Members of the Jane Austen Book-to-Fork Cooking Club (a special interest group of the Greater Sacramento region) met for an event entitled “Welcome to Molland’s”. We greeted 4 new student members (hi Mansha, Abby, Jacky, and Josh!) and got re-acquainted with a few other long-standing members. Our host, Joy Prevost presented a history of Molland’s Pastry and Confectionery (a shop Jane Austen would have known while living in Bath) and showed her photos taken during the Spring JASNA tour of Milsom Street where it was located. Then we listened to a reading of the Molland’s scene from Persuasion where Ann and Wentworth re-connect. In honor of the 250^th anniversary and that sweets would be eaten at Molland’s, we had a cookie exchange. Members brought 2 dozen cookies and in exchange brought home 3 dozen (or more!) new cookies. Much discussion of recipes, Jane, books and adaptations took place. We had raffle prizes and book give-aways and everyone was on a sugar and Austen buzz.

Here are all the delicious varieties of cookies and confectioneries we shared and indulged in:

Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies – Jacky

Jumbles from Tea with Jane Austen – Kim

Almond Clouds (gluten-free) – Bronwyn

Molasses Drops – Bronwyn

Miss Harriet Smith’s Favorite Macarons – Christi

KAF Easy Linzer Bars with Almond Flour – Deborah

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars w/ Walnuts – Deborah

Snickerdoodles – Jill

Melting Moments (shortbread and lemon) – Abby

Chocolate Surprise – Victoria

Sachima (Chinese rice-krispie treat) – Shirley

Chocolate Chip Cookies – Josh

Earl Grey Shortbread – Rachelle

Lemon Sugar Cookies – Rachelle

Sugar Cookies – Joy

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip – Mansha

TJ’s Apple Shortbread, Beech’s Milk Chocolate, Walker’s Thistle Rounds – Janet

Apple & Blackcurrant and Raspberry Jammie Dodgers – Janet

Chocolate Chip Cookies – Joy

Pandan Shortbread (gluten-free) – Joy

Strawberry-Covered Macadamia – Joy

Lychee Jelly Candy – Joy

Hawaiian and Scottish Shortbread – Lynn

Almond Crescents and Petit Fours – Larisa

Chocolate Chews – Mary

March 23, 2025

Recap and Announcements

“Dinner with Mr. Darcy” was a happy event for what is better than Janeites meeting and eating. Christi decorated our scene with fresh flowers of the season. The menu was brought together by all.

Pea Soup – Victoria; Vegetable Pie – Sandra;Beef Stew, Spiced Mushrooms, Green Beans, Sweetmeats – Joy; Bath Buns – Bronwyn, Fresh Fruit – Shirley; Jumbles – Lanni; Gingerbread – Victoria; Vanilla Shortbread – Frida; Chocolate Pot de Crème – Mary; Mrs. Austen’s Pudding – Janet; Duke of Clarence Medeira – Jill; Pineapple and Floral Arrangements – Christi

We all enjoyed sharing what we made and spoke to the recipes found in the cookbook “Dining with Mr. Darcy”, a Colonial America cookbook, as well as other sources. Here are some photos of a memorable afternoon. We even had a food server named Georgiana!

October 15, 2023 Meeting Recap

The joint meeting of the Jane Austen Book-to-Fork Cooking Club and Movie Fan Club met at the home of Joy Prevost.

We started the Pride and Prejudice (1995) movie marathon and laid out the spread of delicious food upon the Jane

Austen themed tablecloths.  The fun thing about watching this P & P all together and in review is that we’ve all seen it before and made commentaries throughout a la Mystery Science Theater 2000.  We enjoyed the comments even more than the show!  At the break we indulged in a meal that the P & P characters might have eaten.  Joy presented a plain dish or roasted chicken and peas and a ragout of mushroom and chicken with mashed potatoes. Pemberley food was represented with fruit and small cakes (cookies). We also ate meats, cheeses and salad perhaps similar to what Kitty and Lydia had ready for Elizabeth at the inn.  Watching all the episodes and sharing our thoughts was so comforting and made the 8 hours go by so quickly.

Revel in the photos of cheerful marathoners!

The Book-to-Fork Cooking Club met at Nitty’s Cider in Sacramento.  On a beautiful Sunday afternoon with just enough heat and breeze, attendees (Lynn, Bronwyn, Louise, Megan, Anne, Kathy, Christi, Lanni, Janet, Shirley, Richard, and Joy) enjoyed cider and company. The table was set with apples (cider is made from apples) and quotes from Emma which mentions apples a dozen times. Joy presented on cider and its history in the world and in America (with “few dates”), the making of, uses of, and the connection with Jane Austen. With everyone selecting their own tasting flights, we must have drank our way through the whole menu. There was a cider called The Cider That Jane Likes which had a lovely lemon and lavender flavor. However, the Jane was not our Jane, but a beloved friend of the cider maker. Along with the cider, we had Ploughman’s Lunch grazing trays with home-made breads and home-grown pickled vegetables, cheese, meat, fruit, and more.  The Cider Loaf which contained Nitty’s Cider was a huge hit and its recipe (from Tea with the Bennets Anthology of Recipes by Margaret Vaughn) was included in the handout. Raffle prizes of apples and a cookbook closed the meeting.  Enjoy the photos!

April 22, 2023 Meeting Recap

The Book-to-Fork Cooking Club met at Touch of Britain in North Highlands, which is a British grocery and restaurant.  The table was set with Jane Austen cookies and bookmarks. We enjoyed conversations about trips to England, gardening, and royalty, and worked on trivia questions (thank you JASNA somewhere in Washington state). Our menu selections ranged from steak and ale pie with mushy peas to fish and chips with malt vinegar. Dessert was an array of British biscuits and the Jane Austen cookies if you dared to eat her face!  Susan and Nancy each won a Harrod’s bag with goodies (tea, shortbread, Austentacious pin, framed quote).

April 30, 2023 Recap

The meeting took place at Streets of London in West Sacramento, which is a British pub. To brighten up the pub setting, the table was set with doilies and of course, Jane Austen cookies! Though the menu was plentiful of food other than pub food, we enjoyed our selections and the discussion of Jane Austen in London and tried our hand at the trivia questions.  We were also multi-tasking by watching the Sac Kings v. Warriors game. This time Janet and Lanni each won a Harrod’s goodie bag.  Part of the discussion was the movie “Chevalier” which tells the story of real-life violin virtuoso and composer Joseph Bologne. Some of us had learned of him at a previous AGM and were very interested in learning about this bi-racial prodigy who was somewhat lost in history due to the tumultuous French revolutions. This turned into an impromptu trip to Tower Theater to watch “Chevalier” which had excellent acting, music, costumes, and production.

September 18, 2022

The Book-to-Fork Cooking Club had a successful outing in Rancho Cordova. Surprisingly it was a blustery wind, but we were cozy at Strad Meadery.  Joy presented her paper on Jane Austen and Mead before we indulged in the tasting.  The mead flight consisted of original honey, dragonfruit, peach, passionfruit, and yuzu flavors.  Alongside our delicious mead, we had grazing boxes filled with meats, cheeses, nuts, fruit, and other sweets and savories. A delightful afternoon enjoying Jane Austen’s favorite drink. May your mouth water looking at these photos.