I found the recipe at the fantastic resource, Gode Cookery. This particular recipe called for simple ingredients that I had on hand, except for, of course, the cherries. The original instructions call for preparing this dish during the Feast of St. John the Baptist, which was in late June - cherry season! Since we are now into the latter parts of September plums are just finishing up their season so are readily available.
I pitted and chopped three plums and cooked them in a tiny bit of water and a sprinkling of sugar over low heat until the fruit was soft enough to mash. I mashed it as best I could with a potato masher and then stirred in a little bit of butter and a splash of red wine. I didn't have any homemade white bread on hand so crumbled up 8 slices of cheapy Wal-Mart-brand white sandwich bread and stirred that in too. I added a tiny bit more sugar and cooked it all over low heat for just a minute or two. Then I poured it into a buttered bowl and baked it at 350 for about an hour. The unbaked mixture was thick and gloopy but since I won't be serving this until tomorrow evening, I figured that baking the mixture was a better way of preserving it. Who wants to eat thick, cold, gloopy plum pudding? It baked into the consistency of bread pudding, with a crust on top and still a bit gloopy on the bottom. However, the bottom is protected by the crust on top. I finished it off by "strewing thereon sugar". The boys ate the scrapings left in the bowl and fought over the spoon. It's amazing how just a few simple ingredients can become something so tasty!
What is even more amazing is making a recipe that is over five hundred years old. It is a connection to the past that hits me even more that sewing period clothing. It's awesome. :) Speaking of period clothing though, I finished refitting my kirtle yesterday and here it is with the new apron and coif.
I like it much better in this version. The issues I had with the old version are almost completely gone (wrinkling along the torso and at the back; pulling at the neckline, too-poufy sleeves, plus the whole lack of support for the bosom that got worse as I lost weight.) I can't wait to wear it tomorrow!
Love,
Sarah
I also need to make a double batch of cinnamon rolls to take with us. Several dear commenters mentioned the cinnamon rolls I talked about briefly in a recent post. Here is my favorite recipe for cinnamon rolls. (And I've tried lots!) The original recipe calls for making the dough in a bread machine and cutting them into mini cinnamon rolls. I always double the recipe and make big size cinnamon rolls instead and, of course, I make the dough the good old fashioned way since I do not have a bread machine.
Combine filling ingredients in bowl, cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture. Spread filling evenly over rectangles of dough. 
Roll up each rectangle into a fat log.
Cut each log in half, then cut each half into 5 rolls. (I know it makes a weird number of rolls - 20 - but it is what works best for me). Place 15 rolls on a baking sheet. The remaining 5 rolls put into a seperate baking sheet. Cover and let rise for forty minutes.
Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and top with a clean towel. (if you don't do this the rolls will get hard on top). Let rolls cool beneath towel while you make the icing. 
These will be our breakfasts this weekend! We are going cooler-less. :) David finally got fed up with hauling it.
It took me a little while to figure out how I wanted to attach the ruffle. I debated over whether drawing it up over a cord or hemming the top side and attaching it directly to the skirt. At last I decided on a more practical solution that will hold up the best to every day wear and washing in a modern washing machine. I just gathered the ruffle and covered the top edge with a bias band and then turned under and hand stitched the top of the bias band to the skirt. This way I had way less handsewing to do (since I like to handstitch everything that can be seen from the outside) and it is very sturdy. I really like the ruffle. It gives a little added feminine flair and also helps the skirt obtain that characteristic 1820's triangular/gored shape.
The bias band also helps to hide the imperfections of the fabric I used. It was a $1.50 cotton from Wal Marts bargain table and the check is not woven, it is merely printed. The print was not exactly on grain so the lines of the print do not match the straight torn lines at the top and bottom of the skirt as well as the top and bottom of the ruffle. I chose to add the ruffle to hopefully help hide the lines of the print at the plain skirt hem and the bias band to hide the weirdly angling lines of the check where I attached the ruffle.
I am NOT looking forward to sewing on hook and eyes. You know when you reach that point of hand sewing where your fingers are rough and indented with millions of tiny pin and needle pricks and catch on everything you touch? I am at that point now. But I Must Get This Done. I suppose I will work on it while sitting directly in front of the oven watching my muffins with suspicion and passionate eagerness - "Oh, please come out right this time!"
It was easy to put together. There is nothing interesting to say about it. Even though it came out exactly as I wanted it to, it was not thrilling to me to see it come together. At last I discovered the reason. It looks exactly like every other adult style CW dress I’ve ever made. I said so to David last evening and he shrugged and suggested, 
I made trim applied to the bodice in a wide, shallow V shape. On reflection, I ought to have made the neckline V as well, to echo the V trimming. Oh well. I’d like to make more of this ruching to put on the sleeves, where they are gathered, but I haven’t done it yet. If I have time I will do that before we go to Freeport. If not, I’ll get it done before Galesburg, our next event which is a few weeks away. 
For details, I made a plain white cotton collar, a silk bow made out of scraps left over from my silk dress and I also plan on using the belt I made to go with my silk dress for this one. I would like to make another bow/belt set in dark green silk but until I get the silk to make that, these will work nicely. 
In a break from my sewing, yesterday I made a zuchinni cake. Zuchinni cake is something that goes back into my earliest remembrances of childhood. My mother used to make them, iced prettily with cream cheese icing and set beautifully on her wooden cake stand with the domed glass top. I believe she got her recipe from one of our landlords when we lived in Connecticut, many years ago. She shared the recipe with me and now my own children have been enjoying this delicious, moist cake! For anyone interested, here is the recipe: 
