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RMS Titanic
When I was teaching English to high school seniors, I always did a unit on historical literature. One year we read many accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic including A Night to Remember by Walter Lord. Since I love cookbooks, I had on my shelf a copy of Last Dinner on the Titanic. The book lists the menus and recipes for the last dinners prepared in each of the ship's dining rooms. We decided to reenact the last dinner, and the classes selected one item from each of the 12 courses served that night.
This cooking blog for me represents wonderful memories and wonderful food so I thought I would include a post on this special night. The girls really enjoyed reading about those fateful events of 14 April 1912 and especially enjoyed choosing, preparing, and tasting their selections from the menus of the ship's various dining rooms. Each student also picked a passenger from that fateful voyage and pretended to be that person during the dinner. So we had guests from first and second classes as well as steerage and crew all breaking bread together. It was an evening I will recall many times over the course of my life, and I thank my students for creating such a memorable night.
For four Friday classes, I brought in food supplies and cookware. The classes each made a dish a week right in my classroom, and then we froze them in the school's kitchens. We scheduled the event during dinner hours. I brought in table linens, china, crystal, silver tableware, silver serving pieces, candles, and floral arrangements. The girls made the decorations in art class. The pièce de résistance was a large replica of the Titanic. We transformed the faculty room into the first class dining room on the RMS Titanic. I gave each student a bar of the soap used on that infamous crossing. It is still made and wrapped the same--Creamy Vinolia Soap® that was provided to the first class passengers. I also gave the student who really helped the most and was the most interested in the dinner, a silver Titanic charm on a silver necklace. After the 2-hour long meal, we watched the movie Titanic It was a magical night for us all.
The story of the Titanic has touched me since I was a child, and I am sure that contributed to my selection of A Night to Remember as part of that semester's reading list. I remember I even took the day off from work on the Friday Titanic premiered in movie theatres. I went to the first showing at 11 AM. My interest in the history of the ship was given to my grandson Reed. In June of 2005, I took him to Baltimore to see a Titanic exhibit at the Maryland Science Center with my sister Paige and her granddaughter Maeve. It was a terrific vacation. We called it our nautical adventure since everything we did had to do with water and ships. We took a ride on a pirate ship, spent an afternoon on Woodwind II, a yacht that was used in The Wedding Crashers and built right near me in Albany, NY by Scarano Boat Builders, sailed on my sister's yacht The Adirondack, experienced Baltimore and Inner Harbor on a Ride The Ducks tour, and after dinner in Annapolis took a water taxi to a restaurant for dessert.
The Titanic exhibit started with the boarding pass containing information on someone--man, woman or child--who was on the ship. With papers in hand, we wove through a chronological journey of life on the Titanic that included replicas of first and third-class rooms along with artifacts from the ship, a haunting look at ice warnings the ship
received before it went down, and a tragic glimpse of what happened after the ship hit an iceberg.
One of the most chilling displays was the iceberg recreation where we could feel for ourselves what it must have been like in the water. We entered a dark, cold room toward the end of the weaving exhibit. The room was created to be a reenactment for the "passengers" of that night on the North Atlantic with one wall a massive piece of ice from floor to ceiling, the other sides
midnight blue water, and the ceiling lights from the "stars." The ice had holes in it where we could stick our hands to feel the water temperature of that night so long ago to see how long we could keep our hands on the wall of ice.
The journey ended in the Memorial Gallery, where it was revealed whether the person on your boarding pass was one of the ship's 705 survivors or one of the 1,523 who perished when the ship sank April 15, 1912. I remember Paige, Maeve, and I were first-class females, but little Reed was steerage so I was apprehensive the entire tour knowing he was probably not going to be a survivor. He is so sensitive, I could not anticipate his reaction. I happened to have been the very brave Miss Edith Corse Evans, 36 and born on 21 September 1875. A resident of New York City, Miss Evans boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first-class passenger. She occupied cabin A-29. Miss Evans joined the group of sisters: Mrs. E. D. Appleton, Mrs. John Murray Brown, and Mrs. R. C. Cornell during the voyage and came to know Colonel Archibald Gracie who had gallantly offered his services to the unaccompanied ladies.
First Course~~Hors d'Oeuvres
Canapés à l'Amiral: Shrimp on a thin baguette with cheese and butter sauce
Second Course~~Potage
Vegetable Soup
Third Course~~Poisson
Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce
Fourth Course~~Entrée
Filet Mignon Lili
Fifth Course~~Removes
Curried Chicken and Rice, Château Potato, and Minted Green Pea Timbale
Sixth Course~~Punch or Sorbet
Punch Rosé: Rose Water and Mint Sorbet in Ice Bowls and Punch Romaine
Seventh Course~~Roast
Stuffed Cornish Game Hen
Eighth Course~~Salad
Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
Ninth Course~~Garde Manger
Assorted Cold Relishes
Tenth Course~~Sweets
Chocolate Painted Eclairs with French Vanila Ice Cream
Eleventh Course~~Dessert
Assorted Fresh Fruits and Cheeses
After Dinner~~Assorted Coffees and Teas
If anyone would like any of these recipes, just ask. I will post one or more.
RMS Titanic
When I was teaching English to high school seniors, I always did a unit on historical literature. One year we read many accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic including A Night to Remember by Walter Lord. Since I love cookbooks, I had on my shelf a copy of Last Dinner on the Titanic. The book lists the menus and recipes for the last dinners prepared in each of the ship's dining rooms. We decided to reenact the last dinner, and the classes selected one item from each of the 12 courses served that night.
This cooking blog for me represents wonderful memories and wonderful food so I thought I would include a post on this special night. The girls really enjoyed reading about those fateful events of 14 April 1912 and especially enjoyed choosing, preparing, and tasting their selections from the menus of the ship's various dining rooms. Each student also picked a passenger from that fateful voyage and pretended to be that person during the dinner. So we had guests from first and second classes as well as steerage and crew all breaking bread together. It was an evening I will recall many times over the course of my life, and I thank my students for creating such a memorable night.
For four Friday classes, I brought in food supplies and cookware. The classes each made a dish a week right in my classroom, and then we froze them in the school's kitchens. We scheduled the event during dinner hours. I brought in table linens, china, crystal, silver tableware, silver serving pieces, candles, and floral arrangements. The girls made the decorations in art class. The pièce de résistance was a large replica of the Titanic. We transformed the faculty room into the first class dining room on the RMS Titanic. I gave each student a bar of the soap used on that infamous crossing. It is still made and wrapped the same--Creamy Vinolia Soap® that was provided to the first class passengers. I also gave the student who really helped the most and was the most interested in the dinner, a silver Titanic charm on a silver necklace. After the 2-hour long meal, we watched the movie Titanic It was a magical night for us all.
The story of the Titanic has touched me since I was a child, and I am sure that contributed to my selection of A Night to Remember as part of that semester's reading list. I remember I even took the day off from work on the Friday Titanic premiered in movie theatres. I went to the first showing at 11 AM. My interest in the history of the ship was given to my grandson Reed. In June of 2005, I took him to Baltimore to see a Titanic exhibit at the Maryland Science Center with my sister Paige and her granddaughter Maeve. It was a terrific vacation. We called it our nautical adventure since everything we did had to do with water and ships. We took a ride on a pirate ship, spent an afternoon on Woodwind II, a yacht that was used in The Wedding Crashers and built right near me in Albany, NY by Scarano Boat Builders, sailed on my sister's yacht The Adirondack, experienced Baltimore and Inner Harbor on a Ride The Ducks tour, and after dinner in Annapolis took a water taxi to a restaurant for dessert.
The Titanic exhibit started with the boarding pass containing information on someone--man, woman or child--who was on the ship. With papers in hand, we wove through a chronological journey of life on the Titanic that included replicas of first and third-class rooms along with artifacts from the ship, a haunting look at ice warnings the ship
received before it went down, and a tragic glimpse of what happened after the ship hit an iceberg.
One of the most chilling displays was the iceberg recreation where we could feel for ourselves what it must have been like in the water. We entered a dark, cold room toward the end of the weaving exhibit. The room was created to be a reenactment for the "passengers" of that night on the North Atlantic with one wall a massive piece of ice from floor to ceiling, the other sides
midnight blue water, and the ceiling lights from the "stars." The ice had holes in it where we could stick our hands to feel the water temperature of that night so long ago to see how long we could keep our hands on the wall of ice.
The journey ended in the Memorial Gallery, where it was revealed whether the person on your boarding pass was one of the ship's 705 survivors or one of the 1,523 who perished when the ship sank April 15, 1912. I remember Paige, Maeve, and I were first-class females, but little Reed was steerage so I was apprehensive the entire tour knowing he was probably not going to be a survivor. He is so sensitive, I could not anticipate his reaction. I happened to have been the very brave Miss Edith Corse Evans, 36 and born on 21 September 1875. A resident of New York City, Miss Evans boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first-class passenger. She occupied cabin A-29. Miss Evans joined the group of sisters: Mrs. E. D. Appleton, Mrs. John Murray Brown, and Mrs. R. C. Cornell during the voyage and came to know Colonel Archibald Gracie who had gallantly offered his services to the unaccompanied ladies.
In the early hours of April 15th after all of the main lifeboats had got away, Gracie rushed up to where Second Officer Charles Lightoller was shepherding women and children into collapsible D and guided Mrs. Brown and Miss Evans as far as he could. She and her friend, Caroline Brown were waiting and when they approached the lifeboat, it was the very last one. The officer told them that only one more could board the boat. Edith pushed Caroline forward saying, "She has children!" Archibald Gracie came up and said, "We'll get you into the next boat, Miss Evans." There was no other boat, and Edith was left to reflect on the words of the fortune teller who had recently warned her to beware of water. Nothing is known about her after that. Her body was never recovered. There is a plaque in Grace Church in NYC at Broadway and 10th St. in memory of her saying, "In gratitude to God For the memory of EDITH CORSE EVANS who in the midst of life gave herself up for others on the TITANIC XV April MCMXII trusting in Him who hath made the depth of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over. Love is Strong as Death."
So along with my grandson Reed who was in third-class, I did not survive either. This is her death notice in the New York Times of Sunday 21 April 1912.
"EVANS---At sea, on the Titanic, Edith Corse Evans, daughter of the late Cadwalader and Angeline B. C. Evans and granddaughter of the late Israel Corse. A memorial service will be held at Grace Church, Broadway and 10th St., on Monday morning, April 22, at 10 o'clock.
EVANS---The Colonial Dames of America---The members of this society are requested to attend the memorial service at Grace Church, Monday, April 22, at 10 A.M., for their lamented fellow-member, Miss Edith Corse Evans. ALICE CRARY SUTCLIFFE, Secretary."
EVANS---The Colonial Dames of America---The members of this society are requested to attend the memorial service at Grace Church, Monday, April 22, at 10 A.M., for their lamented fellow-member, Miss Edith Corse Evans. ALICE CRARY SUTCLIFFE, Secretary."
The Reenactment Dinner Menu:
Canapés à l'Amiral: Shrimp on a thin baguette with cheese and butter sauce
Second Course~~Potage
Vegetable Soup
Third Course~~Poisson
Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce
Fourth Course~~Entrée
Filet Mignon Lili
Fifth Course~~Removes
Curried Chicken and Rice, Château Potato, and Minted Green Pea Timbale
Sixth Course~~Punch or Sorbet
Punch Rosé: Rose Water and Mint Sorbet in Ice Bowls and Punch Romaine
Seventh Course~~Roast
Stuffed Cornish Game Hen
Eighth Course~~Salad
Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
Ninth Course~~Garde Manger
Assorted Cold Relishes
Tenth Course~~Sweets
Chocolate Painted Eclairs with French Vanila Ice Cream
Eleventh Course~~Dessert
Assorted Fresh Fruits and Cheeses
After Dinner~~Assorted Coffees and Teas
If anyone would like any of these recipes, just ask. I will post one or more.
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