Free 250th anniversary event focused on food and cookery
More than 100 people participated in a free event on September 17th at the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College that celebrated the nation’s 250th anniversary through the dual lenses of food and cookery.
The Garrett County Historical Society, in collaboration with George Cowgill and the Garrett College Department of Continuing Education & Workforce Development, offered 250 Years of Cookery in the Tablelands: A Journey through Gastronomic Times. Foods, provided by Brenda McDonnell and the Ace’s Run bakers, represented different eras in Tableland development.
The foods provided included:
Sample Johnny Cakes (corn cakes): Pioneer era, before cook stoves and the widespread availability of wheat in the area.
Salt Rising Bread: Mid-to-late 1800s, after cook stoves and wheat arrived on the mountaintop, but before the availability of commercial yeast. (This was baked by Rising Creek Bakery in Morgantown.)
Cookies: Made from recipes used during the first resort era, the Mountain Chautauqua in Mountain Lake Park, around 1900.
Tang: Representing the modern space-age era, and highlighting a former Garrett County resident’s connection to the International Space Station (food over the tablelands!).
Cowgill’s featured presentation provided a glimpse of Garrett County history within the context of food, cooking technology, and agriculture.
Joe Osment and Anatoly Boshkin played food-related fiddle tunes at the beginning and end of the event.
“Feedback from the community was very positive,” reported Matia Vanderbilt, Garrett College’s coordinator of community education. “Participants expressed interest in seeing more events like this offered in the future.”
For information about upcoming events/programs through Garrett College’s Continuing Education Department, please visit us at https://www.garrettcollege.edu/cewd.php or call 301-387-3069 to request a catalog.
Photo Cutline: The Garrett County Historical Society, in collaboration with George Cowgill and the Garrett College Department of Continuing Education & Workforce Development, presented 250 Years of Cookery in the Tablelands: A Journey through Gastronomic Times, on September 17th.
