Nissa's mother is an herbalist, preparing medicines and salves from the plants growing at the Manor.

Here's part of a visit Nissa makes to her mother's workshop:

My sister and Carys let me approach my mother myself, most likely because they didn't want to be present for what might be a confrontation.

I found her alone in her workshop, brewing some of her medicines and salves from the herbs and other plants she collected once a week: lavender and chamomile, parsley, tansy and mullein, and so many others. The initial bitter scent was replaced by a sweeter one.

“Hello, Nissa.” She smiled. “What brings you to my workshop this early in the day?” 

Natural herbal remedies are being used more and more today. How many do you know or use?

Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Music played an integral part in the lives of people during medieval times. It was especially popular during celebrations and festivities, and was played during meals because it was thought to aid digestion.

 By the time of the Renaissance, there was an incredible transformation and advancement in music notation and composition. The development of printing made distribution of music possible on a wide scale. Demand for music as entertainment and as an activity for educated amateurs increased with the emergence of a bourgeois class.

Paintings during both eras showed musicians. 

Musical instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Some of the characters in my story, The Crimson Orb, play musical instruments. I modeled them after some that were common during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. They include:

Theorbo: A large, six course bass lute with an additional set of seven or eight contrabass strings.  In total there are 13 or 14 sets of strings.  Developed in the late 16^th century to provide accompaniment for a new style of singing (musica recitativa), it was quickly adopted throughout Europe and used as a continuo instrument in larger ensembles.

Lute: A plucked string instrument with an oblong, rounded body, a short, fretted neck, and a flat soundboard featuring a rosette.  Its predecessors are the Pandora and the ud.  During the Renaissance, it was the dominant musical instrument for song accompaniment, dance music, consort music, and continuo parts.  John Dowland, the leading lute virtuoso, composed many solo pieces; all lute music was written in tablature.

Crumhorn; Krumhorn: A wind-cap, double reed woodwind instrument of the 16^th and 17^th centuries.  It has a narrow cylindrical bore and is shaped like the letter J.  Among the most common of its several sizes were the alto, tenor, and extended bass.  Developed in 15^th century Italy, it was played by court musicians and in larger town bands.

Have you ever heard any music from that time played on any of these instruments?

Still perfecting my cookie recipe

I made another attempt at making Meecham cookies, this time using Angie Kitts recipe. I substituted butter for the margarine, and a quarter cup ground hazlenuts for a like amount of flour, though. The result was a batter that was impossible to roll out and cut with cookie cutters.

They tasted good, but I'll have to use more flour in my next attempt. Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide whether I should try Ruda stew or vegetable stew next. The first was the stew Nissa made in a ship's galley after she and her brother killed a Ruda, a huge, spiny sea mammal. The meat is supposed to be like venison. The second is a stew she ate growing up at the manor. Any opinions?

Today, Penny Ehrenkranz posted her interview of me on her blog. Take a look:

http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com//2014/02/joyce-hertzoff-crimson-orb.html

My Search For the Perfect Meecham Cookies - part 2

First attempt

Last week I baked my first batch of cookies.

I used the recipe that came with the cookie cutters. They were a big hit at the SouthWest Writers meeting on Saturday, but next time I'll try Angie Kitts recipe.

In retrospect, I probably should have started with the fortune cupcakes like the ones that gave Nissa and her friends directions in their search for Madoc in The Crimson Orb. After all, it's Chinese New Year. Lexi Steeber even told me about a cupcake pan I could use that would allow me to insert a surprise. Before I do those, though, I'll have to think about what the fortunes should say.

Are you a cookie person or a cupcake person? How do you feel about brownies?

My Search for the Perfect Meecham Cookie

My Search for the Perfect Meecham Cookie

In my forthcoming book, The Crimson Orb, my heroine, teenage Nissa Day, and her companions arrive in the town of Meecham. They're seeking the mysteriously missing magic teacher Madoc, but everyone else in town is looking for the legendary Orb.

At the Emporium in Meecham they purchase cookies, which become favorites of everyone.

The cookie is described as a sandwich of one round cookie and another with a hole in the center, with jam between. It's coated with a sugary glaze.

Thanks to Angie Kits in the RECIPES Facebook group, I now have a good recipe for Linzer cookies that can serve as the basis for my own attempts to recreate what I've described in my book.

Angie Kirts

Linzer Tarts

1 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
seedless raspberry preserves
powdered sugar
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended. Add flour, beating at low speed until blended.
3. Roll dough into small balls and place on greased cookie sheets, two inches apart. Flatten dough balls with a flat-bottomed cup wrapped in a damp paper towel.
4. Dip a thimble or small round cutter in flour and cut out a small circle in the center of exactly half of the cookies.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (The cookies will be pale. The cut out halves will bake faster so watch closely.) Transfer carefully to wire racks to cool.
6. Spread raspberry preserves on top of solid cookies. Top with remaining cookies, bottom sides down, to make sandwiches. Sift powdered sugar over tops of cookies.

Linzer Tarts Recipe - Food.com - 191826

food.com

This is from The Kosher Palette cookbook. This relatively simple recipe turns out a very pretty cookie.

I'll let you all know when I've successfully made my cookies. Until then, what's your favorite cookie?

Inspiration

I'm going to be interviewed on Penny Ehrenkranz blog next month and she sent me a long list of questions to answer before hand. I suppose this is something I should become used to as a published writer. I've been thinking about one question: What inspired you to write your first book?

Inspiration is a personal thing. We all draw our inspiration from different sources. Whatever you do, what's your inspiration?