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Heritage Days Demonstrates Simpler Times, Food a Focus of Living History Event
By: Lisa Z. Leighton
Previously printed in Lancaster Farming; reprinted with permission by the author.
Turbotville, Pa. – Every October, the Warrior Run-Fort Freeland Heritage Society hosts its annual Heritage Days, with living history demonstrations that captivate kids and adults alike.
The event focuses on authentic demonstrations led by volunteers in period costumes covering a wide array of foods, crafts and trades, plus a reenactment of the Battle of Fort Freeland.
Its intent is to help all visitors understand the lives of early settlers in the Warrior Run area and the challenges that they faced in their daily lives.
Some of the trades that are featured included gunsmithing, coopering, brick making, fence post making, tin smithing, flintlock rifle knapping, wheelwright, candle making, and leatherwork.
Crafts highlighted are appliqued wool, chair caning, rope making, quilting, paper making, spinning, Fraktur painting, pottery, quill pen making, loom weaving, among others.
Colonial foods are a central component of the event, with demonstrations showing the art and craft of making apple cider, apple butter, horseradish, butter, sourdough bread, apple molasses and crackers, pies, clear toy candy, potato candy, popcorn, ice cream and pickled cabbage and sauerkraut. Each station provides tastings of the foods and recipes to take home.
One of the highlights is the apple butter boil, where June Moser and her team stirred a hot kettle for the entirety of the day.
“We started with twenty-five gallons of cider at six o’clock this morning, then we let it cook half way down, and then we add throughout the day, five crates of apples. Each crate is of an apple that is from the era – Empire, Cortland, Jonagold, Smokehouse, McIntosh. We put them in by no later than two o’clock and cook them until three-thirty,” Moser explained.
The apples that are added to the kettle mixture are peeled using a period-era peeler, then cored and cut into pieces, or schnitz as they are called in Pennsylvania Dutch.
Moser said the act of making apple butter was a very communal event in Colonial times, “Everyone would go to their orchards and get leftover apples and prepare this together.”
At a neighboring demonstration, apple cider was being made using an old-fashioned grinder/press where apples were added one by one into the top, while another person turned the handle of the grinder.
Matt Cotner explained, “As you’re spinning that, this part moves in and crushes the apples and that’s what you’re seeing coming out here at the bottom.”
One of the more potent-smelling demonstrations was horseradish, which was displayed from plant, to root, to jarred product. Mother and daughter team Sue and Heidi Eppenbach told onlookers that the roots take about two hours to clean by hand, then they are peeled like a potato, cut into small chunks, and put through a grinder. Then, the ground mixture is added to a ceramic bowl with white vinegar; then it is ready to jar.
“The plant is dug up and we clean off the roots. We let it dry overnight and then scrub it off, that makes it a lot easier. Last year, it took five hours to scrub the dirt and this year [after letting them dry overnight] was about two hours,” Heidi explained.
She said they aim for a mushy consistency but not soupy.
“Then we put it in jars, tamp it down, and put a little more vinegar on top so it’s covered. This will last in the refrigerator for years. We have eaten three- or four-year-old horseradish and it tastes the same; if the vinegar evaporates, just add more to it,” she advised.
Two of the kids’ favorite demonstrations were clear toy candy and potato candy. The latter is made by mashing potatoes (1/2 cup) and adding 4-8 cups of confectioners’ sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla.
Nicole Basiago explained, “What is often done is the potato candy is rolled out and peanut butter is added to make pinwheels.”
A favorite hands-on food station was butter-making where kids were invited to take a small baby jar of two simple ingredients: heavy whipping cream and a pinch of salt. If they were patient enough and persisted, butter would result after fifteen minutes of vigorous shaking. Using the hand-turned churner, the process takes about five minutes at Heritage Days.
For more information about Warrior Run Fort Freeland Heritage Society, search for them on Facebook or go to FreelandFarm.org.