Year of Kitchen in New England

Long before TV celebrity chefs, home kitchens were the main stage. Since Colonial times, its where families and servants acted out dramas, told stories, tried new technology, experimented with ingredients, fed bellies and comforted souls. Declaring 2009 the Year of the Kitchen, Historic New England has planned house tours and special events at their properties in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Spanning centuries, they range from the Coffin House, c.1678, in Newbury to Gropius House, c.1938, the first architectural commission in America designed by German Bauhaus movement founder Walter Gropius, in Lincoln.
House tours are open on a regular schedule. Special programs include wine tastings, hearth cooking and an afternoon tea. Late April, stock up at an Herb Sale at Lyman House Greenhouses, Waltham. In June, learn about New England Victorian Cookery at Castle Tucker, Wiscasset, Maine. America’s Kitchens, a new exhibit with vignettes and interactive experiences, opens June 11 at the New Hampshire Historical Society museum in Concord, N.H., then travels in 2010 to Long Island and, in 2011, to Cape Cod. There’s also a new America’s Kitchens book.

Posted by Janet Mendelsohn, Globe correspondent

Trade card for Pure Refined Paraffine by the Standard Oil Company. Collection of Historic New England