Pretending to be a Pioneer....

Greetings from Nauvoo, Illinois. We're on vacation this week-sort of. We're also volunteers in a huge outdoor production about the Mormon settlers of a tiny town on the Mississippi River. (Read more about it here.) Can you come and see it? It runs tonight through Saturday and it is open to the public and free. The weather is hot and humid, and the mosquitos are ravenous, but I don't think you can complain in Nauvoo. You just can't gripe when you think about the pioneers. We have it so easy these days in so many ways. Still, we're here to step back in time and share the story of this remarkable little town.
Here's how it's been for us: We were assigned to a "Gold Cast" group with several other families. We started off our week with team building activities and Pageant rehearsals. The charges are in heaven since most of what we are doing seems quite a bit like play, and if it isn't fun they send them to "Family Support," which basically means more fun and games. I wish I could send them to "Family Support" when they were bored at home. My parents are here with us-since they help run the Nauvoo Pageant all summer long. Here they are during the team-building dance. Did I mention that I can't dance? I really can't-but take it away, Mom and Pop. Boogie down for all of us.Suddenly it was time to get serious with our first important task-getting fitted for our pioneer costumes. The women need bloomers, a huge slip, a skirt, and a bodice and possibly a bonnet. The men wear shirts, trousers, vests, suspenders and hats if they haven't grown their hair out. My boys are looking like hairy surfers-no hats for them. The little girls steal the show in their dresses and pinnafores. Look at this little pioneer girl. I wish I could take her home in my apron pocket. The charges are playing their violins in the Nauvoo Band, so they have been busy practicing frontier favorites like Cotton Eyed Joe and Golden Slippers. You can get a little peek at them on stage. They look so little up there, fiddling their little hearts out. Aww, I can't wait to see them fiddling tonight in their pioneer costumes. I've got to run to rehearsal, but I'll be back with more pictures of Nauvoo Pageant and the Frontier Country Fair....
If you are anywhere near Nauvoo, Illinois-get in your car and come out and see us!

Blackberry Raspberry Crisp and Nauvoo

This week in the great state of Utah, we celebrate Pioneer Day, to commemorate the Mormon pioneer's entrance into the Salt Lake Valley. The pioneers began their dusty trek in a little town in western Illinois called Nauvoo. Located on a bend of the Mississippi River, Nauvoo has been restored to recapture the 19th century charm of a little midwestern town. It's a bit like colonial Williamsburg, except that Nauvoo's attractions are 100 percent FREE to the public. The little red brick town contains a bakery, a gunsmith, printing press, blacksmith, brick factory, all operated by volunteers in pioneer dress. My children love the Pioneer Living Center best of all, since they can participate in candle, rope and quilt making, plus see a real bustle oven for baking bread. During the summer months, Nauvoo really comes to life with an outdoor theatrical known as the Nauvoo Pageant. Professional actors plus scores of volunteers make up the cast for a musical interpretation of life in Nauvoo for the Mormon settlers. (My parents, who normally live across the street in my southwestern town, spend their entire summer in Nauvoo as pageant volunteers.) If you live anywhere near Western Illinois, hitch up your wagon and head to the Pageant, which runs until August 1st. For more information about times and location, click here. I've been to Nauvoo about 7 times in the last ten years, and I'm so smitten with the place, that I wish it were 8. If you can't make it to Nauvoo, but want a taste of the Nauvoo Pageant, email me at prudencepenny@aol.com, and I'll get you a free copy of the Nauvoo Pageant CD.
Now, for today's recipe, I'm sharing a fantastic blackberry and raspberry cobbler, which seems perfectly in keeping with today's pioneer theme. Make some homemade vanilla ice cream on the side, and you'll think you've died and gone to Nauvoo.
Money Saving Tips: Use the cheapest berries you can find, even if that means using frozen. Look for a U-Pick location. If you can't find good black berries, substitute blueberries or even peaches or apricots.
Blackberry Raspberry Crisp
Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 8 servings
4 cups berries, fresh or frozen
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
For Topping:
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, divided
Prehea oven to 350 degrees. Layer berries in 9 inch square baking dish. Toss berries with sugar, flour, and lemon juice. In a separate small bowl, combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, and salt. In a separate small bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Rub in 4 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle oat mixture over berries. Dot with remaining four tablespoons butter. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly. Serve with ice cream.
I leave you with a poem by my mother.

MORNING IN NAUVOO
The sun’s rays move slowly
Up, over and through the
Wooded trees and ferns
Here a shimmering ray and there
From the deepest of green
To the palest of light - shadows
Cast across the lawn as
Brightly the solar star ascends.
“Good Morning children of
The earth, it is time to begin once more.”
No, it is not for man solely
To welcome the light of day
God’s creatures all join
This joyful wake up call;
From the tiniest of birds
To the cautious fawn silently
Stepping from her secluded haven.
Or even as the golden butterflies join in the joyful throng
Across this scenic canvas. No artist can truly paint the
Grandeur of the awakening known as morn
The radiance of flecks of gold,
The sounds of nature stirring.
And clamoring for its own daily bread.
The soft chattering of the insects
Or the wind that moves amongst
Thee trees with the pleasant whisper
“It is here, your rest for the night is o’er.”
Nor can be depicted by that same skilled brush
The anticipation of this human heart as I go forth
To a discovery of my very own
This a brand new day.

B. Renouf
Nauvoo, IllinoisComing Next:
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