On Saturday, November 13^th, Westmoore Pottery will present “Stepping Back in Time:  Hearth Cookery.”  This year the pottery will host experienced hearth cooks Carolyn Dilda, Suzanne Simmons, and Linda Beverly, who will cook all day in Westmoore Pottery’s large fireplace in full view of all visitors.

The three expert hearth cooks will present a program titled “A Taste of Tradition, Then and Now.”  As the theme suggests, they will concentrate on special holiday foods and will be using old “receipts” (as recipes were then called) to cook foods that are the ancestors of the dishes we often serve at Thanksgiving and other holidays. Though the dishes will be cooked in the fireplace, Carolyn, Suzanne, and Linda can offer suggestions for tweaking the receipts (recipes) for those who only have a modern kitchen at home.  And with all the natural disasters taking place in the US these days, you might even learn some skills to help you cook when the power goes off!

Among the foods that will be cooked are Chicken on a String and Indian Pudding.  (After all, November 13^th is National Indian Pudding Day!)  Tasting will be permitted.

Carolyn and Linda have participated for years in the Historical Cooking Guild of the Catawba Valley.  Suzanne retired in recent years from serving as the head of the Backcountry Farm at the Schiele Museum.  All three have presented workshops and programs at conferences and other venues.

Westmoore Pottery is well known for making and providing replica historical pottery used for heritage cooking programs and as kitchen furnishings in museums and historic sites. The redware, a reddish earthenware, is wonderful to cook in and has been used as such for centuries.

Stepping Back in Time:  Hearth Cookery is consistently an eagerly awaited event by visitors to Westmoore Pottery.  It attracts the curious from all walks of life – historians, teachers, gardeners, cooks, cookbook collectors, foodies, and pottery enthusiasts.  No prior knowledge is needed.  There is no admission fee and pre-registration is not required.

“This is a ‘drop-in anytime’ program,” says Mary Farrell.  “Visitors can come and go as they wish, though we usually have someone who stays the entire day!”

Westmoore Pottery will be open from 9a to 5pm on November 13^th.  Cooking demos will be from 10 am to 4pm.  Masks will be required indoors, and we ask that you take the food samples outdoors to gobble them down.

Westmoore Pottery is located at 4622 Busbee Road, Seagrove, NC, just off Highway 705 halfway between the small towns of Seagrove and Robbins in North Carolina.