Excitement!

I've been in a prohibition-era mood lately,
it would seem...

I've often declined to post things here because I don't find them to fit particularly with my little project, for one reason or another. The food doesn't feel "steampunk" enough, I didn't take good pictures, I don't feel like it represents the best cooking I can do, and so on and so forth.

There's no immediate solution to this. I could invent a multi-point criteria system for evaluating my recipes in terms of their quality, interest, and overall steampunk nature—but that would involve work, and for someone as sleep-loving as I am, I feel my time might be better spent napping. (Actually, I just don't know what all my criteria would be...)

I do, however, have some interesting things coming up this month that I'd like to tell you all about, and that will form the basis of the new content for this blog in the coming weeks.


First, is the next of my steamfeasts. You'll remember those—the last one was the Soup Feast, several months ago. Coming up this Sunday is a Steampunk Murder Mystery Dinner, with the following menu:

Open-Face Tea Sandwiches
Dill Cream Cheese, Cucumber, Hard-Boiled Egg

Chicken Consommé
Winter Squash and Chicken Quenelle

Roast Cornish Hen, Lemon Cream Sauce
Glazed Carrot, Rice

Winter Salad
Greens, Green Onion, Celery, Radish, Hard-Boiled Egg, Beet, Dressing

Braised Beef en Filo
Onion-Leek-Garlic Compote

Winter Spice Trifle

Assorted Fruit and Cheese

Second, I'll be working in what could only be described as my most Victorian of jobs later this month, from the 21st to the 24th, as the cook for a family in the area. I was contacted by the lady of the house, and my services were officially engaged last week; I had a meeting with her yesterday to discuss menus and the various details of my attending to their dinners. They'll be getting some of my Steampunk Cookery creations (specifically, Mrs. Beeton's Chicken Curry) and some new and different items from various places, including the back—and creative centers—of my mind.

Hopefully I'll be able to post something about both of these rather exciting endeavors here—if I'm lucky, the Steamfeast will yield a few recipes, and many pictures—so that you all can keep abreast of the culinary creativity in which I am engaged. After all, you've stuck with me so far, so why not keep going?