Thank you for subscribing to the Historic Valentown Newsletter!
~A Note From Kathryn White~

Hello again everyone!

Did March come in like a lion this year?? It would not be the 
first time for our old place. What a busy month, too! Daylight 
saving time, St. Patrick's Day, first day of Spring, and Palm 
Sunday is in March this year, too! Since that makes Easter fall 
on April 1st, we're sharing a recipe to celebrate both St. 
Patrick's day, Passover and Easter in this newsletter. Another 
two-fer!

The hints of spring are reminding us that in about 6 weeks we are 
going to introduce our first native mason bees as part of our 
natural habitat goals. They will be tending to our Peace Garden 
in front of the Hall!? We are very excited about this. These 
queen bees don't last very long, hopefully you'll get out to 
visit us in early June in time to observe our gentle fuzzy bees 
in action. These are not honey bees,but fill an important native 
ecological spot. If you have a vegetable garden or fruit trees, 
these are your little helpers to get those veggies and fruits 
going and help insure an abundant harvest. For more information 
on them and to learn more about mason bees, see our Face Book 
post about making a bee bath.

This month we are also looking forward to when we open for 
tours. It's important to us that when we are open that Valentown 
Hall is well staffed with volunteers to make visits pleasant. We 
have several key positions from very easy (like a gate keeper to 
meet and greet our guests and do a head count) and suggest 
donations and collect fees for a guided tour. We also need guides 
or docents who like to tell the Valentown story (very easy) and 
guide people through the building. An extra person or two is 
always appreciated. 

As we grow our visitors, we need even 
more friends to help. If you are available once a month, every 
other week or even just occasionally. it makes a big difference 
for us. Our visitors are always interesting. We are open from 
1-4 p.m. Sundays, June through September. Please stop by any 
time we are open and see how it works. You can contact us at 
info at historicvalentownmuseum.org with any questions about helping 
and joining our team.

Best of Spring to everyone. I know we all can't wait.

Kathryn White, President

News and Events

WEB SITE NEWS
Online purchase of Hometown Business Memberships are now up and 
running on the web site. Community Memberships are planned for an 
April/May roll out.

We will be adding an "Events" section soon. You'll be able to use 
this section to see what kinds of special activities and outings 
will be going on at Valentown.

We have some new partners working with us, and are very pleased 
to have them on our Partners page now.

EVENTS
The museums 2018 season opens Sunday, June 3rd. As part of the 
opening day we will be having an informal introduction to our new 
Mason Bee house. Since these bee's will be almost at the end of 
their life cycle by then, you may want to see them in action that 
day or before to say hello to our little pollinators. It's the 
perfect opportunity to get up close to the bees and learn more 
about them. Lynne Perry will be there on opening day to talk 
about them, answer questions, and provide informational handouts.

Later in June we will be running a fundraiser called "Riding for 
Siding". We're still in the planning and preparation stages, but 
keep your eyes open for this fun event! Details will be announced 
soon, but you could get a hint of what it's about by taking a 
peek at our Partners page on the web site.

Find Us on Facebook! 
<https://www.facebook.com/Historic-Valentown-157101550971895/>;


Recipes
See /our collection of recipes and hints, tips and substitutions at
http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/forum/index.php?cat=2
 

RED POTATO SALAD
Creamy red-skinned potatoes with bacon, celery, green onions 
and dill.
(Serves 6)

"Honestly, I can't remember an Easter Sunday dinner at my mama's 
or grandma's when we DIDN'T have potato salad. It's most 
definitely an Easter staple side dish!" This potato salad is full 
of bacon, crunchy celery, green onions and seasoned with dill. I 
love the flavors of the green onions with red potatoes, 
mayonnaise with a hint of spicy mustard.

I didn't add hard-boiled eggs to this potato salad because I've 
always eaten red potato salad without them. I prefer them in 
potato salad with white potatoes (like in my Mom's Potato 
Salad). But if you can't live without them, by all means add 
them! You just might have to add a little more mayonnaise to get 
the same creamy consistency."

~~~ Submitted by Amy the Blond Cook (on the coast of North Carolina)

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds red potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed clean, cut into 
about 1-inch pieces
teaspoon salt (for boiling potatoes)
1 pound bacon, fully cooked, drained and crumbled (about 1 
cup crumbled)
2 green onions, thinly sliced (about ? cup sliced)
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (about ? cup sliced)
1 teaspoon dried dill
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon spicy mustard

INSTRUCTIONS
1) Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of 
salt and potatoes. Reduce heat and gently boil for 15-20 minutes, 
or until potatoes are tender.

2) Drain potatoes in a colander, transfer to a large bowl and 
allow to cool slightly.

3) Add remaining ingredients and gently stir to coat evenly.

4) Cover and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

(Learn more about Amy and her recipe's on
https://theblondcook.com/about-the-blond-cook/)

Mom Places Lamb Stew
4 servings

"My mother-in-law's version of lamb stew is not only tender and 
yummy, it's unbelievably simple to make and wildly flexible. 
Without the typical additives of potato or thickening for sauce, 
this recipe serves upwell with rice, potato's, egg noodles, or 
biscuits. And if you want to thicken it up, you can. She was a 
big influence on my cooking when I was in my twenties, I learned 
a lot about how to adapt one recipe to different applications of 
plating.

The cool thing about this recipe is it's Kosher and can be served 
(using Kosher lamb bought from a Kosher market) for Passover as 
some times done by Sephardic Jews. And because lamb is a very 
Irish kind of meat, it's a good cook up for St. Patrick's day, too!"
~~~ Submitted by Lynne D Perry

INGREDIENTS
4 lamb should blade chops
6 medium carrots
4 onions
1 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 beef bullion cubes
pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
1) Trim excess fat from lamb chops.
2) Brown lamb on both sides so there is no pink showing.
3) Place browned chops in casserole dish.
4) Add the carrots, onions and seasonings.
5) Bring 1-1/2 cups of beef bullion to a boil and pour over the 
top of the casserole dish.
6) Bake covered for 50 minutes and uncovered for 30 minutes at 
375 degrees.

NOTE: Recipe calls for 3 beef bullion cubes, but I find them a 
little too salty for my taste, so I use a tablespoon of beef 
bullion granules instead.

Levi's "What is it?" Department
And here is this months "What is it?"!

This is in what we call the "Science Room". We have many unusual 
items there. Some, even we do not know what they are. Join our 
conversation on this one on our Facebook page at 
https://www.facebook.com/6thWhatIsIt 
<https://www.facebook.com/157101550971895/photos/a.708518075830237.1073741826.157101550971895/2048410255174339/?type=3&theater>; 

If you know this one please say "know" and wait so others can 
have some fun with it. We will give some clues, and hints from 
the "know's" are acceptable too. Check our last what is it mail 
hook hints from Valentown to see how to make it fun. Enjoy!
 

Our last "What is it" is a mail hook!

A mail hook is a hook that could be used to snatch a
leather or canvas pouch of outgoing mail hanging track-side
at small towns where the train did not stop. The catcher arm
was swung out to catch the hanging mail pouch while the clerk
stood in the open doorway. As the inbound pouch slammed into
the hook, the clerk kicked the outbound mail pouch out of
the car, making certain to kick it far enough that it was not
sucked back under the train. An employee of the local post
office would retrieve the pouch and deliver it to the post
office.

A Gold Star went out to Laura Reebles for guessing correctly!

You can read more about this tool in our web sites "What is 
it?" department: http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/mail-hook
<http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=47>;

Is it ever going to get solved? That 2nd "What is it" just keeps 
going! We know someone out there knows what this carving is 
demonstrating! This one seems to be quite the stumper. Any ideas? 
Possibilities? We want to hear them all!

Valentown Facebook "What is it?" Wood Carving
    <https://www.facebook.com/157101550971895/photos/a.708518075830237.1073741826.157101550971895/1912890852059614/?type=3&theater>;