An American Christmas Breakfast

‘”I shall take the cream and the muffins”, added Amy, heroically giving up the articles she most liked.’ (Louisa May Alcott, Little Women)

Every year since I started this blog, I have written a Christmas-themed post: there have been, amongst others, mince pies from Pride and Prejudice, Christmas cake from Jane Eyre and fudge from Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales.  This year, feeling that I had exhausted my knowledge of Christmas food in English Literature, I decided to look across the Atlantic to America to Louisa Alcott’s Little Women (the new film version of which, directed by Greta Gerwig, is due for release this Christmas). Continue reading “An American Christmas Breakfast”

Eating with a French family

As I noted in a previous post – on Virginia Woolf’s To the lighthouse  – French food is very close to my heart (and stomach!). But whilst I have spent many enjoyable an hour in cafes, bistros and restaurants, some of my most vivid and long-lasting impressions of French food were nurtured in the home.  Continue reading “Eating with a French family”

Food in the historical novel

Since I started this blog more than five years ago, I’ve discovered how much literature can tell us about the food preferences and practices of a particular society or culture. Continue reading “Food in the historical novel”

Food and adventure

There’s nothing like an adventure for stirring up an appetite. All that fresh air, exercise and adrenaline can leave one feeling ravenous. Enid Blyton’s Famous Five novels are a case in point, with the four adventure-prone children (plus dog) always finding the time to have a picnic – with ‘lashings of ginger beer’ – even in the middle of high drama and tense action.  Continue reading “Food and adventure”