Titanic tea at Hearthide

Welcome aboard on this 12 day of May in 1912.

The Hearthide Family has created a Titanic adventure for you. There will be no sinking on this day, just a luxurious afternoon tea in the company of friends.

You will be greeted by the butler and maid to assure your needs are met with great attention and care.

Then, Captain Edward Smith with welcome you and show you around the ship.

While this is happening, the host and her staff are doing last minute checks of the tea rooms.

In the kitchen, the maid is inspecting all the tea pots and getting them ready for the tea.
All is going well. Time for tea!

                         All our guests are first class passengers, 

but, we got a rare visit on the voyage from the famous Mrs.Sally Beckwith.   She was born, Sarah "Sallie" Monypen. Mrs. Beckwith was a survivor on the Titanic.  

More passengers at the tea:

 .It was a lovely voyage and our guest left safe and smiling.

Interesting comparison to Winslow Homer's Painting

This is a purloined copy of Winslow Homer's work entitled "Near Andersonville."

It just so happens, that some of the pictures taken by Jo-Ellen of me, Estelle standing in the kitchen doorway of Hearthside House are VERY reminiscent of the Homer work. There is a book by the same title, written by one Peter Wood, which is quite good reading, and which discusses the painting in some detail. Enjoy these pictures and the information about the book,
 http://www.amazon.com/Near-Andersonville-Winslow-Huggins-Lectures/dp/0674053206 

Thanks goes out to Frank Daly and Jo-Ellen  Tramontana,  for the information and the photos.

18th Century Bannock

   

I needed to find something to cook and display as my demonstration of hearth cooking  at the Hearthside House. 

 So, after much research, I came up with Bannock. Back in the 14th to 18th centuries it was a simple mix of oats, sometimes barley, water and salt. Very often just oats and water and salt if they had any.

  Bannocks were cooked in the ashes of a camp fire or on a rock over an open  fire. 
It is easy to produce and made a good hearty food for the men on the trails ..

It seems fairly easy, so I tried my hand at making  Bannock in my kitchen.  Because we are not able to light a fire in the hearth at the Hearthside House, I had to cook it at home and bring it in to display on a girdle in the hearth. .

 Here is the easy recipe.

About a cupped handful of oats,  the same of barley flour. I'd say a quarter of a cup, which is enough for one small Bannock.  Salt to taste, if you wish.

Mix the ingredients together and then add enough water to make a stiff paste.

Shape the bannock dough and place in a pan. I  used a little lard when using my iron pan.

Don't make your fire up too hot, you want the Bannock to cook right through not just burn on the outside.

Turn occasionally to check how it is cooking. Once it is toasted or browned on both sides and a test with a knife confirms it is cooked inside, then it is ready to remove from the pan.

Due to health and safety regulations, we are not allowed to let the public try any of what we make, so the docents and staff will get to try them out. 

If you should ever try this, let me know how they turn out.
   
Miss Estelle, Hearthside House cook

My memory of Madame Jones

 As I go back to the year of 1880's, this is my memory of Madame Jones.
I have fond memories of Matilda. She was called many names by the public, but she was very special to me. We grow up together in Providence in 1876. She was Tilly to me. Her father was the pastor of our church. We all sang together in the church choir, along with her mother, Mrs. Henrietta.
We attended the Meeting Street school and I knew then, she was going to be someone great.
She was always singing and parading around like she was on stage, and the whole world was watching her. She was quite pretty and I love to have her entertain me.

We were always together, but then in 1883 she told me she was to be wed. I knew it was going to happen because it was time for the both of us to be moving on in our lives as women.

 We were 14 years of age and it was time. We were both accomplished women with good education, etiquette and style. She went on to  marry David Richard Jones, a newsdealer and hotel bellman. I did not get to see much of her, with her new duties as a wife and training at the Providence Academy of Music. I heard she was studying with Ada Baroness Lacombe.

I was so happy to have meet up with her in  1888.  She was then 18, and attending the New England Conservatory in Boston. This time she was studying with Flora Batson, the leading singer of the Bergen Star Company. I was so thrill to see her doing so well.
Several years had past and I had heard of her many successes, trial and tribulations while doing so.
Still she pushed on to become a music legend.

 She has, and always, will be an inspiration to me and all who knew her.
My memories, 
By Lady Estelle Tucker,  this day in May of 1899.