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Thursday, July 5, 2012

[Upper Canada Village] Bakery Apprentice at the 19th Century Bakery

Upper Canada Village is a heritage park of which construction began in Morrisburg, Ontario in 1958 to open to the public in 1961.

The park depicts a life in a rural English Canadian setting of a 19th-century village in Upper Canada in 1860s.

If you want to know more about the village,
please see the [Alight at Night Festival] posting where
I posted about the village more in detail after we went to see the light show on the eve of the new year.


We visit Upper Canada Village at least once or twice a year.
Until last year, we missed each of bread making and cheese making at the bakery and cheese factory, only by a few minutes.
This time, I was fullly determined to arrive at the opening time, 9:30 a.m., to see the bread baking and cheese making.
So we left home at 8 a.m. and arrived before the opening time!

We went right to the bakery.

Eric, the 19th-century-style baker, had promised me, in 2010, that he would let me help him if I come back early enough~

It took me almost 2 years to arrive there early in the morning, but I still think better later than never.
Finally finally I made it.


Not surprisingly, Eric did not remember his promise.
But, I am exceptionally good at reminding of those kinds of stuffs :)
Even though women and men were not to work in the same shop in 19th century,
Eric and Kaase let me in for the apprenticeship.

Well, as I love baking, I bake bread from scratch, at home.



But, it was the first time that I used the flour grown and ground in the village.



Each bread dough weighs a pound or 454g.


Each dough was quickly kneaded and shaped before being put in the mold.


Then, the dough will be risen for the second time in 30 minutes, and get ready to be baked in the oven.



103 loaves of bread are baked at the same time, in the 19th-century-style oven.


The large brick oven is heated wood and the wood flame die before the bread molds go in the oven.

The doughs were put in the oven, and the bread is baked by the lingering heat. I find it amazing that the bread is baked by remaining heat in the pre-heated oven.

 Remi was busy videotaping my apprentice while Pablo was getting bored.


 Baked breads are sold at the cafeteria next to the gift shop.

Eric let me put my initial on a loaf so that I can take a loaf! It was so nice of him.

 
 There is nothing more salivating than a freshly baked loaf of bread.


While the bread was baked we also visited the cheese factory union.
Unfortunately, the cheese maker has Sunday and Monday off.
It was very disappointing as the bakery and the cheese factory were two main, or rather sole, purposes of the visit, at least for me.

Even though we had visited each building a few times already,
it was stille interesting to see those 19th-life style all over again.

We visited the Tinsmith's Shop to see how they made baking tins and candle holders at that time.


All handmade tins~



My little guys were more interested in playing checkers on a 150-year-old checker board.

 We saw a herd(?) of piglets running around the Loucks farm.
Babie/cubs, including piglets, are all so cute.



The Loucks Farm represents a typical progressive farm of the 1860s.
The farm is named for the family that owned the impressive stone farmhouse that originally sat on the banks of the St. Lawrence in Canada's Dundas County, but moved to the village in 1958.

This beautiful piano was made and sold to the Loucks family in 1860s. The cost of ordering this piano was $600, equivalent of $60,000 of the current value.

 We also took the boat called the tow scow, pulled by a single horse.

In 1860s, tow scows operated along the canal, mostly to move commodities.

Kids and Mr. D took a chuchu train too.
This little Mister is 5 going on 6, but still behaves like a baby, rather often.


We entered the village at 9:30 a.m. and left at 12:30 p.m.

It was warm, but not too much.




It was a great visit.
We should go back there soon, to attend to see cheese making process.

I love Upper Canada Village.
If you have a chance, you should defintely spare a day for the visit.

Upper Canada Village - Bakery Apprentice

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