#FoodwaysFriday - When Historic Places Meet Food: The Boreal Diner

The Boreal Diner. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

This past weekend, I went on a little road trip around Bonavista, Port Union, Port Rexton and Trinity. I saw so many beautiful buildings, visited a variety of museums and art exhibition, and revelled in the breathtaking scenery that these unique communities have to offer. Also, I ate a lot of delicious food.

I had supper at The Boreal Diner Friday evening. It is located on the east end of Church Street in Bonavista. The restaurant opened in 2016, and is quickly becoming a hot-spot to dine. The architecture was the first feature that grabbed me upon arrival. It is a beautifully restored, late nineteenth-century building with a mid-pitch gable roof. 

Upstairs interior. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

This house was constructed in 1872 by master carpenter Robert Ryder and his father, Allan. It was home to George Templeman and Mary Ann Cuff and their five children, Ronald, Christine Agnes, Heber John, Frances and Arthur Spurgeon. The Templemans had occupied this area of town since the early 1800s, and there are six properties belonging to the family that are still standing today. However, this house is the oldest surviving of the Templeman properties. 

A couple of years ago, the building was going to be demolished, but was instead purchased by Bonavista Living and restored. Sylvie Mitford and Jonathan House now operate The Boreal Diner from this location, serving locally foraged foods, Newfoundland-raised meats and seafood. 

Prior to renovations. Photo courtesy Bonavista Creative.

Under construction. Photo courtesy Bonavista Creative.

That evening we ate steamed mussels in wine, with garlic scape aioli and homemade sour dough bread for an appetizer. The main course was an orange-ginger tofu stir fry with rice noodles, mushrooms, broccoli, pickled turnip and radishes topped with sesame seeds and fresh herbs. For dessert, I indulged in a mixed berry crumble with slivered almonds. 

Steamed mussels. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

Orange-ginger stir fry. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

The food was scrumptious and the atmosphere was lovely. There is something about eating food in an old, historic building that makes the experience much more enjoyable. 

-Katie Harvey

The Baccalieu Island Lighthouse

Baccalieu Island Lighthouse and Dwelling. Photo courtesy Heritage House (Lighthouse Friends Website)

Baccalieu Island is an uninhabited island located in northern Conception Bay near Red Head Cove. Construction began on the Baccalieu Island lighthouse and dwelling in July of 1858. It was first established as a fog station in 1905, and the light tower was later added in 1953. The tower was composed of red bricks and stood at twenty-five-feet tall. The dwelling was painted white with a red roof.

James Ryan was the first lighthouse keeper appointed to the Baccalieu Island Lighthouse in 1858, and four generations of Ryans manned the lighthouse for the next ninety years. The telegram reported the following about the Ryans upon their retirement:

“They were well and favourably known by all mariners and fishermen in the sea lanes, they were the friends of all who needed them and were ready at all times to risk their lives to save others. Because of their isolation they loved not man less, but nature more, they always felt close to God and they were God fearing people.”

When there was talk of demolishing the lighthouse, locals protested by writing a letter:

“Demolishing the stone lighthouse would be destroying a part of our culture, that could never be replaced. It would be tantamount to ‘blowing up’ a medieval castle in Europe, an act so outrageous that it would immediately have word wide attention.”

Today, the lighthouse is not manned by a living person, however, a bright white light still flashes every ten seconds, warning nearby boats of impending danger and serving as a reminder of Newfoundland's rich fishing history. 

-Katie Harvey

Always a Use for a Flour Bag: Quilts, Shrouds and Sails

On August 3^rd, I interviewed Sarah Griffiths Ennis (born October 20, 1946) of Placentia. When we met, I asked if she wished to talk about anything in particular. Without missing a beat, she said, “Recycling. You know, how we recycled, because we didn’t waste anything then.”

For the most part, we talked about flour bags, which, as Sarah noted, were “a big thing.” At the time, everyone had a 50 pound sack of flour at home. Sarah explained, “You didn’t buy small amounts, because everybody had to bake their own bread and make their own cookies.” As a child, Sarah would venture into the family’s pantry to play with the sack of flour, discovering that “if you hit both sides of the bag, you’d get a little puff of flour, because these were cotton sacks. … I thought it was spitting at me.” She could also mold the sack into “a real good snowman”:

            Andrea: So was that while the flour was in the bag?

Sarah: Yes, but if it was real full you couldn’t make a snowman, because it was too dense. So you had to wait until the flour bag was about a quarter gone, or two thirds gone, or whatever. And then you could push up the flour so you could mold it. And you could make a little waist around the middle. [laughter]

Once the flour (and the snowman) had been used up, the flour bag was always repurposed for something else. The cotton of the bag had a dense weave—it had to be, to contain the flour—and was thus a highly valuable commodity. As Sarah explained:

Sarah: So anyway, when the flour bags were empty, they were used for everything. There was fabric—it was well needed, the fabric was. So it was great. You got the flour, and you got the cotton. And most women at the time would use them, embroider them, or make clothes out of them. They were probably used for shrouds, too. But they were used for school bags, shopping bags, quilts, blankets—you name it and they used the flour bags for it. Bandages. Slings. And when we were younger, houses weren’t heated, and we used to wear a lot of vests inside our clothes. So the vests were often made with flour bags. So then they would get fancier, and get embroidered. They’d make beautiful things, and the cotton didn’t wear out, it was good heavy cotton. … And my dad was a sign painter. So if he was doing signs that were banners, you know, big banners going across—the flour bags would be used for that. So there was another use for them, right. Always a use for a flour bag.

As Sarah and her six siblings grew up and left home, the family’s flour bag supply began to decline. With less people in the house, less bread was baked and, as a result, fewer flour bags were free for the taking. Unfortunately, this scarcity also coincided with her mother and father’s upsurge in “time for creativity.” As Sarah put it, “a silent war” then began to be waged over the the flour bags. While her mother had visions of flour bag needlework, her father wanted flour bag sails for his boat. On one occasion, Sarah was summoned by her father from St. John’s, and asked to sew six flour bags (which “was a big thing, right, six flour bags”) into sails. Ordinarily, Sarah’s mother would have undertaken this task, but the two seemed to have reached an uneasy kind of stalemate. Though her father had won the flour bags, her mother wasn’t about to help him. A few months later, Sarah and her father set sail in the flour bag sailboat, and had a close call out to sea. They made it back to shore in the end, but as Sarah remarked, “I always said, ‘That’s the flour bags getting even.’”

While Sarah doesn’t have any of the family’s flour bag creations in her possession, she showed me a flour bag quilt made by another woman in Placentia:

Sarah Griffiths Ennis poses with her flour bag quilt.

It's a little hard to make out, but some labels are still visible on the quilt. The mirror image of this one reads "Goldrim Flour":

"Goldrim Flour," visible from the back of a flour bag quilt.

As Sarah summed it up, “this flour bag thing was so valuable in everybody’s life, everybody in our era.” However, other kinds of recycling were engaged in as well. In the following audio clip, Sarah describes how cans of tinned milk and other can lids were reused during her childhood:

Blundon House Before and After. Bay De Verde, 1997. #Folklorephoto

These three photographs are from the 35mm slide collection of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation and were taken in 1997. The same year the building was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Blundon House is the last merchant house in Bay De Verde, originally owned by John Blundon who owned several schooners used in the coastal trade.

To see what Blundon House looks like today, visit Heritage Foundation website.

~ Kelly

Architecture, Pothead Whales, and International Folktales - The Heritage Update!

In the July-August edition of the Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we bring you up to date with the various ongoing projects of the Heritage Foundation of NL. The lineup of articles includes: "Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" -- a new project to share traditional stories which have come from away; memories of hunting pothead whales in Bonavista Bay, the
Heart’s Content Heritage District Inventory and a spotlight on the Anglo-American House; memories of the Americans in Ship Harbour, Placentia Bay, with Mary (Murphy) King; the Oral History Roadshow in Port Blandford; a look an unusual Victorian photo album in Holyrood; and early Modernist architecture in St. John's!

Download the pdf

#FoodwaysFriday - Carrot Sandwich

When Terra and I were in Port Blanford last week, I noticed a sandwich at the Memories Mug Up that I had never seen before. It appeared to be the most popular sandwich at the event; the tray having been more or less consumed before any of the other typical pot luck sandwiches. It's innards were bright orange, and so, obviously, I had to enquire as to what it was.

Linda Bennett explained that this sandwich is composed of grated carrot and cheese, finely chopped onion and mayonnaise. Apparently this recipe is particular to Port Blanford.

According to local lore, Betty Greening, a World War II bride brought this recipe with her to Port Blanford from Scotland. It has since become a well-known sandwich among the locals.

Have you ever consumed this sandwich? Is there a particular name you've associated with it?

-Katie Harvey

Living Heritage Podcast Ep085 How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland? Part 1

Today on the Living Heritage Podcast - Part One of “NL Stories: How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland?” - excerpts from an Evening of Storytelling and Musical Performances. The event was recorded live on Thursday, June 29, 2017.

It was hosted by the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, with support from the Helen Creighton Folklore Society and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The MC and organizer for the event was Marissa Farahbod, a graduate student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, with stories from Yvette Niyomugaba (from Rwanda), Mark Watts (from the UK), and Jing Xia (from China).

Download the mp3

Retaining Wall in Heart's Content

Does anyone have any information on this retaining wall on Main Road in Heart's Content? How old is it? Who built it? It is located just alongside the Anglican Cemetery in the Heritage District. If so, please email Katie at katherine@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 ext. 7.

#OralHistoryRoadshow - Port Blandford

Oral history event on local stores. Photo by Katie Harvey. 2017

On Wednesday afternoon Katie and I headed out to Port Blandford to meet with the Conservation Corps' Port Blandford Green Team and Calvin Efford with the Port Blandford Heritage Society. Calvin contacted the Heritage Foundation about having the Oral History Roadshow come to Port Blandford. The Heritage Society suggested we focus on the stores in the community as there have been over twenty stores in the community through the years, and many local people have memories of both shopping and working in these general stores, convenience shops, and grocery stores.

Thursday morning we met with the green team and provided an overview of how to do oral history interviews including consent, recording equipment, questions to ask, and how to process the material once the recording has been done. Following this meeting Katie and I interviewed two women in the community about their experience with stores in the community.

In the afternoon we held the public oral history event where twenty five people came out to share their memories of local stores like Roland Greening's (later Wanda's), Powell's, Pelley's, and other small stores. There were stories about the charge system, how everything was noted by hand, and memories of the delivery service first by horse and cart and then by vehicle.

Following the afternoon event Katie and I interviewed five community members about their stories and memories of working and shopping in Port Blandford. We are still looking for memories of the stores in Port Blandford so if you have one let me know by calling 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5 or emailing terra@heritagefoundation.ca