Back when I first started this blog, I learned a few things right away about historical cooking. First, some old recipes are very similar to their modern counterparts (like pie). Second, animal fat is wonderful. From salt pork to lard, it's all delicious.Lard may have fallen out of favor with the onset of fat-free food,… Continue reading How to render suet for cooking
Category: little house cookbook
Pumpkin pie
This time of year, Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" always seems to be stuck in my head. Yes, I did play it in class because it connected to our Lord of the Rings discussion, but it's also just so seasonally appropriate. "Leaves are falling all around....time I was on my way." It's the perfect thing to… Continue reading Pumpkin pie
Frontier House (II)
A few days ago I gave an overview of PBS' miniseries Frontier House, where three modern families live for five months on Montana homesteads as though it were 1883. Here are just a few things that were fascinating about the series:the historically accurate division of labor. The men build the houses, sheds, and fences, while… Continue reading Frontier House (II)
Frontier House
It's 1883. You've arrived in a desolate part of Montana with your family and all your worldly belongings, ready to create a homestead and start your new life as a farmer. You have only the woods and the tools you brought with you to build your house. You have only the animals you brought with… Continue reading Frontier House
One year
Dear blog,You are one year old today. To celebrate, I doctored this photo of a decidedly unhistorical chocolate beet cake. I hope you like it.It's been quite a year! In one year of blogging, I have...worked with two cookbooks and started a thirdlearned what salt pork isdiscovered the joys of cooking with animal fattried and failed to… Continue reading One year
Fried Parsnips
I have always been wary of parsnips.When I was little, our dinner vegetables tended toward the traditional: peas, green beans, corn, carrots, salad. For a long time I didn't know what parsnips were. Based on the name I thought they were something like turnips, which I knew all about from reading the Molly McIntire series… Continue reading Fried Parsnips
Fried Potatoes
I'm starting to notice something about this project. Are you?There's not a lot of color in prairie food. It's mostly shades of brown. Which could go to a gross place, but I'd rather think of it as a commentary on the limited availability of food and storage out on the prairie. It seems that once… Continue reading Fried Potatoes
Johnny Cake
Back when I was a youthful graduate student, my roommates and I decided to explore the best of Rhode Island. We made it to the Hope Street farmer's market and a harvest festival before papers, reading, and student teaching took over. Then, in May, we emerged from the cave of school. We realized that we… Continue reading Johnny Cake
Stewed Jack Rabbit and Dumplings
Up to this point, I've been playing it safe. The recipes I've chosen have at least mildly resembled something I've eaten in the past. But that all changes today.That's right. I cooked a bunny.I understand that this post may lose me some readers.* That's okay. The nineteenth-century prairie wasn't all dry cornbread and apple turnovers.… Continue reading Stewed Jack Rabbit and Dumplings
Apple Turnovers
These are the two things I've learned so far from this project:1. Pies and pie-like things haven't changed much since the 19th century.2. Animal fat is sinfully delicious.You already know that I'm a salt pork enthusiast. Having only cooked with butter and oil prior to starting this project, the pork was a pleasant surprise. But… Continue reading Apple Turnovers
Abby Murphy 