In Partnership with Bucks County 4-H.

You must register in 4-H ZSuites to attend these youth-centered sessions. 

* Please note that we are also presenting Wednesday sessions that are open to anyone to attend but are aimed to an adult audience and not specific to youth.

Five virtual classes on Sunday afternoons at 3:30-4:30 pm Jan 30, Feb 6, 13, 20, 27.

Contact btobin@pa.gov with questions.

Southeastern Pennsylvania is the perfect place to taste and savor many early and lasting influences on the foods we grow, harvest and eat. In each virtual session, we will discuss the historic and cultural significance of the food we are preparing, we will demonstrate some recipes, and prepare some foods together. While dishes are cooking, we will continue discussions, questions & answers and share photos and artifacts. A 4-H project book with recipes, activities and shopping lists will be provided in advance so that you can cook along with us!

Jan 30: Pennsylvania German Foodways in the Delaware Valley Immigrants from Germany were the earliest and largest European groups to settle in Pennsylvania. It’s no wonder that German ideas about food are at the heart of so many “traditional” Pennsylvania foodways. We explore this history, and taste a favorite Pennsylvania German food.

Feb 6: The Influence of French Cooks and Cuisines in the Delaware Valley When French newcomers flocked to America after revolutions in Paris and Haiti, they brought along ideas of fine dining, as well as some of the cheapest, most delicious street food! From the tables of presidents to the bellies of dock workers, DelawareValley residents have always appreciated French ways with food and cooking.

Feb 13: Chinese Food and Plant Cultures in the Delaware Valley Historians say Chinese workers in California’s Gold Rush launched Chinatown settlements in every major American city, including Philadelphia. However, Asian foods, plants, and medicines have traveled to North America for thousands of years, with help from human and animal hosts. We explore some of the welcome flavors as well as invasive plants from China that are now at home in Pennsylvania.

Feb 20: Women in the Kitchen: The birth of Domestic Science in the Delaware Valley. Our region celebrates a long history of women as cookbook authors, cooking school directors, and spreading the science of cooking to American homes. Many of today's techniques for healthy cooking, eating and preserving were developed and made popular by women. We sample this history and some of the lessons of healthy foods.

Feb 27: Philadelphia’s Soda Pop History: The Evolution of Drinks in the Delaware Valley Philadelphia’s soda tax was supposed to decrease the consumption of sweet, high calorie beverages. But a tax can’t suppress a local craving for soda that goes back hundreds of years and introduced many innovations we still enjoy today.

Presentors: Cassandra Stancil Gunkel, PhD and Bonnie Tobin, MEd