Explore History through Vintage Cookbooks at Durand-Hedden on Sun. Nov. 20

Explore American history with vintage cookbooks

Chef and author Claire Stewart to speak at Durand-Hedden on 11/20 at 1:30pm

MAPLEWOOD, NJ – November 2016 – So much more than just a compilation of recipes, cookbooks often represent irreplaceable heirlooms that reveal much about the lives of the society that used them. American cookbooks have been woven into the fabric of our lives since colonial times. English-speaking settlers would have carried a copy of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1747) with them on their voyage to America.

But cooks were soon flummoxed by the unfamiliar foods of the New World, and frustrated by a lack of familiar ingredients. As Americans tamed their environment and built a new country, they created cookbooks that reflected the resources and lifestyles of different eras.

At 1:30 p.m. on November 20, Claire Stewart will introduce us to these and other cookbooks as an intriguing way to study American history through a slide show and an opportunity to see her collection of vintage cookbooks. A Durand-Hedden House trustee, Stewart is a professional chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and is now an assistant professor at City University of New York. Her new book, for Rowman and Littlefield publishers, As Long As We Both Shall Eat: A History of Wedding Food and Feasts, will appear in bookstores in Spring 2017.

Also on November 20, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. visitors can catch the exhibit, From Farm to Suburb: The Birth of College Hill, which explores the evolution of a section of Maplewood from a dairy farm to a popular neighborhood of 300 houses. Out in the carriage house the Country Store will be selling historic-themed treasures: early American children’s games, books and toys, facsimile documents, quill pens and ink, historic cook books, cookie molds, reproduction ceramics, hiking sticks and more. The hard-to-find original Doors of Maplewood poster, Smile, the history of Olympic Park, the new acid-free reproduction of the charming 1931 map of Maplewood, local honey and Original 1910 Chocolate Fudge Sauce will also be available. Open Saturdays and Sundays 12 to 5 p.m.

About Durand-Hedden House and Garden

Durand-Hedden House is dedicated to telling the history of the development of Maplewood and the surrounding area in new and engaging ways. It is located in Grasmere Park at 523 Ridgewood Road in Maplewood. The Country Store features unique books, maps, and gifts of historical interest, and is open on weekends from noon to 5:00pm. For more information or to arrange group tours call 973-763-7712. You can also visit our website at durandhedden.org and find us on Facebook and Twitter.




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