THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606140272
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: 91 lines
At the Francis Land House, kids will be able to whiff the aroma of chicken and rosemary stewing in a pot over an open fire and decide first hand whether reading about how Colonial Americans cooked and what they ate might be a fun thing to do this summer.
Or, they can learn a little about the life of African Americans in old Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach and discover a few books that might enlighten them further on that topic.
Or, they can learn a little about gardening, about animals, about adventure and a whole lot more at ``Turning the Pages of History'' from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Francis Land House.
Youngsters can stroll leisurely around the grounds ``thumbing through'' a variety of special subjects and when they get turned on by a topic, Virginia Beach public librarians will be on hand with a display and list of good books to read.
The event is a joint effort of the Land house and the public library as a prelude to the library's summer reading club, Choose your Own Adventure. Summer reading club begins June 24.
Turning the Pages of History is free but participants also can tour the Francis Land House at 1:30, 2, 2:30 and 3 p.m. Tuesday. Tours are $1.25 for adults and .50 for children, half the general admission price.
Carol Ann Kinsley, a Land House volunteer, will be the one generating the enticing smells that day. She will be stewing the chicken stuffed with rosemary from the Land House herb garden and baking potatoes and yams in the fire's ashes. Dressed in colonial garb, she'll talk about how meals were prepared 200 years ago.
Kinsley chose to prepare chicken because poultry would have been eaten by the Land family in the 1700s. Research has even shown that the family had a henhouse, often mentioned in various Land property inventories. Research also has shown that there was a storehouse on the property where the potatoes and yams would have been kept.
Because the open fireplace in the basement of the Land house has not been restored for open hearth cooking, Kinsley will be cooking outdoors. However the principle and the reproduction cooking utensils will be the same, said Vicki Harvey, education specialist at the historic house.
``And it wouldn't have been unusual to cook outside in the summer,'' Kinsley added.
Kinsley will explain how the length of the pot hooks (instead of knobs on the stove) regulated the colonial chef's cooking temperature. For example, the stew pot will be hanging from a long S-shaped hook down close to the fire at the beginning to start the water boiling and then moved up on a shorter hook to maintain a slow simmer.
``I'll make corn bread in a Dutch oven at home,'' Kinsley said. ``That's cheating, I know!''
But she wants to have the bread complete for visitors to see. The black iron Dutch oven will be lined with the outer leaves of cabbage that have been soaked in water, she explained. The cornbread mixture is poured into the oven and then top is covered with wet cabbage leaves.
``Put the top on, set the pot on hot ash and cover the top with ash - just like an oven,'' Kinsley said. ``In 30 to 40 minutes, you have wonderful smelling bread. The cabbage acts like a steamer.''
Among other utensils that Kinsley will talk about is a colonial toaster. ``The toaster seems to be the most popular item,'' Kinsley said. She holds up a long-handled iron toast holder. The holder itself can be rotated over the fire to toast both sides of bread.
Youngsters who sign up for the library's summer reading club can continue their adventure in history because all summer reading club participants will get a free pass for one child and one adult to either the Francis Land House or historic Lynnhaven House.
Harvey said participants can use passes to attend one of the special programs from 2 to 4 p.m Wednesdays this summer at the Francis Land House. Programs range from Colonial Game Day July 3 to the FUN-damentals of Fiber Arts July 24.
For more information on Land house activities, call 431-4000. To find out more about the library's Summer Reading program, call your nearest public library.
P.S. BIRD CALLS: A roseate spoonbill, more at home in Florida and around the Gulf of Mexico, was feeding in one of the impoundments at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge this week.
Terry Jenkins called to explain the behavior of the purple grackles in Carol Steentofte's yard that preened their feathers with moth balls she had put in her garden to discourage squirrels. The birds are ``anting,'' he said. The wild birds actually use ants to help rid their feathers of mites and over time have learned to use other aids, too, like moth balls.
GIVE YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN a start in caring for plants with a goldenrain tree seedling, free as long as they last from Master Gardener Alan C. Pocta. It's a good summer project. Call 340-4414. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARY REID BARROW
Carol Ann Kinsley, a Francis Land House volunteer, demonstrates a
colonial toaster, among other utensils. The long-handled iron toast
holder can be rotated over the fire to toast both sides of bread. by CNB