Battle of Short Hills NJ – June 2017

Tags

4th Conn, living history, Petty Sutler

Summer began with an event near the end of June. My group, the 4th Connecticut, had the pleasure of attending a large event in Clarks, NJ — the Battle of Short Hills. It was an excellent event, though a tad warm and with some heavy rain Friday night. One nice aspect of the event was that the Continental camp was far away from the British (as in, we couldn’t even see each other). Oh and there were ponies.

The best part of the event was that several women, whom I had never met, joined forces to present an awesome petty sutler impression and serve the men and other interpreters fresh produce, tobacco, meat pies, cheese, soap, bread, and switchel just to name a few.

Considering that we coordinated all our efforts over social media, we had an excellent spread and kicked interpretation butt!

Here are some photos:

Your petty sutlers

 

 

 

Meat pies and pickled cucumbers

 

 

The 4th Connecticut!

 

 

Artsy photos from Harvest Supper

Tags

1830s, 19th century clothing, food, Ox Bow Tavern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest Supper at Apple River Fort

Tags

1830s, 19th century clothing, Apple River Fort, food, Harvest Supper, Ox Bow Tavern, reenacting

The basics: Apple River Fort is located in Elizabeth, IL. It’s a little fort from the Black Hawk Wars. To welcome autumn, they have an intimate supper for the public (advanced ticket purchase necessary). The Ox Bow Tavern cooks the five course dinner. This year the menu was as follows:

1st course – pepper pot soup and pumpkin biscuits w/ jam

2nd course – cheshire pie and Jefferson’s mac ‘n cheese with sour dough bread

3r course – fish cakes and collards with wheat bread

4th course – sauer braten and spaetzel with red cabbage and dark bread

5th course – assorted pies, cookies, and cakes for dessert

It was really excellent to cook over a nice hearth. The other oddly delightful moment that was totally unexpected was being asked to serve at table and I was running back and forth from the house where we cooked and the block house where the diners were located. It was just like Downton Abbey!!! Only 1830s!!

Now for all the pictures!

 

 

Inside the cabin that served as the kitchen…

 

 

 

 

 

Food prep…

Cheshire pie = layer of fried smoked pork sprinkled with nutmeg, a layer of apples sprinkle with sugar, repeat. Add top pie crust. Bake in baking kettle.

 

 

 

 

Apple pudding (not on the menu; we made it for fun).

 

 

 

Cooking outside…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting the table for the guests…

(I think Mr. Carson would be proud!)

 

 

 

 

 

With our guests…

 

Obligatory selfies…

 

 

 

Independence Day

Tags

food, living history

Last week Friday was a fabulous day at OWW! Anyone who decided not to attend missed out. Last year, I was not sure what to expect because I was new and just learning everything. But this year was more enjoyable because I knew exactly what I had to look forward to!

In preparation for the holiday, many of the sites/homesteads prepare special dishes, just like they would have done “back then.” On the 4th, we proudly display our baking skills. Three of us worked on this cake. J made it, S and I frosted it, and I added the berries on top!

 

Cake!

The parade was so much fun later in the day and I really enjoyed all the speeches and song singing. Cheers!

Trying a new recipe

Tags

fall time meals, food, new recipes, squash

I love pinterest. I may or may not spend some Saturday mornings browsing pinterest and spamming my sister’s fb message area with fun pins I find that I know she would enjoy. Well, I came across a recipe for spaghetti squash au gratin. I love anything with cheese. I thought I would try this since my husband loves squash all through the fall/winter seasons. He may or may not demand that I cook squash. It’s adorable. So I found this recipe and thought, why not? I really like trying new recipes I find online because I set up my laptop on the counter, turn on pandora, and rock out. (This is of course after a marathon sewing day).

As I write, I’m waiting for the second half of the squash to get a little cooked in microwave; our microwave, much to my husband’s dismay, is super tiny. But our kitchen is small. There is not a lot of counter space. We need a small microwave. The one I have used to belong to my grandma when my parents got it for her after my grandpa died. I can’t get rid of a microwave with sentimental value!!! haha. Because this little oven is sooo tiny, it takes twice as long for anything to cook. Ha. I don’t mind though because you just get used to it after a while.

Once this squash is done, into the oven the whole concoction goes!!!!

 

This recipe was amazing!!!!! It was so easy too! The only thing I did differently was after the entire thing baked for 24 min, I put it under the broiler. I really like my casserole-y type dishes to be crispy/crunchy brown on top. I may bake it for a bit longer next time too. The squash was cooked, but it could have been more so. Overall, a fabulous dish. I’m so glad there are leftovers!!

Perfect autumn meal

Tags

food, kielbasa, pierogi, Polish food

While I love summer because I can lay out in the sun and read, I don’t enjoy cooking in the summer because it is usually too hot in the house and too hot for me to feel like moving much. However, when the temps finally drop, I love cooking! Last night was one of those nights.

I’m 100% Polish so I pretty much use butter and onions in anything and everything. I especially love good pierogis and Polish sausage. I like Kasia’s brand pierogi because even though it is is a bit more pricey, the dough has a really fabulous texture that browns nicely in butter….and onions. Now, I grew up on true kielbasa. While it’s good, I actually prefer smoked beef Polish sausage. I like Klement’s and Hillshire Farms. They both taste generally the same and I usually go with whatever is on sale.

Here is what I made last night:

Follow these steps to be successful!

1. Thaw frozen pierogi. (I also had to thaw the kielbasa because I had previously frozen it when I got home from the grocery store). Everything just cooks faster when it’s not frozen.

2. Chop onions to preferred size. Meanwhile, heat pan on medium. Add butter. I don’t measure. I just take a big heaping spoonful. It should be enough to cook onions and pierogis. Butter should sizzle.

3. Add onions to pan. Stir/move vigorously to get them evenly coated in butter. About 2 min.

4. Add thawed pierogi to pan. Allow it to cook on each side for about 2 min. A slight browning will appear. While pierogis cook, cut kielbasa into 3 – 4 inch lengths. After you’ve flipped pierogis once, add kielbasa to pan. I put all the pierogis on one side and all the sausage on the other (as seen in the pic). Continue to flip pierogis and rotate kielbasa and stir onions for about 10 min. If you have enough butter, nothing will stick. Add more if it seems like it is sticking. I also put the lid on to kind of get all the flavors/aroma to mesh together.

5. When it’s ready, put on plate – with lots of tasty onions on top – and add a side of sour cream.

I also made acorn squash in the oven. Once it’s cooked, I flip the halves right-side up and add lots of butter (surprised?), brown sugar, a dash of chinese five spice powder and a dash of curry into the “bowl” of the squash. I take a fork and stab it around to get the flavors to mix/permeate. I put the oven on warm/low and just let it sit in there while I cooked the ingredients mentioned above. The aroma of onions, kielbasa, and spicey squash was to die for!!!!

So here it is plated:

Prep – 5 min to cut squash in half and put in baking dish with water. 5 min to open pierogi and kielbasa packages. 2 min chop onions.

Actual cook time – 40 min squash. 15 min pierogi, kielbasa, and onions.

This meal was so filling and perfect after a hard day’s work!

Rhythm of the seasons

Tags

fall, fall cooking, yard work

I am starting to enjoy each of the seasonal changes now that I have a house to take care of. This is the third autumn at our little homestead in the nearly “backwoods” of WI. My husband and I have decided once a week (sometime between Thurs, Fri, or Sat) that it is “pick up as many buckets of walnuts as you can day.” I love everything about this time of year and I think my husband hates everything about it. Haha.

Why I love being outside in the fall:

1. 50 – 60 degree temps after mid 90s in summer = instantly more enjoyable

2. Looking up into the tallest branches of the walnut trees and seeing the sun shine through so the walnuts are black globs waiting to drop

3. Watching Twiggy hunt bugs among the leaves and dying garden foliage

4. Listening to geese fly over head

5. Smelling the piney/rotting scent of walnuts when they plop into the bucket

6. Listening to my husband shout, “oh god they’re EVERYWHERE!” every time he walks around and picks up walnuts

After a really hot hot spring in 2012, the 2013 spring seemed to take forever to arrive and then for the ground to warm and the plants to bloom. Summer, this year, was much better than last because the grass did not die and the plants survived and so did we – mostly. Fall is here again. I much prefer cooking in the fall winter because I love making soups, stews, and casseroles – not really ideal when the house is 80 degrees, but awesome when it is a cool 40 or 50 outside. Last night I made Campbell’s Butternut Squash Bisque soup (yep. I don’t have a food processor, so Campbell’s makes it for us) and added fresh acorn squash and made homemade croutons to put on top of it. It was excellent; the perfect Friday night fall time dinner. Tonight, since it will almost reach 60 today, dinner will be Polish sausage, sauerkraut pierogies, and onions all sauteed together. Hurray!!