Sue Perkins (Great British Baking Show) and restaurant critic Giles Coren spend a week eating a diet that would have been familiar to the wealthy in Regency England. Using contemporary recipe books, our hosts sample everything from tea to jugged hare, potted venison, cheese on toast, sweetbreads (num!), trifle (original recipe, heavy on butter and cream), shrimp bisque, hare cake in jelly (nyet) brandy and claret punch, stuffed boars head (no thanks), pies and Wow Wow Sauce. Other subjects include Game Laws, port, the divide between rich and poor, the Corn Laws, the Duke of Wellington (yay!), the Prince Regent (boo!), gout, laudanum, Bath waters, Jane Austen, Italian ice creams (tea flavoured?!), battledore, the London marriage market, phaetons, cheese mites (yech!), the Beefsteak Club, 800 pound oxen (left overs!), cheese on toast (again), anti French songs, Dandies, corsets, Beau Brummell, cravats, sedan chairs, French cookery, spun sugar, testicles (no thanks), duels, Byron’s tea with egg diet (blech), Harris’s List (Huzzah!), Emma Hamilton, the Language of the Fan, gambling, sandwiches, debtor’s prison, George IV’s Coronation, the beauty recipes from the Mirror of Graces, the Royal Horse Artillery (yes, please!), dancing (good and bad), syllabub (never mind the calories), and the dangers of uric acid.

With special Guest Star Ian Kelly!

WARNING: Decidedly tongue in cheek!

Watch the full episode here.

HAPPY 241st BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN

Here we are, almost entering the year 2017, two hundred years on July 18 since Jane Austen died at the terribly premature age of 41. Hard to believe the woman who wrote such celebrated literature lived only a smidgen above four decades. Her legacy will live forever.

I am fortunate to attend two Jane Austen Society of North America Birthday events each year, one in Chicago and one in Milwaukee. Both are joyous occasions in beautiful venues with excellent programs, fine food, and rooms full of delightful companion Austen-lovers. Since JA’s birthday falls in mid-December, we always celebrate amidst seasonal decorations adding to the festivities.

The Great Chicago Region held our Birthday Tea on Saturday, December 3, at The Fortnightly, just north of the Magnificent Mile.

This year, Dr. Diane Capitani presented a talk on Emma and Motherhood, exploring the many aspects of maternal activity — or lack of it — in the last novel Austen published in her lifetime.  As always, Dr. Capitani drew us deep into her subject with provocative interpretations inspiring lively discussion. Four leading characters in the novel are “motherless” – Emma, Frank Churchill, Jane Fairfax, and Harriet Smith. Other characters give us a variety of potential (or actual) maternal behavior: Emma herself in regard to her father, Miss Taylor/Mrs. Weston, and the deliciously offensive Mrs. Elton, for example. The resulting conversation was only stopped by the temptations of The Fortnightly’s sumptuous tea.

On Saturday, December 10, the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee was the scene of JASNA-WI’s Birthday luncheon. The bright sunlight outdoors almost stole the sparkle from their huge dining room tree.

Following the delicious luncheon, we shared birthday cake, a timely reminder of the real source of our celebration.

After quite a few years as JASNA-WI Recording Secretary, I was delighted to turn over my records to incoming RS, Sara Bowen,  Thanks Sara!  And many thanks also to Judy Beine for presenting me with these charming reminders of Wellington’s great victory in 1815’s Battle of Waterloo: antique statues of Napoleon and his Josephine.

A large crowd enjoyed fellowship and the best of all events: a delightful presentation on Jane Austen’s life and times.

Madame Catalani

A few months ago, my pal Denise Costello led me to a fabulous blog called Cote de Texas, a lifestyle, decorating, design and all around wonderful site. Recently, Joni Webb, who writes and edits Cote de Texas, ran a really in-depth, well researched and visually stunning post on the sets used during the filming of The Crown, the Netflix series centered on Queen Elizabeth and the royal family that reached a staggering $100 million to produce, chiefly due to the fact that the production team were determined that the sets, costumes, jewels, cars and everything else connected with filming be historically correct.

For her recent post, Joni uncovers which historic locations stood in for Buckingham Palace and Clarence house, she looks into the attention to detail that is the hallmark of The Crown and also offers up some most amusing nuggets of behind-the-scenes on-dit.

Click here to read Behind the Sets of The Crown, which  appears to be just the first in a series of posts about The Crown, so don’t forget to follow the site while you’re there!

Windsor’s famous Crooked House is now the home of Jersey Pearl – and it’s a great place to visit.