Tracking down recipe details

Tuesday was my first day back in the Reading Room. I have a desk there and a large table in a room down the hall where I can spread out various projects, sort out my beloved sticky notes (that help me organize ideas) on the back of a door, and prop up a large reminder poster that reads "Clear Fluids/Full Fluids - where did these come from?"

Workspace; looking out to front drive

Prior to the Reading Room, I took an early morning walk into Alton for the weekly market. Saw a poster with the surnames of two of the students I taught this year which caused me to laugh out loud..."I suppose the English settled Eastern Canada", is what I said to m'self! So I stopped and took a picture for their enjoyment. At the market, bought the most delicious soft cheese I have ever eaten...so good. Also bought what looks like a full pork chop that the butcher called 'bacon', meaning, it has been smoked. (When I opened it, I see that is pork chop sized/shaped bacon pieces, the chop cut cross-wise). Bought masses of English veg including something called 'English purple' (a broccoli variant), and then headed to the grocery store where one can get gluten free flour, bottles of wine, etc. This mean I am now provisioned for about two weeks so...definitely time to get to work!

I borrowed Jacqui's eraser; made me laugh out loud!

Having got my workspace organized in the morning, I took a lunch break (and had SOUP!... delish especially with the umami having developed) and was a might bit angsty because I wasn't sure how to proceed with my research. I decided to go back to the beginning so asked Jacqui, the librarian, for a look at the Knight Family Recipe Book (handwritten, brought to Chawton in 1793). It is purported to have been written by Jane Austen (although I don't think the handwriting is a match)...anyway, I hoped that in looking in that book, I'd recall what inspired me about the invalid's dietary in the first place. Gosh, I'm smrt! I read the recipes for 'Artificial Asses' Milk' and 'Barley Water' (both of these are breast milk substitutes and also fed to the sick/frail when Asses' Milk could not be found or was in insufficient supply) ...and I then remembered what I was aiming to do...to focus on recipes for feeding the sick and track their development over time. Eureka!

I spent a chunk of time filling in request slips for most of the cookery books at CHL (from 1640 to 1830, I believe) and from these, I'll catalogue the existence/development of standard recipes to feed the sick over time. I'll then connect the latest information I find from these books with the sources I have at home (recipes in the 1880s cookery books and recommendations in diet manuals (starting 1903).

All in all, a great day of sleuthing and putting ideas together.

The 'Drinks Event' prior to evening lecture; in CH kitchen

Kathryn Sutherland was guest lecturer in the evening. Kathryn studies the mechanics of Jane Austen's writing (what sort of paper she used, how she constructed little booklets from larger pieces of paper - gatherings, as Kathryn calls them...(I love that idea, a gathering of pages), the type of ink and pen, the crossings-out, etc. A crowd of about 50-60 gathered for the talk; it was most interesting! Afterward six of us went for a meal at the very kind invitation of CHL. A lovely, and much appreciated gesture. Once again, very good. Go Greyfriars of Chawton! Mustard seed mashed? How good!

Home in the darkest of darks; two of our group used their cell phone 'torch feature' so that helped but it was mighty dark...absolutely no light pollution hereabouts.

Tomorrow (which was today), all those cookery books to explore! Thrilling (OK, it's my definition of thrilling and not everyone's cup 'o tea!