Peddler’s Village presents evening in the colonial kitchen

Peddler’s Village presents the debut of the annual Evening in the Colonial Kitchen on Monday, January 7, 2013 at the Cock ‘n Bull Restaurant.

Evening in the Colonial Kitchen is entering its 34th year as the region’s most entertaining and educational historical dinner series. Peddler’s Village presents this popular and interactive food event every Monday evening from January through March, 5-9 p.m.

The series features two different colonial-era characters each week from the American Historical Theater and a savory menu of authentic colonial cuisine. The actors share fascinating tales of America’s early days while dinner guests interact with food historians preparing an 18th-century style dinner over a roaring fire. Learn the secrets of baking pies in a Dutch oven, roasting beef on a “clock-work jack” or in a “tin kitchen,” cooking fish laced into a plank, sautéing Maryland crab in a “spider,” as well as baking breads and Johnny cakes. Guests may select a generous sampling of two out of eight hearty main courses or one favorite entrée, and then take home the keepsake menu along with a pamphlet of Colonial recipes. The total immersion into colonial life would not be complete without period musical entertainment throughout the evening provided by the spirited 18th-century musical duo, Marianne and Tom Tucker.

Evening in the Colonial Kitchen is particularly suited for families and school groups. Group dinners for organizations or businesses may also be arranged. The cost is $22.95 for adults and $12.50 for children 10 and under (beverages not included.) For the complete Colonial Dinner menu, visit www.peddlersvillage.com. Reservations are recommended, please call 215-794-4000 for reservations.

2013 Schedule of Colonial Characters (*subject to change):

January 7
William Clark: The principal Indian agent and Brigadier General of the militia for the Louisiana Territory after returning from the western expedition.

Meriwether Lewis: Co-leader of the western expedition to explore the land obtained by the Louisiana Purchase.

January 14
Betsy Ross: A seamstress & upholsterer who sewed flags for our “rebellious” new nation.

Oney Judge: A slave at Mount Vernon, Virginia. A servant in Washington’s presidential households beginning in 1789, she escaped from the Philadelphia President’s House to freedom in 1796.

January 21
Marquis de Lafayette: Statesman, soldier, general.

Baron Von Steuben: Systematically trained the amateur American troops in military discipline and battle-readiness under George Washington.

January 28

John Adams: Second president of the United States.

Abigail Adams: Outspoken wife of the second President of the United States, who cautioned her husband to “remember the ladies.”

February 4
John Hancock: Merchant, statesman and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Benjamin Franklin: Inventor, printer and statesman.

February 11
Thomas Paine: One of our nation’s founding fathers, Paine was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual and revolutionary. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlets Common Sense and The American Crisis, influential in spurring on the Revolution.

Patrick Henry: Virginia lawyer, patriot and orator, who proclaimed the famous words, “...give me liberty or give me death!”

February 18
George Washington: “Father of our Country” --- a man nobody really knew.

Martha Washington: Beloved First Lady, she was also a true soldier’s wife.

Hercules: One of Washington’s slaves and the chief cook at Mount Vernon by 1786. He was described by G.W. Parke Custis as “a celebrated artiste…as highly accomplished and proficient in the culinary art as could be found in the United States. Hercules escaped to freedom.

February 25

Sarah Miriam Peale: Niece of Charles Willson Peale, talented artist with a long and successful career.

Charles Willson Peale: Philadelphia artist whose many portraits serve to remember the faces of the Revolution and of the young Republic.

March 4
Alexander Hamilton: An unsung hero of the Revolution and later the Republic. He is best remembered as the “Father of the U.S. Treasury.”

Thomas Jefferson: Writer of the Declaration of Independence, this brilliant young Virginia lawyer served as third President of the United States.

March 11
Susan B. Anthony: 19th century women’s rights advocate, worked ceaselessly for the right to vote.

Abraham Lincoln: Sixteenth President of the United States, most dearly remembered for his Emancipation Proclamation.

March 18
Meriwether Lewis: Co-leader of the western expedition to explore the land obtained by the Louisiana Purchase

William Clark: The principal Indian agent and Brigadier General of the militia for the Louisiana Territory after returning from the western expedition

March 25
Dolley Madison: A Quaker from Philadelphia who became the country’s third First Lady.

Molly Pitcher: A soldier’s wife who bravely stepped in to “man” his cannon position after he was wounded in battle