By: Marcia Abramson
The advent of the fall season meant time for harvesting the crops with little time for the early New England villagers to admire nature's colorful leafy easel. However, a visit to this recreated village in October can be the best of both worlds with glorious fall colors and lessons in how food was prepared and preserved in the 1800's. Old Sturbridge Village is a re-created Village where historically costumed staff demonstrate the daily work, life and community celebrations of a rural New England town in the 1830s. It is the largest outdoor living history museum in the Northeast on over 200 acres, with more than 40 exhibits including restored houses, gardens, meeting houses, water-powered mills, a district school, a printing office, a working farm and craft shops. There is a blacksmith at work in his forge, a potter creating many forms of pottery in his shop and a tinsmith in the tin shop. Throughout the village you will run into the costumed guides who will direct you to the activities at the various exhibits. At the Bixby House, they were roasting "Chicken on a String," but I chose to have a "Tavern Hearth Supper" at the Tavern Restaurants. The supper is actually cooked in a 21st century kitchen, possibly in a convection oven and probably nuked in a microwave. I did get to see the preparation of wonderful tasting apple fritters. I ate more than I should have and happily took the recipes for the Apple Fritters and old-fashioned Roasted Cheese. Incidentally, recipes are referred to in 19th century English as "receipts." The recipes (receipts) are: Apple Fritters: from "The Housekeeper's Book" (W. Marshall & Co., Philadelphia-1838). Make a stiff common pancake batter. Boil half a stick of cinnamon in a breakfast cupful of water, and set it by to cool. Peel and core some large apples, cut round slices, and steep them for a half-hour or more in the cinnamon water, then dip each piece in the batter and fry them in clarified drippings. Drain them, dust sugar over each one and serve them hot. Roasted Cheese "Domestic Cookery" (Silas Andrus, Hartford-1829) MODERN ADAPTATION (Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook-Globe Pequot Press, 1 995):
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1 1/4 cups cheddar or other hard cheese
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2 hard-boiled egg yolks, mashed
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2-3 cups soft bread crumbs
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1 tablespoon mustard
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Dash of salt and pepper
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8 slices lightly toasted bread
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4 tablespoons butter 1. Blend cheese, mashed egg yolks, bread crumbs, butter, mustard, salt and pepper. 2. Spread paste on toast. Bake in 350 degree oven covered for 15 minutes. Remove cover for last 5 minutes to brown the cheese. Yield: 4 servings. November is the month for "do it yourselfers" to prepare their own dinners in a popular program called Dinner in a Country Village. It takes place on Saturday evenings from November through March and is limited to 14 adults and gives the diners an opportunity to cook a full meal at a hearth in one of the restored houses using the 19th century recipes (receipts), tools and techniques. You do the chopping and mixing without the aid of a Cuisinart food processor. After you have finished roasting, you can enjoy your dinner by candlelight. For further information, call (508) 734-3362, ext. 325. Each weekend in October you can watch a horse-powered Cider Mill produce excellent cider. The apples are ground on Saturdays and pressed on Sundays. Fermented cider was the drink of choice by the villagers since it stayed drinkable for long periods of time. I really enjoyed the freshly made cider. Oct. 19 and 20 is the annual Harvest Weekend and marks the end of the cultivation of the heirloom crops using the authentic 19th century tools and methods. Everybody is invited to pick and husk the corn crop, to thresh and winnow rye and harvest potatoes and root vegetables. Old Sturbridge Village is just off Exit 9 of the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) or Exit 2 of Interstate 84, located on Route 20 in Sturbridge, Mass. It is open year round, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 27, closing at 4 p.m. after Oct. 28 through the winter months.© Copyright Marcia Abramson. E-mail: mascribe@aol.com
