Collecting American Pewter

Antique pewter is one of those collectibles that can be reasonably priced to collect, beautiful displayed in any home from contemporary to traditional, and can still be used and put in the dishwasher!

Eat, shop, enjoyucation

A Perfect Summer Day in Lebanon

Start your visit to Lebanon with the Warren County History Center - Shakers, Russel Wright, Geneaolgy library, great gift shop and special antique pewter exhibit.  Educational and entertaining all at the same time!

Summer is in full swing at the Warren County Historical Society. Visitors are coming in the doors in steady streams and most of them have planned a whole day around their visit. The typical guest is visiting the Warren County History Center in the morning where we have a special antique pewter exhibit on display now through the end of August. Before our guests leave us they shop our gift shop then head for either the Golden Lamb or Village Ice Cream parlor for lunch. Then they walk off lunch with a little shopping, drive up to Glendower Historic Mansion for a guided tour of the manison and walk through the shady garden for the afternoon. They finish up with a stop at the Golden Turtle Chocolate Factory. I know all this because I ask them!  Doesn't that sound like a good day! 

Golden Lamb Inn, visit their Black Horse Tavern room for lunch. Love the salads and the sandwiches.

Village Ice Cream Parlor - great burgers, soups, salads and ice cream of course.

Glendower Wildlife

One of our volunteers at Glendower Historic Mansion snapped this picture of some of the wildlife that regularly visits the house.

Babies Among the Day lilies at Glendower

Mona's Busy Day



Miss Mona at the Museum, waiting ever so gracefully for visitors.

Mona Lisa, our museum kitty, has learned that if she lays on the counter on top of the visitor's registration book she is sure to be petted by everyone who walks in the door.  We've had a steady stream of visitors today and Mona is making sure she doesn't miss a one.

Shaker Pies

The real thing - Shaker Lemon Pie

If you ate at the Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, Ohio back in the day, you could always count on the dessert menu including either Sister Lizzie's Sugar Pie or Shaker Lemon Pie or both.  Sister Lizzie hailed from the Kentucky Shaker community known as South Union and Ohio Lemon Pie came from North Union  the Shaker community near Cleveland.  The Shakers had to feed a lot of people good wholesome food so they could work hard on their farms. They wasted nothing and so made sure the food was tasty so it would all be eaten.  
Shaker Lemon Pie is one of my favorites and its pretty easy to make if you have a mandolin slicer or a food processor that slices things paper thin. Here's the recipe from The Best of Shaker Cooking by Amy Bess Miller and Persis Fuller. 

Shaker Lemon Pie

2 lemons

2 cups granulated sugar and a little more for layering the lemon slices

4 eggs

pastry for two 8 inch crusts

Wash the lemons well in warm soapy water. Rinse well. Then slice the lemons paper thin, rind and all. (I through away the tops and bottoms, you just want slices of lemon flesh). Place them in a ceramic or glass mixing bowl and pour the sugar over them. Mix well and let stand for a least 6 hours or over night, covered.  This allows the bitterness in the lemons to blend with the sugar and juice.

Line an 8 inch pie tin with one pastry crust. Beat the four eggs together until they are lemon colored. Lay the lemon slices in layers on top of the crust making sure to add a little extra sugar between each layer. When all the lemon slices are layered in the crust,  pour all the remaining sugar and lemon juice from the mixing bowl over the slices. Then pour the beaten egg over the lemons. Put the top crust on the pie and vent it to let out steam.  Place in a hot 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, then turn heat to 400 degrees and bake until a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean, about 30 to 40 minutes more depending on your oven. The resulting pie is both sweet and tart with a little crunch from the lemon rind.  You can serve it with a little sweetened whipped cream if you prefer.

Lunch & Learn Big Success

John Zimkus speaking on June 13 about the Golden Lamb and the US Presidents who have visited there.

The June edition of our Lunch & Learn program was a great success with 75 guests enjoying take out from the Golden Lamb and then a most interesting lecture from our own John Zimkus.  Visitors dined on the Golden Lamb's signature salad, their delicious tomato basil soup, a relish tray that included their famous egg salad, cherry tomatoes, an assortment of olives and slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.  Dessert was homemade cookies donated by members Marilyn Slorp and Helen Miller.  The museum staff catered the event with the help of the Golden Lamb. Special thanks to Assistant Curators Lynley Dunham and Jessica Thress for providing the catering services.
No Lunch and Learn in July as Mr. Zimkus will be busy with History Camp. But in August join us to here Lebanon collector Don Dorsch speak on collecting American pewter.

And speaking of History Camp, its not too late to include your children in this exciting history experience. This year's theme is all about the first days of the Civil War here in Warren County after President Lincoln called for volunteers. The interactive camp includes visits from "Abraham Lincoln", Harriet Beecher Stowe and members of the 35th Ohio Volunteers.  A field trip to Camp Dennison is also planned. All this for $35 per student thanks to a generous grant from the Harmon Civil Trust.

Glendower Opens for the Season

Thanks to a lot of hard working volunteers Glendower Historic Mansion opened to the public in glorious mode!  Scott Norris and his troops of student volunteers spent several days on a major clean up of the grounds, the Warren County Master Gardeners continue to maintain the herb garden and the day lily walk, and the Lebanon Council of Garden Clubs provided a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers for the drawing room. The Glendower Historic Characters are back and ready to greet you, so plan to make visiting Glendower one of your summer traditions.

Glendower opened Wednesday at 1:00 pm and according to the tour guides on duty, a steady stream of guests visited the house. Hours this year are Wednesday through Saturday, 1:00 to 5:00. Admission is still just $5.00. Grounds are free. Parking free.

The day lily alee (walk) in full bloom. This is a favorite of brides.  They arrive at the bottom of the drive fully dressed and walk up the lily alee to the beautiful Greek revival portico (front porch) where the wedding ceremonies take place.

Thanks to the Warren County Master Gardeners both the day lily alee and the Civil War medicinal herb garden are just beautiful this year.  The herb garden was started last year and is well established now. When you visit the house be sure to pick up our herb garden brochure and learn all about how your ancestors doctored themselves during the Civil War.