Hearth Cooking Demonstration

At The Curtiss House

On Sunday, November 5, from 1 to 4 pm, there will be a Hearth Cooking Demonstration at the historical Matthew Curtiss House and Museum. Located at 44 Main Street, it is the home of Newtown’s Historical Society.

Costumed guides will give a tour of the colonial kitchen, as they prepare a seasonal meal on the open fire in the hearth of the Keeping Room. Guests may learn and sample the colonist’s heartiest meal as women readied it for midday. Hear how the colonial home benefited from the arrival of a blacksmith to a settlement, supplying residents with a variety of andirons, several lengths of pot hooks, and the much sought-after hearth crane, which replaced the early “lug pole” made of green wood that needed to be watched for charring and brittleness.

The dishes to be prepared Sunday include roasted squash soup, chicken baked by the coals in the reflector oven and a seasonal apple cranberry pie set to bake in a Dutch oven.

Young student guides from the historical society’s new Junior Docent Program will be at the Matthew Curtiss House Sunday, too. The program is for boys and girls ages 7–10. Dressed in their colonial costumes, the students will greet visitors and share their knowledge of a child’s life in the 1700s. Come meet them and find out about this on-going program for children as well as the society’s Summer History Camp.

For more information, newtownhistory.org or 426-5937.