Cream can supper held in Dunn Center

• Cream can supper

Bill Flaget, left, and Kory Richardson dump out the contents of cream cans into serving containers during the cream can supper Saturday at the Dunn County Historical Museum.

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DUNN CENTER — People from all over the region came to the Dunn County Historical Museum to enjoy a unique meal Saturday. A cream can supper was held to raise money for the museum.

Cream cans, which serve as large pots, are filled with sausage, cabbage, carrots, onions, corn and potatoes.

“They’re cooked in a cream can over the open fire to create a hearty meal,” said Cathy Trampe, chairperson of the museum committee and member of the Dunn County Historical Society. “Once the flavors are mixed together, that’s what makes a wonderful meal.”

Dunn County resident Kory Richardson cooked for the event.

“The best part to me is getting everybody in the kitchen cutting everything up and getting it ready,” Richardson said. “We layer it a certain way in each can.”

Cooking in this manner is borrowed from the past, Trampe said.

“I think probably years ago people that had harvest crews probably made the meal that way,” Trampe said. “That way they could make it out in the field. They could make a big quantity that way and feed everybody.”

The first cream can supper at the museum was held in August 2006 and the cans were placed on fires fueled by wood, Trampe said.

However the procedure has been modified and propane is now used, she added.

“This way we could move the cream cans inside the building so our fires don’t blow out in the North Dakota winds,” Trampe said.

Several people have helped prepare the annual event over the years, she said.

Debbie Pavlicek of Dickinson has attended the supper four times.

“We used to come here with my dad,” she said. “It’s my hometown and I like to support the museum.”

The event also included musical entertainment and a spinning wheel demonstration.

“I wanted the spinning wheel because it takes us back in time to the way it used to be,” Trampe said.

Proceeds from the event will be used mostly for museum improvements and upkeep, she said.

“Museum officials hope to use some of the proceeds to help fund a veteran’s museum memorial which will honor Dunn County veterans which have been killed in action or died serving their country,” she added. “We’re hoping to reach our goal by 2014 and we’ve got a long ways to go.”

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