With the welcome thought that, no matter where you find yourself in the UK or in America, every day that passes is one day closer to the premiere of Downton Abbey 3. Writer Julian Fellowes had me with just the thought of the first Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith)/Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine) Kodak moment. Don’t really need any more series 3 story line hints at this point.

So far, we have followed the lives of the Crawley family and their staff beginning the day following the sinking of the Titanic, through the flu pandemic of 1918 and the Great War, ending with Christmas at Downton Abbey in 1919. With series three to be set in the Roaring Twenties and will pick up not long after series two ended, executive producer, Rebecca Eaton has hinted that “…a couple will get married, a baby will be born, a well-known character will die, and that there are good scenes between Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith.”

Downton Abbey 3 Watching Party – An Upstairs or Downstairs affair?

With September 2012 just around the corner for the UK premiere on ITV1 and January 2013 a bit further down the same road, but still around the corner, for the U.S. premiere on PBS, it’s time to begin planning your Downton Abbey 3 Watching Party. Food is a central theme and whether its breakfast downstairs or dinner upstairs, the important ingredients are planning and preparation.

While I’m guessing you won’t be sitting down with the cook to plan your watching party menu, if you want to emulate ‘upstairs’, be prepared. A minimum of six courses would be provided for each evening meal and sometimes as many as 22 were served for a particularly special occasion. Starting with soup, you’ll need to plan for about 8 courses. Most important, don’t forget that it is imperative that a different alcoholic drink would be served with each course! Then the ladies would take coffee in the drawing room, while the men would enjoy port, brandy and cigars.

While I always felt the downstairs inhabitants had much more fun, I’m thinking I’d like to live downstairs, but eat upstairs. The downstairs is not quite the salmon and sirloin circuit but, rather a more traditional English diet of steak and kidney pie and roast lamb.

If you’re leaning towards a simpler ‘downstairs’ watching party, ITVFood has provided everyone with a few Edwardian-era cooking recipes to get you started. Whichever you choose, don’t forget to let me know the date and time and what I can bring….