When my parents were here, we took them to a sugar bush where maple sap is collected and syrup is made. This is a modern operation, full of pipes, vacuum pumps, test plots, and interesting innovations. Of course, the traditional way of collecting sap is also interesting. This is how they used to do it. Rather than […]
Outings
Visit the Sistine Chapel Virtually
Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving. (Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1787 in Rome) Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo accomplished one of the most stunning works of art ever created: he painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling. This astounding artistic and religious achievement has attracted people for […]
Medieval Cookery: Browning Chicken and Making Soft Cheese
What did medieval people eat…before tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and microwaves? Most people had very little food, but when times were good, meals were great. Browning chicken for a stew: These iron pots, on tripods over a trench fire, were greased by cooking bacon. The bacon itself was removed from the pot, put onto a […]
Just Floatin’ Down the River
We have a small river nearby. In the spring it becomes large enough for canoes and even now, because of all the rain, it hurries by quickly. Every year we try to spend one sweltering afternoon swimming in a sheltered part of the river. This year, instead of swimming, the three youngest girls and I […]