Another year of plague, another Family Plague Faire. Our annual backyard Renaissance Faire turned three this year and continues to expand in attendance becoming a staple pre-holiday potluck.
This year we moved to the third week in November, ever searching for that weather sweet-spot. This year we came pretty close to our ideal weather scenario; sunny and chilly, but above freezing. For a few days the forecast was looking possibly too cold, but a last minute warm-up and a big bon-fire kept everyone in relative comfort even as the daylight dwindled.
This year’s activities included badminton, cornhole, axe-throwing, and drinking. The feast was comprised of salad, charcuterie, dried meats, baked goods, cider, and hors-d’œuvres. Jake and I, as the hosts provided libations and our big culinary undertaking, savory hand-pies.
With an abundance of potatoes and yams from the farm-share we made two varieties of pies; vegan sweet potato and butternut squash with sage, and a creamy potato and cheese mushroom filling inside a store-bought crust. Assembly took plenty long enough without having to mix and roll my own pie crust.
We assembled the pies ahead of time and froze in layers in our new giant chest freezer (a prepper’s dream), and thawed them overnight in the refrigerator before baking the morning-of the party.
I did not sew any new garments for this year’s faire as I was busy enough with throwing a wedding a few weeks before, and our closets are overflowing as it is with garb.
Thanks to Kelley for taking photos!
