Labor Day Weekend Potluck

Friday September 31st marked the occasion of the first Pioneer Village/History Alive! staff potluck.
 Administrators, directors, historical interpreters and their families and friends all gathered for an evening of period food, drink and music. There were several 17th-century Puritan delicacies to be enjoyed including a cucumber sallet, sweet chicken stew, beans and sausages, pumpkin pie, and roasted pork.

Village blacksmith Mr. Snitch (Kevin Sternweiss) and Director of Museum Studies and Scholar-in-Residence with the Institute for Public History, David Goss, provided period sea-chantys on the guitar.

The event was organized by Pioneer Village site director, Marc Ewart. Hopefully this will become an annual tradition!

What's Cooking at the Village

Chris Tremblay

Hearth in the great hall of the Governor's House.

If you visit Pioneer Village, you may happen upon some samplings of Puritan cooking.

Chris Tremblay, our resident expert on all things pertaining to Puritan domestic life, will sometimes use the great hearth in the Governor's house to cook up treats for the other village interpreters. This recently has included squash as well as chicken soup, "journey-cakes" (a kind of cornmeal pancake) served with freshly-churned butter, fresh ground cinnamon, and nutmeg. There is also a signature "sweet chicken" dish. All of these are cooked on the fire in a cast-iron pot, much as they were over 300 years ago. There is nothing like having a hearty bowl of hot soup on a cold day, eaten from a wooden bowl, with a hand-made wrought-iron spoon to make you feel like a 17th-century Puritan.

Home-made chicken soup