The pioneers cooked over an open fire in the fireplace of their one-room log cabins, as depicted by this one made of fieldstones in the museum's display.
The cooking utensils in this photo were all brought to La Porte County in the
1830's and 1840's by the early settlers. The logs were held in place by the andirons, or fire "dogs," with most cooking done in a kettle suspended on the fireplace "crane." The black kettles with legs were called "spider kettles." Directly in front of the andiron on the right is a "roasting iron" for toasting bread in front of the flames.
To the right of the fireplace, where a muffin tin is seen hanging, is a "pie safe" which was used to store food safely away from insects and vermin. The pierced tin panels allowed air to circulate. On the table is a wooden bowl and utensils, for preparing food for cooking. On top of the pie safe is a basket used to separate the curd from the whey in the making of cheese.
The churn was used to beat the heavy cream, which was separated from the milk of the family's dairy cow, into butter.
This large copper cauldron was used largely for apple butter making, which would have been done outside over an open fire.
