The Real Story Behind Almond Milk

Almond milk is not a modern invention, and in many cases it had a real popularity in the middle ages which has only waned over time, with various upticks in modern interest. Among the nobility and peasantry it was a widely adopted drink and the medieval people we purport to represent with our reenactment or living history impressions would be intimately familiar with the product both as a drink and as a cooking ingredient in medieval dishes and recipes.

Why You Love Swords

In about a month I will be participating in the online Art of the Sword Conference which has gotten my mind swirling with thoughts about swords, where the adoration for them stems from, how they have managed to remain such a pervasive symbol in human culture and why we love them. In this video I distill my thoughts on the subject.

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Medieval Cooking with Children: Armored Turnips

Join us in this installment of Medieval Cooking with Kids as I, The Turnip of Terror, and my Little Turnip assistant make a medieval recipe for armored turnips.

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Top Ten Medieval Clothing Must Haves

Must Haves Featured Image

The medieval period is a vast swath of time covering a myriad of different cultures and fashions. However, just like how there are some common threads (puns) between the suits of the roaring 20s and the business dress of the Covid 20s, there are some must have necessary elements of medieval dress every living history or reenactment impression should consider incorporating to be considered complete.

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Medieval Cooking With Children – Barley Water

Barley Water Video Featured Image

My daughter and I adventure through making and trying a period medieval recipe for Barley Water. We caught it all on tape, plus our genuine reaction to the first taste of the final product. We used the recipe from Kiriel’s Kitchen, translated and interpreted from the 14th century book Le Ménagier de Paris, a home care and cooking guide for the medieval house wife. Barley water, or A Sweet Tisane as it is called in the book, is a restorative beverage designed to help convalesce the infirm.

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Medieval Country Society

Featured Image for the Medieval Country Society video on the medieval living history and reenactment resource The Turnip of Terror

We have all learned about medieval feudal hierarchy in school, but there is a lot more to society than an easy to read pyramid chart. We can we learn from the nuances of peasant and noble perspectives and apply them to our living history and reenactment impressions. This is also a collaborative project with Andrew from Modern Medieval Man​ and his YouTube alter ego Popula Urbanum. My video focuses on the country, and his on how feudalism operated in the city as metropolitan areas started to buck the trend of rural feudalism.

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What Is A Reenactor?

Featured Image for the YoutTube Video What Is A Reenactor Episode post on the medieval reenactment and living history resource the Turnip of Terror

A Video With Purpose

My friend Matt over at The Agincourt Solider has been working to develop one of his newest of many projects, History Live! North East; “a 501c3 Non-Profit organization that provides high-fidelity, accurate, informative, interactive, and engaging Living History presentations and demonstrations to primary and secondary schools, free of charge.” During the school shutdown he has been working diligently to develop the site into a distance learning tool. As a fan of collaboration (Matt and I are working together on the Pilgrim Progress Challenge) I was eager to assist. However, my articles and videos to date are not aimed at the elementary school audience, and they are more meant to be resources for the reenactment and living history community than instructional on history itself. Still, I wanted to contribute something to help and Matt suggested I work on a video about what reenactors are.

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Quick Tip #1: Small Garment Holes

Featured Image for the Medieval and Living History YouTube video "Quick Tip Small Holes" by the Turnip of Terror

Ever have issues getting arming or garment points through tight holes in your clothing? Or, after painstakingly breaking in those holes through the sweat and toil of your fingers through multiple wearings find yourself in the position to start over after even a mild washing? This video is my solution.

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