The following workshops are being planned and will appear on the Conference application. However, it would be helpful if your interest in any of these workshops could be known in advance, without it being considered a full commitment. Please FAX your opinions to the Conference Coordinator, Clifford Collier, at 416-489-9803 or E-mail the Workshop Coordinator, Pauline Russell-Hill, at dqcomp@ican.net.

Early 19th-century Cooking Workshops

Cooking workshops will be offered at Campbell House, the fully-restored Georgian home (1822) of Sir William Campbell (1758-1834), Chief Justice of Upper Canada; at The Grange, the home of D'Arcy Boulton (1759-1834) and Toronto's oldest existing brick house (1817) now restored to its 1830s elegance; or at Toronto's historic Fort York. Campbell House and Fort York have active open hearth kitchens regularly in use, while The Grange has one of the few remaining brick bake ovens still in operation today.

Option No. 1: limited to 30 people each location
                       2 hours duration

On arrival each group will be divided into two. The first half will have a tour of that location for approximately one hour while the other half will have a lecture/demonstration about food and food preparation in the early 19th century. The sections will then change over. The Grange will offer the baking of bread and/or cookies in their brick oven. All will use ingredients available from that time, some of which are no long used in cooking today.

Fort York has advised the following: Your group will tour the original 1813 British Fort at York (Toronto) and discover the social life of officers and soldiers in Upper Canada then visit the Officers' Mess Kitchen and help prepare and sample recipes from early 19th-century cookbooks using period equipment and techniques. A discussion of upper class Georgian dining and Officers' Mess rules will accompany the kitchen workshop to reveal the officers' unique lifestyle.

The Tour portion will include an orientation to the site using video and exhibits in the Centre Blockhouse, the Soldiers' Barracks and Officers' Mess (time approximately 30-45 minutes) ; the Workshop portion will include a hands-on programme in the Officers' Mess Kitchen using recipes, equipment and techniques of the early 19th century. Menus, etiquette, and mess life are discussed. Programme will also include the serving of samples and a recipe booklet for each participant to take home. (time approximately 1 hour)

Option No. 2: limited to 15 people each location
                       2 hours duration

Each group will be have extensive hands-on cooking sessions using either the open hearth or the brick bake oven but there would be no tour. It is possible that option 1 could go on at one site and option 2 at another, depending on interest and registration.

English Country Dance Workshops

If you like to dance and you enjoy the social history of the early 19th century - as what Janeite does not - you will find a unique opportunity to explore these interests at one or both of these English Country Dance workshops. Participants will be taught dances mentioned in late 18th and early 19th-century sources. Can you walk to the beat of a lively tune? Do a do-si-do? or bow and curtsey? - then you can learn these dances easily. While the same dances may not be taught at each workshop, those taught will be part of the Regency Ball after the Saturday evening banquet so you will have an opportunity to put your training to use.

Come and join others for a lively session of dancing, music and good cheer straight off the pages of Jane Austen.