You’re invited to celebrate Jane Austen’s 239th birthday with us in Halifax.

We’re celebrating nine days early, on Sunday, December 7th, at 12:00 p.m. at The Arms, the restaurant at The Lord Nelson Hotel (across the street from the Public Gardens), 1515 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I expect there will be plenty of conversation about the 200th anniversary of Mansfield Park (and if there isn’t, you can be sure I’ll do my best to change that…), and Hugh Kindred will give his annual toast to Jane. (If you missed Hugh’s guest post for “An Invitation to Mansfield Park,” on William Price, you can find it here.)

For the celebration, let’s “eat Ice [cream] & drink French wine,” as Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra in an 1808 letter. Or — I’ve just checked the menu — we could eat French toast with whipped cream and Nova Scotia maple syrup, and drink Nova Scotia wine.

Please let our Regional Coordinator, Anne Thompson, know by December 4th if you’d like to join us, or leave a comment here so I can pass on the information to her.

P.S. The ratafia cakes I made for our November JASNA NS meeting, from The Jane Austen Cookbook, were delicious. Thanks to everyone who voted! For those who weren’t here to taste them — I wish I could send you some. The recipe is very easy to make (ground almonds, caster sugar, orange liqueur, and egg whites) and I’m glad to have discovered it. I’d still like to try making Mrs. Perrot’s Pound Cake and Martha’s Gingerbread Cakes sometime.