No matter what your interests are, there is always more to learn, isn’t there? It’s one of the reasons I enjoy being a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America; an organization that offers lectures and workshops on a wide variety of topics of interest to history buffs, Jane Austen fans, and to authors of Regency-set novels like me.
Earlier this month the meeting topic was Martha Lloyd’s Household Book: The Original Manuscript from Jane Austen’s Kitchen. The speaker was the book’s annotator and editor, Julienne Gehrer.
Her presentation focused on Martha Lloyd, dear friend of Jane and Cassandra Austen, and Martha’s collection of recipes, some contributed by members of the Austen family.
I always enjoy learning about recipes and food (favorite subjects, as my waistline attests) but especially because a main character in my new series, On Devonshire Shores, is a gentlewoman who, due to financial constraints, learns to bake and cook.
In writing The Sisters of Sea View, and its sequel, A Winter by the Sea, I have consulted a few of the same cookbooks (or “receipt books”) mentioned in the talk. So helpful!
I found it an enjoyable and informative presentation, which also left me hungry. 🙂
What sorts of things do you enjoy learning about? Have you ever made an old recipe?
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I guess because most of the recipes I make came from my grandparents and because I’M almost old, that makes those recipes REALLY old. 😉 My husband doesn’t want me to ever make a pie crust except my Grandmother Reed’s oil pie crust. Same with his mom’s oatmeal crispies cookie recipe. I love the way recipes are passed down through the years, tweaked by each generation, but still part of the family history.
That’s fascinating! I love reading about heroines or heroes who cook. It makes me hungry–but in the best way. 🙂
While I don’t consider myself to be a cook, I enjoy reading old “receipts” to learn about the different flavorings and types of oils used back then. I do make Irish potato candy which is an old recipe but I don’t think it reaches to the Regency era.
I love looking at new recipes and am guilty of cutting out way more than I will ever use. (I even cleaned out my recipe file during lock-down – a good way to pass those long days. It was full of duplicates!) But my favorite old recipe is still my grandmother’s recipe for spaghetti sauce. She came to the US (from Italy) as a 13-year-old and never forgot a single thing she learned in her mother’s kitchen. Of course, it was a challenge to get her to write anything down. But before she died her daughters “trapped’ her in the kitchen and the result is just perfect!
I love reading through old cookbooks and trying out a few recipes that catch my eye. I have several cookbooks from my grandmothers and great grandmothers that are treasurers to own. I can only imagine the love they poured out on generations of hungry children, adults, and friends who sat at their tables.
Thanks for sharing this post! I’m excited to read your new book (hopefully within the next month as we are in the middle of relocating so all my books are packed in boxes).