Back in 2022 my book club read Pride and Prejudice and when it came to the day to discuss it I wanted to make food from the novel.
This was before I had been gifted the Martha Stewart’s Pride and Prejudice novel and took notes of the food mentioned, excited to try my hand…but one of our members had some dietary restrictions so I had to rethink it to something healthier and decided to let the lunch Lydia and Kitty treat Elizabeth and Jane to be my guide.
“…and, as they [Jane and Elizabeth Bennet] drew near the appointed inn where Mr. Bennet’s carriage was to meet them, they quickly perceived…both Kitty and Lydia looking out of a dining-room upstairs. These two girls had been above an hour in the place, happily employed in visiting an opposite milliner, watching the sentinel on guard, and dressing a salad and cucumber.
After welcoming their sisters, they triumphantly displayed a table set out with such cold meat as an inn larder usually affords, exclaiming, “Is not this nice? is not this an agreeable surprise?”
‘And we mean to treat you all,” added Lydia; ‘but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.’
…’Oh, Mary,’ said she [Lydia Bennet], ‘I wish you had gone with us, for we had such fun! as we went along Kitty and me drew up all the blinds, and pretended there was nobody in the coach; and I should have gone so all the way, if Kitty had not been sick; and when we got to the George, I do think we behaved very handsomely, for we treated the other three with the nicest cold luncheon in the world, and if you would have gone, we would have treated you too…”
Pride and Prejudice
I started off with scones (even though they aren’t mentioned) as I love baking scones and trying new recipes out. I decided to make Apple Cinnamon Scones.
One of the things Austen mentions in describing the meal is “dressing a salad” and decided to go with a Pansy Salad as my sister had grown some edible flowers and was eager to use them in something.
Garden Pansy Salad
This recipe comes from Frolic and Fare. It was both delicious and a beautiful addition to the table, it really made it feel like spring!
Ingredients
- 2 cups spinach or any green of choice
- one carrot thinly sliced or spiralized
- one cucumber thinly sliced or spiralized
- several clean organic pansies
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Any other veggies of choice
- Salad dressing of choice
Directions:
- Combine all veggies in bowl with pansies (setting a few to the side)
- Place a few pansies on top of your salad.
- Top with your dressing of choice.
Low Carb Cucumber Sandwiches
Austen also mentions “dressing a cucumber” and “cold meat”. Originally I had wanted to make ham sandwiches, but as our book club member couldn’t have bread, I swapped the bread for cucumbers.
Ingredients:
- Cucumbers
- Mayonnaise or hummus
- Ham or other meat
- Your choice of cheese
Directions:
- Take your cucumber and strip off the peel.
- Slice in half lengthwise.
- Add hummus or mayonnaise to the inside of each cucumber half.
- One one half lay out your ham or meat of choice.
- On the other half, layer cheese.
- Put the two halves together and serve, or slice into smaller squares and then serve.
We also had Apple Pie tea and Victorian Earl Grey.
I had planned to record our thoughts on the book, and post our discussion-but unfortunately my app didn’t record and I ended up with zero notes.
But you can read some of my thoughts in my recent review of Pride and Prejudice Narrated by Josephine Bailey or by clicking on the Pride and Prejudice category.
Afterwards I had us play Marrying Mr. Darcy as everyone in book club knew the characters now.
I choose Caroline in Marrying Mr. Darcy as she is practically unbeatable with her special skills; however, the other club members stole my wit so I was unable to try for Mr. Darcy and then the other option for me, Colonel Firzwilliam, was stolen by another member. I ended up as an old maid.
Jane Austen, tea, food, and a game? It was one of the nicest luncheons I have been to.
For more Book Club Picks, go to Planning a Book Box: Book of a Thousand Days
For more party posts, go to How to Throw a Valentea Party
For more Pride and Prejudice posts go to Pride and Prejudice Narrated by Josephine Bailey
For more tea posts, go to Hearty Lasagna Soup
For more recipes, go to Lemon Scones
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