TURNING BACK THYME: A TASTE OF HALLOCKVILLE
Ever wonder where all that food in the supermarket comes from and how long it took to get there? How fresh is your fresh produce? Take a journey back in “thyme” and explore Farm-to-Table practices when they were a necessity of daily life not just the current trend. Explore techniques from the past and learn how these skills and knowledge can lead to a more environmentally conscious, mindful life through a series of four workshops devoted to the production, preparation, and preservation of food.
The workshops will be presented on the campus of Hallockville Museum farm and funded by a grant from Humanities New York. Each workshop will run approximately three hours and involve both demonstrations and hands-on activities.
Although designed as a series and related thematically, each Saturday is a stand-alone workshop. Register for one class or all four!
Cost of one workshop: $50 for members, $65 for non-members. *Masks recommended
Series discount: all four workshops (Members only) $175
Historic Preparation
Saturday, February 26th, 10 am-1 pm
Begin your morning in the Old Homestead and explore 19th-century cooking techniques with culinary historian and local preservationist Diane Schwindt.
Please note: This is a hands-on cooking class utilizing a historic wood-burning stove. Participants will have the opportunity to prepare homemade sausage and other cold-weather delicacies.
Production
Saturday, March 26th, 10 am-1 pm
Aldo Leopold, a renowned early 20th-century ecologist, said that a danger in not owning a farm is supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery. More people are becoming concerned about the food they consume. Is it fresh? Is it safe? Is it healthy? What happens to food that is grown on large farms halfway across the country or in a foreign nation with different restrictions than ours? How many hands touch the food we are about to consume?
In this segment of the series, we’ll explore the history of Long Island agriculture, forces that have shaped local farming, how it has evolved, and where it might be headed. We will discuss some of the provocative ideas explored by Dan Barber in his recent publication The Third Plate as well as Marion Nestle’s classic Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.
The workshop will conclude with a hands-on component where participants will have the opportunity to start a home garden project.
Ethnic and Vegetarian Preparation
Saturday, March 12th, 10 am-1 pm
Long Island has attracted immigrants for centuries, from eastern and western Europe and more recently from Latin America. These people literally enriched the soil and contributed to a rich cultural heritage. Join historian, community gardener and home cook Susan Babkes as she discusses the various customs and flavors of our North Fork immigrants. Discussions will center around Francis Moore Lappe’s classic work Diet for a Small Planet.
Then spend the remainder of the workshop preparing three traditional Irish and Eastern European dishes: Sweet and Sour Cabbage soup, vegetarian stuffed cabbage, and Irish soda bread.
Preservation
Saturday, June 11th, 10 am-1 pm
A TASTE OF HALLOCKVILLE: PRESERVATION is a workshop on historic food preservation systems that will engage participants in a hands-on class to learn the basics of home canning. Community gardener, home cook, and educator Susan Babkes will lead a tour of the Museum Farm’s smokehouse, root cellar, canning equipment, and food storage areas, followed by an exploration of the cultural transition of canning and preserving. The class culminates in an introduction to the basics of home canning during which participants will use local strawberries and rhubarb to create a delicious preserve.
