The Roses of Crown Hill - Clue #1

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Photographs

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Crown Hill Women’s Institute Cookbook

A Crown Hill Women’s Institute Cookbook sits quietly resting in the kitchen or pantry. Or it might be found on a library shelf with other books filled with stories of family or past adventures. The Cookbook contains recipes with ingredients no longer easily available from the garden or market and includes recipes passed down by families over the generations.

In 2015 the Crown Hill Women’s Institute had just concluded a partnership with neighbouring WI’s on a multiyear project. The Penetanguishene Road is one of the oldest roads in Canada
and has always been important to the communities it ran through. For the project we were responsible for designing signs with stories/pictures reflecting the Road’s history in Crown Hill. The signs were installed along the Road in our community. (For additional information check out Facebook – Penetanguishene Road Villages and the Web @ www.antonpickard.com )

After the project was completed, there was some questions.
What should we do with the information & material not used for the sign?
What could we do with the research material we uncovered during this project?
How can we share the stories with others?
Let’s make a ‘Cookbook’...
The Cookbook would contain recipes & photos & stories of our community.
So, a new Crown Hill Women’s Institute project began!

The community of Crown Hill grew along the historic Penetanguishene Rd in Simcoe County. Early pioneers cleared the trees & planted their crops between tree stumps. The settlers built homes & farms, raised families & operated businesses along the Road. Residents held ‘bees’ to support each other & families socialized with picnics & community suppers.

The Cookbook shares stories of this time in our community’s past. There are stories of WI meetings, Church socials, winter activities, fall fairs, barn raisings, Rix’s tavern, fishing in Willow Creek, the cheese factory & maple syrup.
One of the stories reflects on the time before the era of reliable & safe refrigeration when community families joined in a ‘Beef Ring’. Area families shared the beef from animals they raised throughout the summer & celebrated with an ‘Oyster supper’ in the Fall.

Recipes found in the Cookbook, both old & new, are reflections of the people and events in the community.

The Cookbook was a project that involved all the members of our Branch. We contributed our favourite recipes, shared our stories, edited, published & sold copies to members of the community & beyond.
We sat around the work table and laughed & talked & and drank a lot of tea & coffee.

It was a memory making Women’s Institute project for us all.

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