bedeque, p.e.i., museum preserving local history through community cookbook
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nanci waugh opens the door to a vintage portable stove on display at the bedeque area historical museum.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
central bedeque, p.e.i. — community gatherings have been a staple of island life since forever.
from potlucks, to fundraisers, to weddings, it all involves food — often from a family recipe.
and almost every recipe tells a story.
those stories are what the bedeque area historic society hopes to capture with its new project: a community cookbook, and they are inviting residents to send in their own family recipes, packaged with their own stories and memories.
the idea for a cookbook originated with the board of the bedeque area historic museum around a year ago. it wasn’t just a way to consolidate local recipes, but a way to keep memories alive.
without finding a way to preserve those stories, nanci waugh and the rest of the board worried they would one day be lost to time.
“we thought there was a lot of social history and heritage to tell, so we’re kind of disguising it as a bit of a cookbook,” said waugh. “we had artifacts here in the museum that we wanted to be able to use, and a lot of people within the community who we really wanted to be able to highlight.”
such artifacts include vintage kitchen supplies, like old bowls, spoons, mixers and grinders, an icebox and a portable stove.
nanci waugh leafs though a cookbook put together by the town of borden in the 1950s. the bedeque area historical museum is working on putting together a cookbook of their own, to preserve local memories and histories and stories.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
preserving memories
waugh recalls when she was a child, and even when her parents were children, the local communities would put on christmas concerts, where they’d hand out treat bags full of fudge.
“so that’s something we can capture a story about, what it was like to have those christmas concerts,” said waugh.
“there used to be, and we’re probably getting closer to this again, of wedding suppers. people would get married, and then within the home, food would be brought out for wedding suppers. again, it’s nice to look back and say, ‘what was on the table?’”
also coming to mind are community suppers, church suppers and meals as fundraisers. those are the stories waugh hopes to capture with the cookbook.
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she also mentioned farmhouses with apple orchards and gardens, and hopes the project will serve as a way to jot down how those farms would preserve the fruit in bottles and cans to be used in the winter.
these stories, she added, can also shed light on the society and values of the time.
“in days gone by, a family on sunday would go to visit the grandparents,” she said. “there would be dinner. and what else would happen around dinner? well, there’d be discussion, or there’d be games that would be played after dinner. or a walk.”
an old cookbook from the 1950s was among the inspirations behind the bedeque area historical museum putting together a cookbook of their own.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
heather harris, museum manager, is excited to see this additional piece of bedeque history come to the museum.
“i have the suspicion that there’s probably some really neat stories and recipes out there that people are proud of, that, maybe they just haven’t had the opportunity to share,” said harris. “so, i think this will be a neat venue to do that. share a side of history that is typically kept within the family.”
she also hopes it’s a project that will appeal not just to locals, but that those outside the community, as well, will take an interest.
“we did have a p.e.i cookbook that was for sale in past years, and we had one copy left this year, and it’s already sold out,” she said. “so, i think there’s a desire for p.e.i. recipes.”
local recipes
in addition to the history, waugh is also looking for people to send in their local family recipes. it’s one thing to talk about little sandwiches or sweets at one’s wedding, and another to pass down how they were made.
waugh remembers her mother’s old homemade bread.
“you knew the bread was in the oven, and when it would come out, it’d be nice and hot,” she said. “kids and families would fight over who was gonna get the crust, because that was the best part of new bread … my mother used to have to hide the bread because she said it’d be all gone before the week was over.”
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thinking of the community, waugh knows there are certain people known for something in particular. someone with the best carrot cake, or someone else with the best pies.
“we know who some of those individuals are, and you know that, ‘ok, if we’re having a church supper, or a shower, that person will probably make a carrot cake, or that person might make a special type of sandwich.”
nanci waugh said that part of the inspiration behind the bedeque area historical museum’s cookbook project was all the old cooking artifacts on display in the museum. kristin gardiner
journal pioneer
as much as the cookbook focuses on the past, waugh also wants to highlight the present, particularly newcomers to the community.
“we want to get recipes and their stories as well,” she said. “we’re trying to be as inclusive as possible.”
part of the museum board’s project involves looking through the old community cookbooks in the museum — like borden’s, from the 1950s — and seeing what recipes they can include in their own.
submissions are open until sept. 6 on the museum’s website, www.bedequemuseum.ca, or they can be dropped off in person at the museum, at 950 callbeck st., bedeque.
waugh is excited to see what comes in and to see the project come to life.
“we’re looking for the traditional,” she said. “there’ll probably be a bread section, there’ll be the casserole section, or the main dish, and then, of course, the sweets or the candy.”
waugh hopes to start putting the book together by this winter and have it ready for print and available to purchase at the museum by next summer. proceeds will go toward supporting the museum.
kristin gardiner is a reporter for the journal pioneer in prince edward island. she can be reached at kgardiner@postmedia.com.
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