Month: January 2019

On Sunday, Jan. 20 (Snow date, Feb. 3) from 1 to 4 p.m. there will be a free A free family-friendly Service Day Project supporting the non-profit organization Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants.

Create welcome bags for immigrants and refugees settling into Connecticut. Participating families are encouraged to bring individually packaged non-perishable snacks to include in the welcome bags.

Along with filling the bags with goodies, children will be able to create cards and decorate the bags!

In addition to the service project, children will get the opportunity to create peace doves, heart origami and learn more about Dr. King’s mission for peace, freedom, and justice for all.

Suggested Snacks to Bring for the Welcome Bags
Individually wrapped packages of cheese or peanut butter sandwich crackers
Individual boxes of raisins or dry fruit
Individually wrapped granola or dry fruit bars
Individually wrapped meat sticks
Individually wrapped pouches of fruit snacks or fruit leather
Individual bags of pretzels, crackers or popcorn

All children must be accompanied by an adult. To RSVP click here https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4021291

Welsh Rabbit (sometimes called Welsh Rarebit) is a dish consisting of a savory sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients, served hot after being spooned over slices of toasted bread – nary a hare in sight! Welsh Rabbit dates from the early 1700’s and has long been enjoyed as hearty tavern supper. Museum Educator Laurie Walker will be showing the children how to make Welsh Rabbit, and some Molasses Bread, too, from a Revolutionary War period recipe.

The Colonial Cookery and Customs for Kids workshop at the Wilton Historical Society on Saturday, Jan. 26, from11 am – 12:30 pm teaches kids a “reciept” (recipe) used in the Connecticut region. While the food is prepared, they hear about Colonial manners, morals and way of life. The monthly workshops feature relatively simple dishes made with local, seasonal ingredients, adapted for modern kitchens. All participants will sample their own cooking and take home recipe cards – as well as any leftovers! The children will learn how a Colonial kitchen would have operated, in order to appreciate the modern conveniences we take for granted. Previous sessions have made bannock cakes, pease porridge, pickles, an amulet of green peas, apple tansey, fairy butter, pumpkin bread, cranberry shortbread, New Year’s “cakes”, New England chowder, hand pies, cheese and ramp soufflé, pea and watercress Rappahannock, blackberry maslin, thirded bread, pound cake with “Oranges” juice, maple cup custard, pepper pot soup, scalloped tomatoes, dressed macaroni and cheese, and gingerbread cakes.

Suggested for ages 6 – 12.
Members: $10; Non-members $15. Space is limited — please register by contacting info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257.

Did You Know?
Welsh Rabbit vs Welsh Rarebit: “Though the “Welsh” part of the dish’s name seems clear-cut, an etymological issue as sticky as melted Cheddar surrounds the second word: is it rabbit, or rarebit? The earliest reference we have to the dish, in 1725, is quite clearly rabbit: it’s not until over fifty years later that the mysterious alternative spelling starts to twitch its whiskers. John Ayto in his A Diner’s Dictionary writes that rarebit was probably “an attempt to folk-etymologize [the name] – that is, to reinterpret the odd and inappropriate-sounding rabbit as something more fitting to the dish”. The new name caught on and references to it multiplied a little like – well, rabbits.” – Leah Hyslop, London Telegraph, September 3, 2013

The Palace Theater resumes its popular Gentle Flow Yoga classes, suitable for beginners as well as advanced practitioners, with a six week session beginning Tuesday Jan. 8 – Feb. 12 from 12:30 to 1:30pm. Cost for the six-week session is $72 and is payable at the first class. Drop-in participants are also welcome, cost is $15 per session. Participants will gather in the Mezzanine level of the theater. A yoga mat and comfortable clothing are suggested. For further information contact the theater’s Box Office at 203.346.2000.

Health professionals agree movement and flexibility are important keys to health and wellness as well as an enhanced quality of life as one ages. Led by certified Yoga instructor Michele Morcey, the classes also offers an opportunity to take a mid-day break to recharge and rejuvenate surrounded by the beauty of the venue’s opulent mezzanine lobby.

About the Palace Theater

The Palace’s primary purpose is to revitalize the Greater Waterbury community through the presentation of the performing arts and educational initiatives in collaboration with area cultural and educational institutions. Its mission is to preserve and operate the historic Palace Theater as a performing arts center and community gathering place that provides a focal point of cultural activity and educational outreach for diverse audiences. For more information, visit: www.palacetheaterct.org.

In the colonies, the chore boy or youngest apprentice in the print shop was called a “printer’s devil”, a reference to the air of mystery and magic which surrounded the early days of letterpress printing. Educated in setting type and working the handpress, these workers sometimes became master printers, publishers, or writers. “The bookbinder took the printed pages and made them ready for sale. The binder’s work included folding, pressing, sewing, and trimming the pages to construct the finished pamphlet or small book. Small inexpensive books were called “stitch books” . . . The most common bound book sold by a printer was a blank book used by planters for their crop records, tradesmen for their business records, churches, and courthouses.” (Colonial Williamsburg). What printer’s devils learned and more will be explored at this workshop. Museum Educator Laurie Walker will teach children how to make simple books they can use for journals, notes, art, and gifts on Jan. 19 from 11 am – 12:30 pm. Book-making techniques will include folding and learning an easy stitch with thick cotton thread. Each child will make a blank “stitch book” with a decorative cover, stitched and glued, and a stamp for printing. Snack of fruit salad.

Suggested for ages 6 – 12. Wilton Historical Society members $10 per child, maximum $25 per family; Non-members $15 per child, maximum $35 per family. Please register: info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257

Did You Know?
Mark Twain was a Printer’s Devil! “Samuel Clemens was eleven years old when his lawyer father died. In order to help the family earn money, the young Clemens began working as a store clerk and a delivery boy. He also began working as an apprentice (working to learn a trade), then a compositor (a person who sets type), with local printers, contributing occasional small pieces to local newspapers. At seventeen his comic sketch “The Dandy Frightening the Squatter” was published by a sportsmen’s magazine in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1853 Clemens began wandering as a journeyman printer to St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; New York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; settling briefly with his brother, Orion, in Iowa before setting out at twenty-two years old to make his fortune, he hoped, beside the lush banks of the Amazon River in South America. Instead, traveling down the Mississippi River, he became a steamboat river pilot until the outbreak of the Civil War (1861–65). “ – Notable Biographie