Let’s Eat! Tracing and Preserving Family Food History

Connect with Family, Culture and History Through Food

There are many ways to explore the past—and yet nothing connects us to our families, histories and cultural roots quite like food. From recipes and ingredients to the stories behind them, food reminds us of who and where we came from. Celebrating family food history and creating new traditions can foster a greater sense of belonging and build shared memories. Explore your own familial and cultural foodways during this unique webinar.  

Can’t attend live? The webinar will be recorded and made available to all registrants for 30 days. Space is limited-register now to reserve your seat!

What You’ll Experience   

• Gain insights into how you can trace your familial and cultural foodways and preserve your family’s food history from experts 
• Come away with practical tips for documenting your own family food history along with stories of Wisconsin foodways and the people who celebrate them 
• Attend live or register and receive a webinar recording full of tools to further your research

Presentations Include 

Sarah Niigaanosay Gordon presents The History and Science of Pemmican Production 

Join Sarah Niigaanosay Gordon for a discussion on the history and importance of pemmican as a food for the fur trade. Guests will also learn the science and process of making pemmican in the modern era with Gordon, an Ojibwe Tribal member. 

 

Valerie J. Frey presents Preserving Family Recipes: How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions 

From Uncle’s barbecue sauce to Grandma’s cobbler, family recipes fill us with nostalgia and draw us closer together – if they’ve been saved, and if they work right, that is. So: what can you do if a beloved recipe is illegible, horribly outdated, impossible to read, or unwritten? How can you make sure those old handwritten recipes, as well as heirloom photos and kitchen artifacts, last for future generations? And what might your favorite legacy family recipe tell you about your own history—one that lives between the lines? Join Author and archivist Valerie J. Frey as she explores the art of preserving, recreating and celebrating heirloom recipes. 

 

Jane Conway and Randi Ramsden present Extra! Extra! Eat All About it! Recipes and Culinary Curiosities from Historic Wisconsin Newspapers 

Obscure measurements, vague oven temperatures, outdated ingredients… historical recipes don’t just tell us what Wisconsinites used to eat but offer clues about what kitchen life was like “back in the day.” In this presentation, Jane Conway and Randi Ramsden will dive into the recipe columns of historical Wisconsin newspapers to show how they can be used in family food history research, and how recipes reflect the social, economic, and political landscape our ancestors lived in. 

 

Eleanor Brinsko presents Sifting Through Cookbooks to Find Our Female Ancestors 

There’s something special about cooking that brings us back to a particular place, time, conversation, experience, or family memory. Join Eleanor Brinsko as she looks at how we can use recipes, cookbooks, and experiences to help us further our genealogical research and family history presentation. The presentation will end by exploring ways to create our own family history cookbook! Get a head start by digging up family recipes, church cookbooks, and newspaper clippings of your favorite dishes. 

 

Society members receive a 10% discount, please verify your membership where prompted to receive discount at check out. 
Advanced registration is required 
Guests must be 13+

Know Before You Go & Accessibility

• Advanced registration is required to participate in Let’s Eat! Tracing and Preserving Family Food History.
• The registration deadline is Thursday, Nov 5 at 11:59 PM CT.
• Guests who cannot attend the webinar live may view a recording of the event for up to 30 days after the recording is shared.

Have Questions?

For more information, please contact Rebecca Hopman at [email protected] or 608-261-9515. To register by phone: 608-264-4848.