Tonight, if you're one of our American readers, you'll probably be hopping up and down all evening answering the door to hordes of goblins and ghouls... wait, no, make that Frozen princesses and storm troopers. (I kinda miss the goblins and ghouls... you can only see so many storm troopers and princesses before starting to feel a little jaded...) Next weekend, it will be time to turn the clocks back and enjoy coming home in the dark.
Next up, of course, is Thanksgiving - just a few short weeks away. It's pleasant to see that a Thanksgiving dinner in 1880 featured, as its star course, our beloved roast turkey with cranberry sauce. But it also might include courses of "small" oysters, boiled cod, and compote of pigeon (with little peas!) - or alternatively, boiled salmon, cutlets and stuffed tomatoes, and braised ducks with mashed potatoes, peas and barberry jelly. Dessert included our favorite pumpkin pie and also a mince pie, with the additions of bread and butter pudding, apple and cranberry tarts, fruits, nuts, and... ices "optional." Somehow, I don't think the tomatoes were the only things that would have been a bit stuffed by the end of one of these meals! (And yes, this issue brings you the recipes for all of the above and more!)
And now, here's what we have for November:
Visit http://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/issues/VT-1611.shtml to download this issue!
Download it from DropBox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mzv00kpji2lf77d/VT-1611.pdf?dl=0
Christmas comes but once a year -- but if you're like me, you probably still can't wait! Christmas trees aglow with lights and glittering with baubles! Precious gifts for the ones you love! Carols filling the air with holiday gladness! The delicious smells of Christmas cookies and treats tantalizing you (OK, we can go back to our diets in January)! The joy of getting Christmas cards from distant friends and remembering old acquaintances! The chance to catch your favorite version of A Christmas Carol on TV!
If these are the things you love about Christmas, then you love Victorian Christmas. While Christmas goes back to ancient days, the traditions we love most today are firmly rooted in the Victorian era. Christmas tree? Queen Victoria loved it -- which helped it "take root" throughout England. Cards? Invented in 1843 -- thanks largely to the Victorian innovation of the penny post. "A Christmas Carol?" Well, Dickens, of course! And as for plum pudding... Well, until I started on this treasury, I thought there was just... plum pudding. I've since discovered dozens of recipes for this holiday favorite -- one is sure to please you!
OK, I admit it, I'm a Christmas addict. I can't wait to put up my tree and enjoy the sparkly lights and my heirloom collection of ornaments. I hate to take it down! And that's why I'm really excited about A Victorian Christmas Treasury.
This book is your chance to experience Christmas in true Victorian style! It's packed with over 100 articles from Victorian magazines that show how Victorians celebrated this most beloved of holidays. Read letters from Victorian children to Santa; find out how Christmas crackers (the exploding kind) are made; discover how Queen Victoria herself celebrated the holiday. In this volume, you'll enjoy:
This volume features articles, stories and poems that have never been collected anywhere else. Turning the pages is like opening a special collection of gifts, with a delightful surprise awaiting around every corner. It's a collection to treasure for years to come -- one that is sure to become a part of your own Christmas traditions.
Find out more at http://www.victorianvoices.net/books/Christmas.shtml or order it today from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.ca.