Last chance for the Museum - so dash!

There has been a great exhibit on at the museum, Renton Historical Museum that is, and if you haven't made a visit, this is the week to do so (the event closes this Saturday). Key Ingredients - America by Food is a traveling Smithsonian show that talks about the role food plays in our lives. America is such a wonderful melting pot of nationalities, all of whom have shared in what we individually come to think of as our family's usual table fare. How much do you really know about the food you eat, where it hails from and if you have that in common with others across the States? You can't help but enjoy the topic - Food - and there is an adjuct display created by Elizabeth Stewart and Sarah Iles of the musuem, that looks at Renton foodways in particular.

If you really love your food, you have an apron stashed away somewhere. Most likely it was a gift from someone - a handmade treasure passed down from a dear relative, or decorated by your grandkids at school. Every apron has a specific story - even if you only barbeque in yours once a year. All museum members, when they turned out for an event at the Key Ingredients exhibit, were asked to wear an apron. Everyone wearing one had a story connected to the apron they chose to bring - heartwarming stories, really. The apron string still ties some of us to our food culture today.

The museum is looking just wonderful these days, dressed in it's spring colors.

So drop by this week, walk through the exhibit that has nearly doubled the daily foot traffic the museum usually sees come through their doors. You won't be sorry - and you will definitely be feeling nostalgic at times and thinking some warm thoughts of your own traditions with food that began back at home.

Time to get your party apron pressed

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Tomorrow night from 5 - 7 pm, the members of the Renton Historical Museum will be getting together for an evening of Key Ingredients - the new museum exhibit and hopefully come clad in their favorite kitchen attire - the apron. Hey, these little cloth beauties that once were a part of any woman's wardrobe are making a come back. Sometimes referred to as the "hostess apron", aprons often were as important as the pretty outfit being worn and as such, finely constructed. Others were larger; meant to cover the entire front of the body and more utilitarian. Any good chef will agree to that - and that means that this is an equal gender opportunity where apron wearing is concerned, so no one has an excuse not to dig on out of a drawer for tomorrow night. Historically, aprons have been handmade and showcased a form of stitchery, smocking, embroidery or ruffles. Not unlike samplers, they showed the owners skill set and fashion inclinations. Wonder what your apron's gonna look like?

Renton Historical Museum 235 Mill Avenue South (425) 255 - 2330

Food - The "Key" to Life

"American Food- not real recipes, just a few Key Ingredients constantly stirred by time." Tomorrow kicks off the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, Key Ingredients - America by Food, at our very own Renton Historical Museum. In the Puget Sound area, only our town will host this program along with an exhibit created wholly based on the history of food in Renton, Sustaining a City, researched and created by Liz Stewart and Sarah Iles of the museum. This is very exciting folks! Saturday, March 21 from 10am - 7pm the Grand Opening of the exhibit will feature a live broadcast with Kiro Radio 97.3 "In the Kitchen with Tom and Thierry". This radio show just had it's 5th year anniversary and stars local chef Tom Douglas (of Dahlia Lounge and 5 other local hotspots fame) and chef Thierry (known as the Chef with the Hat).

The exhibit is really well written and fun to explore. This would be a great opportunity for you and the family to introduce yourselves to a local treasure that is all to often overlooked or unknown, the Renton Historical Museum. Since this is an exhibit that is run in coordination between the Smithsonian and Humanities Washington, the price is right - suggested donation. This outing can fit any one's budget. And there are lots of great programs from now until May 9, the last day of Key Ingredients, to keep you entertained.



Members Only Exhibition Opening - Wear Your Apron!!
Thursday, March 26, 5:00 - 7:00 pm

Closing the Food Gap- talk and book signing with Mark Winne
Saturday, April 4, 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Carco Theater Adults/$10, students/$5

3 Feet Under : Digging Deep for the Geoduck Clam
Thursday, April 16, 4:30 - 5:30 pm
Film Screening at Carco Theater Adults/students/$5

An Afternoon with Greg Atkinson - talk and book signing
Thursday, May 7, 4:30 - 5:30 pm
Carco Theater Adults/$10, students/$5

Tickets can be purchased at the Museum ahead of time.

Viewing this exhibit will make you wonder about what American food is and why you and your family have the food traditions that you do. When my family first came to Renton back in the 70's, we kids went to St. Anthony's and our Mom worked many hours assisting in the office, running the mimeograph machine (no copiers back then) and helping coordinate the yearly recipe books. One year, our living room rug was covered in various pages as my Mom meticulously assembled by hand these donated recipes and family favorites into order. We inherited a new tradition in those years, that still persists today - the Pizzelle Cookie.

Our family is not Italian, we did not have this as standard cookie fare - until my Mom's buddy in the school office taught her the intricacies of making this delicate anise flavored morsel. 30 years later - my Mom is on her second pizzelle iron and makes this family favorite at Christmas time, storing these fragile wonders in coffee cans. This particular cookie is very time consuming to make - really, a labor of love. And it came to us from here, from Italian Renton roots - and it grew into a family memory that perseveres even today. I find that amazing. Food, family meals, the sense of smell - huge repositories of sacred moments of our lives.

Renton Historical Museum 235 Mill Ave. South Renton, Wa
(425) 255-2330 / email : info@rentonhistory.org

Thanks to The Journeyman Cook on Flickr for the pizzelle pic - all the rest are mine!

A Visit with Aunt Harriet

The negro spiritual, "Go Down Moses", which everyone who attended the storytelling about Harriet Tubman today sang, was written about that proud woman of the Underground Railroad. The slaves would sing songs to one another in the fields, letting each other know when another trip North to Freedom with Harriet"Moses" Tubman, would pass through their plantation. She risked her life 19 times over a period of 10 years, and she was successful in every trip she made, saving 300 slaves. Harriet led them all to the safety of Canada, where many stayed even after the war, making a new home.
Karol Brown has been researching her role as Harriet Tubman for 10 years and her partner, James accompanies her with a lovey tenor voice, interspersing songs throughout the reenactment of Harriet's life.
For those of you who missed this wonderful free program for Black History Month provided by the Renton Historical Museum here in Downtown Renton, there will be a program entitled "Harriet Tubman - Woman of Action", March 9,10 Theatre on the Square(On Broadway between 9th and 11th) Downtown Tacoma, 2pm and 7 pm. Tickets are $15 ($3 of each ticket to be donated to the Pierce County Aids Foundation Unity Now Program.
www.VisitHarrietTubman.com
BrownToneStorytellers@gmail.com

PS. Don't forget - Feb. 28. "Rosa Parks" Speaker Program at the Museum - Don't Miss!