It's not just song circles. The two other local Robin Hood enthusiasts I've met are BOTH vegetarians, believe it or not.

When getting together with one particular RH friend, we've racked our brains and cookbooks to come up with -- a medieval vegetarian menu!
Strange but true. I did learn that turnips (the real white turnips, not the rutabega that my mother of Scottish descent calls turnip), although authentic to the historical period, give me gas pains.   Enjoyed a rather nice mushroom pastie, though.

Unfortunately, we even had one British archer who briefly joined our on-line Robin Hood discussion group and, though he was not even a vegetarian, threw a flying fit that some North American bowhunters belonged to our group. Gee, deer hunters interested in Robin Hood -- who would ever have expected that?

Happily, that's the only kerfuffle we've had over venison, and how it's obtained. The vegetarians in the group are neither preachy nor squeamish when I post a medieval game recipe.

But speaking of onion allergy -- is this some sort of Canadian affliction, Rick & Clinton? Coz, damn! -- I'm becoming increasingly less able to digest them as I age, unless they're cooked thoroughly, preferably in lots of butter (oh, how unhealthy!). And I've never been able to digest garlic with any predictability. I thought I was in heaven when I discovered shallots a few years ago, but now they too give me a terrible stomach ache.

I'm really not looking forward to a bland and onion-less old age! My medieval rabbit stew just wouldn't be the same without onions.

Cheers, Hester ... merry moderator of The Greenwood