Jane Austen Today: Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Showing posts with label Twelve Gifts of Christmas. Show all posts

Sunday, December 21

Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Gift Eleven: Instructions for Making Jane Austen Teapot Cookies

Mischief Mari productions shows you step by step how to make these unique Jane Austen teapot cookies in a "wickedly entertaining and clever little tutorial!" Their creation does not look hard; merely time consuming.

Click here to find out how.

You will have to supply your own cookie recipe and find your own teapot cutter, like this one and this one from Amazon.You will also need Jane's silhouette as a template, such as the one to the left. Make sure to size it down. (The easiest way would be to reduce your copy in the printer.)

After making your one of a kind, cookies, why not serve them with tea? This looks like a fun way to spend a winter's afternoon.

These teacups hang in a tearoom near Chawton.

Saturday, December 20

The Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Gift Ten: Instructions for Making a Kissing Ball

In 18th century England, tradition stated that if a maid received a kiss on the cheek under a kissing ball, she would soon be married.

Our gift? How to make a kissing ball. Click here to see the video.

Click here for instructions for making a kissing ball.

Click here to read The Kissing Bough byBy Judith H. Simpson and Margaret Lorine, Judith H. Simpson, Margaret Lorine, a partial Google Book.

Click here for the Christmas Archives.

Posted by Vic (Jane Austen's World) and Laurel Ann (Austenprose)

Thursday, December 18

Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Gift Nine: Old Timey Recipes to Make Your Holiday Special

Foods from the Yellow Admiral includes recipes for Syllabub and Ratafia Biscuits. They will take time to make, but they would add to an authentic Jane Austen Christmas.

Cooking With Jane Austen: This partial Google book describes the foods popular during Jane's time and includes a number of recipes. Better yet, you can order your own copy at this link . Here's the recipe for-
Broiled Mutton Chops: 6 lamb loin chops, 2 T water, 2 T butter, 1 shallot thinly sliced, 1 T mushroom ketchup, 1/2 tsp salt. Heat the broiler or barbecue grill. Grill or broil the lamb chops on each side until the desired degree of doneness. Meanwhile, heat the water, shallot, mushroom ketchup, and salt together in a small pan. Serve the sauce in a small dish alongside the chops.

If you live in Lichfield, the library will host a Jane Austen's Christmas on December 19th where guests will be able to hear a recipe of Jane's own seasonal puddings. Yum.

Posted Laurel Ann (Austenprose) and Vic (Jane Austen's World)

Sunday, December 14

Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Inquiring readers, During this month of holiday celebrations, Laurel Ann and I will be offering the Twelve Gifts of Christmas. Some of the gifts will be giveaways, others will be free offerings online, and still others will be great gift ideas for you to give to others. None are expensive, but every gift will have a special relationship to this blog, us, or Jane Austen. Today we offer directions for Jane Austen Bingo Cards, a game you can play with your family or Janeite friends during this holiday season. During Jane's time this game was known as Lotto and it was all the rage among the intelligencia, spreading quickly from France to every part of Europe. Back then the game was used for educational purposes as well as gaming. When Lotto made its way to the U.S., it became known as Beano, then as the more popularly known Bingo.

Gift Number Seven:

Our 7th gift is a link to Jane Austen Bingo cards. You may download the cards for free or make your own cards using their card creator. Click here for the directions to play this game and for making your own cards in this fabulous link.

Here are some of the directions you can download:

Notes: How long a bingo game lasts depends on what pace you read the clues at and how many players you have. If you read faster, such as for older or more experienced students, or if you have more players, the game tends to end more quickly. In general, I suggest allocating between twenty and thirty minutes to a bingo game. Since they can potentially end as early as the fourth word called, though that is quite rare, I encourage you to keep playing in the event of the game being over earlier than you expected it to be.

View our other gifts in these links:

Gift Number One

Gift Number Two

Gift Number Three

Gift Number Four

Gift Number Five

Gift Number Six

Posted by Vic (Jane Austen's World) and Laurel Ann (Austenprose)

Friday, December 12

The Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Gift Number Six:

Berry ink ingredients:

½ C. Ripe berries (blueberries, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, elderberries, raspberries, etc.)
½ Tsp. Vinegar
½ Tsp. Salt

Fill a strainer with the berries and hold it over a bowl. Using the rounded back of a wooden spoon, crush the berries against the strainer so that the berry juice strains into the bowl. Keep adding berries until most of their juice has been strained out and only pulp remains. Add the salt and vinegar to the berry juice. The vinegar helps the ink retain its color and the salt keeps it from getting too moldy. If the berry ink is too thick, add a tablespoon of water. Store in a baby food jar. Only make a small amount of berry ink at a time and, when not in use, keep it tightly covered. (Recipe: Vinegar Institute)

Quill pen ingredients:

A large feather, as from a goose or swan (find your own or purchase one from a craft store)
Craft knife
Paper
Paper towels

Use a craft knife to cut the tip of the feather at an angle. Carefully, cut a slit in the tip. Dip the feather into the berry ink. Dab the end on a paper towel. Repeat as needed. Now, write just as Jane Austen did.

Make a quill pen, with illustrations.

Make your own paper (The steps are time consuming, but the practice is economical and green!)

View our other gifts in these links:

Gift Number One

Gift Number Two

Gift Number Three

Gift Number Four

Gift Number Five

Posted by Vic (Jane Austen's World) and Laurel Ann (Austenprose)

Monday, December 1

Twelve Gifts of Christmas

Gift Number One:

The Black Moth, A Romance of the 18th Century, by Georgette Heyer

The Black Moth, Georgette Heyer's first book, was published in 1921. Although it is not one of her best efforts, an allowance must be made, for she created the story when she was just seventeen years of age. According to Jay Dixon, web author of An Appreciation of Georgette Heyer, Georgette first told the story to her brother Boris when she accompanied him on a convalescent holiday at Hastings. She "started telling him an historical adventure tale [set in the Georgian era] to relieve his (and presumably her) boredom. Her father encouraged her to write it down and, when completed, sent it to the literary agent Leonard P. Moore, an acquaintance of his. Moore promptly sold it to Constable in England and Houghton Mifflin in the USA." Just recently the copyright expired in the U.S., and thus The Black Moth is available for free as an e-text and as a podcast recording. If you have already read the book, you might want to join the online discussion forum: These Old Boards.

The Black Moth E-Text from A Celebration of Women Writers

Forgotten Classics: Podcasts of The Black Moth, including historical information and Black Moth show notes

Librivox recordings of The Black Moth to download to your Ipod.

Fabulous U.K. book covers of her very early works

These Old Boards: A Georgette Heyer Discussion Forum

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World and Laurel Ann, Austenprose

FTC Rules for Bloggers

It seems that the books or DVDs bloggers receive from publicists are valued more than the irreplaceable time that is spent in crafting a positive or negative review. My disclaimer is this: I make no money off my blog, and I write the reviews in my spare time. Most of the unsolicited merchandise I receive is given away as a prize, but I do choose to keep a few items.

So sue me FTC.

To access the new rules and regulations that make absolutely no sense to chump-change bloggers like me, read this interesting blog. Click here. - Vic