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I think I have finally sorted out the password problems that prevented me from posting here. What with all the weirdness going on on facebook, I'll try to check-in here a little more often. Plus, I'd like to update some of the trencher information.

Got to the polls this morning about 7:20, stood in line for about 40 minutes. I think this is the longest line I've stood in since 1992.

2016, the year we looked forward to election day more than Christmas.

My diet program doesn’t leave much space for noodly goodness, so I’ve been a lasagne slacker for the past year and some. But this past weekend I finally got off the couch and made 6 lasagnes. Each (except the vegetarian one, #5 below) got a pound of sausage in the meat layer. Each (except the no-onion one, #6 below) got a share of the 9 sautéed leeks and 2 red ginormous onions. All got some pesto (note to self, buy more pesto next time, you can’t have too much) and most got mushrooms. The bottom ricotta layer was the same for each; a share of the 4 lbs ricotta with 2 oz goat cheese and 3 oz thinly sliced garlic. The meat lasagnes also got a sprinkle of fried salami. I made three pots of sauce, one with extra onions, one with extra dried mushrooms, and one with no onions and extra garlic (for a friend who hates onions with a surprising passion). I didn't get fancy with the cheeses this time, because I wanted to see what the different sausages would be like.
#1, Whole grain noodles, hot Italian sausages from Draeger’s, fresh brown mushrooms.
#2, Whole grain noodles, hot Italian sausages from Dittmer’s, fresh brown mushrooms, 1 lb smoked cheese, fresh basil and parsley.
#3, No-boil noodles, mild Italian sausages from Draeger’s, 2 cups of mushroom duxelles from the freezer, extra-mushroom sauce (we ate this one for dinner).
#4, No-boil noodles, hot Italian sausages from safeway, fresh brown mushrooms.
#5, No-boil noodles, porcini and brown mushrooms, fresh basil and parsley, extra olives, extra-mushroom sauce.
#6, No-boil noodles, sweet Italian sausages from Trader Joe’s, porcini and brown mushrooms, fresh basil and parsley, no-onion sauce.

Click the lasagne tag below if you are wondering about other lasagnes, or look here for general instructions.

The Duchesses' Ball at 12th night starts at 8pm this year. Hope to see you there.

( Set list under cut )

sorry to just drop a link and run, but the Carolyn Hax article this morning _Family ties and the unwinding of ‘self-improvement’_ was good enough that I need to leave it here to read again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/carolyn-hax-family-ties-and-the-unwinding-of-self-improvement/2015/10/06/e97dec58-66fb-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html
The way she re-frames the boyfriend's concern is ...interesting and made a lightbulb go off over my head about an old friend I don't see much anymore (not any of you, lj-list).

For the past week or so I’ve been foolishly obsessed with an early-modern pastime called The Game of the Goose. It’s a silly game, dependent entirely on dice rolls, and requires no skill whatsoever. It can be played as a race game or as a gambling game. Fortunately hunting down period game boards and making printable versions is much easier when somebody has already done all the ground work for you. Giochi dell'Oca e di percorso, I am in your debt. Did you know there’s a an academic groups that studies historical board games? I didn’t, but Board Game Studies publishes Proceedings from their international Colloquiums. Weeks like this, I love the internet.

While I've been slacking off on this project due to work and stuff, there's been two new trencher-related articles put on the web.

1) A printmaker wants to recreate a set of trenchers. Like Ivan Day, she's chosen the Griffith set (see previous post) to reproduce, even though the originals were not made with prints. A follow-up post: https://21stcenturyrenaissanceprintmaker.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/the-technique-freak-has-a-challenging-week/

2) https://sites.google.com/site/eikenzwijn/sca-presence/small-stuff by Mergriet van Wijenhorst. She includes a painting that I'd love to get a name/date for, does anyone recognize this? (edited to add, same picture also used on this page: http://www.oldfoodways.info/misc/sca-projects/setting-up-an-elizabethan-feast/)

November and December at work were terrible this year, so I've been really grateful for the company shutdown this year. I had a day off before GM and I flew to Iowa to visit my parents at their new house. Their seven-month old puppy is still quite rambunctious, but I have some hope she will settle down. We had a few days of nothing much to do except talk, cook, watch old movies, and drink wine. I made some of my dad's favorite cookies, and completely failed at making a cherry pie. I hadn't ever used frozen cherries before, and we got soup. It was tasty, but soup. Mom was hoping for a white Christmas, but fortunately the weather held off until after we left.
We spent a day's "layover" in Milwaukee to visit my brothers-in-law. Andy was free, but Jason was working so much we really only saw him for dinner and lunch. GM, Andy and I spent Monday morning playing Pandemic before we had to get back to the airport. A challenging game. We won, but by the skin of our teeth. I'd like to play it again with five people, just to see how the other roles work.
I don't have anything much to say to sum up 2014. In happy, it's the year a lot of people got married. In sad, 2014 has been the year without a cat. Gypsy died just before Christmas last year, and the universe hasn't decided to trust me with another yet.