Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Eating and Drinking with Jane

And, oh, by the way - Happy Birthday, Jane! (Dec 16, 1775).


"You must drink tea with us tonight." --Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen.

Many of us know about (and have enjoyed) the book, Tea with Jane Austen. I also discovered another book at the library, The Jane Austen Cookbook. It makes a nice companion to the first, for anyone who is a Jane Austen devotee.

Both books give a sense of what it would have been like to eat and drink in Jane Austen's day. The books also share recipes from that period (thankfully, updated for today's standards, too.) A note about tea in Jane's time....it certainly was an important social beverage, as you will see in these books. However, Jane probably never attended a "tea party" exactly as we know it. She may
have experienced an earlier version, but the idea of afternoon tea didn't get officially named until the 1830s or 40s.

There are two other books I wish to explore, from my library. Cooking with Jane Austen and In the Garden with Jane Austen. If anyone has read these, please share your review!
And for the passionate Jane Austen lovers, check out the Austen blog.
at

6 comments:

  1. Angela McRae9:20 AM

    I *love* Jane! (And had not realized her birthday is the same day as the Boston Tea Party, just two years later.) Great resources you've shared! I'll be looking for some of these books myself!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:54 AM

    I may be a man, but I love Jane Austen! Happy Birthday, Jane! (Check out today's installment of "The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor" to hear a nice tribute.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steph10:46 AM

    Hey, thanks Jason for the Writer's Almanac reference.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Teresa's New Life3:46 PM

    I had no idea that there was a tea book out by Jane Austin. I can absolutely see why though. I LOVE Jane Austin Novels! Happy Birthday to her. Thanks for the interesting info on her.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Steph4:40 PM

    Hi, Teresa! It's not actually by Jane Austen...but rather about her. It's written by our contemporaraies. Great books all around!

    ReplyDelete
  6. mep11:44 AM

    I am a Jane Austen lover and will be checking out some of those books at my library.

    I went to a bridal shower a few months ago, and the hostess had a quotation by Jane Austen painted on her wall. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete

I value your comments, thank you!