#pop sonnets

Found this gem in the library today. Please enjoy his sonnetization of the Beastie Boys.

New Post has been published on http://www.tsundokuholic.org/2016/02/thirsty-thursday-elizabethan-eats-2/

Thirsty Thursday: Elizabethan Eats

When I was reading Erik Didriksen‘s Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs I kept imagining being at a feast in Queen Elizabeth I’s court, enjoying modern pop through sonnets.  “What Elizabethan eats would be at this feast?”, I wondered.

Although since the sonnets are pop sonnets it’d probably be more like the party in the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet than the Zeffirelli version…

In 6th grade when we learned about the Middle Ages, one of our projects was to cook a Medieval recipe and bring it in to school for everyone to try.  I still remember trying orange duck for the first time (it was cold and weird) and will probably never forget it.  I absolutely love learning more about how life used to be (probably why I majored in History..) and thought it would be fun to look up some recipes and share them with you!

Elizabethan Eats:

–Spiced Elizabethan Pork and Fruit Casserole: This recipe from Food.com stays true to the Middle Age obsession with mixing meat with dried fruit.  This easy recipe mixes pork with dried dates, spices, and herbs in a red wine base.  Delicious!

–Medieval Chicken Pie:  Serve Them Forth disclaims that this is NOT a historically authentic recipe, but it sure seems close enough!  It’s like a mince pie and a chicken pot pie had a baby in the 1500’s.

–Venison Pies: What’s more Medieval than venison?  Inn at the Crossroads is a GREAT food blog that specializes in recipes found in the world of Westeros from the A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones for those uninitiated in the Night’s Watch).  This post includes both an authentic medieval recipe for venison pie, and a more modern version.  Both sound scrumptious.  Check out the blog for even more recipes!

Please don’t try to bake live pigeons into any of these pies.

–Lemon and Lavender Posset with Lavender Biscuits: For dessert I found this tart and flowery recipe from BBC Food.  I love lemon and I love lavender so this sounded like the perfect mix.  Posset is a pudding that’s been eaten since the Medieval era, and both recipes ask for only 4 ingredients each.  Easy and elegant!

Sonnety Sips:

Mead, cider, wine, and beer were all popular drinks in the Middle Ages.  You don’t have to be picky and go for something authentic, but I’ll give you a few recommendations anyway:

–Viking Blod mead purports to be based on an ancient recipe for mead.  The bottle is heavy and cool, the mead is strong and flavorful.  Perfect to wash down a venison pie.

–Moonlight Meadery is based in New Hampshire and produces flavored meads.  These are more modern, with flavors such as Raspberry Chipotle and Kurt’s Apple Pie.  The flavors I’ve had have all been super-sweet and yummy!

–Middle Ages Brewing Company in Syracuse, N.Y. uses traditional British brewing techniques to make beers with a Medieval twist.  My brother went to school in Syracuse and I’m pretty sure he’s been to the brewery.

-As for wine, pick your poison!  Why bother going “authentic” for something you might not like?  It all looks find in a goblet!

Pop Sonnets by Erik Didriksen

I am a lover of Shakespeare. I watched the Voldemort meets Gerard Butler version of Coriolanus and read the original play at the same time, that’s being a wee bit of a Shakespeare geek.

There is nothing quite like watching his work being performed by thespians, who understand the essence of his words and voice.

Didriksen makes a really good point in the foreword. Shakespeare is meant to seen and…