In the summer I don’t use the hearth often and like to keep busy with other interests. And what a summer it was! Not only record breaking heat, I co- produced an exhibit of wedding gowns with Kimberly Alexander for the Newmarket Historical Society. Along with this exhibit we had three programs.

A Wedding Tea, Gallery Talk and  Wedding Foods “Talk and Taste,”

where I paired food with the gowns.

We began this project by borrowing manikins from University of New Hamshire (UNH). Here, Astrida Schaeffer, who manages the collections at the Museum of Art at UNH, and I take out a gown to be fitted for a manikin.

It took a week to set the risers, cover them and put them in place. We had plenty of help.

 Kimberly,Kris, Barbara, Jeff and others all pitched in to staple the cloth on the rises, hang the walls with white fabric, steam iron gowns and dress the manikins. Then we needed to find out where they should go.

Robert Irwin said “There’s no way to really mock up or simulate what I’m doing until I’m there. An exhibition for me is not a statement but an experiment.”

This was true with our exhibit, it wasn’t until we had all the gowns ready and on the manikins did we truly have a plan for their placements.

Thirteen gowns in all, plus the display cases

We had a reproduction 1775 gown worn for a recent wedding, a Victorian turn of the century linen embroidered gown and a flapper gown with shoes and hat.

Two early 1800 farm wife’s everyday gowns that we put in the agriculture section, and a few Victorian gowns in our vignettes.

There was a dress worn in the 70s that causes quite a stir in the church, a Hot Pants number.

A stunning silk Laotian gown in gold and red that was breathtaking.

We had several cases filled with shoes and other wedding objects also.

Along with our exhibit Kimberly’s gave a Gallery Talk, one Sunday, that was well attended.

Next came the “Victorian Tea” with Kandie Carl, the Victorian Lady, who did an amazing performance dressing from chemise to stays and then into a lovely mother of the bride Victorian outfit. We sold 93 tickets and there was so much food, it was piled high.

And last but not least the Wedding Food “Talk and Taste” presented by Colonial Table. Starting with the 1770s, I made a rum punch and served it with navettes. This cookie began its life in Marseille, France, and some became popular with the English.

November, December, and January were the most popular months in which to marry as farm obligations were less pressing than during the summer. Family and friends, gathered in the morning at the minister’s home or in the bride’s parlor for the wedding,

In 1770, there were over 140 rum distilleries in the colonies cranking out 4.8 million gallons of rum every year, so for this wedding we served a punch of rum.

For 1843, I picked orange jellies as they are so festive and would show the skill of the host. Champagne began to be served as a wedding beverage in the late 1800, and in Newmarket, we had a population of French from Canada, so I thought it would be fun to make a croquembouche. This cone of pastry started being used as a French wedding cake in the early 1800s.

Along comes the 1900s and rationing, and Hello Refrigeration. However because of the war foods were rationed. This spurred homemakers to stretch their ingredients as far as possible. Savory as well as sweet food were encased in gelatin. I made aspic that encased hardboiled egg slice, ham and cornichons.

During prohibition, the speakeasies catered to the urban “upper crust,” and served small bites to their patrons, so they would not leave the building staggering down the street. These were called canapés, sometimes they were finger sandwiches or stuffed mushrooms something that could be carried in one hand and a drink in the other, while guests socialized. This was the beginning of the hors d’oeuvres.

With the popular cooking show of Julia Childs, quiche became the rage. I made my quiches of spinach, and cheese.

The late 1960s were filled with bright, psychedelic colors, and long hair. Woman wore unbelievably short skirts. To represent our Hot Pants wedding outfit I made cheese fondue, that was introduced to the United States, and really took off, in the sixties.

2000 the new millennium

Things are moving fast we have new ways to get information quickly and wedding planners are showing all the new trends, Sushi went Global and was found at a buffet station near you.

So it’s time to move over and get ready for Generation Z

Already they have food truck weddings, fresh locally sourced food and family style food stations. What next!

While wedding styles come and go, some things endure, the things that will stay are the traditional white dress, the wedding cake and a celebrating with family and friends.

This exhibit and the tea were worked on by the whole Board of Directors and its members. It was teamwork that made it so successful. A job well done! We took the gowns down packed them up and looked back at how this exhibit was so well-received. It brought in many new people to the museum some as guests and some who became members.

So after a long three months it was over. And we were all as tired as this manikin looks.

It was a fun exhibit and I enjoyed working with all the participants in making it a success.

To see more, stay tune and see.

Kimberly Alexandria’s blog , Silk Damask at http://www.silkdamask.org/

Sandie

SCHOOL SHOW

I received a call from the Wilton Historical Society. They were in need of a hearth cook who could work with children during their school program.

So off to Connecticut I went. I would be there for the week, working at the hearth in the Sloan-Raymond-Fitch house

I stayed at the very comfortable home of Lola, the museum educator the first night, Sunday. I needed to make vegetable soup and little cakes for 92 students and their teachers and parents. The way I had set up the program was to have the children divided into two groups for a hands-on experience, making 18th century food. I had two parents who stayed in the room for the whole day, helping and that was wonderful, plus there was a teacher or other parent with the group as the moved from station to station .

The students arrive at the kitchen and wipe their hands with wipes, then divide into two groups in front of the table. I gave a 5- to 10-minute discussion on the hearth, bake oven and its door, peel, toe kick toaster, butter churn and chores that boys and girls would do in the 1700s, and I had put a chicken spinning on the hearth as one of the talking points.

5 to 10 minutes was about as long as they could stay still.

One group of six did the vegetables a the other one group was divided into two to make two batches of little cakes and one student started on the butter churn.

One mother helps with the cutting of the carrots, celery, onions and field greens.

The students managed a small knife, and everything they cut went into a large bowl. With 92 students each day we were very lucky to only have two, slight, finger cuts.

The other side of the table was busy making oatmeal jumbles and butter. Students took turns with the butter, changing places as they went.

When the bell rang we put the cookies in Tupperware, stashed it in the pantry , cleaned the table cloth and set up for the next group that was already filing in and washing their hands.

This procedure was repeated for each class.

Then came lunch, however no rest for the weary. It was time to regroup and wash some of the bowls and get ready for the afternoon students.

The cookies and soup I made the night before was served to the children by a parent or teacher to have with their lunch in the big hall. That is why I made them the night before.

While we were having lunch, Mario Pedone, the maintenance man, whom I could not have done without, kept the fires going for us, and sat in from time to time, which helped keep some of the boys in order.

Then came 2:15 and everyone was back on the bus. The parents left and I cleaned up the things in the room and the best thing is that several ladies from the museum came and helped me cart thing s to the real kitchen and wash them up so I could reset for the next day.

I left and went back to Lola’s and began baking the little cakes that the students made, making sure there were 150 for the following day. I didn’t have to do the soup, as that was being done at the museum the next day by the ladies.

So it went for five days about 92 children a day and each day was different. Some classes were very well behaved and others not so, parents very helpful and other not. It’s the name of the game when doing school groups.

I enjoyed myself, and hope I instilled, in some of the students, an interest in early American life and how their ancestors worked hard, took nothing for granted, and didn’t waste anything, if possible.

Sandie

“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.”

– W.B. Yeats

I had the opportunity to spend a “‘Women’s of the Fort” weekend at Fort 4 in Charlestown, NH, this month. This weekend, the women would demonstrate what it was like to be a women living there. The Fort at Number 4 was the northernmost British settlement along the Connecticut River until after the French and Indian War. Construction began in 1740 and by 1743, there were 10 families settled in a square of interconnected uses, enclosed in a stockade with a guard tower.

Many of us arrived on Friday. Wendy, who was residing in Parker House, gave a wine and cheeses get-together. Everyone contributed, and there was so much more than that, foods of all kinds, I brought some of my Greek and venison sausage to share. We began to run out of chairs as more and more ladies arrived.

At the end of the evening we went off to our sleeping quarters in Willard House. I got the rope bed and the girls both brought a cot. The next day we moved it all together in the back of the room so we were not in the way of visitors.

For the Foodways presentation, I was accompanied by Patty and Rhondda in the Sartwell house. This was a large room with a great fireplace and bake oven. We would be showing how food was preserved during the winter months.

After a nice breakfast by the fire, we did the final setting up of the demonstrations.

For mine, I brought things that children would have done to helped out their mothers. It’s always nice to have something they can have that’s hands-on at a museum.

As visitor entered the room they saw our displays. My side of the demonstrations started with many herbs that were bundled and hanging from a small ladder. On a bench were pole beans dried and ready to shuck, corn to take off the cob and grind in the mortar and pestle, a pumpkin along with pumpkin leather and dried pumpkin pieces that looked like teeth. Last came the eggs, both free range and quail. These were to be covered in lard and put in sifted ash to last for the winter in the root cellar.

Also behind that were the apple press and the barrel with hops on top. This gave me a chance to talk to the parents about the fact that women did make the cider and small beer for the home, after all beer and bread making went hand-in-hand.

On the other side of the room, Patty was demonstrating how roots vegetables were put away in hay or wood shavings in boxes and barrels. She had wonderful colored carrots and many other early variety vegetables. We even had a cabbage, with the roots on it, hanging from the ceiling. Next to that was a table with dried fruit and vegetables in glass jars along with some crocks, one with a bladder on top so they could see that some things were dried or pickled.

Rhondda did a wonderful demonstration of the importance of vinegar-making and what uses it had. She turned some into Switchel, or Haymakers punch, the Gatorade of the times. She was also making rye bread.

There was to be a potluck dinner on Saturday night, so we were also cooking on the hearth. Here I am with a chicken skewered on an iron cross.

There were also other activities happening that weekend. The wool blanket that was finished on the loom was taken off and brought out for felting.

We were using the 1, 2, 3, turn method, and I mentioned that there must have been a song for this. Everyone piped up with their knowledge of songs and out came the fiddle. I wonder if in the past they had as much fun as we all did working together to make a felted blanket. 

Then it was back to work in our own houses. I decided to do a meat and rice stuffed pumpkin for our pot luck.

We all took turns keeping the chicken spinning and I poked my pumpkin to make sure the inside was getting soft. I also brought pumpkin spiced Springerle cookies that I had made at home, and frozen manchets. As a side note, I forgot to take pictures of the cookies and their unique raised forms. However, they were a big hit, and the next day many of the ladies were looking for more.

Now the manchets were an experiment. I had read somewhere in a medieval website,  long ago , that someone made manchets and, before the last rise, they froze them to take to an event. So I made them at home froze them and gave it a try. And it worked.

I used this receipt – The making of Fine Manchet –

The good Huswifes Handmaide  for the Kitchin. London 1594, 1597

I did the first rise at home, then formed the dough into rolls. The timing was a bit off with the second rising. Even though I had the buns in the cooler with lots of ice they started to rise. By morning they were puffy and I had to peel them apart. The fire was not going to be ready until later in the day. So I put them on a tin sheet, greased them well and covered them. By late afternoon they had a crust on them. If I had the right size wood for our bake oven I would have baked them myself in the morning; however, we did not, so I had to wait until the large outdoor oven was ready.

Everyone’s bread and some apple pies being cooked by master baker Angela in the fort’s large outdoor bake oven. Surprisingly the manchets came out very well. I’d do this again if needed, however, I’d make arrangements to have then cook sooner.

There is a group there that are called the MOLLYS. These ladies have guns and know how to use them. It was not unlikely to find a woman in a household back then, a woman who knew how to protect her family and/or shoot game to sustain them. Twice a day they put on a wonderful demonstration of their skills.

So the Fort closed for the day, and this was the time to get all our food ready for the evening. Rhondda had an Indian pudding in the kettle baking, Patty put baked apples in hers and my pumpkin and the stew inside were done. We took the chicken off the fire but it still needed a bit of cooking, so Patty cut it up and we cooked it over the fire to make sure it was done perfectly.

At 6:00 sharp everyone began to arrive at Hastings House laden with the bounty of the day’s food preparation. It was all lined up in a row with the dessert at the end. As people mingled waiting for the last dishes to be placed, cheeses, crackers and wine were served.

Everyone brought a chair, their eating equipment and wine glass. When we were all seated at the tables, the dinner began.

The hall was full of talk and camaraderie as we filled our plates and discussed the day’s events. There was so much food, and all of it delicious.

A punch was made and passed around the room table by table, and then around again. Here Rhondda, Patty and I partake of the wonderful elixir.

It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day. I thank all the amazingly talented and diverse ladies who were so kind to include us in this, our first venture to Fort 4

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather and colorful leaves,

Sandie

“We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity life would be very boring.”— Catherine Pulsifer

Photos were taken by many of the ladies at the Fort.

  Do to unforeseen circumstances this seasons workshops have been cancelled.

I will be posting some blogs and in the new year a

New Schedule of Workshops

Oct 1, HARVEST WORKSHOP I

This is a beginner’s workshop, nothing too complicated but lots of fun and great food. You will get to experience a range of traditional hearth cooking techniques and equipment using recipes to make period dishes

Oct 15, HARVEST WORKSHOP II

– For the advanced cook. A changeling day of cooking seasonal favorites in unique way, a time to test your skills with marvelous, little-known recipes worth getting acquainted with

Nov 5, JUST DESSERT-

Christmas parties are just around the corner.  We will create a selection of Sweet Treats for the Tea Table that you can take home, marzipan, wafers, imprinted cookies and more, some to eat some to freeze.  While we bake these confections we’ll share a nice pottage and bread for our midday meal.

Workshops run from 9:30 to 3ish

To register or for more information please contact

Sandra Tarbox at sandie@colonialtable.com

The hearth  is waiting in slumber for the cool weather to return and with it the sounds and smells of Fall and Winter cooking.

Come and join us for this years workshop offerings.

Oct 1, HARVEST WORKSHOP I

This is a beginner’s workshop, nothing too complicated but lots of fun and great food. You will get to experience a range of traditional hearth cooking techniques and equipment using recipes to make period dishes

Oct 15, HARVEST WORKSHOP II

 For the advanced cook. A changeling day of cooking seasonal favorites in unique way, a time to test your skills with marvelous, little-known recipes worth getting acquainted with

Nov 5, JUST DESSERT

Christmas parties are just around the corner.  We will create a selection of Sweet Treats for the table , marzipan, wafers, imprinted cookies and more, some to eat some to take home and freeze.  While we bake these confections we’ll share a nice pottage and bread for our midday meal.

Workshops run from 19:30 to 3ish

To register or for more information please contact

Sandra Tarbox at sandie@colonialtable.com

First week of Spring and a group from the Newmarket Seniors came for Tea. I had made ginger cookies shaped in hearts and had one pan ready to put in the bake kettle.

I donned my 18th century wool gown and brought out many items to the table to share their stories.

From Isinglass to Jell-O, vanilla bean to vanilla in a bottle, cochineal to food coloring, birch whisk to emersion blender, horn, wooden and pewter utensils, I told them the story of how and when the transformation of these items came about.

They arrived about 10 am, and we all got cozy by the fire, poured tea, and passed cookies. I gave them a bit of my background and of the room we were in. Then it was off to discover 18th century versus 21st century.

I brought out a coffin and explained that this was the first casserole dish.

I finished up with the various cooking pots and pans and how they were used. Here I showed them how the caldron was hung on the crane.

It was a nice morning spent with a wonderful group and men and woman who were out for a day of fun.

Sandie

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. – Henry Miller