The last "Carol" for 2008!

Ah, can it be? Have we really done our last "A Christmas Carol/Dickens" tour for 2008?
Yes Virginia, tis true. And now the exciting task of unpacking the dressing room and getting ready for 2008. A swift inventory and triage reveals the squashing of the Scrooge top hat- oh, hat blocking skills don't fail me now! And the tiny tears in many a skirt and popped buttons and Tiny Tim's crutch has lost some bark- oh, what a noble crutch is here unbarked (?)But it's not too bad and we got a lovely cast photo before it all went back into the strolls chariot.

What lovely audiences we had this run and a local celebrity too! One guest told me this was her 8th Dickens performance and "it just gets better every year, I don't know how you do it". High praise indeed and we hope to live up to it. But, the Expedition box and Sir Hilary beckon so prep I must.

2009 is almost here!
First up, "The Expedition" which begins in a very strange location (all will be revealed) in a Potbellys Restaurant on Indiana Avenue NW at noon on January 3rd, 2009. $10 adults, $5 under 16. Meets at 637 Indiana Avenue NW right across 7th Street from the Archives Metro Station at 7th and Penn Ave. Walk past the Starbucks to Potbellys. www.historicstrolls.com or 301-588-9255 for info

Christmas with the Cratchits

Goodness- tis Christmas Day itself! The Cratchits will enjoy a small feast tomorrow- I've just put a milk-free, gluten-free carrot cake in the chilly closet with the little light (icebox!) to chill. And tomorrow, the smoking bishop which is quite popular with the Dickens family. And you can learn more about Dickens on Sat/27 during the "A Dickens of a Tour: Charles Dickens in Washington" at www.historicstrolls.com. Merry Christmas my dears!!
Here's the recipe:

Smoking Bishop

Wash Five oranges *(peel on) and bake at 350 until golden brown (turn them once during baking)

30 or so cloves

4 ounces of sugar

2 bottles of good red wine

a bottle of port

Take the baked oranges out and stab them with the cloves (ick, yes. Sorry)

Put them into a glass or ceramic bowl (don’t use a metal one), then add the red wine and sugar. Cover for about 10 to 12 hours in a toasty spot. Then squeeze all of the oranges into the wine and add the port. Now heat the thing but do not boil it ! *

If you can find Seville oranges, all the better!

For a non-alcoholic version, substitute grape juice and apple juice for the wine and port!

Cratchits forge ahead!

Well my dears, tis almost Saturday and Mrs C is baking ala Martha Stewart to prepare for our Christmas feast. Will Bob bring home a fine turkey this year? Or will we once again be using the bird as stuffing instead of the other way 'round? The Cratchit children are busy making recipes for guests (a veritable Dickensian workshop here) and cheerfully hanging their stockings for Father Christmas who was quite skimpy on the treats last weekend. Really, poor Jemima C. got a brown paper package (tied up with string) and she had to share it with the others. A scandal! And what of Tiny Tim? Will he get that razor scooter he begs for? (and what is that actually?) and will Mrs C finally get a moment of solitude for her tired eyes ("lye and hog fat soap, take me away!")?

Tune in on the 20th at 12:00 noon at Cosi (10th and E NW) to find out how it all goes!
www.historicstrolls.com

ps. Mrs C has learned to make a proper link, see the strolls page and gape in admiration at her 19th century office skills!

Cratchits dine at last!!

Oh my dears, the Cratchit children feasted on roast rubber chicken yesterday and it was divine! As they shivered in their Cratchit-wear, the children, Bob and I thanked the founder of the feast (slight disagreement about whom to thank there...) and supped on a delicious rubber chicken and imaginary port (chicken from Spain, the finest purveyors of rubber chickens).

But, we remain ever poor as Scrooge has reverted to his old dreadful self and we're back living on the edge of desperation. Come, sup with us and see how it's all made right again.

Will Tiny Tim get better? Will the Cratchits move to better digs? Will Scrooge and the Ghost of xmas past stop into the Zola wine shop for a nip this time? So many questions my dears....

And still two weekends left to see us! December 20th and 27th we shall stroll again.

Dickens of a tour tomorrow!

Well the sun has returned and we are glad to see it! All of the Cratchits will bask in its warmth as we tromp round Penn Quarter (Camden town to us!) showing the gentry where Mr. Dickens trod during his visits. The journey begins at 10th and E NW (Cosi, where they have the most modern plumbing, tis a wonder, really) at 12:00 noon. Mrs C. shall endeavour to sell tickets in a timely fashion (exact change is a boon to her and ye)

Parking can be so trying so Mrs C recommends the Tube for your journey (or house that carriage in a nearby garage). The closest Tube station (Metro for you ) is at Metro Center and you exit on 11th Street and merely walk down 11th to E and a sharp left turn and "bob's your uncle", Cosi is just ahead at 10th and E!

See www.historicstrolls.com for more exciting details about this event! It repeats on the 20th and 27th also.

woe betide the Cratchits if this rain doth not abate...

It's almost time to pack the car for Dickens tour on Saturday and the rain is still falling steadily here. Although Mrs. C's shrubberies need the moisture we are saddened by the prospect of wet wool skirts. Nevertheless, we shall forge on, rain or no!

" A Dickens of a Tour: Charles Dickens in Washington" begins Saturday!

Dicken departs from 10th and E NW at 12:00 noon on Saturday the 13th :)

See if you can guess which Monty Python actor Mrs. Cratchit is influenced by.....