Just stopping by today to show you a piece of artwork. My friend Kathleen over at Kitty’s Daydreams printed out a page of Oxford Cottage and created a custom piece of art for me. Isn’t it lovely? Not only is it in my favourite colour…pink, but it also contains a found poem just for me.
I believe
courage,
my dearest,
was in her
nature.
What to see some of Kathleen’s other work?
Hop on over to her facebook page (here) or her Society 6 store (here).
In For Peace of Mind, the Gardiner and Bennet families have a tradition of giving gifts at the end of each year. As Elizabeth explained to Georgiana,
“The gifts must show thankfulness for and give blessing to the receiver. Uncle says that is the most important part of the tradition.”(For Peace of Mind, Chapter 9)
I wanted Elizabeth to give a gift of homemade sweets to Lady Matlock. This sent me wandering around the internet in search of information about sweets in Regency England. Happily, I stumbled across the third edition of a cookbook published in London, England in 1827 which contained a recipe for chocolates! Below is that recipe.
Conserve of Chocolate—Conserve de Chocolat.
Boil-down two ounces of chocolate de santé or of vanille, in a quarter of a glass of water; have ready half a pound of sugar on perlé; mix it with the sugar, and work as the other: or all sorts of wet conserves, follow the directions given for cherries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, oranges, lemons, &c. &c.
Of course, my research could not stop there. I had to try it. I needed to know how hard it might be for Lizzy to make her gift. So, I read the recipes for the other types of conserves as listed and gathered my tools. The results were edible, but not very good.
After a bit of thought, I decided perhaps I could find a similar recipe in my grandmother’s cookbook (printed in 1934)and use those instructions. This is the recipe I found.
Cocoa Fudge
1/2 cup cocoa
2/3 cup cold water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
nut meats
Place the cocoa and cold water in a sauce pan. Stir over low fire until chocolate is melted. Remove from fire and stir until smooth. Stir in sugar gradually and add milk. Then stir over fire until sugar is dissolved. Boil over medium flame until it reaches 226 degrees F. or until a soft ball will form when a teaspoonful of syrup is dropped in cold water. When test is obtained place pan in cold water to cool for a few minutes. Add butter and vanilla. Remove pan. Beat until it begins to thicken and lose its shine. Add nut meats. Pour at once onto a damp cake pan (greasing is unnecessary).
Marjorie M. Nelson
I gathered my tools again and began my second attempt. In this second attempt, I used 1/4 cup of cocoa, 1 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of cold water, and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. I followed Marjorie’s directions as written omitting the information about the milk, butter and nut meats; making sure not to stir while the mixture boiled; and pouring it not into a damp pan but into a pan lined with wax paper. The results were not only edible but declared good by my teenage son!
Next time, I think I might try adding dried fruit or nut meats, or perhaps I will pour the chocolate into some pretty moulds, or….
My twelve-year-old nephew has been studying poetry in creative writing at school. His mom, my eldest sister, shared the following haiku and cinquain poems with me. I enjoyed them so much that I asked Josiah if I could share them here on my “Refrigerator Door.”
Angels sing above
To the Lord on highest throne
His mercy rains down.
A friend
Until the end
Spreads joy into a heart
That aches with troubles through and through
Caring
My writing/research has taken me into the kitchen again. This time I am attempting to decipher a recipe for cookies from a cookbook printed in 1798. I wonder if it these Macaroon Cakes would have found their way onto tea trays set out in drawing rooms where debutantes waited for their gentleman callers?
I only made a half recipe and used the following ingredients and procedure:
The results were tasty and VERY sweet! I think this recipe might be another fun one to play around with a bit…maybe add a bit of spice or a little lemon zest? What do you think? If you do try the recipe, I would love to hear about it.
“at the 11th hour
on the 11th day
of the 11th month”
by Cindy Barber
In Flanders fields the poppies blew.
The men who died I never knew.
The crosses marked the places they fell;
The poppies we wear their stories tell.
They were courageous, brave and very young;
I can’t understand about the battles won.
The wars they were so long ago,
Why did boys, men and women go?
To fight for freedom for me and you,
So we could choose what we say, think and do.
And I must not forget that they fought for me.
Because of their selflessness now I am free.
To each generation the stories are told,
Of brave men and women from today and of old.
Their fighting in places both near and afar,
I pray will all cease and there’ll be no more war.
Thank you to my friends Kathleen of Kitty’s Daydreams and Cindy Barber for allowing me to share their creations.
