Today, I invited a friend to tea.   I have started my annual Christmas cookie baking, and we sampled 3 different kinds with our PG Tips.

My recipes are family recipes handed down to me – I think they taste better with memories and stories baked in.  I baked 3 kinds today- white and chocolate pinwheels, Russian tea cakes, and Chewy Noels.  The pinwheels and tea cakes are fancy looking and the Noels will be after their coating of white sugar and green icing spelling “Noel” are piped on.

Tomorrow I will be baking chocolate pixies and my son’s favorite candy cane cookies.

Miss Marple was a fan of plain and serviceable tea towels.  In the book At Bertram’s Hotel, Miss Marple comments on her purchase of tea towels-“definitely NOT covered with radishes or baby lambs!!” she boasts.

My dish towels were recently in need of replacement, so  I chose flat woven (as opposed to terry cloth) white cloths with a blue woven stripe- both modest and appealing.

I find hand washing my dishes much more enjoyable with a nice baker’s dozen of these good towels neatly stacked near by.

This must have been one of the towels that made Miss Marple shudder so!

When reading or watching Miss Marple, I have always paid special attention to clothing and accessories worn that reflect the time and setting.   Her wool skirts, cotton stockings, blouses, cardigans and tweed jackets, gloves, hat, shoes, jewelry, hairstyle- I notice them all.

This week, I have placed an order by catalouge (the on-line variety) for a wool skirt, black cotton tights and a wool hat.  I do not intend to dress as an elderly woman,(although I have been mistaken for one!) but to incorporate little Marple-isms into my wardrobe.

Next I will order for myself violet essence – an old fashioned scent that Miss Marple might have worn when she was younger.

At luncheon today (soup, bread, and sausages), I noticed a lot of birdy activity in my garden.  A whirlwind of Sparrows and Dark Eyed Juncos descended upon my feeders and as I gazed curiously out the dining room window, I saw the reason.  Yesterday’s wind and rain had tumbled a feeder out of its tree and had strewn its contents in a wide swath and triggered the current “fly-in”.

 

 

Even my Blue Jay and Woodpecker visited as well as many households of squirrels.  The Woodpecker spent a little more time than usual in the lilac bush pecking at the branches.

An hour or two later, I heard a terrific rat a tat tat sound coming from quite close- I thought to myself, that Woodpecker sounds like he’s pecking on my house.  I was a little excited, I must admit.  But the excitement did not last long, alas, a neighbor was merely repairing a fence.

In Britain, there is no Thanksgiving Day holiday, such as in the United States.  Instead, there are harvest festivals and celebrations.  

Until the 1950’s, turkey was a luxury in the UK.   Miss Marple’s character was set in the immediate post-WWII England, so I can say with confidence that whatever harvest festival was celebrated in her village of Saint Mary Mead, did not include a turkey.

Miss Marple was never married,  but she did have nephews who adored her and no doubt invited her to spend holidays with them but since a Harvest festival was not the equivalent of the US Thanksgiving holiday,  she might have had a special little dinner in her own home, perhaps with a widowed friend.

Partridge would definitely be on the menu, roasted with parsnip and carrot and flavoured with sage and bacon.  Any partridge left uneaten would be made into a game pie to be eaten the next day.

I am sure that Miss Marple would secretly give me a little nod and twinkle in her eyes about the title, but she would never laugh out loud, I’m sure.

Cooking small meals does not come natural to me, and I am gradually learning to do so.  Miss Marple would have had tasty little meals simply prepared and most likely very fresh- perhaps marketing in her village frequently (for sales and freshness, I am sure.)

Our dinner tonight on this stormy grey day is a filet of Atlantic salmon (a nice rosy hue), brown rice with sauteed onion, and sweet butternut squash.  A cup of tea with honey and a biscuit (cookie to Americans) by the heater with a good book is how I plan to spend my evening.

I have mentioned before that I love all of the Agatha Christie’s Marple episodes as well as the Masterpiece Theater (PBS) adaptations starring Joan Hickson.  Did you know that Agatha Christie met Joan Hickson and said she would love to have her play Miss Marple?

That leads me to my point today.  I need to find a winter hat to wear of the style worn by the Joan Hickson Miss Marple.  I researched film stills and discovered that she always wore the same type of hat- sometimes a different color or material- but always a “bucket hat”.

I had a wool cloche that I loved in my early adult years, and all of this talk about hats makes me (and my husband- who liked that hat!) nostalgic.  I am going to look for a blue felted wool hat.

I previously mentioned that I am a backyard birdwatcher.  In doing so for many years, I have found myself “claiming” certain birds- I’ll say to my husband “My blue jay is back” or “My finches have made a nest in the bird box”.  Well, today my woodpecker is back!  He must have been lured back by the suet and corn I put out last week.

I have five bird feeders- some filled with corn, some with mixed seeds, 2 suet feeders and one platform feeder- right now it has cantaloupe seeds and pulp in it.  I must go out and fill the bird bath with warm water.

 

Since starting this modest blog, I have found myself frequently thinking “What would Miss Marple do?”

After the rose pruning activities of yesterday, I ran inside to get warm and treat my thorny injuries and soak my hands in warm water.   That led to peeling potatoes and making  soup, and before I knew it, it was dark outside.

Stepping outside today, I surveyed rose clippings all about, and tut-tutted to myself “what would Miss Marple say?”   I was ashamed of myself.  Jane Marple would have tidied up after herself and brushed down the doorstep before she would dreamed of going back inside.

Needless to say I could not just leave the entrance to my home ashambles  and I did tidy up the discarded canes.  Tomorrow I just may polish my brass post box.  I am sure Miss Marple would have done.

 

After a time spent outdoors pruning roses, my hands became stiff and sore.  I have discovered recently, that hand washing dishes and peeling potatoes in hot water  makes them feel better.

Since hot soup on a cold day is a perfect meal, I made potato soup for supper.

I peeled a few potatoes and cooked them with a little onion in chicken broth,then added cream and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  With a side of cheese and crackers it is just right. 

The only thing that could have made it better, was a dessert of apple pie!