KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Sarah Bousfield, who heads up education efforts at Pioneer Shingle Creek, said she is working to incorporate live demonstrations like Victorian baking from a Pioneer Day to a more weekly basis. 

Bousfield has tried and successfully crafted many of the recipes in an antique cookbook.

She learned to bake at 18-years-old when she got her first job at a living history museum. Bousfield had to cook as part of the presentation, so she learned to cook and bake, but not on a modern stove, on a wood-burning stove. 

“So a lot of my baking experience comes from 19th century cooking techniques — wood-burning stove, open-fire cooking, which I think is really cool way to learn because not a lot of people learn to cook on that before they learn to cook on a modern oven,” Bousfield said. 

She’s come a long way from those early days. Bousfield has completed her undergraduate degree and is now completing her master’s. She just recently returned from an archaeological dig in Turks and Caicos, where she helped dig for ancient relics. 

Now Bousfield wants to give visitors to Shingle Creek Pioneer Village a chance to not just see old relics of the past but to experience a-day-in-the-life of the early Florida settlers. Already they can explore the grounds and the history at Pioneer Village, making it a must-stop spot on your next road trip adventure. 

The Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek is open seven days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., when visitors can go on self-guided tours. If they provide at least two weeks’ notice, they could get a guided tour.