What Christmas on the prairie tasted, looked and smelled like in 1880s

Christmas is a playground for the senses. You can hear the carols, see the cheerful lights and touch the love. But if you really want to talk turkey, it's taste and smell that party all night long!

That fact has been proven year after year by folks dribbling in and out all day at Spring Valley Nature Center's Volkening Heritage Farmhouse during its Christmas in the Valley affair. The succulent smells of a goose cooking, along with sauerkraut soup, potato dumplings, Vienna rolls and desserts 1880s style, leave folks salivating.

"Visitors think the aroma is just wonderful," said Karen Kusek of Schaumburg, an interpreter at the farm who has made the meal for the Christmas celebration for the past four years. "I remember some saying it smelled like their grandma's house."

Kusek explained there are several challenges to cooking authentically to the period. First, wood must be gathered. The temperature of the woodstove must be regulated without a thermostat. It is also taxing to pump the water needed for cleaning the goose and washing dishes.

"Another challenge is working by the limited light we get from a kerosene lamp," Kusek said. "But you just have to deal with it."

Besides making bread, young'uns can also decorate springerle cookies or make cornucopia ornaments. For those not into crafts, they can observe fodder chopping (chopping green stalks of corn into cattle feed) in the barn, toy making in the tool shed or hop on a horse-drawn wagon for a ride.

"People can go to the barn and see draft horses or dairy cattle, and talk about chores that still need to be done on Christmas," said Dave Brooks of Spring Valley. "At the end of the day they can go by lantern light to see a farmer milking the cows and get a sense of the challenges on a farm."

Of course, Father Christmas will be centered among all the 1880s Christmas decorations. There will be refreshments and even a Yule Log hunt.

"The tradition was to keep the log burning for the 12 days of Christmas," Brooks said. "This was considered to bring good luck."

Oh yes, and as for all that scrumptious smelling food, the day's volunteers make sure it is stored properly -- in their tummies.

"The low lighting while we're eating creates a special Christmas ambiance surrounding the camaraderie of the volunteers," Kusek said. "It's a unique experience."

If you go

What: Christmas in the Valley

When: 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Spring Valley Nature Center & Volkening Heritage Farm, 1111 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg

Cost: $1.50/person, free for children age 3 and younger

Call: (847) 985-2100 or visit www.parkfun.com