Not Minden Austrian Infantry, But. . .

The preparation of my late maternal grandfather's pulled pork BBQ and red slaw recipes. The Grand Duchess, bless her, always whips up a large batch of hush-puppies to go with the dish, which is authentic.

The tangy sauce is created with, more or less, equal parts ketchup, sugar, and white vinegar with course ground black pepper and Worcestershire sauce added to taste. I typically add another shot of white vinegar before kitchen clean-up to attenuate the tomato ketchup flavor a wee bit.

We enjoyed the dinner last evening on our screened porch and will do so again this evening. Afterwards, we will freeze the remaining meat (from a huge pork shoulder slow barbecued over indirect charcoal coals for about six hours in the Weber grill) for a few more dinners at different points this fall.

The slaw, thanks to the vinegar and sugar, keeps well for months and will live in several storage containers in the refrigerator. It works very nicely too as a chutney of sorts with Indian dishes, which the Grand Duchess has become a dab hand at preparing during the cooler and cold months.

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Sigh. The Young Master is at that age -- 13 in October -- where he simply will not cooperate with a pleasant smile when a camera or iPhones are produced. Needless to say, school photos are a challenge for the poor photographers brought in each autumn for the job. It is most vexing since -- we feel, at least -- TYM is a handsome young man when his face is in repose.

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Picking away at the second batch of 20, or so, Minden Austrian infantry -- the Wied Regiment -- as and when time permits by the way. Beginning on building up an inexact series of thin washes today on their white coats, waistcoats, and breeches as it happens, which yields a pleasant effect after a fashion. Photos to follow.

-- Stokes

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A Little More Brushwork. . .

A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday). Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men. Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished. Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions. Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed. Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red. They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery. I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point. Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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