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The Cookery Manuscript Project:

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Historic Recipe Road Shows 2017-2019

Past

Historic Recipe Road Shows

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slide show

Saturday January 18, 2024

Cook Library,  Aspen Drive Branch

701 Aspen Drive

Vernon Hills, Illinois 60061

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Taking Grandma's Recipes to the Roadshow

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Recipes can tell us about family origins and traditions. Bring your family recipes and learn more from the Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois. Then, contribute a recipe to their growing archive!

**In-person registration and attendance is required for those who hope to participate in PART 2: Historic Recipe Roadshow.**
*In-person registrants will receive a link to schedule their road show appointment a few days before the event.*

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PART 1: What Grandma Said: Recipes as Historical Documents

(1-2 pm) - Hybrid

Old family recipes are the stories that women told each other about themselves, their lives, their families and friends, and the times in which they lived. Collections of these are original sources for historians to use in studies of the past in more detail than, say, a historical narrative. Come learn more from the Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois (CHNI).

CHNI was founded to collect manuscripts of recipes originating in Northern Illinois and then expand to eventually collect recipes from the entire state of Illinois and then the Midwest region of the United States. This initiative is part of a larger national project that originated during a conference held at New York University in 2016. 

The CHNI will create an organized digitized collection of historic cookery manuscripts. The collection will be made available to scholars and researchers as well as the general public. The Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois is sending out a call for cookery manuscripts, more specifically, historical, heirloom, and old family recipes, at least 50 years old. We invite you to participate by submitting your recipes.

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PART 2: Historic Recipe Roadshow
(2-4 pm) - In Person ONLY

Bring your family recipes and learn more about your family and the recipe! The Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois (CHNI) will share information and reveal special details about your favorite foods. The Historic Recipe Roadshow will take place directly after the "What Grandma Said" presentation and will only be offered in person.

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Here is the link to register: https://cooklib.libnet.info/event/11841511

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Here is a link for directions  to the Library:

Cook Library Aspen Drive Branch 701 Aspen Dr, Vernon Hills, IL 60061

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Aspen+Drive+Library+-+Cook+Memorial+Public+Library+District/@42.239098,-87.969086,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x880f964a6b18707d:0xb6a31e129f984572!8m2!3d42.2390978!4d-87.9690858!16s%2Fg%2F1tfkls3_?hl=en-US&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

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The Cookery Manuscript Project:

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Historic Recipe Road Shows 2023 - 2025

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Saturday April 29, 2023

DeKalb History Center

1730 North Main Street

Sycamore, IL

noon to 4:00 p.m.

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Sunday, April 7, 202

Elmhurst History Museum

Education Center

Elmhurst, IL

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Saturday July 27, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

Wilmette Public Library

1242 Wilmette Avenue

Wilmette, Ilinois

The Culinary Historians on Saturday July 27th presented an Historic Recipe Road Show at the Wilmette Illinois Public Library. 

The speaker prior to the Road Show was EvaAnne Johnson, the Local History and Genealogy Librarian for the Wilmette Library. Johnson’s presentation was titled Cooking Up Memories: Creating Your Family Cookbook.

Johnson shared how she compiled her family’s cherished recipes into a family cookbook. She explained the steps and provided and shared tips on how anyone can do the same.  Attendees learned about preserving family recipes. She noted that interviewing and collaborating with relatives allows one to discover their culinary heritage.  Johnson also described a step-by- step process of turning their recipes into a personalized family cookbook, ensuring that treasured culinary memories endure for generations to come.

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Saturday October 12, 2024

Riverside Public Library

1 Burling Road, Riverside, Illinois 

The Culinary Historians hit the road this past fall and landed at the Riverside Illinois Public Library for a Historic Recipe Road Show. Our Historians and volunteers see these Recipe Road Show events as like a PBS “Antique Road Show.” The one difference in a Recipe Road Show vs. Antique Road Show is that the items are recipes and not antiques and the recipes are priceless. 

One of the participants in the Road Show was Ms. Ruth Berley Hess. Ruth is 91 years old and came with her daughter Rebecca Wojcik. Ruth was born in Elgin Illinois and lived in the northwest suburbs of Chicago all her life. 

Our historians Dr. Bruce Kraig (right forefront) and Elizabeth “Elle” Carlson (right near wall) sat down with Ruth (left front) and her daughter (left near wall) to review the history and the ingredients behind the recipes brought to the Road Show.

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