Explore Our Buildings- Detached Kitchen
Click on image to see a slideshow introduction to the kitchen.
Detached Kitchen
Walking by this building in the spring and fall, many times you can smell the delicious aroma of fresh baked ginger cookies or cornbread. The detached kitchen is built from hand cut logs and chinking made from mud and straw. This chinking would need to be replaced every year. The one room structure served as the family home until a bigger main home could be constructed. A loft accommodated sleeping for the children, but all other daily activities would be carried out in the small cabin. Once the family moved into the main home the cabin was used as a kitchen protecting the main home from fires and extreme heat that accompanied cooking. As seen in the picture above, the family would plant herbs and other plants around the cabin to be used in cooking. They might also have an extended garden, referred to as a kitchen garden, close by to easily access fresh fruits and vegetables.
The cabin was built by John Wesley and Arrena Bundon Sanders circa 184os in Spring Creek Mill, now Hurley, Missouri, It was donated by Terry North and Mrs. Minnie Butterfield and restored by the Springfield-Greene County Historical Preservation Society with financial help from the Junior League of Springfield, The Community Foundation of Greene County, numerous businesses, and individuals.
in 1863 John Sanders was talking with his friend, James A. Barnard on the porch of this cabin. Both men were shot and killed by bushwhackers. It is not known if they were killed by Confederate or Union sympathizers. The farm remained in the Sanders family until about 1969.
There was no chimney left on the cabin, so a chimney was obtained from a demolish3ed cabin in McClurg, Ozark County, Missouri. It was probably built by Lucinda Garrison circa 1862, from stone quarried from Cedar Bald north of the cabin's original location. Jessie Adams bought the property in 1869, and it has remained in the Adams family. The meaning of the name, WHITAKER, and the "initials" carved in the stones remains a mystery. The letters appear to be WGARRIS (possibly W. Garrison) The beautiful, large lintel in unusual. The stone-cutters' chisel marks to dress the stone are clearly visible.
Originally the cabin had a door and two windows. A window was cut in the back so that there would be more light for classes and tours.
The cabin was built by John Wesley and Arrena Bundon Sanders circa 184os in Spring Creek Mill, now Hurley, Missouri, It was donated by Terry North and Mrs. Minnie Butterfield and restored by the Springfield-Greene County Historical Preservation Society with financial help from the Junior League of Springfield, The Community Foundation of Greene County, numerous businesses, and individuals.
in 1863 John Sanders was talking with his friend, James A. Barnard on the porch of this cabin. Both men were shot and killed by bushwhackers. It is not known if they were killed by Confederate or Union sympathizers. The farm remained in the Sanders family until about 1969.
There was no chimney left on the cabin, so a chimney was obtained from a demolish3ed cabin in McClurg, Ozark County, Missouri. It was probably built by Lucinda Garrison circa 1862, from stone quarried from Cedar Bald north of the cabin's original location. Jessie Adams bought the property in 1869, and it has remained in the Adams family. The meaning of the name, WHITAKER, and the "initials" carved in the stones remains a mystery. The letters appear to be WGARRIS (possibly W. Garrison) The beautiful, large lintel in unusual. The stone-cutters' chisel marks to dress the stone are clearly visible.
Originally the cabin had a door and two windows. A window was cut in the back so that there would be more light for classes and tours.
Fireplace and Hearth
The hearth is know as the heart of the home. It provides warmth, light and a means of cooking. The fireplace in the detached kitchen came from McClurg, Missouri. Notice the massive single stone that forms the mantle. There are many tools that need to be available in the kitchen.
Preserving Food
Out on the prairie, far from any type of general store, it was most important to find ways to preserve food. Food that was harvested in the summer and fall had to last throughout the harsh winters. The main types of preserving food were: drying, canning, pickling, smoking and burying.
One method of preserving food is to
hang it to dry. Many crops such as apples, beans, herbs including garlic can be seen hanging from the kitchen beams. |
Before the advent of metal cans, jars such as these were used for canning. Beans, corn and other crops could be stored for many months in these crock and glass jars. The wooden, metal crock lids were sealed shut using beeswax. Did you know it was almost 45 years from the advent of tin cans before a can opener was invented?
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Another method of preserving was to pickling foods. In this picture you see a cabbage slaw cutter. The cabbage would be placed in the box and then moved across the blade to shred. Shredded cabbage was used for slaw, but the best way to preserve it was to make sauerkraut by pickling the cabbage.. The cabbage is pressed into a crock before adding salt. It was then stored this way for several weeks.
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Meats were also preserved using salt. Pictured here is a box used to keep salt dry and available in the kitchen. Salt was considered one of the most precious commodities. It has been said that one might trade a whole cow for a single quart of salt.
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Preserving large cuts of meat typically happened in the smokehouse. (Unfortunately, we do not yet have a smokehouse). Once a year neighbors would get together for a hog killing. The animal was so large it took many hands to prepare it for the smoke house. Some meats such as ham were salted and hung in the smoke house to absorb the smoke to create a thick rind which allowed the meat to be kept for many months. Other meat was ground and prepared with salt and herbs. Then pressed into casings of hog intestines, tied into links and hung in the smoke house with a low burning fire for several days.
Kitchen gardens were used to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. The produce would then need to be preserved for the winter months. Root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and turnips could be kept cool in root cellars. Holes dug deep in the ground that were lined with straw and dirt made a great root cellar. Many times these were outside the house, close to a spring or under the floor of the home.
Other Kitchen Tools
With no kitchen cabinets many tools were kept on hooks or nails on the wall. Click on the white circles in the image to learn more about each tool.
Kitchen Work is Never Done- More Tools
Delicious butter did not come from the store. Once the cow was milked the cream was separated from the milk and placed in the churn. It might be the job of one of the children to move the handle up and down over and over until the cream became butter. Did you know that butter isn't really yellow? Later food coloring was added to make it more appetizing.
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Another way to make the butter appetizing was to use a butter mold and press a design into the butter. This mold makes a nice oak leaf pattern.
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Without electricity other methods of lighting needed to be used. Making candles with beeswax and molds as well as using kerosene lamps helped to provide much needed light. |
Coffee did not come in convenient little K-Cups. Coffee beans would be purchased and ground in this type of coffee mill. The grounds are then boiled in hot water over the open fire. If coffee beans could not be found then they would make Chicory coffee. The root of the chicory plant is ground and brewed to make a decaffeinated drink.
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