In an animal hide

In an animal hide hung from a thong-lashed frame set over a fire, a savoury broth bubbled. Careful watch was kept to make sure the liquid didn't boil down too far. As long as the level of boiling broth was above the level reached by the flames, it kept the temperature of the skin pot too low to burn. Ayla watched Uka stir up chunks of the meat and bone from the neck of the bison that were cooking with wild onion, salty coltsfoot and other herbs. She tasted it and then added peeled thistle stalks, mushrooms, lily buds and roots, watercress, milkweed buds, small immature yams, cranberries carried from the other cave, and wilted flowers from the previous days's growth of day lilies for thickening.
The hard fibrous old roots of cattails had been crushed and the fibres separated and removed. Dried blueerries they had carried with them, and parched ground grains, were added to the resulting starch that settled in the bottom of the baskets of cold water. Lumps of the flat, dark, unleavened bread were cooking on hot stones near the fire. Pigweed greens, lamb's quarter, young clover and dandelion leaves seasoned with coltsfoot were cooking in another pot, and a sauce of dried , tart apples mixed with wild rose petals and a lucky find of honey steamed near another fire.
From the book 'The clan of the cave bear' by Jean M. Auel

The decibel level of the conversational roar

The decibel level of the conversational roar in the drawing room is rising. Most of the guests have had two or three glasses of wine by now. Ralph and Carrie exchange a glance. Ralph raises an interrogative eyebrow; Carrie nods. She begins to direct guests towards the dinning room, where a line soon forms around the long mahogany table, cooing and exclaiming over the appetizing dishes. The guests take their laden plates back into the drawing room, the television room – which have been opened up and tidied for the occasion, with chairs and cushions and stools arranged invitingly in small arcs.
From the book ‘Thinks’, by David Lodge