The Amadeus Award for Taste & Excellence

18thC Cuisine is among the first to be awarded the coveted Amadeus Award for Taste & Excellence, a privilege to be cherished and a great responsibility to further its continuance by nominating my own favorite 18thC blogs.

Isaac Walters, a fellow reenactor and friend whom I first met at Fort de Chartres, is a historian and teacher who is furthering living history by reenacting with his young family.

18th-Century History of American Women and her companion blogs about gardening and women of other American centuries is Barbara's marvelous contribution to the Age of Enlightenment.

Mme. du Jards Atelier is a delightful site for embroidered garments and frolics à la 18thC.

Les Portraits au Pastel du XVIIIe is Jean Paul's lovely site where portraits that might not otherwise be seen are freely shared.

Colonial Women is not a blog, but a portal into living history in the vast French Colonial interior of our wonderful country. Carol, almost single-handedly, has done much to raise the barre of women's interpretations in the Pays Illinois.

Now it is time for these wonderful sites to send us further down the road to 18thC excellence.

Vin de pêche - Peach Leaf Wine

Macerating quietly in the cold room is a crock of peach leaves [55], one small peach with its skin, sliced and its pit crushed and a bottle of white wine. I have been shaking this mixture for about 15 days. When I tasted it today, it still has not developed enough of that characteristic «almond» aroma, which comes from its genus [Prunus persica]. I will check it every two days and when it smells and tastes just right, I will strain it and bottle it with a handful of white sugar and a quarter cup of eau-de-vie or Marc. After corking and sealing with wax, the bottle will sit in the back of the cold room shelves for at least six months. In the middle of winter, when it’s cold and dreary, a small glass served with a biscuit for dessrt, or as an apéritif will delight my guests and remind us that Summer will eventually come again.

See Cherry Leaf Wine for a similar process.