Cornelius’ Corner: “‘History at Work’ is Egg-citing!”
Cornelius supervising his coworkers, Tony & Laura
Hi friends!
One of the advantages of being a snake that lives at a park and historic site is that I get to go exploring through nature and history! Two weeks ago, I got to spend some time helping my coworkers with our “History at Work” program. This free public program takes place once a month from April through October and gives park visitors a chance to see historic trades and skills up close.
For the May 2022 “History at Work” program, my coworkers were exploring receipts (recipes) from the 1788 cookbook The English Art of Cookery by Richard Briggs. They used the site’s reconstructed Bake Oven and documented the process as part of a larger project with other food historians, which will be included in a future publication.
Cornelius is ready to bake!
While I was there, I got to help with making a “Sweet Egg Pie.” I was really looking forward to this receipt because of the eggs! My wild corn snake cousins love to climb into trees and find bird eggs to have as snacks. However, my coworkers Laura and Tony told me I wasn’t allowed to have any because apparently chicken eggs are too big and have too much fat for me. So I spent my time supervising to make sure they didn’t forget any of the ingredients!
From this experience, we learned some cool things. One surprising thing that my coworkers told me was that hardboiled eggs and dried currants actually ended up being pretty tasty together in a sweet pie! Who would have guessed?
A family of visitors learn about baking
Check out our next “History at Work” program on June 25th from 10am to 3pm, when my coworkers in the Millwright Shop will be working on the new waterwheel for the Grist Mill! These programs are always the last Saturday of the month from 10am to 3pm. Drop by for a quick peek or stay longer for an in-depth experience! And don’t forget to stop in at the Visitor Center to say hi to your friendly neighborhood corn snake!
–Cornelius
