We have always wondered what life was like for the soldiers, officers, and many camp followers during the Revolutionary War. Thanks to Foodbuzz and Visa Signature, my family and I got an opportunity to "travel back" more than 200 years in time, to experience an evening at Valley Forge at the time of this historic encampment. For our evening "Valley Forge After Hours", we got to meet and enjoy a traditional colonial picnic dinner with some of the soldiers and notable historical figures of the time.
We assembled at the Memorial Arch at Valley Forge National Historic Park, and as we stepped through the arch, our time portal, we assumed the roles of characters that visited the army as part of a Congressional committee that came in June 1978 to inspect the readiness of the army. For the experience, the park service provided us flash cards with our roles. I portrayed Louisa Griscom, my daughter was Eliza Griscom, and my husband played the role of John Harvie. And so as evening rolled in our story began.
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Evening at Valley Forge
My name is Louisa Griscom. I am a Quaker from Philadelphia and I am a leader within my meeting. We have been greatly concerned about equal treatment of the soldiers and ensuring adequate living conditions for the troops. I was chosen as a representative to travel to Valley Forge, accompanying a committee of Congressional representatives to inspect the readiness of our army.
I brought my daughter Eliza with me. She begged to come along and meet Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington, commander-in-chief of our troops. My daughter is very interested in cooking and baking, and she hoped to learn some of Martha Washington's secret recipes. She also collected a list of questions from some other Philadelphia children to ask of General Washington himself (note 1)
We rode together with John Harvie, a Congressional representative from Virginia and a member of the committee to inspect the quality of training of our Continental line. (note 2)
As we arrived at Valley Forge, Private Fry met us at the arch and escorted us to George Washington's Headquarters. Along the way, he told us about the hardships the soldiers have to endure living and training in the encampment with too few supplies.
When we arrived at headquarters, General Washington was engaged, so Martha Washington met us and brought us to the bakehouse for refreshments. She told us a story of how she came to Valley Forge on her husband's birthday to find the soldiers hungry and barefoot. She brought supplies with her and has been busy distributing food and clothes as well as helping to tend to the wounded. On behalf of her husband, she also informed us of the state of the army. After her short speech, she invited us to the dining room to enjoy a special dinner she had prepared for us.
Martha Washington was well known to us an an excellent cook, famous for her recipes and dining innovations, although we knew she seldom did all of the cooking herself. We found her to be an excellent hostess as well, ensuring that everyone had enough to eat (note 3). When she learned of my daughter's interest in cooking, she spent some extra time with us, explaining the dishes she had helped to prepare for us this evening.
Martha prepared a "picnic" style meal for our enjoyment, enabling her guests to sample a variety of delicacies, served cold for the most part, as a series of "salads" to avoid difficulties in timing for so many guests.
The main dish of the evening was Salamungundi, a salad recipe dating back to the 17th century, comprising chopped meats, eggs, green beans, onions, and fruit, dressed with oil, vinegar, and spices. Martha's version of Salamungundi used tender chicken slices with coriander, pearl onions, green beans, oranges, and grapes.
We also loved the crunchy texture of a lovely Cabbage Salad, dressed with mustard seed vinaigrette and tossed with crispy bacon slices.
A Potato and Dill Salad with a vinegar-based dressing and celery was also very tasty, textured nicely and with a pleasant tang.
Our favorite salad was the Curried Apple and Walnut Salad. My daughter said that "the curried dressing changes the taste of the apple and makes it really delicious," while "the walnut goes well together with the apple because it balances the spicy flavor of the curry." (note 4). She was quite right! After the savory dishes with chicken and various legumes, this dish blended sweet and savory flavors in a mouth-watering proportion that readied us for sweets to come.
Alongside these salads, two accompanying freshly baked goods were just amazing. Martha Washington borrowed these recipes from Thomas Jefferson, her Virginia neighbor. First, the Corn Muffins offered were both firm and moist and tasted of honey and butter. Mr. Harvie, our dining companion, thought these corn muffins were his favorite.
A second accompaniment was even more of a surprise, consisting of Sweet Potato Biscuits with Pecans, full of aromatic spices and extremely scrumptious.
As a beverage with our delicious meal, we enjoyed a refreshing iced tea with molasses. The added molasses really changed the flavor of the tea, not merely adding sweetness, but bringing a subtle softness to it that made for a delicious drink.
For our dessert, we sampled miniature almond Financiers, light and wonderful.
A final treat of the evening was a special Coconut Candy covered with chocolate, another special recipe of Martha Washington.
After dinner, we finally got to meet General Washington on the front steps of his house. He addressed the committee with the plans for the army and the future course of the war.
As it started to rain, Martha Washington, concerned for her husband's health, encouraged him to return to the house and invited us to join them inside. There, we all had a chance to address our concerns with General Washington. He was especially kind to my daughter and answered all her questions.
As we walked in the rain to our accommodations for the night, we could imagine just a little bit how the soldiers must feel every cold and rainy night at Valley Forge, and we wished for the speedy end of the war for Independence.
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5 Star Foodie Notes:
1. In reality, women and children did not accompany the Congress committee to Valley Forge. Louisa and Eliza Griscom are fictional characters created by the Valley After Hours program staff and further expanded by our re-enacting. The Griscom family, however, was actually a prominent Quaker family in Philadelphia and Betsy Ross, whose maiden name was Griscom, is its most famous member.
2. Mr. John Harvie really was a historical character and visited Valley Forge in June of 1778 as part of the Congressional committee.
3. Martha Washington commented on my peculiar behavior as I perched on my knees, pointing a strange "box" (camera) at my very small portion (taking a picture of a small bite of the curried apple salad). She was very concerned that this was all I was going to eat, and I had to assure her that I was actually sampling all of the food on the table a bite at a time.
4. Although we made up Eliza Griscom's interest in cooking, my daughter actually did describe the Curried Apple salad in the words quoted in the story.
1. In reality, women and children did not accompany the Congress committee to Valley Forge. Louisa and Eliza Griscom are fictional characters created by the Valley After Hours program staff and further expanded by our re-enacting. The Griscom family, however, was actually a prominent Quaker family in Philadelphia and Betsy Ross, whose maiden name was Griscom, is its most famous member.
2. Mr. John Harvie really was a historical character and visited Valley Forge in June of 1778 as part of the Congressional committee.
3. Martha Washington commented on my peculiar behavior as I perched on my knees, pointing a strange "box" (camera) at my very small portion (taking a picture of a small bite of the curried apple salad). She was very concerned that this was all I was going to eat, and I had to assure her that I was actually sampling all of the food on the table a bite at a time.
4. Although we made up Eliza Griscom's interest in cooking, my daughter actually did describe the Curried Apple salad in the words quoted in the story.
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Valley Forge Park During The Day
Our traditional colonial picnic dinner and evening with re-enactors of historical characters was part of the special Valley Forge After Hours program. This is a new program, offered by Historic Philadelphia organization that together with National Park Service manages the Valley Forge park and its events. During the day at the park, we visited all the major sights including the soldier houses, George Washington's Headquarters, and General Varnum's Headquarters. We listened to special tales of Valley Forge at Once Upon the Nation story benches. Walking around the park, we also enjoyed the spectacular views of the valley.
Please view the slide show of our selected photos for a virtual tour of Valley Forge.
