Let’s travel back in time to a cooking demonstration featuring food that was part of holiday celebrations during the mid-nineteenth century. For many people, New Year’s Day or Twelfth Night were more popular than Christmas. But Christmas was starting to overtake those holidays due to widespread newspaper accounts of Queen Victoria and the royal family celebrating the day. Food became intrinsically linked to those celebration, and during this Virtual Event we’ll be making gingerbread and sugar plums from historic cookbooks.
Dr. Anson Jones (the last president of Texas) who lived at Barrington for thirteen years, sent letters to his children encouraging them to hang their stockings and enjoy the holiday in his absence. Christmas Hanging stockings and specially decorated trees were both new traditions in the 18th and 19th centuries, and are related in Dr. Jones letters and private diaries during his travels and while staying at home for the holiday season.
Presenter: Laura Fisher is an Educator and Interpreter at the Barrington Living History Farm. Laura grew up in a state park, volunteered at Barrington Living History Farm as a teenager, and earned a history degree so that she could return to work at the farm. Having worked on the farm for 8 years, she thoroughly enjoys all aspects of farm life, including gardening, sewing, knitting, caring for animals, and hearth cooking. In her free time, she kayas, hikes, and spends time with her family and two guinea pigs.