‘History of American Pies' to explore culinary history at Lewis and Clark State Historic Site on Saturday, Oct. 7

HARTFORD - The Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Madison County will host a culinary historian exploring the diverse and changing history of pies in the United States on Saturday, Oct. 7.

Catherine Lambrecht will present her program, "History of American Pies...and Illinois is Well Represented!" at 2 p.m. in the theater at the site. The event, which is free and open to the public, is made possible by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Program and the Lewis and Clark Society of America.

This hour-long program will look at past recipes and food customs to show how pies have evolved over the years along with American culture. As Lambrecht describes, "Our ancestors used what they had available locally and made the most from it. You might be thinking that pies are just for dessert, but for our American ancestors, they were often considered survival food. Sometimes, they ate pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months at a time."

A question-and-answer session will follow. Visitors will have the opportunity to share recipes as well and should bring their favorite family recipe.

Catherine Lambrecht is a veteran of culinary competitions at the Lake County and Illinois State fairs; a former University of Illinois Extension volunteer whose specialties were Master Food Preserver and Master Gardner; and a founder of Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, Chicago Foodways Roundtable (sister organization to Culinary Historians of Chicago) and LTHforum.com, a Chicago culinary chat site. Lambrecht is also program director for the Highland Park Historical Society and Illinois Mycological Association and editor of "Heirloom Recipes from the Illinois State Fair, A Bicentennial Project."

Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly (through the Illinois Arts Council Agency), as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, IACA, our partnering organizations, or our funders.

The Lewis and Clark State Historic Site is at 1 Lewis and Clark Trail in Hartford. The interpretive center and reconstructed Camp River Dubois reveal the important role that Illinois played in the Corp of Discovery's preparations as they wintered from December 1803 to May 1804. The site is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Lewis and Clark State Historic Site is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and is supported by the Lewis and Clark Society of America.