Dover’s historic John Dickinson Plantation will be aflutter with the sights and scents of traditional seasonal fare as part of the Plantation’s annual holiday decorative foods display. Featuring decorative recreations of foods prepared according to authentic 18th-century recipes, this year’s display, entitled “A Fare of Fowl,” will showcase foods made with, or inspired by, chickens and their avian cousins.
The 18th-century foods include chicken pie; chicken-shaped marzipan; hen’s nest, a dessert made with orange peel; roasted game birds; kisses; jumbals; pound cakes; tarts; nut-sweet; cheeses; and syllabub, a traditional beverage made with wine, milk or cream, and seasoned with sugar.
In addition to the “A Fare of Fowl,” visitors to the Plantation will have an opportunity to enjoy tours of the property conducted by historical interpreters dressed in colonial-period clothing, and demonstrations (on Saturdays) of hearth cooking, candle-dipping, and other 18th-century activities.
Located at 340 Kitts Hummock Road in Dover, the John Dickinson Plantation is the boyhood home and country estate of John Dickinson, one of the founding fathers of the United States and “Penman of the Revolution.” The Plantation is open from Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 3:30pm. Admission is free and open to the public. For additional information, call 302.739.3277.