Everything You Didn’t Want to Know about the Plague

 By Sherri Boomershine

The Black Plague (name of the pandemic) or the bubonic plague (name of the disease) struck Europe and Asia in the 1300s. It first arrived in Europe when ships from the Black Sea docked in Sicily with most of the sailors aboard the ships dead or seriously ill and covered in boils that oozed blood and pus. Sicilian authorities ordered the ships out of the harbor, but it was too late. Over the next five years, the Black Plague would kill more than 20 million people in Europe—almost one-third of its population. In Asia as well, trading ships brought the disease to the continent.

The Black Plague was extremely contagious requiring only the mere touching of clothes. The disease was quick. People who were healthy when they went to bed at night could be dead by morning. The Bubonic Plague attacked the lymphatic system, causing swelling in the lymph nodes that resulted in boils. Symptoms included fever, chills, aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and finally death. Today scientists know that the bacillus travels from person to person through the air or through the bite of infected fleas and rats.

Back in the day, doctors treated the disease by bloodletting and boil-lancing as well as by burning aromatic herbs and bathing in rosewater or vinegar. Of course, cleanliness was not valued back then by doctor or patient. The plague was so virulent, healthy people did all they could to avoid the sick. Doctors refused to see patients; priests refused to administer last rites; and shopkeepers closed their stores. Even animals caught the disease. 

Because most of the population of Europe was illiterate, many people believed that the Black Death was divine punishment for their sins. Some people believed the only way to be forgiven was to purge their communities of heretics. As a result, thousands of Jews were massacred. Other people sought penance by self-flagellation. They would beat themselves three times a day with leather straps studded with sharp pieces of metal while the townspeople looked on, then move on to the next town. 5

The Black Plague of the Middle Ages dissipated but never disappeared. The plague in some form reappeared every few generations for centuries. Modern sanitation and public-health practices have lessened the impact of the disease but have not eliminated it. While antibiotics are available to treat the Black Death, according to The World Health Organization, there are still 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year. https://www.history.com/articles/black-death

Sherri Boomershine is a woman of faith who loves all things foreign whether it’s food, culture, or language. A former French teacher and flight attendant, her passion is traveling to the settings of her books, sampling the food, and visiting the sites. She visited a Netherlands concentration camp for A Song for Her Enemies, and Paris art museums for What Hides beyond the Walls. Sherri lives with her husband Mike, her high school sweetheart, whom she married fifty-five years later. As an author and editor, she hopes her books will entertain and challenge readers to live large and connect with their Savior. Join, chat, and share with her on social media. Newsletter Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

If the Nazis stole your house, wouldn’t you be justified in stealing it back?

When Tamar Feldman admits to her husband, Daniel, and mentor, Neelie Visser, that she broke into her former home, they scold her for taking such a risk. Tamar is tired of being careful. She’s tired of living in the present, as if the past doesn’t matter. But the painting of the violin girl in her former bedroom draws her back again and again. She finally steals the painting to return it to its former owner. Now maybe this small act of justice will help Tamar start to heal. When Neelie sees the painting, she reveals a secret about it that will take the three of them on a quest to Amsterdam and Paris to find justice, forgiveness, and new beginnings. What Tamar doesn’t realize is the past isn’t finished with her yet; in fact, it’s as close as the walls in her house. https://bit.ly/44l056l

The Surprising Origins of the Sunday-Dinner Tradition

Whether pot roast, baked chicken, or a simple stew bubbles in the pot, Sunday dinner is not so much about food as family and friends. This well-loved tradition is as American as apple pie, right?

The Surprising Origins of the Sunday-Dinner Tradition

Yes—and no. The practice actually originated centuries before the United States declared its independence, during the reign of King Henry VII. The Brits consumed a lot of meat back then. Now, Americans love a good steak, but the English appetite for beef was (please pardon the pun) a cut above. It earned them the national nickname of “Roast Beefs” from the French. The royal bodyguards became known as “Beefeaters,” a title they retain today, in the 15th Century.

Two theories exist on the British Sunday roast tradition. It either originated in the late 1400s or the late 1700s, depending on who you believe.

The first theory states that in medieval England, village serfs who served their squire six days each week could take Sundays off for church. Afterwards, they engaged in war games and feasted on an oxen roasted on a spit. A variation of this holds that after attending Sunday services, medieval English villagers would congregate around large communal ovens to roast meat (usually oxen) they’d hunted during the week. The villagers lacked large enough fireplaces to do this at home. Once the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century introduced enclosed ovens into homes, Sunday roast dinner took a more intimate form.

The second theory places the origin sometime after 1760, during the British industrial revolution. Before church, families could start a roast in the oven early, and then add in vegetables on their way out the door. This worked much like our modern slow cookers. They returned home to find dinner waiting and time to enjoy one another.

Whichever opinion is correct, it’s fun to continue this centuries-old tradition.

Gathering for Sunday dinner has become somewhat challenging in today’s far-flung world. No matter how few chairs are around the table, taking the time and trouble to reconnect with loved ones is always worthwhile. Cherishing our families and ourselves on Sunday creates peaceful interludes, which is all the more important in the hostile world in which we live.

I’ve recently begun following this tradition myself. Sometimes there are only two chairs at the table, but my husband and I still enjoying spending special time together. If you’d like to start or revive the Sunday-dinner tradition in your own household, let me know in the comments. Taste of Home features a collection of vintage recipes for Sunday dinners that look pretty amazing.

What’s New with Janalyn Voigt

Getting back to work after so much time off during the holidays is difficult, but I’m gaining momentum. If you also have trouble with transition, I’d love to know how you counter the inertia after a vacation. Or do you come back, recharged and raring to go? In December, we went to Leavenworth with family. If you don’t know, the town was remodeled by its residents to look like an alpine village in Bavaria. This was a tourist move, and it worked out. Leavenworth now draws upwards of a million international tourists per year. Not too shabby for a town that began as a frigid mountain community named “Icicicle.” This week, I’m moving back into regular office hours and am working on an editing project for a publisher. I’ll also plan future writing projects. It’s a time of prayer for direction. 

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Fall in love with the Wild West. Discover Montana Gold.

A Victorian Christmas Dinner Menu

At Christmas, the line between past and present blurs. You notice it when carolers, ice skaters, and horse-drawn sleighs adorn greeting cards. It stands out as women in long dresses and men in elegant attire enjoy candlelit dinners, theater performances, and strolls through the park. You can't miss it whenever families gather for merriment, fond reflection, and good food. That's when it doesn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to picture yourself in Victorian times.

Back then, dinner highlighted Christmas day. Cooked from scratch, it provided guests with the very best a host could offer. Tradition took its place at the head of the table, decreeing favorite decorations and dishes to produce another memorable feast.

Evergreens, holly, and mistletoe bedecked dining rooms. Fine cloth, candles, and floral centerpieces adorned tables. At every place, floral boutonnieres or breast-knots awaited guests who sat down to the household’s finest china. An array of forks, knives, and spoons awaited them, along with a fine napkin, salt cellar, a bread plate, and the best stemware. Christmas dinner arrived in courses, planned well in advance. The following menu comes from “The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook,” popularly known as “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” first published in 1896.

A Menu for Christmas Dinner

· Consomme and Bread Sticks

· Olives, Celery, and Salted Pecans

· Roast Goose, Potato Stuffing, and Apple Sauce

· Duchess Potatoes, Cream of Lima Beans

· Chicken Croquettes with Green Peas

· Dressed Lettuce with Cheese Straws

· English Plum Pudding with Brandy Sauce

· Frozen Pudding, Assorted Cakes, and Bonbons

· Crackers and Cheese

· Café Noir.

Consomme and Bread Sticks

Soup or salad? This dinner includes both, but it begins with soup. Some Victorians preferred oyster bisque, which neatly combined two courses for those who considered a fish course essential. Fannie Farmer dispensed with the fish course entirely, which no doubt catered to those who felt that cooking a lot of courses didn’t suit Christmas day.

Consomme, or clarified broth, is time-consuming to make. The broth might be made from a variety of meats--chicken, beef, veal, lamb, pheasant, or even turtle. It required the cook to boil the broth with a “clearmeat” of egg whites, cut vegetables, and ground meat. The result was a beautiful concentrated soup with superior flavor. Today, you can buy canned consommé, but that is often broth with gelatin added. You can find instructions for homemade consommé in the Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Olives, Celery, and Salted Pecans

Some Victorians served small delicacies at this point, while others offered them alongside the salad. Other tasty morsels included pickles, radishes, melon spiced with nutmeg, sweet- pickled grapes, and beets on a bed of mayonnaise-dressed lettuce.

Roasted Goose, Potato Stuffing, and Applesauce

Fannie Farmer’s menu is simple compared to others of the day. Besides roasted goose, a Christmas table might groan under the weight of a standing rib of beef, a turkey with cranberry sauce, and a boar’s head or ham. Goose is quintessential Christmas fare, of course. Just ask Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Whatever the main dish(es), the host carving the meat before his guests was a cherished tradition.

Applesauce needs no introduction, but potato stuffing was new to me. According to some, serving potato stuffing makes mashed potatoes redundant. I can get behind anything that eases that last-minute scramble to get everything to the table while it’s warm. I’m no expert, but a recipe at the New England website looks promising.

Duchess Potatoes and Cream of Lima Beans

Any overachiever should love Duchess Potatoes, or Pommes Duchesse as the French call them. The recipe has been around since it first appeared in La Nouvelle Cuisinière Bourgeoise (1746). In her Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, Fannie Farmer suggested piping the potato-egg mixture into interesting shapes—baskets, roses, pyramids, crowns, leaves, and the like. What’s not to love?

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m looking forward to trying Cream of Lima Beans. Read the comments to the recipe and you might want to make them too. The dish sounds easy and surprisingly delicious.

Other vegetables graced Victorian Christmas feasts: sweet potatoes, salsify, rice, creamed spinach, minced cabbage, creamed tomatoes, cauliflower au gratin, to name a few.

Chicken Croquettes with Green Peas

Victorians liked to make a dish that combined bits of meat, fruit, bread, grains, and/or vegetables in a fried crust. Croquettes were a thrifty way to use up leftovers or cuts that otherwise might not be eaten (such as brain or sweetmeat), Chicken croquettes with peas sound fairly safe, and might even get children to eat their peas.

Dressed Lettuce with Cheese Straws

By this point in the meal, diners were slowing down but anticipating dessert. One more course remained before that happy event. Wise cooks offered a simple salad course of lettuce with French dressing, enlivened by cheese straws and a few small delicacies (perhaps radishes, beets, and nuts) on the side.

English Plum Pudding with Brandy Sauce

At last arrived the grand finale. Plum pudding, or Christmas pudding, originated in the Middle Ages. At first a savory dish, it had transformed into its present sweet form by the Victorian era. Plum pudding has concluded traditional English Christmas dinners for centuries. Doused with brandy and set alight, it would be carried by the hostess into the dining room amid cheers and applause.

Despite its name, this pudding contains no plums. It features raisins, which used to be called “plums.” Currants, figs, and citron are included in Fannie Farmer’s English Plum Pudding recipe. Suet (a kind of beef fat) was chopped fine and incorporated into the batter. Although suet is an unfamiliar ingredient to Americans, cooking with it is not that different from using lard or shortening.

To buy suet in the United States, check with a butcher. If you want to experiment with a substitute, the Times Colonist website has advice for you, It also offers a pudding recipe that doesn’t call for suet. The steamed cranberry pudding with raisins, currants, and walnuts contains no alcohol and takes about twenty minutes to prepare. It cooks in under two hours. Victoriana Magazine has a selection of Christmas pudding recipes.

If you use shortening in your pudding, please make it a healthy version with no transfats. Butter has a lower melting point, so the texture will vary, but I did notice comments stating that it turns out delicious.

The pudding is steamed in a mold (available online). Good Housekeeping explains how to steam plum pudding. The traditional time to make plum pudding is the first Sunday of Advent. We’re a little late this year but early for the next.

Fannie Farmer’s cookbook has you covered for pudding sauces, by the way. If you're not into the traditional brandy sauce, you can choose another.

Frozen Pudding, Assorted Cakes, and Bon Bons

From what I can tell, Victorian “frozen pudding” was much like ice cream frozen in a mold. One example is Nesselrode pudding. A chef working for Russian Count Nesselrode created a decadent chestnut pudding and named it for his employer. A fancy dessert in Victorian times, Nesselrode Pudding remains popular today.

Victorians enjoyed a variety of cakes, as we do today. Folks are still raving over Mary Berry’s Christmas cake, a fruitcake-like confection.

Victorian bon bons were small candies, often covered in chocolate (because why not?). They were much like the boxes of chocolates we indulge in today. A list of homemade bon bons at Victorian Voices describes caramel walnuts, chocolate almonds, chocolate caramels, coconut ices, and something known as “American sweets,” which contained a variety of fillings.

Crackers and Cheese

“Salt after sweet!” an aunt of mine was fond of proclaiming. Her words had the ring of something she’d brought forward from childhood. I blame Grandma for instilling this mantra in her and, by osmosis, in me. I can’t eat a piece of cake without wanting potato chips. I’m kidding, mostly. Actually, crackers are considered a palate cleanser, and cheese contains casein, which strengthens tooth enamel and prevents acidic foods from damaging your teeth. They knew a thing or two in Victorian times.

Café Noir

Fannie Farmer’s Christmas dinner menu concludes with black coffee to let the meal “settle.” Many people believe that drinking coffee after a meal aids the digestion, and it does have certain beneficial effects. It is known to balance blood sugar after eating, which increases energy levels.

Conclusion

This menu is more attainable in terms of labor and resources than the Victorian Thanksgiving menu I wrote about last month. I do like the idea of hosting a Victorian Christmas dinner for friends and family. I'll try a few of the dishes this Christmas and next year go gung-ho. How about you?

What's New with Janalyn Voigt

I am enjoying a brief lull in my schedule to allow for the holidays. This is something I've wanted to do since my writing career blossomed. This is the first Christmas in a long while that it has worked out. I'm thankful for my blessings, and more time for my family and myself is one of them. Bedtime reading is in the picture again, and I couldn't be more ecstatic. My years judging literary contests and reading books for review meant that I read to a schedule. I can't think of anything more likely to kill a passion for reading. Fortunately, it's back, and I intend to guard it well. If you are struggling to read, I understand. One thing that helped me is getting excited about putting together a reading corner in my home. The plans, much delayed by Christmas, are in the works. Speaking of Christmas, have a lovely one. 

Janalyn Voigt is the author of the Montana Gold western historical fiction series and the Tales of Faeraven medieval epic fantasy series. Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Love Potions Over Time (with giveaway) By Donna Schlachter

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

 

With February being the Love Month, I thought I’d look at the history of love potions, which are simply aphrodisiacs by another name. Originally named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, there were attempts by ancient civilizations to control something they didn’t understand. In fact, even today, while scientists can explain what happens when two people are attracted in an amorous fashion, they still struggle to explain why.  

 

The first recorded potions were memorialized as far back in time as 4000 BC, when the witch doctor or shaman or other member of a tribe or clan prepared various concoctions to increase libido. This is understandable, since cultures depended on multiplying their numbers through their offspring. No sexual desire, no babies. That was a fact of life and survival.

Ancient Greeks, known for their refined and genteel ways, believed that ground up orchids that were then added to wine solved any sexual dysfunction in both men and women. This became so popular and widespread that for a time, the orchid plant became extinct. It didn’t help the availability of the plant when the ancient Romans also adopted the use of the orchid, this time brewing it into a delicately aromatic tea. Perhaps one solution to this scarcity was the introduction of insects, such as Spanish Fly or Blister Beetle, into love potions.

Photo by Max Avans from Pexels

Ancient Egyptians associated seafood with sexual potency, and so banned all seafood from consumption by their celibate priests. Imagine a life without lobster or flounder.

Natives of the Orient thought garlic contained special properties that encouraged romantic relationships and promoted its use widely throughout their part of the world.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

During the Middle Ages, the focus of those trying to increase amorous advances changed, often incorporating more personal and increasingly bizarre ingredients, such as human sweat, reproductive organs from male animals, and even by-products of the birthing process. Often, these ingredients were mixed with wine to make them more palatable. As if anything could.

Love potions can be found in literature from the Middle Ages and beyond. However, perhaps in keeping with the tragedy of the story and the facts that most didn’t work, these often-magical experiments rarely worked. The Celtic story Tristan and Isolde includes a successful ingestion of the potion, leading to the infatuation of the couple. Which might be thought as a success, except she was already engaged to another.

Midsummer Night’s Dream includes the tale of Titania, who unknowingly consumes a potion in her sleep. Her estranged husband perpetrated this evil deed, hoping she’d fall back in love with him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there when she opened her eyes, and instead she falls for another.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

In the 1600s, magical poems became popular—perhaps because nobody wanted to drink the potions. An instruction book was released entitled The Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus, which told the reader to crush earthworms with periwinkle and feed it to the afflicted spouse. Other recipes included the fat of a snake, the head of a sparrow, the blood of a bat, or the heart of a pigeon.

The need—or shall I say desire—for such potions spread to the New World and the Old. In Mexico, the story went that if a wife sprinkled crushed basil on her chest, her husband wouldn’t cheat on her. American Indians used hallucinogens such as peyote and psilocybin, derived from cactus and mushrooms respectively, to heighten romantic pleasure. And in India, wives intent on prolonging intimacy powdered their bodies with crushed henna leaves.

While certain foods such as oysters, onions, and honey are legendary in the aphrodisiac category, perhaps the genuine excitement came from the fact these foods were scarce and expensive. This meant if your date fed you with these, they must really think you’re special. Which ultimately could arouse amorous feelings for them. If you’re impressed by that sort of thing.

Plants, herbs, and flowers have been used over the years because they are easy to collect in native habitats. Apart from the once-near-extinct orchid, no other reports of over-harvesting were noted in researching this article.

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

In reality, any amorous feelings generated by these potions were likely circumstantial. In a culture limited by tribal or social norms, romance in general may have been just as awkward then as it can be now. Let’s face it—expressing your feelings to the object of your desire is like stepping out onto a diving board without knowing if the pool is full. You could be getting in over your head, or preparing to take a fall.

But with an entire month dedicated to love, surely there is hope for all to achieve their happily-ever-after.



Leave a comment, and I will draw randomly for a print copy (US only) or ebook – winner’s choice – of The Mystery of Christmas Inn, Colorado. Please remember to include your email address, disguising it like: donna AT livebytheword DOT com



About The Mystery of Christmas Inn, Colorado

Matthew returns to Christmas Inn to celebrate his anniversary, intending to join his beloved Sarah, who passed on to glory the previous January. He learns that the old inn will close its doors soon. Can he save the hotel—and his memories?

Edith Cochrane, a widow, comes to Christmas Inn to escape her greedy family. Ever since her husband’s passing, she’s found herself at loose ends. A body in a wall and a kidnap attempt rejuvenate her. But will it be enough?



Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Christmas-Inn-Colorado-ebook/dp/B0779HTH9C



About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 50 times in books; is a member of several writers' groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both.



 

 

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Resources:

https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/love-potions-aphrodisiacs-facts-spanish-fly/

https://www.elitedaily.com/p/are-love-potions-real-heres-what-history-science-have-to-say-19298441



https://www.elitedaily.com/p/are-love-potions-real-heres-what-history-science-have-to-say-19298441

Motherhood in Medieval Times

By Kiersti Giron

Mother and child in medieval reenactment. By Jan Tik - Flickr, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1315002

Today we continue our series on motherhood in various eras of the past (click here to read last month’s post on being a mom in ancient times). This month we travel back to the Middle Ages—an era we often think of as the Dark Ages. However, as new mommy to a baby boy myself, I was struck by the many ways motherhood in medieval times actually hasn’t changed in the past thousand years. I hope you enjoy learning about them too!

Working Moms and Wet Nurses

We tend to consider “working moms” a modern concept, but in reality, mothers have worked in and outside the home for millennia. In medieval times, many mothers of the lower and middle classes needed to return to working on the family farm or trade in town while their babies were still small. While for moms today going back to work may mean pumping their milk and using bottles in order to continue nourishing their babies, medieval families often hired a wet nurse. These women were often paid three times the wages of a maid for the responsibility of nursing the family’s children.

Of course, many wealthy mothers used wet nurses too—for royalty, one reason was so a woman’s fertility would return sooner due to not breastfeeding, enabling her to more quickly produce another potential heir. But the use of wet nurses by lower-class families surprised me more. Just goes to show that balancing work and motherhood has never been simple…

Fears and Faith

Medieval Amulet to protect mother and child in childbirth.
By Sefer Raziel - http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/jms/img/front.jpg,
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

…Or easy. While as mothers today we fear things like SIDS and school shootings, medieval mothers had even more reason to worry about their children. Even if mother and baby survived childbirth just fine—and about one in three women died during their childbearing years in the Middle Ages—pretty much every medieval family could expect to lose at least one child, usually before age five.

Much like today, mothers turned to faith to comfort their fears. During the trials of childbirth, many medieval women clutched religious objects or repeated prayers. Babies were baptized soon after birth—a midwife was even allowed to baptize a baby if it seemed he or she hadn’t long to live—in order to proactively save, in the Roman Catholic mindset, the child’s soul, however short the little life might be.

Toys, Tots, and Honey Speech Therapy

Medieval children grew up in a very different world from ours, yet many things remained the same. They played with toys not unlike those of today, such as dolls, animal puppets, rattles, even walkers, as well as engaging in imaginative play outside. Gerard of Wales, of the 12^th century, even records a favorite pastime of building sand castles—which, when you think about it, actually makes more sense in that day than in ours!

Medieval Toy Dog, By The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum,
CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56013273

And just like mothers of the 21^st century, medieval mothers watched eagerly to see that their children reached certain developmental milestones. Speech received special attention—parents were encouraged to speak frequently around their children, and use simple words, just as mothers and fathers do today. Honey was thought to have special speech-promoting properties, and honey and butter were frequently applied to young children’s mouths, especially if their speech seemed delayed. Not so unlike our speech therapy and proactive “educational” techniques today, even if the methods are very different.

So while our world has changed greatly since the Middle Ages, the heart of being a mother, of loving one’s children and struggling to achieve the safest and best life for them, really hasn’t changed that much at all.

So what strikes you about medieval motherhood? What else has and hasn’t changed about raising children over the generations? Please comment and share!

Kiersti Giron holds a life-long passion for history and historical fiction. She loves to write stories that show the intersection of past and present, explore relationships that bridge cultural divides, and probe the healing Jesus can bring out of brokenness. Kiersti has been published in several magazine and won the 2013 and 2018 Genesis Awards – Historical for her novels Beneath a Turquoise Sky and Fire in My Heart. An English teacher and member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kiersti loves learning and growing with other writers penning God's story into theirs, as well as blogging at www.kierstigiron.com. She lives in California with her husband, Anthony, their two kitties, and their new baby boy.