Explore the crucial role of kitchen gardens for Freedom Seekers in 19th-century St. Catharines, as they overcame myths about Canada.
They Said Canada Was…Part 3: Everything They Had There Was Imported
Explore the culinary history of Freedom Seekers in St. Catharines, focusing on the significance of sweet potatoes in their diet.
They Said Canada Was… Part 1: No Hogs, No Cows, and All Such Stuff
Celebrate Black History Month by exploring important dishes that link together food, celebration, and history for Freedom Seekers in 19th century St. Catharines.
Artifact of the Week: Nutmeg Grinder
This cast metal nutmeg grinder dates to the late 19th or earliest 20th centuries. It was used locally and is […]
One Hour in the Past E806 – Pablum
It’s time for the big reveal. After an interesting discussion about pablum (ironic, we know), Adrian reveals the theme (and subthemes) that linked together the episodes of this season!
Artifact of the Week: “Imperial Blend” Tea Canister
This week’s artifact is a tea canister from Imperial Blend Indian & Ceylon Tea (ca 1900-1950). This model of canister […]
Museum Chat Live! E1005 – Food, Glorious Food Blog Series Wrap-up
On this episode of Museum Chat Live! we’re chatting local food history and baking as we wrap up our (now beloved) Food, Glorious Food Blog Series. The series was a chance for Abbey Stansfield (public programmer) and Kathleen Powell (curator) to explore local food history by baking through historic recipes in our collection. This bake-off was a way to explore food history in a first-hand way and draw attention to our temporary exhibit of the same name, on display at the Museum through the autumn of this year. Listen in for a chat about food history, writing a blog series together, challenges in baking historic recipes, the things we learned, and most importantly: our favourite desserts!
Food, Glorious Food! Part 8: Peach Pie Ontario
Throughout the series, Curator Kathleen Powell and Public Programmer Abbey Stansfield (both the expert bakers here at the Museum), have been exploring Victorian-era recipes and local food history to help us all appreciate the importance of food and its history in our daily lives.
Please enjoy the final installation of the series, Part 7: Peach Pie, baked by Abbey Stansfield.
Thank you to Abbey and Kathleen for an engaging and tasty blog series. And a big thank you to all of our readers for their support, participation, and sharing food memories with us!
Food, Glorious Food! Part 7: Calla Lillies
Things are about to become a whole lot sweeter with Part 7: Calla Lillies, written and baked by Curator Kathleen Powell.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 6: Wartime Cake
In this edition of Food, Glorious Food, we’re back with another sweet treat: Wartime Cake, written and baked by Curator Kathleen Powell.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 5: Cheese Timbals
In this edition of Food, Glorious Food, Kathleen tries a recipe for Cheese Timbals from the St. George’s ACW Jubilee Cookbook.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 4: Pink Velvet
In this edition of Food, Glorious Food, we discover the strange world of Jello in the 1920s with a post written by our curator Kathleen Powell.
Grab a Plate: Food Traditions in the St. Catharines Black Community
This year’s four-part Black History Month blog series is all about community. In previous blogs we have often focused on […]
Building an “Open” Community Cookbook
On Family Day this year, We asked visitors to share their favourite family recipes with us on what we called “open community cookbooks” and the result was fantastic! Children, parents, and grandparents brought in recipes from home, or took the time to write out recipes on the cards provided. Recipes range from the Filipino dish Chicken Adobo, the “Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever”, and lots of other tasty dishes that brim with family tradition and heritage as evident from the names attributed to the recipes shared.
One Hour in the Past E401 – Spices
This season on One Hour in the Past, we are cooking up some food fun! Each episode this season takes down the research rabbit stew of food and food related topics! We will also be joined by some special guests from other museums around the Niagara region.
First up is a deeper dive into the history of spices! We are joined by Stephanie Powell-Baswick, Director / Curator of the Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum who joined us as we explored the interesting and exotic history of those things that add flavour to our foods!
Museum at Home: Let’s Make Butter!
Making butter would have been a regular part of the week for many people living in St. Catharines, but luckily, it’s pretty easy and very straightforward.