Grateful for Improved Fire-Making Skills

One of the wonderful aspects of working at Mt. Vernon is the chance to improve my living history skills.  On any given day, I am given lots of opportunities to learn.  Today, was a very wet and cold day...rather dreary, actually, so I was happy to have a chance to work on my fire-building skills!

My colleague used the fire (and the dutch oven preheating next to the fire) to make an incredible 18th century pear recipe from Hannah Glasse:

Pare six large winter pears, and either quarter them or do them whole: they make a pretty dish with one whole, the rest cut in quarters, and the cores taken out; lay them in a deep earthern pot, with a few cloves, a piece of lemon-peel, a gill of red wine, and a quarter of a pound of fine sugar; if the pears are very large, they will take half a pound of sugar, and half a pint of red wine; cover them close with brown paper, and bake them till they are enough.
Serve them hot or cold (just as you like them), and they will be very good with water in the place of wine.

— Glasse, Hannah, “The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy”

They were very, very good!   And, they would be very easy to make in a modern kitchen as well!