1830 Cooking at the Inn

The Bake Oven at Westfield won't open until May 4th.   When I'm not baking at the oven, I get to play in one of the buildings.  You'd think that I'd spend my time at the Spinning and Weaving Shop, but they've lots of people there already.  Instead, I often play at the Inn.  The Inn is dated 1830 and is an old log structure, with a feeling of the past.  Sometimes if I touch the walls, I wonder about who and how many people have walked through this building, stayed here and ate here.  It's a beautiful building, with lots of windows letting in light and giving the whitewashed interior a bright and airy feeling, at least in the tap room part of the inn.   I'm betting when it was -25 outside, it was darned cold inside because of those windows, single pane, with old, rolled glass and leaky as all get out.   

  Last Sunday I brought out some recipes from 1826.  I took my dutch oven and put a Scotch Barley Broth in it.  Really, I think it was more of a cabbage soup.  It smelled awesome, but was a bit bland, perhaps because I was a bit stingy on the meat and salt.  I also made a muffin recipe, which turned out to be what we'd call English Muffins today.  They were pretty yummy, especially when topped  with my period Currant jelly.  English muffins are cooked on a griddle or fry pan, rather than baked, though they are a yeast bread.

It's too old to have a woodstove, so it's hearth heated all the way.  It has a double fireplace, one on either side of the chimney.   We've had both fires going at times, but if it's just me, I only keep the one fireplace going.     I have often wondered if this little oven in the hearth is functional or not.   Luckily my little dutch oven works just fine for baking.

This is the back part of the building, part of the kitchen.  It's very pretty and homey in there.  There aren't as many windows so it can be a bit easier to keep that area warm.