Hearth Cooking Workshop with Mercy Ingraham

This weekend I had the great fortune to attend a hearth cooking workshop with cooking legend, Mercy Ingraham.

The nice fall day was perfect for gathering around the fire and cooking some hearty, cool-weather Colonial food. It's a funny feeling being a guest in your own kitchen (well a kitchen I cook in often enough.) But it was a real treat to get to see a master at work.

It was only minutes before the guests dug in and cooked. The scents in the air were fantastic: a smoky winter soup with sweet potato pie, stewed apples, and roasted pork.




 It was nice to see pie crust made, because I mess it up almost every time. We were lucky to have a pie making pro there as even Mercy admitted to the occasional store bought crust. I learned that I shouldn't worry about the lumps of butter/lard in the crust as that helps make it flaky.  I also learned a fancy pie crust trick, where after you roll the crust out on the table, you can wrap it around the rolling pin to transfer it into the pie pan.  
  

Co-cooks

Busy cooks.

Sweet Potato Pie

Soup with bread and grated cheese.

I am hoping to try making pies this fall and using my new pie crust knowledge. I still could use more tips.