Daisy Dreams of the Future

Daisy, performed by Sophie McShera

"Thirty-four years.  If I were to marry this year, what would life be like in 1958?"

Upon hearing the news of Cora and Robert's anniversary, Daisy starts pondering her future.  Of course, right now the sights aren't looking too good for marriage for Daisy if she stays in the kitchen all day, but still, England would be entirely different in just a few short years.  Having survived a second World War, the country would see the end of sweets and fuel rationing, watch anti-war rallies erupt in Trafalgar Square against England's military involvement in Egypt, the Mini Cooper car would come a long, and Queen Elizabeth, the current reigning monarch, would become queen.

For a fascinating further read, go to David Kynaston's article for The Daily Mail: A Vanished Britain.

Link:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1224231/A-vanished-Britain-50-years-ago-country-doors-left-unlocked-children-played-street.html

Downton Abbey Season 5 Premier

It's back.  Downton Abbey season five premiers tonight in America after the long haitus.  We shall see if it is better than ever (but fingers are crossed).  Stay tuned afterwards for a documentary with Alastair Bruce, Downton's historical advisor.

The Mystery behind George Clooney

The debonair George Clooney, who blinks his lashes at everyone adorably, can now be seen in Post World War I England in his guest appearance on a Downton Abbey sketch.  He plays the perfect epitome of the Earl lording over Downton had Hugh Bonneville's character never been born.  Thankfully, Lord Grantham comes to his senses before the end of this sketch created for the TV special Text Santa (which is a television fundraiser done by ITV TV during the holidays- this year they donated over 5,000,000 pounds to the Alzheimer's Society, Guide Dogs, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Teenage Cancer Trust, Together for Short Lives and WellChild).  To read more or watch the cast taking selfies, playing strip poker (shocking, we know), or chatting with Mr. Selfridge (another TV show on the same channel as Downton Abbey, this one specializing in showing the story of the American, Harry Selfridge, who brought the department store to England around the same era), go to:

New York Daily News:  http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/george-clooney-plays-lord-hollywood-downton-abbey-skit-article-1.2051770

Carey Mulligan on Downton?

Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan, actress from Never Let Me Go, Pride and Prejudice, An Education, and best known in America for her roles in Drive and The Great Gatsby, has revealed that she would like a role in Downton Abbey.  She gives Julian Fellowes' the credit for seeing her first in her younger years and getting a role that landed her in Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice.  I think she should be Rose's new confident and friend.  Let's face it, Rose is a girl who needs a best friend.

To read the full article, check out Digital Spy.

Modernizing the Apple Charlotte

Way back when, in Season One of Downton, there was a dreadful Apple Charlotte recipe concocted.  Of course, it is only dreadful if one pours salt rather than sugar on it.  That goes without saying.

In Mrs. Beeton's cookbook, the recipe goes as follows:

Butter, for greasing the pie dish and buttering the bread
9 slices of bread, crusts removed
6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Sugar, enough to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (isn't a modern stove a wonderful invention?)
Butter a pie dish and the bread slices.  Place a layer of bread at the bottom, then a layer of apples.  Sprinkle over these a portion of the lemon zest and juice, and sweeten with sugar.  Place another layer of bread, and then apples, proceeding in this manner until the dish is full.

Then cover it up with the peel of the apples, to preserve the top from browning or burning.  Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes; turn the charlotte onto a dish, sprinkle sugar on top, and serve.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this recipe (notice the lack of salt).  However, the Victorians had a very different taste palate than our modern tongues are used to.  Here is a modernized version of it that I whipped together for lunch today.

Ingredients:

8 slices of bread, any type but I'm sure something like a french loaf would taste best
4 large apples, cored (I kept the peels for a bit of color)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.

Smoother a pie dish with butter (I suppose you could use cooking spray if you are counting calories).  Cut your bread slices in half (triangles are the only way to do this properly but other ways can be tried), and butter one or both sides (depending on how you fight the battle of taste verses health).  Layer four of the slices of bread onto the bottom.  On top of that layer, add the apple slices.  Sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice.  Repeat bread, then apple, until you have run out of ingredients.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Ingredients for Caramel Sauce:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla

While it is baking, whip together a caramel sauce for a topping.  In a saucepan on medium-low head, whisk the brown sugar, milk and butter together.  Keep whisking it until it boils (I usually turn on a jazz tune and whisk to the tempo and until it starts boiling up).  Add the 1 tablespoon of vanilla and remove it from heat.  Note: This is a thin caramel sauce.

When the Apple Charlotte is done baking, pour the caramel sauce over it and serve.  Bon appetite!

Nanny West vs. Thomas

Anna, Lady Mary, Nanny West and the adorable Master George

 

Nanny West has been sacked within one episode, and I am certain most of us said good riddance to her as soon as we saw how she treated dear little Sybil.  However, this does not explain why she has gotten her feathers all ruffled over the way Thomas treats her- after all, Thomas treats everyone quite terribly who he doesn't take a shine to, and that is the better of the two options. 

"The real discomfort of a governess's position in a private family arises from the fact that it is undefined.  She is not a relation, not a guest, not a mistress, not a servant- but something made up of all.  No one knows exactly how to treat her."
                                                                                -Elizabeth Missing Sewell, Principles of Education

Does Nanny West have the right to boss Thomas around?  Possibly.  In a house this size, she would have soon had staff under her, a nursery maid or a nursery cook who would be preparing the dinners for the nursery so Mrs. Patmore could focus on the main dinners (children did not dine with their parents until they could deport themselves with grace and elegance and altogether be miniatures of their parents).  So if she had staff under her, she would be at the same level of say Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes or Mrs. Patmore.  Even without staff, she reported directly to the family, not to the head butler or housekeeper, ranking her higher up.  Bossing anyone isn't going to win friends, but she did have a right to send messages with Thomas so that she could be back with her little charges sooner.  However, she would have appeared so infrequently from the nursery until the children were older that one can hardly blame Thomas for taking offence at being given orders by a stranger.

Master and Miss

Master George, Miss Sybie and their parents, the ones that lived

 

Fun fact: Children of the aristocracy had their own titles.  Little boys were referred to as Master ______ and little girls referred to as Miss __________ by anyone who was socially lower than them- nannies, servants, neighbors, etc.  It was a sign of respect for the children who would one day take the place of their parents in the aristocratic realms.  Of course, when they have grown up, these titles were left behind as a sign of respect.  As noted in the BBC tv series Cranford by two ladies, "Master William Buxton!"- "Although I think we should not call him master now, he is so much broader than when we last saw him." Of course the two ladies are chattering about the fully grown Tom Hiddleston who has been quite grown up for a while now.