. 2 parts most intrigue me are the food stuffs (or lack there of) and clothing.

I’d like to start a few projects on my own to get a feel for it before breaking into it with much of any money.

First things first, I’ve got a couple of things I’d like to cook. One of the staples for this time period is Pemmican. I’d like to make some pemmican from start to finish, including drying my own meat and rendering fat (I’ll probably regret this later).

I found another meal that is a “delicacy” or desert for the time period I’d like to try. It is a Boiled Flour Pudding served with dried fuits and a sauce made from fruit. After research I found 2 recipes that I think will work for this.
* A Flour Pudding: One quart milk scalded, add 5 spoons flour to the milk while hot: when cool add 7 eggs well beaten, 6 ounces sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, to your taste, bake one hour, serve up with sweet sauce.
* BLUEBERRY SAUCE: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, orange juice, and sugar. Stir gently, and bring to a boil. In a cup or small bowl, mix together the cornflour and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 3 to 4 minutes

So those are my immediate goals.