· Foyle's War Party! ·

Last month, Kathryn and I hosted a Foyle's War party!  Or rather, Kathryn hosted the party, and I was the trusty sidekick. (personally, that's my favorite role anyway! :-) )

Foyle's War is a British TV show set in the Hastings home front during WWII.  It follows a police detective throughout the war years and covers many aspects of wartime life and crime.  My family have been big fans of the British show since we discovered it several years ago, and we've slowly recruited fellow mystery/history buffs to our Prestigious Fan Club.  Kathryn and I had talked about throwing a Foyle's War themed party for a long time, but we finally got around to it this winter!

The evening was filled with mystery solving, WWII food eating, movie-based trivia, photobooth posing, and general merriment! :-)

Each guest was given a "ration book" with trivia questions inside.  We had fun watching the show to get ideas for trivia questions, but consequently the trivia was not for the faint of heart.  But really- who doesn't know the names of all the Assistant Commissioners mentioned in the series?? ;-)

We tried to squeeze in several episode references throughout the evening, so if something seems... odd... that's probably the explanation. ;-)  Consider this your excuse to watch the show!

Drinks served:

Uncle Aubrey's Green Gage Wine

(or: sparkling pear juice)

Scotch

(or: sweet tea)

Kathryn and I had a blast going through old propaganda posters to choose some to print off.  We decided against the more, ahem, intense ones. ;-)

Even the prep was fun!  We made bouquet garnis for the Coq au Vin- I'm a fan.  If cooking involves cute little arrangements tied up with bows, count me in!!

We had a photobooth set up with props, and all had a blast goofing off!

I wore my "surprisingly pleasing" 1940s dress, and my friend Grace borrowed my very first 1940s dress!

The ration cakes (both strawberry and chocolate) were a fun challenge, and mostly successful. ;-)  It was very fun to follow historically accurate recipes, though!

Would you just take a whiff of that onion?!?  Scrumptious!

One of the Foyle's War episodes discusses the ration on onions.  I had no idea why until we researched it- apparently onions were rationed, not due to a shortage, but as a ruse to trick the Germans into thinking the British were using onions as a vital ingredient in making explosives.  The plan was codenamed Operation Omelette.  No kidding!  Personally, I think I'd be a bit unimpressed that the only reason I wasn't able to have onions was to trick the Germans....

My parents- aren't they cute?!

The resident maids.  Or at least they played maids in the murder mystery game we played at the beginning of the party. ;-)

Kathryn and I spent the entirety of a day (and a portion of the one previous!) constructing and assembling the patriotic bunting!  We didn't intend for the room to be so very decorated that it was reminiscent of the Police Station on the eve of VE Day, but once you start.... it's hard to stop. ;-)  And really, you can never have too much bunting.

This project was a wake-up call to me, though.  I love the way it turned out, and I'm glad we did it that way, but it was so. much. WORK.  Each of the pennants is cut from 2 pieces of fabric, sewn on 2.5 edges, turned out, pressed, and strung on a piece of string.  Oh, and did I mention that we made 100 feet of this?!  After we were 2 hours into the project, our insanity dawned upon us.  After 10 hours, it was inescapable.

As it is, we are now completely prepared for any red, white, and blue themed party.  Fourth of July- check!  Bastille Day- check!  Australia Day- check!  Norweigan/Icelandic/etc national celebrations- check!

Me and my partner in crime- thanks so much for making this happen!!  It was a blast to plan! (and attend!) (and relive through pictures!) :-)

I credit Foyle's War entirely with making me tolerant of the 1940s.  Previously I was decidedly unimpressed with the decade and particularly WWII.  I know, scandalous. ;-)

But at any rate, Foyle's War changed that for me.  Learning about the British home front during the war years was enlightening and opened up a much more interesting aspect of the war!  If anyone also has a distaste for WWII (or even if you already like it!), I'd highly, highly recommend the show. :-)

· Photos by Kathryn ·