Digestible Bits & Bites for October 2016

Friday to Sunday, September 30 to October 2: What’s Cooking Bracebridge (Bracebridge, Ontario). The Great Muskoka Cookbook Adventure invites celebrity chefs and cookbook authors as well as many local chefs for a weekend of hands-on demonstrations, lectures and a gala.
Saturday, October 1: Oktoberfest Traditional German Dinner (Prince Edward County, Ontario). Rose House presents its annual traditional German dinner at the North Marysburgh Hall. Reservations required: 613-476-5439.
Saturday & Sunday, October 8 & 9: Thanksgiving Dinners, noon & 3 p.m. (Toronto). Black Creek Pioneer Village presents a traditional three-course feast with Thanksgiving-themed tours, historic ale sampling and horse-drawn wagon rides through the village. Admission: $58.95 + HST (general); $53.95 + HST (adult member); $29.95 (non-member age 5-12); $26.95 (member age 5-12); free (age 4 and under). Extra charge for beer samples and wagon rides. Reservations required.
Saturday & Sunday, October 8 & 9: Thanksgiving Dinner at Kilby Historic Site, noon, 2 or 4 p.m. (Harrison Mills, British Columbia). Kilby Historic Site presents a traditional Thanksgiving dinner celebration, including a full-course roast turkey dinner with apple or pumpkin pie and a beverage. (Apple-pressing demonstration on Kilby’s 110-year-old press at 1:30 p.m.) Admission: $19.95 + GST & gratuity. Reserve at 604-796-9576.
Sunday, October 9: Historic Cooking Demonstration, 1 to 4 p.m. (Burlington, Ontario). Ireland House Museum presents a demonstration of baking cinnamon scones on the historic Rumford hearth, a guided tour of the Ireland family homestead and samples of the delicious scones. Admission: free with regular admission.
Thursday, October 13: Introduction to Canning, 6 to 9 p.m. (Vancouver). UBC Farm presents a workshop with Caitlin Dorward that is suitable for participants with little or no canning experience. Through a presentation, hands-on jam-making session and demonstration of pickle making, students will learn food-safe practices for boiling water bath canning of high-acid and acidified foods. Registration includes all supplies, and participants will take home a jar of jam. Admission: $53 + GST (general), $46 + GST (students), including a comprehensive handout covering all material taught in the workshop.
Friday to Sunday, October 14 to 16: Master and Commander (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn welcomes Jane Austen Dancing / York Regency Society for an immersive weekend in the world of the Royal Navy in the Age of Sail. Featured speakers: renowned naval historians Victor Suthren and Peter Twist. Plus historical meals, workshops, lectures, a reading of the Articles of War, a dance workshop and a ball!
Saturday, October 15: CHC Annual General Meeting (Toronto).
Sunday, October 23: Cooking with Hannah Glasse, Part 2, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Toronto). Fort York National Historic Site presents a hands-on historic cooking class led by CHC member Mya Sangster, with John Hammond, Ellen Johnstone and Kathryn Tanaka, in the 1826 Officers’ Mess kitchen. Hannah Glasse was the best-known British cookery writer of the 18th century. Using recipes from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) and The Compleat Confectioner (1760), participants will help prepare a Whim Wham (!), an Apple Pumpton, vermicelli that will then be used in a sweet pudding, a stuffed roast leg of lamb and other delights from Hannah’s recipes. Admission: $75 + HST, which covers a meal of the dishes made and a recipe package. Pre-registration and payment are required. 416-392-7484.
Thursday, October 27: Thirsty Thursday, 7 to 10 p.m. (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn presents Thirsty Thursday tavern night with beer, wine or a Thomas Montgomery specialty in the restored 1847 barroom, along with Irish stew, fresh-baked bread and live traditional music. Admission: free. Cash bar, $5 for a bowl of stew, while supplies last. 416-394-8113.
Thursday to Saturday, October 27 to 29: America Participates: Smithsonian Food History Weekend 2016 (Washington, D.C.). The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History hosts its second annual celebration and exploration of American food history. Participants include Jane and Michael Stern (Roadfood), author Alex Prud’homme (The French Chef in America) and author Dorie Greenspan (Baking Chez Moi).
Saturday, October 29: Loaf and Ladle Pioneer Supper (Brampton, Ontario). Bovaird House. Admission: $20.
Saturday, October 29: Harvest Tea, two sittings: noon & 2:30 p.m. (Toronto). Gibson House offers a Victorian-inspired harvest tea with finger sandwiches and sweets in the historic 1850s farmhouse in the company of our costumed interpreters. Guests may tour the museum at their leisure and can enjoy the apple orchard in the adjacent Gibson Park following the tea. Admission: $20 + HST. Pre-payment is required by October 27 at 416-395-7432 or gibsonhouse@toronto.ca. Not recommended for children under 6.

LOOKING AHEAD (November 2016)

Thursday, November 10: Boarding House Dinner, 7 to 9 p.m. (Toronto). During the First World War, Mackenzie House at 82 Bond Street was a boarding house. This event features dinner, storytelling and music that focus on this pivotal time in Canada’s history. Admission: $30 person + HST.
Thursday, November 10: CHC at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, 2 & 2:30 p.m. (Toronto). CHC presents sessions about cooking on the Home Front during World War Two on the Burnbrae Farms Food & Lifestyle Stage.
Monday, November 14: 2016 Taste Canada Awards, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. (Toronto).
Saturday, November 19 to Friday, December 23: Christmas at Black Creek (Toronto). Black Creek Pioneer Village offers tours of its historic houses, an exploration of traditional Christmas foods, homemade mincemeat tarts and cider and other Christmas-themed activities.
Sunday, November 20: An Old Fashioned Christmas Event, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Burlington, Ontario). Ireland House Museum at Oakridge Farm presents memories of Christmas long ago, with baking demonstrations on the hearth, horse and wagon rides, special activities and crafts. Visitors can drop in on Santa’s cabin and take in beautiful choral singing. 905-332-9888.
Sunday, November 20: Stir-Up Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn invites visitors to witness a working 19th-century commercial kitchen when the inn’s team of historic cooks in period costume present an afternoon of cooking demonstrations that focus on traditional Christmas treats like shortbread, fruitcake, mincemeat and Twelfth Cake, following authentic recipes and using antique equipment, on the date traditionally set aside in England for holiday baking. Samples while supplies last. Admission: free with admission to the inn.
Sunday, November 20: Toussaint (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn welcomes Jane Austen Dancing / York Regency Society for an evening of Breton food, music and storytelling by the hearth.
Thursday, November 24: Thirsty Thursday, 7 to 10 p.m. (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn presents Thirsty Thursday tavern night with beer, wine or a Thomas Montgomery specialty in the restored 1847 barroom, along with Irish stew, fresh-baked bread and live traditional music. Admission: free. Cash bar; $5 for a bowl of stew, while supplies last. 416-394-8113.
Sunday, November 27: Mince Pies, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Toronto). Fort York National Historic Site presents a hands-on historic cooking class led by CHC member Mya Sangster, with John Hammond, Ellen Johnstone and Kathryn Tanaka, in the 1826 Officers’ Mess Kitchen. Participants will help prepare Hannah Glasse’s mincemeat from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) and pastrie for patty pans from The Compleat Confectioner (1760), which will be made into a large pie, and each participant will make one dozen small tarts to take home. Admission: $75 + HST, which covers lunch and a recipe package. Pre-registration and payment are required. 416-392-7484.

CONTINUING

Sundays: Gibson House Tea & Tour, 1 to 4:30 p.m. (Toronto). Every Sunday, there’s tea, cookies and a seat for you at the harvest table in the 1850s historic kitchen. Free with regular admission.
Through Fall 2016: Food Will Win the War (Ottawa). The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum presents an exhibition on the story of food on the Canadian home front during the Second World War. Focusing on shopping, eating, conserving and volunteering, it shows how Canadians fought a “war for food” to support Canada’s overseas war efforts. Admission: free with entrance to the museum. 613-991-3044 or 1-866-442-4416.
Through Saturday, October 8: The 36th Annual Fall Okanagan Wine Festival (Okanagan, British Columbia). An experience for all who love fabulous wine accompanied by great food and events in a breathtaking setting, with numerous signature, educational and outdoor events. Admission: various.
Through Monday, October 31: Westham Island Herb Farm, 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. (Ladner, British Columbia). A stroll through the colourful flower, vegetable and herb gardens at Westham Island Herb Farm, with the opportunity to purchase preserves and fresh produce from the country shops. ’Tis the season for a visit to the pumpkin patch and haunted barn, too.
To Sunday, January 8, 2017: All Together Now: Vancouver Collectors and Their Worlds (Vancouver). The Museum of Vancouver presents an exhibit of 20 beautiful, rare and unconventional collections, including Chinese restaurant menus gathered by Imogene Lim.

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