Announcements

Enjoy Cooking?

Want to learn how it was done in the 18^th Century?

Want to show others how?

Come join the Historic Cooking Guild of the Catawba Valley.  We have a few openings in our guild and are looking for individuals who have interest and/or experience in open hearth cooking.  We are a committee of the Mecklenburg Historical Association and are based at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville.

Guild members meet to do open-hearth cooking the 2^nd and 4^th Thursday of every month, except mid-summer.   We dress in period clothing and follow historic guidelines on appearance.  We learn to prepare meals of the 18^th century using authentic receipts, techniques and ingredients.

Membership requires a one-year apprenticeship followed by presentation of a lesson.  Thereafter, we take turns on lessons, participating in events at Polk and other sites.  Regular participation is expected.  The minimum age is 18.  Children cannot accompany the member—the divided attention is not good for the group.

If you are interested, you are invited to come and observe.  The President James K. Polk State Historic Site is located south of Pineville, NC on South Polk Street.  We meet in the kitchen cabin on the 2^nd and 4^th Thursdays from 9 am to 2 pm.  For further information, please call Carolyn Dilda: (704) 596-8834.

2009 Annual Report to MHA Docents Board 

For the Historical Cooking Guild, 2009 was a year of growth in our skills and in our numbers.  Our foodways knowledge increased by doing research and by having varied experiences in cookery.

Our summary totals:

14 cooking sessions at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site kitchen;

5 off-site cooking sessions–Hezekiah Alexander, Reed Gold Mine, Hart Square, Museum of the Waxhaws and Andrew Jackson State Park;

3 cooking for Polk special events – Sarah Polk’s birthday, James K. Polk’s Birthday, Polk Holiday;

3 conventions – ALHFAM, Staunton, VA, Old Salem, NC and Williamsburg 18th Century cooking;

2 research projects – 2 day session at USC Manuscript Library and 3 day session, Sandy Oliver at Charlotte Musem of History and Polk site;

2 advisory trips – Museum of the Waxhaws, Rowan Museum, Old Stone House

1 teaching class – Polk kitchen

Our varied menus:

Seasonal foods of Backcountry Carolina;

Use of Polk garden vegetables;

Scots-Irish and Presidential receipts;

Wild foods – bear, elk, dried fish, wild edibles – fiddleheads, morels, redbuds;

Whole grains – gruel, cornmeal;

Roasting coffee beans;

Invalid foods;

Traveling foods;

Tavern foods;

Salt-tasting and tea-tasting;

Our domestic skills:

Natural dyed eggs;

Cooked soap;

Made daybooks and housewives;

Ironing;

Painted floorcloths;

Dried herb mixes;

With 3 new members – Patti Veale, Erica Blake and Olga Sims – our program has stepped up a notch in all areas, and everyone has met the challenge.

Now in our 12th year, the Cooking Guild continues to fulfill its purpose by cooking, teaching and researching. We realize that we are ambassadors for not just the Cooking Guild, but for our whole history community.