Heritage Hearth: Iron over Fire - Spring 2026

Before modern kitchens, cooking happened outside.

At an outdoor hearth. Over an open fire. In cast iron that outlasted the people who seasoned it. Early cooks — across cultures, across generations — worked with flame and what was at hand. The food they made fed families, marked seasons, and carried traditions forward in ways no recipe card could fully hold.

Heritage Hearth: Iron over Fire brings that practice back to Taylor-Grady House.

Each session pairs a local chef-instructor with TGH's permanent storyteller Lee Epting to explore a specific open-fire cooking technique — its history, its method, and its meaning. You will cook alongside the chef. You will eat what you made together. You will leave with a recipe card and a technique that belongs to you now.

This is not a cooking demonstration. It is not a class where you watch someone else work. You will have your hands on the cast iron.

How a session works:

The fire is already lit when you arrive at 5:30 PM. Lee opens with the historical context for the evening's technique — where it came from, who used it, and what it meant to the people who cooked this way. The chef-instructor takes over from there: demonstration, then participation. You cook together. At 8:00 PM, you eat together around the fire. Recipe cards go home with every participant.

Sessions are completely standalone. Come to one. Come to all four. No prior cooking experience required. No commitment beyond the session you register for.

The Spring 2026 series runs June and July, every other Saturday evening at Taylor-Grady House's outdoor kitchen.

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Host or Publisher Taylor-Grady House at Landmark Commons