Chasing Ingredients

It has been an interesting week, planning meals for Victorian Week, and shopping for ingredients (some of which I am not super familiar with).  

Mace was an interesting one, but it turns out it is available at several Indian grocers, so that search was a success!  My mother says it looks like little yellow octopuses.  :)

Marrow bones were an unexpected chance find at the supermarket, where I didn't really expect to find them.  There was a slight moment of pause, when it occurred to us that the marrow bone was too long to fit into my stockpot, but Husband came to the rescue with a power tool (not to fret, the pruning blade attachment was brand new and sparkling clean).  I shall be cooking some stock up tomorrow, for use during the week.

Suet, however, is proving elusive.  I may have to substitute something.

Speaking of planning the meals....  you may well ask how we are choosing what we can and can't eat.  After all, in Victorian England there was a yawning class divide.  The very rich were sitting down to extravagant banquets on a regular basis, whilst many people lived in poverty, hardly able to afford any food at all.  We are aiming for somewhere in between - basically, I am imagining us as a lower-middle-class family, living quite comfortably but not extravagantly (not too different from our modern-day reality, really).

When I first mentioned this whole idea to my teenage daughter, she responded with an immediate and enthusiastic "Yes!".  About three seconds later, she added, "But I am not eating offal."

I then pitched the idea to Husband, who looked somewhat less enthusiastic, but characteristically patient.  His rather reserved response was "Okay... But... will that involve, like, offal...?"

I was quick to reassure them on this point, as frankly, I don't want to eat offal either.  I know, I know.  But still.  So clearly we won't be eating everything they ate in Victorian England, but we are only doing this for a week, after all.  There are far more things I actually do want to try than we have time for anyway.

There will be no cheating in terms of modern snacks.  There will, however, be a certain amount of cheating in terms of processes.  This is out of necessity - whilst my imaginary Victorian-era self would have employed a maid-of-all-work, sadly I do not.  Instead, I will be using the resources I do have available (such as a benchtop mixer, and an electric oven).  

For now though, I had better get to bed.  I have an early start tomorrow morning - wish me luck!