cookie recipes

[review + recipes + giveaway] Celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th Birthday

~ jama ~ 25 Comments

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a certain 18th century English author turns 250, worldwide fans who ardently admire and love her will want to commemorate this important milestone all year.

Today we’re celebrating Jane Austen’s birthday with a brand new historical fiction picture book and two teatime treats. Few writers have the distinction of being read and studied continuously for more than two centuries. We have Jane to thank for focusing on the internal lives of complex characters, and of course, her witty and ironic social commentary.

Because of my love for china, I was especially excited to read Jane and the Blue Willow Princess by Catherine Little and Sae Kimura (Plumleaf Press, 2025). Published especially to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth, this delightful story was inspired by a fragment of Blue Willow pattern china unearthed during a November 2011 archaeological dig at Steventon, where Jane spent the first 25 years of her life and drafted her first three novels.

As the story opens, we find Jane perched up in her treehouse calling down to her sister Cassy (who’s at her easel). She has so many story ideas she doesn’t know what to do.

Cassy is relieved when Mother appears in the garden carrying a tray with blue and white teacups and plates; Jane has been working hard and needs a break. As the three of them enjoy tea and cheese toasties (Jane’s favorite snack), Mother asks Jane about the story she’s writing for Father’s birthday.

Continue reading →

[musings + recipe] another cup of downton abbey tea

~ jama ~ 14 Comments

“Then there’s nothing more to be said. Are we going to have tea? Or not?” ~ Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham.

Today we’re celebrating the third (and final) Downton Abbey movie with a spot of tea and a treat from The Official Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea Cookbook (Weldon Owen, 2020).

After six television seasons and two big screen sequels, “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” will hit theaters on September 12. While it’ll be wonderful to revisit the DA world once again, it’s bittersweet knowing that this film supposedly marks the end of this truly beloved 15-year-old franchise. Say it isn’t so!

You may remember that in DA1 (2019), set in 1927, the Crawley family is all agog over a royal visit from King George V and Queen Mary. Thereʻs an assassination attempt, a secret about Lady Bagshawʻs inheritance, a blossoming romance between Tom Branson and Lucy Smith, clashes between Downton staff and royal staff, as well as Lady Maryʻs concerns about Downtonʻs future. We also learn Violet is ill.

In DA2 (Downton Abbey: A New Era, 2022), set in 1928, some of the Crawley family travels to the south of France to uncover the mystery of Violetʻs newly inherited villa. A film company uses Downton to shoot a silent film, Tom and Lucy marry, Thomas Barrow finds romance with actor Guy Dexter, newlyweds Andy and Daisy do some matchmaking between Mr Mason and Mrs Patmore, and Violet passes away.

What do we know about Downton Abbey 3 thus far?

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE, the cinematic return of the global phenomenon, follows the Crawley family and their staff as they enter the 1930s. When Mary finds herself at the center of a public scandal and the family faces financial trouble, the entire household grapples with the threat of social disgrace. The Crawleys must embrace change as the staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future.

There are hints that the “public scandal” is related to Mary and Henry’s divorce (Henry was absent from DA2 and won’t appear in DA3). Will Mary reconcile with her always-away-racecar-driving husband or find new love? Will Downton Abbey remain with the Crawley family? How will the Great Depression and WWII impact everyone?

photo by Rory Mulvey/Focus Features.

Also, Anna Bates is expecting again (this coincides with Joanne Froggatt’s real-life pregnancy while filming). Also wondering: will schoolteacher Mr Moseley find success as a Hollywood screenwriter, and will we see him marry Miss Baxter?

Continue reading →

[festive review + recipe] Peter Rabbit: Christmas is Coming (+ a blog break)

~ jama ~ 12 Comments

Merry, merry, and jingle those bells!

Most kids will say that presents are the best part of Christmas, but our mischievous friend Peter Rabbit begs to differ. While he loves presents, what he most looks forward to is all the food!

Luckily, there are many tasty treats to munch on in his advent storybook, Peter Rabbit: Christmas is Coming (Puffin Books, 2020). Written by Rachel Boden and illustrated by Neil Faulkner, this Beatrix Potter inspired delight is the perfect warm and cozy read for families to share as they count down to the big holiday.

The treasury features 25 stories — one for each day of Advent + one for Christmas Day — paired with fun, easy “Christmassy” things to do or make suitable for kids 4+. The ‘stories’ are interlinked, so they can also be enjoyed by independent readers as one long chapter book. This will especially appeal to kids already familiar with the characters in the Peter Rabbit little books, since they feature in longer narratives.

In addition to Peter, his mum Mrs. Rabbit, and his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, Peter’s cousin Benjamin Bunny plays a large role in all the action. When you have an enthusiastic partner in crime, almost anything can happen!

In the first story, Peter and Benjamin ‘argue’ over what is truly the best part of Christmas. Benjamin says presents (he wants a bouncy ball), while Peter is adamant about edibles:

I want roasted chestnuts and potatoes and parsnips and carrots and mince pies and cake and . . .

While this spirited sparring is going on, they make their way to Mr. McGregor’s garden (will they ever learn?), where they spy a row of turnips. Yes, they’re hard to dig up and heavy to carry — but Peter decides it’s worth the trouble since his mother could make a nice turnip soup.

After checking that the coast is clear (cat and Mr. M nowhere in sight), they furiously dig and dig and then tug, tug, tug at the turnip’s leaves. The turnip simply won’t budge. They keep tugging, unaware that the cat is sneaking up from behind.

Continue reading →

[review + recipes] V&A Introduces: Beatrix Potter by Katie Woolley and Ginnie Hsu

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you. Mine took me here. Where I belong.” ~ Beatrix Potter

Spring is Beatrix Potter time.

Every year as Easter rolls around, I enjoy rereading some of her Peter Rabbit tales and looking for new Potter-related books to add to my growing collection. Happily, there’s always more to learn about this remarkable woman, the world she created via her imagination, and the beautiful countryside she worked so hard to preserve for future generations.

Recently I stumbled upon a charming mini book, the latest title in the popular “V&A Introduces” series that celebrates icons in the world of art and design in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Love the pansies endpaper!

Beatrix Potter: Artist, Conservationist, Pioneer by Katie Woolley and Ginnie Hsu (Puffins Books, 2022), is a beautifully illustrated introduction to Potter’s life and accomplishments that includes original photographs and fascinating backstories to several of her most beloved tales.

Carefully curated facts are presented in twelve sections, giving readers a good sense of how unique Beatrix was as a fully self-realized creative who defied societal convention and attained financial independence:

  • Young Beatrice
  • Writing and Drawing
  • Escape to the Country
  • The Tale of Peter Rabbit
  • The Lake District
  • The Tailor of Gloucester
  • The Businesswoman
  • Hill Top Farm
  • Love & Marriage
  • The National Trust
  • Country Living
  • A Lasting Legacy

Peter Rabbit fans will enjoy learning how Beatrix became a master storyteller. As was typical for a girl from a wealthy Victorian family, she was looked after by a nanny and had lessons with a governess. She inherited a love of art from her parents, got lost in stories, and practiced drawing characters from the books she read.

Continue reading →

[poem + recipe] swoon and croon for macaroons

~ jama ~ 36 Comments

Fancy a macaroon?

American Fireside Poet James Russell Lowell elevates a humble cookie to romantic delectability in his amusing recipe poem. I wish Eleanor would make some of her macaroons for my birthday. 🙂

Chromolithograph after a drawing by Hugo Bürkner (1878).
ELEANOR MAKES MACAROONS
by James Russell Lowell

Light of triumph in her eyes,
Eleanor her apron ties;
As she pushes back her sleeves,
High resolve her bosom heaves.
Hasten, cook! impel the fire
To the pace of her desire;
As you hope to save your soul,
Bring a virgin casserole,
Brightest bring of silver spoons,—
Eleanor makes macaroons!

Almond-blossoms, now adance
In the smile of Southern France,
Leave your sport with sun and breeze,
Think of duty, not of ease;
Fashion, ’neath their jerkins brown,
Kernels white as thistle-down,
Tiny cheeses made with cream
From the Galaxy’s mid-stream,
Blanched in light of honeymoons,—
Eleanor makes macaroons!

Now for sugar,—nay, our plan
Tolerates no work of man.
Hurry, then, ye golden bees;
Fetch your clearest honey, please,
Garnered on a Yorkshire moor,
While the last larks sing and soar,
From the heather-blossoms sweet
Where sea-breeze and sunshine meet,
And the Augusts mask as Junes,—
Eleanor makes macaroons!

Next the pestle and mortar find,
Pure rock-crystal,—these to grind
Into paste more smooth than silk,
Whiter than the milkweed’s milk:
Spread it on a rose-leaf, thus,
Cate to please Theocritus;
Then the fire with spices swell,
While, for her completer spell,
Mystic canticles she croons,—
Eleanor makes macaroons!

Perfect! and all this to waste
On a graybeard’s palsied taste!
Poets so their verses write,
Heap them full of life and light,
And then fling them to the rude
Mumbling of the multitude.
Not so dire her fate as theirs,
Since her friend this gift declares
Choicest of his birthday boons,—
Eleanor’s dear macaroons!

(February 22, 1884)

~ from Heartsease and Rue (Houghton Mifflin, 1888)

*

Continue reading →