By Josh Bootsma
LANSING, Ill. (April 10, 2021) – There are some new events and projects cooking at the Lansing Historical Society this month, as the organization will host a Zoom presentation titled “Family Heirloom Recipes from the Illinois State Fair” with culinary expert Catherine Lambrecht. The event will launch the Historical Society’s “Recipes from our Roots” campaign which invites the community to submit recipes and stories for display at the Historical Society.
Zoom presentation – April 26, 6:30 p.m.
The April 26 Zoom presentation will take place at 6:30 p.m. and will feature Catherine Lambrecht, a veteran culinary expert and judge at both the Lake County and Illinois State Fairs. Her presentation will focus on recipes from the Illinois State Fair that are at least 50 years old and are accompanied by the history and stories of the family members who shared them.
She has edited a book with the same title as her Zoom presentation: “Family Heirloom Recipes from the Illinois State Fair.” Since 2009, Lambrecht has judged Family Heirloom Recipes contests on behalf of Greater Midwest Foodways in Illinois as well as Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
The event will be co-produced by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, which invites Illinois authors, artists, and educators to share their expertise with people throughout the state, enabling local nonprofit organizations like the Lansing Historical Society to present cultural programs to their communities.
To sign up for this event, email [email protected] to receive the link to the Zoom presentation. The event is free and open to the public.
“Recipes from our Roots”
“Everyone eats and everyone has family recipes and stories about those dishes and what they meant to their family,” the Lansing Historical Society said in a press release about its new project: “Recipes from our Roots: Lansing Shares Recipes and Stories.”
The Historical Society wants Lansing residents to share their recipes and the stories behind them as a way to bring the community together. Lansing residents are invited to submit a recipe and story to the Lansing Historical Society for display at the museum in the coming months. Recipe-submitters can enter into a raffle to win culinary-related prizes.
“Our goal is to help unite our diverse community by showing how recipes and stories of food preparation in the olden days can be a way of getting to know each other better,” said Barb Dust, member of the Lansing Historical Society.
Residents can share their recipes by emailing [email protected], dropping them off at the Lansing Public Library, or by mailing them to the Lansing Historical Society at P.O Box 1776, Lansing, IL 60438.
The Lansing Historical Society is located in the lower level of the Library Library at 2750 Indiana Avenue.
I’ve never been to or entered anything in a State Fair, but back in the stay-at-home-mom days, I entered a good amount of canned and baked goods in the Crown Point Fair. Different types of items had to be brought in on different days, then there was the opening night, a “regular” day to go on rides and see exhibits, and the day after to pick up one’s stuff. That was a lot of trips “all the way to Crown Point.” I still have my blue ribbons 🙂 I hope I can tune in to the Zoom presentation.