Cow's milk could be obtained in very small quantities, but it was of evil flavour; butter, in the septentrional sense of the word, did not exist.

Kitty's mother had been such a black-clothed incantator, full of rhyming recipes for ills and puddings, for scalds and weather and animal magic.

Honor gained through euergetism (i.e., paying for public works that benefited the community), paying to build a school or theater or temple at home, helped take up the slack.

Better yet, take advantage of shared drives, moodles, and blogs as online resources.