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sarahcoller's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I'm pretty disappointed with this little book---which is a bummer because I had it on my Amazon wishlist for a really long time before finally deciding to buy it for myself this year. It's a great idea but very underdeveloped. She throws out many terms without explanation; things like "fasting dish", "hoops" for baking, "sack" and "gill" in relation to the kitchen. Seems she could have explained the less familiar terms like she did in other areas. It's not a balanced book.
Another thing that annoyed me was she begins the recipe chapter by saying she didn't make edits---but then she obviously does---again, inconsistently. For instance, it's pretty common knowledge that the "s" and the "f" looked very similar in those days, yet she doesn't consistently change or not change them. She changes all the s words to their correct spelling (with an s at the beginning instead of an f) except for the word "six". In all cases, she leaves it as "fix". Also, she refuses to correct obvious mistakes like "in fourth" instead of "one fourth", yet she paraphrases other instructions.
A final annoyance was that she makes way too many assumptions about the lewd ulterior motives of party game players. Not everyone had romance on the brain all the time. I have five teenagers who often have parties with 20-25 young people here ages 13 to 20. They're prime examples of a group of young people getting together for good, clean fun without feeling the need to hook up. If they can do it in 2019, I'm highly doubtful that people in Jane's day were as lecherous as the author's imagination seems to make them out to be in places.
I don't have any real great takeaways from this tiny volume, but I do think the author could expand it greatly for a much meatier read.
Another thing that annoyed me was she begins the recipe chapter by saying she didn't make edits---but then she obviously does---again, inconsistently. For instance, it's pretty common knowledge that the "s" and the "f" looked very similar in those days, yet she doesn't consistently change or not change them. She changes all the s words to their correct spelling (with an s at the beginning instead of an f) except for the word "six". In all cases, she leaves it as "fix". Also, she refuses to correct obvious mistakes like "in fourth" instead of "one fourth", yet she paraphrases other instructions.
A final annoyance was that she makes way too many assumptions about the lewd ulterior motives of party game players. Not everyone had romance on the brain all the time. I have five teenagers who often have parties with 20-25 young people here ages 13 to 20. They're prime examples of a group of young people getting together for good, clean fun without feeling the need to hook up. If they can do it in 2019, I'm highly doubtful that people in Jane's day were as lecherous as the author's imagination seems to make them out to be in places.
I don't have any real great takeaways from this tiny volume, but I do think the author could expand it greatly for a much meatier read.
eemms's review against another edition
3.0
Not particularly helpful. I was looking for more period sources and more Christmas centric. The Christmas specific is mostly sourced to blog posts and online articles, most of which aren't sourced at all - so not particularly trustworth - and none of it is sourced in the text (there's just a generic bibliography at the end). Some of the recipe books sourced from are from the mid 1700s while another book is from the mid 1800s, and many of the recipes are not Christmas specific. I would have really liked a sample menu, for example. It's an OK compendium of website resources but most of them are top hits on Google anyway.
mechbutterfly's review against another edition
4.0
A short read, but quite detailed and useful for research or for those who are just interested in the period.
book_bear's review against another edition
5.0
A very interesting books filled with little known Christmas facts. I really enjoyed it.
emilyexley's review against another edition
3.0
This book really has nothing to do with Jane Austen, but it is interesting. At least if you are interested in the Regency period and obscure recipes, which I am.
madisonreadsbooks's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
This book gives an interesting overview of Christmas traditions during the Regency period.
book_bear's review
5.0
A very interesting books filled with little known Christmas facts. I really enjoyed it.