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"Twice as Good" Cooking Show Visits Old Fort Niagara to Learn about Food on the Niagara Frontier
by C. Clark(May 11, 2016) Youngstown, N.Y. - Old
Fort Niagara last week hosted the "Twice as Good" cooking show for kids that
airs on PBS stations across the country. The show's production crew and hosts
were visiting the Niagara Falls area to film an episode to air in early 2017
that focuses "on the foods and traditions of the Ontario and upstate NY
regions," according to its May 4 Facebook post.
While at Old Fort Niagara, twin hosts Delaney
and Hadley learned about 18th century foods prepared at the original
French fort, feeding the soldiers, and baking bread, which they helped to
knead. Brian McDonald, Interpretive Department Assistant Manager, and Suzannah
Emerson, Interpreter, dressed in period clothes, demonstrated bread-making
methods and shared the fort's food history with them.
One of Old Fort Niagara's regular
programs, called "foodways," involves demonstrating cooking techniques and sharing
ingredients from the fort's past. This includes French, British and American
methods used during different timespans. These demos happen during school
tours, special events and fundraisers throughout the year.
Old Fort Niagara's archives of "provisions
in store" records from January 1778 to serve 532 men (comprising the garrison,
seamen and rangers) reveal:
90,000 pounds of flour would last 169
days
26,160 pounds of pork would last 86
days
2,977 pounds of salt beef would last 5
days
7,152 gallons of peas would last 250
days
4,113 pounds of butter would last 144
days
2,677 pounds of rice would last 70 days
56,966 pounds of oatmeal would last
1,499 days
Old Fort Niagara (www.oldfortniagara.org) is located in
Fort Niagara State Park in Youngstown, N.Y., which is 14 miles north of Niagara
Falls via the Robert Moses Parkway North. The fort is open daily from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. through June and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in July and August. Admissions
end 30 minutes before closing. Old Fort Niagara is a Registered National
Historic Landmark and New York State Historic Site operated by the Old Fort
Niagara Association (a not-for-profit organization) in cooperation with the New
York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Follow us on
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Hours of Operation
January 13 through March, Open Wednesday-Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m
April 1- June 30, Open Daily 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
July and August, Open Daily 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
September 1 - October 15, Open Daily 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
October 16 - December 31, Open Wednesday through Sunday (Closed Mondays and Tuesdays) 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The fort will be open daily during Christmas week, December 26 - 31.
Closed New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
General Admission
Adults: |
$20.00 |
Children (6 to 12 years) |
$12.00 |
Children (5 and under): |
FREE |
Support the Fort
Old Fort Niagara is operated by the Old Fort Niagara Association, an independent, not-for-profit organization established in 1927. We do not rely on tax dollars. Instead, the Fort is funded through a combination of admission fees, museum shop sales, and charitable contributions.
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