Upcoming CHC Events

 

 

Thursday, January 21, 2021, 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Catharine Parr Traill on Enjoying and Surviving a Canadian Winter

Catharine Parr Traill’s genteel life in England did not prepare her at all for life on the frontier in Ontario in the mid-1800s. But one of the ways she found to support her family in her new world was to write about her experience for other immigrants. Her writings both public and private deal with the many joys and tribulations of the wintery backwoods in early Canada.

Traill had practical advice for her readers, from maintaining a yeast supply to choosing a parlour stove to sewing a warm cloak. She revealed much about bottling, pickling, smoking and hunting foods for the mid-nineteenth century pantry, then making winter meals. Her how-to advice benefited many immigrants unprepared for the cold and ice, as she had been once unprepared, but she also came to love the sparkling snow in her Canadian wilderness.

Fiona Lucas, who with Nathalie Cooke, co-edited Catharine Parr Traill’s Female Emigrant’s Guide: Cooking with a Canadian Classic (2017), speaks knowledgeably and entertainingly on Traill’s experience and writings. Her half hour presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

Admission: $19.10 ($11.34 for CHC members). Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 4, 2021, 7:30 to 9 p.m.

The Marmalade Mavens

An illustrated Zoom talk by author and CHC board member Sarah B. Hood on the rise and fall of the world’s greatest marmalade makers

From the legendary Janet Keiller, popularly credited with “inventing” marmalade in Dundee, Scotland in the 1700s, to Cooper’s, Chivers, Smucker’s and Shirriff’s, the world’s great marmalade manufacturers have fascinating stories. Touching on marmalade history from ancient times to the present, Sarah weaves a compelling tale that ties in Roman cookery, medieval Persian poetry, changing attitudes towards racism, scurvy in the British Navy, Victorian labour conditions and globalization, and perhaps explains why marmalade is such an enduringly beloved commodity.

After the presentation, Sarah will stay for a Q&A session on marmalade history and answer practical questions about making prize-winning marmalade.

Admission: $18 ($12 for CHC members). Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Save the date for next year’s Annual General Meeting.