What A Downton Dinner

What a dinner, what a party!!

I cooked or was working with the table settings all day long it seemed, so many little details. I wore out the Downton Abbey dinner websites. Which way did the knives face, where were items placed, on and on. I had probably 5 pages open just of Downton sites for recipes and photos for reference. But what a difference a laptop makes.

Friends arrived, the last of them a little after 7pm; oops, now we had to institute the “no talking, just eat” policy. Except that we wanted some photos before dinner, before our hats would be askew, layers of aprons off, that sort of thing.

Everyone was in period clothing, one was in something that was a maybe period clothing but we stretched and saw the connection with Downton. One friend a flapper, one as Daisy, one as a soldier, our granddaughter as maybe Sybil, the rest of us in period dress.

As for the meal, well food was really good, if I must say so myself. Recipes were based on the ones from “Mrs. Beeton” or from the Titanic Menus. Best of all everything was gluten free even my piece of the Treacle Tart. Unfortunately, foods were rich, laden with creams, except for the Wine Jelly full of wine.

Our friends did talk way too much; it was hard to rein them into the dining room. They were having way too much fun! And alas we did run out of time to finish up the last 2 courses before Downton. We ate our dessert; the Treacle Tart, which by the way was wonderful, while we watched Downton and then had the cheese after the show.

So I wanted to post the menu with the wines which we paired for each course:

1. Appetizer: by Aletha, wine is Sherry.
2. Soup: Potato Leek Soup; wine Hungry Hollow 2010 Gewürztraminer
3. Poached Salmon with a Mousseline Sauce; (As served on the last meal from Titanic 1^st Class menu, April 14, 1912); wine- Baletto Winery Pinot Gris
4. Roasted Chicken au Jus; wine- Iron Horse 2011 Russian River Pinot Noir
5. Wine Jelly- this is made with an entire bottle of Zinfandel wine.
6. Roasted Beef with Potatoes and Green Beans; wine – Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) 1995 Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
7. Salad: Asparagus with a Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing
8. Desserts: Treacle Tart as per Season 3, Episode 1 and Rice Pudding; wine- Iron Horse Classic Vintage Brut 2006 Champagne & Iron Horse Brut “X” 2007 Champagne
9. Cheese: Various Cheese selections; Pimms

We did not serve large portions so people were pleasantly full I believe, but I for one did not eat any cheese. By then I’d had smelled enough food and eaten enough for one day.

During dinner we did receive a telegram, via a text message from my good friend John who we’d invited. The telegram read “ss titanic struck iceberg and sunk STOP 1549 souls perished STOP sir John lost at sea STOP his  last words were ‘darn now I won’t inherit Downton Abbey STOP’”. So alas our friend John was unable to join the party.

Downton Party Tonight

Polishing the Silver

Cleaning Candlesticks and building chairs

Table is mostly set

What a long day! I wanted to write last night but finally at 2am we just simply fell asleep, but hardly could stop laughing by then.

The goal yesterday was to polish the silver flatware and service, purchase food, set the table and decide and make some of the foods. Nearly everything got done. We will just pick up some flowers today, finish cooking and Dale will pick up a few things we didn’t have time to get yesterday.

So here is the long anticipated menu:

1. Appetizer: by Aletha, wine is Sherry and maybe a little Port.
2. Soup: Potato Leek Soup; wine Gewürztraminer
3. Poached Salmon with a Mousseline Sauce; (As served on the last meal from Titanic 1^st Class menu, April 14, 1912); wine- Pinot Gris
4. Roasted Chicken au Jus; wine- Pinot Noir
5. Wine Jelly- this is made with an entire bottle of Zinfandel wine.
6. Roasted Beef with Potatoes and Green Beans; wine – Cabernet Sauvignon
7. Salad: Asparagus with a Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing
8. Cheese: Various Cheese selections; wine – Champagne
9. Desserts: Treacle Tart as per Season 3, Episode 1 and Rice Pudding; wine- Pimms and Port

Now we do know that we have 9 courses, have understood this for a couple of days. But reality hit us last night when making up a schedule for getting these dishes on the table. Most must be hot, served to each person, wine served and all in a timely manner. So when putting this all into a timetable we realized that we will only have 15 minutes for each course from start to finish as we are starting dinner at 7pm and Downton starts at 9pm. I know 15 minutes seems like a lot of time but we must go around the table to each of the 11 guests, let them serve themselves, sit down eat our course, get up and get the next one ready to serve.

Some courses will be quick, like the Wine Jelly, which by the way is really different. I made it last night and we had a taste. All I can say is it is different. But it might just be a nice change after all of the rich food before.

But what got us laughing is the thought (no offense to our guests who might read this) of telling our guests that they must eat, “stop talking, eat”  “No laughing, eat, quickly”! It should be quite an evening.

And now I’m off to get 2 chickens in the oven, will pre-roast then cut them up and warm them tonight. I’ll cook as much as I can this morning: soup, boullion for the Salmon, then maybe warm the Wine Jelly and drink it!

Downton Dinner Countdown

It’s quiet now, busy workers will start soon, readying for the big dinner party.

One day to go until the Downton dinner.

I’m a little concerned about the food selection because I won’t have much time between courses to get the next one out. I want to eat and enjoy the evening so am thinking that I want it easy to serve food: Roasted chicken vs. a baked with sauce. I’ll have to decide that today. I’ll make up a time schedule to follow for the food preparation then determine which dish will be the easiest.

Yesterday was cleaning day. Since I’ve been gone so long many things have just been sitting waiting. I like to do an in-depth cleaning a couple of times a year but that didn’t happen in the fall. Dale and I spent the day on the dining room and the great room. Got most of the kitchen done too.

Today Sunny and her boyfriend will clean the silver. I’ll get my grandma’s dishes down, antique glass ware down and wash it all.

The dining room table is ready to be set. We put chairs around and found that we needed to use all 5 leaves in the table. Now there is very little room to walk around the table to serve people food. I tried my white table cloth but it was just slightly too small. I’d bought a red table cloth a couple of years ago that was too big for that use but it is perfect for this dinner. Since this is the Christmas Special on Downton the red cloth with white napkins will be fine.

Sunny and I went to a local costume shop to look for a dress for her yesterday. I’d thought that flapper would be fun for her. Instead we found a beautiful pink dress with a great hat. The dress is floor length in front with a small train, so Downton!

Today is food purchase day and the day to firm up the outfits. We still need white shirts for the guys and 1 more white bow tie. Sunny will try to find some 1900’s style boots this morning. Dolly will come help me with my hat and to set the table.

Lots to do!

A Downton Dinner: Planning A 9 Course Dinner

I’ve been working out of town since we returned from our backpacking trip so haven’t cooked or thought about food much until the last few days. I’ve just returned home this week and am quickly trying to get back into home life all the while preparing for a Downton dinner party. The difference between this party and our last one is that this party will be a party with friends dressed for dinner and lots of courses.

I’ve not had much time to do research but it looks like the dinner must consist of: 1. Appetizers, 2. soup, 3. roasted foul, 4. Wine jelly, 5. a meat with veges, 6. salad, 7. cheese, 8.dessert.  Trying to put this together has been a challenge as I’ve had no time, however we will get a simple dinner done.

A friend, Aletha will bring the Appetizers. For dessert, another friend, Ross, will bring Treacle Tart, mentioned in Season 3, Episode 1. Dolly will bring Rice Pudding.

I’ve spent time on planning the dinner tonight, again looking at all of the Downton Abbey food sites. Here is my thought: a Potato Leak soup, some sort of Salmon dish, Roasted Chicken au jus (remember when the cat got the roasted chicken?), Wine Jelly, Roast with Yorkshire Pudding and gravy, Asparagus salad with a mustard vinaigrette and then various cheeses.

We hated our dining room chairs so gave them away a year or so ago. Now we had no time to order any and even less money that we wanted to spend on chairs. We found some at Target, plain wood, nothing fancy. Dale just put them together and those will be what we use along with our dinette chairs.

It looks like we will have 11 people around the table. Most in costume.

I wanted to make a dress but unfortunately, just arriving home, there is no time. I found a layered dress that I’d bought years ago, made from a kind of sheer fabric that I’ll put over a longer skirt. I have a hat that is the main thing that I want to wear. The elastic is gone so I’ll need to repair it but hopefully can get it to work. We will buy a white shirt and white tie for Dale. He can wear that with his dinner jacket. He will look like a waiter!

My grandmother bought dishes I believe in about 1916 so we will use as many of those dishes as possible. Also, my mom has a bunch of collectible dishes that I’d hoped to see about selling for her. I think I’ll look thru those dishes tomorrow and see if we can use any for our dinner.

I’ll post photos as I can. 

So months ago I thought I’d be done working soon, I’d never have guessed that the gig would last 6 months. Finally a week ago I finished, work slowed way down and I got the cut. Of course, wouldn’t you know, things went to hell in a hand basket on the project, people coming out of the woodwork. I got a call on Friday asking if I could possibly come back.

I’ll head back up to Sacramento this afternoon and go back to the routine; work, LUNCH, work, gym, sleep. But it’s a good routine; I’m tired at the end of the day. I've picked up my rental car and the Marriot is waiting for me.

Cheryl, my co-worker and I get along well and work well together. We each know what must be done and can rely on one another that the jobs will get done. We also can laugh together and the biggest or most fun part of our day is where to eat lunch.

I do miss Dale and our granddaughter but since she has some huge dental bills the work comes at a perfect time. We all know that she must have the dental work done and all know it must be paid for so we make the best of it.

Dale will have time to work on the Jaguar since I won’t be home and making the Honey-Do list even longer. But then I do call with various things that must be done immediately so I guess he doesn’t get a break.  Such is life

A Jaguar Awakens

Today, February 2, 2013, a very big day!!!

We started later than we wanted but started the 2-1/2 hour drive to San Luis Obispo by 7:30a.m. to British Sports Cars.

Why British Sports Cars you might ask, when it is so far away? Well we had an amazing thing happen to us. A couple of years ago Rafe Saber from Canada, the guy who put us in touch with BSC started a face book page for Jaguar owners. He has since started several other pages for various Jag owners. So Rafe loves his Jags and has enjoyed making the connections between people, events and Jag restoration companies. People post Jaguar related events and companies will post the Jaguar related items for sale or services offered.  One such company on the site is British Sports Cars.

Unbeknownst to us, Rafe and Justin from British Sports Cars spoke via facebook and came up with the idea of starting our car and videotaping the whole event. Their thought was that the video could be seen throughout the world as a “Rip Van Winkle” car. Rafe sent me a message via facebook about their idea and we in turn sent a message to Justin via facebook. We then actually spoke by phone and, of course, met in person.

We actually had sent messages to Justin about 1 year ago inquiring about their services after Justin posted photos of their service garage. So you see we all met on facebook, never knew of each other until we joined the facebook club, the true power of social media.

What is amazing to us is that Rafe and Justin afforded us the opportunity to have our car inspected and then today’s event without charging us anything. For this one simple act we will be forever grateful because we would have likely not gotten started with any restoration for some time to come. Starting a project like this is daunting at best but with their push we have quickly gotten excited about getting our baby on the road.

So back to today’s event; we got into San Luis Obispo about 10a.m. but were unsure where to park. Now we have a big crew cab truck with a long bed and we were pulling this car trailer. There was no place to park in front of the shop so we put the blinkers on, parked in the left hand lane on the one way street and I went in to get some instructions. A crowd quickly gathered along the sidewalk, people looking and pointing at our car. A woman asked me what model it was as I walked into the BCS shop. It was so exciting to see the reaction from so many people as they all were ooh’ing and awe’ing.

Justin soon came and along with his father guided us to the rear of the shop.

After getting the car off the trailer Justin got to work adjusting this and that. The lights worked fine but other electrical items need work. With 3 of the BCS people the car started with a roar! We didn’t remember it being so loud! It was a tremendous sound to us. Justin was unable to drive it because the fuel pump does not work but that will be fixed in good time.

And just a side note, British Sports Cars has the car Amelia Earhart drove sitting in their shop. I was thrilled to not only get to see her car up close and personal but got to sit in the very driver’s seat that she sat in!!!

A day to be remembered!

A Family and their Jag

Many years ago, about 1973, a kid received a Jaguar XK 140 from his father. The kid decided to sell the car for the price of an airplane ticket to Europe and listed it in the paper. At that same time a pair of newlyweds decided to see if they could pick up a sports car. Not having much money they decided to look in the classified ads. Seeing the ad for the Jaguar they quickly rushed off to Household Finance and got a loan to cover the Jag plus a little extra to make sure it was theirs.

The newlyweds got their Jaguar the very next morning and drove their car all over. A couple of years later they had a baby boy. Since there were no seat belt laws or child seats their baby was held by mom or dad whoever was sitting in the passenger seat of the 2 seat car. Top down the little family tooled around in style.

The Jaguar owners grew older and the family larger and alas the car was put into storage with the plan that someday the car would come out of storage and purr again.

So 35 years later here we are, and parts of this blog will memorialize the restoration of our girl waking up.

A month or so ago a facebook friend, Rafe Saber, connected us with British Sports Cars.

Justin Jurgens from British Sports Cars then stopped by our house to inspect the car and gave us lots of pointers on how to proceed but he really preferred to start the car at his shop in order to actually drive the car and access the motor. That will happen tomorrow.

We have removed the wheels and checked the brakes, front are expanded and won’t go back but the rear appear to be fine. We filled the inner tube inside the 35 year old tires and believe it or not they are holding air! We do promise to buy new tires next but to get the car on the trailer in a hurry we are making do.

We had a big plan to get the car onto the trailer, just the 2 of us. But as these things go; we needed a new wench, needed fuel for tomorrow’s trip, and on and on. So it was getting to be late afternoon.

We backed the trailer up onto our driveway but realized that we did need a little help. One neighbor was home and came over, then another came home and came over. Soon we had 2 more helpers plus moms and sisters with the cameras, dogs on leashes to help protect us. It took a neighborhood to get the car up.

Now for a glass of wine then an early morning to British Sports Cars.