Bibliography

Wilder, Laura Ingalls, Little House in the Big Woods. Puffin Books, 1963.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls, Farmer Boy. Puffin Books, 1972.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Banks of Plum Creek. Puffin Books, 1965.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. By the Shores of Silver Lake. Puffin Books, 1967.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The Long Winter. Puffin Books, 1968.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little Town on the Prairie. Puffin Books, 1969.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. These Happy Golden Years. Puffin Books, 1970.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Pioneer Girl. Edited by Pamela Smith Hill. South Dakota Historical Press, 2014.

Walker, Barbara M. The Little House Cookbook. Harper Collins, 1979.

Slater, Nigel. Toast. Fourth Estate, 2003.

Humble, Nicki. "Fantasies of Food in Children's Literature." Roehampton University. PDF.

Humble, Nicki. "Liniment Cake, Beavers, Buttered Eggs: Children Cooking; Cooking [for] Children." Feast or Famine? Food and Children's Literature, edited by Bridget Carrington and Jennifer Harding, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, pp. 52-68.

Erisman, Fred. "Farmer Boy: The Forgotten "Little House" Book." Western American Literature, vol. 28 no. 2, 1993, pp. 123-130. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/wal.1993.0023

Berne, Emma Carson. Laura Ingalls Wilder: Creator of the "Little House" Books. ABDO Publishing Company, 2009. p. 11.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my analysis of the food in the Little House series shows the different purposes that they serve. In the literary context, the food helps to establish the personalities and statuses of characters such as Almanzo serving up his buckwheat pancakes and Nellie being associated with the vanity cakes. The preparation of it also helps to portray the Ingalls family as hard-working and efficient with the choices they make when it comes to food, which helps the reader to both sympathise with them and admire them as a quintessential American pioneer family. In the historical context, the food highlights differences in attitudes and technology as well as the social status being people living in different areas.

When making the food, I found it to be rather labour-intensive, with the buckwheat pancakes and pumpkin pie in particular having to be started on the night before. This could be do to the food being made without modern technology that would speed up the process, but it could also be because the Ingalls had less free time and therefore it would not matter how long the recipes took. There were also times where the end result would not match up with the book's description due to artistic licences taken, most notably with the vanity cakes. Despite all this, the end results would be excellent and when tasting them, I could imagine myself as one of the family members trying it out.

Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable project. I loved looking back at the books through the lens of food and it was fascinating to discover how they used food different to how they do now. I also discovered new ways of looking at particular scenes such as the buckwheat pancakes scene in The Long Winter and in particular, I enjoyed trying the recipes out for myself!

Making The Most Of It

There are plenty of lavish descriptions of food scenes in the Little House books, but sometimes there are moments in which the Ingalls do not have enough to eat, mainly because of the crops being destroyed by pests or the weather being too unsuitable. During these times, Ma's efficient nature is highlighted perfectly as she strives to make the best of the situation.

Laura and Ma dealing with the blackbirds in Little Town on the Prairie, copyright Garth Williams.

 

In Little Town on the Prairie, Pa's corn crops are eaten by the blackbirds, a common pest in America. In response, the blackbirds are caught and Ma resolves to make blackbird pie out of them. She references the famous nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence as she presents it to Pa, which is the clue that it is blackbird pie and not chicken pie as he assumed it to be. The nursery rhyme can easily be recognised by modern readers and this intertextuality helps them to link Ma's situation to that of the song. It also shows that though they are not of royalty like the king in the song, they can still eat like royalty despite their crops being destroyed due to them finding the source of the problem and taking action instantly.

Ma also uses the green pumpkins to make green pumpkin pie in The Long Winter, just like how she used the green tomatoes to make green tomato pickle. This is done by using the preserves that she already has. Walker says in The Little House Cookbook that "improvising a successful treat when the larder is low is a special pleasure for cooks and eaters alike" (p. 120). Indeed, the pie is well-loved by the family and Pa boasts that "Ma always could beat the nation cooking" (p.), establishing both the close and amicable relationship between the two and Ma's skill as a cook.
 

This is not always the case when the situation is extreme though. In The Long Winter, the family are left without much and have to resort to eating brown bread. They also have to grind the wheat that they have available by hand using the coffee grinder. As a result, the bread is made with a less fine flour. The fact that Ma is unable to find an economical way to take advantage of the situation shows the seriousness of the situation; they have barely any food to eat and the snow prevents them from getting to the crops that they need. This could easily be considered on of the darkest moments in the book as a result.

Drink It Up

No satisfying meal or snack in the Little House books is complete without a drink to go with it. I already discussed the use of lemonade and milk in the party food, but here I shall go into more detail about them.

Milk is a favourite drink of the Ingalls family, not only for its creamy taste but probably also because it can go with anything. It is a good choice of drink to have for breakfast or with sweet foods such as the vanity cakes, mainly because the taste of it will not be affected by what you eat. It is also an accessible drink for the family, as they have cows to get the milk from, as depicted in On the Banks of Plum Creek when the family receive the cows for the first time and Laura instantly gets a tin can to put the milk in. It is stated that “nobody had taught Laura. She knew how to milk a cow; she had watched Pa do it” (p. 33). Laura is immediately portrayed as an economical young worker used to the idea of getting her own milk rather than buying it and the idea of watching family members carry out the same task shows the deep connection between them all. Another interesting thing to note is that Pa frequently gives Laura the nickname “half-pint” throughout the series – could we compare this to the half-pint of milk?
 

When Laura first encounters lemonade, it is at Nellie Olson's party in On the Banks of Plum Creek. As I stated into my post on party food, she would not have had it before because lemons were considered to be an exotic fruit at the time that her family would not have been able to farm. The other children attending the party would have the same experience as her, with Nellie being the only exception. The way they drink it is methodical – they take a sip before eating a bit of the marble cake, and then they take another sip. There is no enjoyment out of this controlled approach to drinking, especially since the lemonade taste sour after eating the cake.
 

This changes when Laura tastes lemonade at the Independence Day party in Little Town on the Prairie, several years after the events of the party. It has been freshly made with the water coming from the hotel well, making it cold. Everyone takes turns dishing it out of a large barrel with a tin dipper and drinking from that before passing it to the next person. Nowadays this would be seen as disgusting and unhygienic but in the book it is presently as a lively occasion and represents the togetherness of the community. The lack of a methodical approach to drinking like with the lemonade at the town party also allows for everyone to bond with one another. Additionally, Laura and Mary are used to drinking from the same cup already, highlighting both the closeness of their family and the fact that they cannot afford to buy more cups. The scene references back to Nellie Olson's party and compares the lemonade there to the lemonade that Laura is drinking, proudly claiming that “this lemonade was even more delicious” (p. 61). This helps to undermine Nellie in the same way that the vanity cakes did, showing how her party was nowhere near as enjoyable as the Independence Day party.

 

I made lemonade in the same way that it would have been made in Little Town on the Prairie, complete with lemon slices floating in it. In fact, Pa sees this as a good thing in the text, saying that "they put in plenty of lemons, so it ought to be good" (p. 61). The drink was very nice in small sips, though it would have been too sharp for me if I had received a full glass, and I feel that it tastes better than lemonade nowadays, which tends to have preservatives added to it.

In The Little House Cookbook, Walker mentions that the Ingalls were unusual in that they did not drink alcohol much. This could be for religious purposes, as the family are Christians and the church had a negative view on alcohol beverages. Instead, the frequent drink that they have is tea. The younger children in particular drink Cambric tea, which is a watered-down version that consists of mainly hot water and milk with a drop of tea from the pot.

Preserving Food

Rather than focusing on food itself, this post will be exploring the ways in which food is preserved in the Little House books in order to keep it in good condition before eating. This is usually done so that the Ingalls family could be prepared for the winter season, in which food was scarce and crops could not grow properly.

One way of preserving food in the books is by keeping it at a low temperature. Nowadays we have refrigerators and freezers to keep food cold in but as that technology did not exist in the 19^th century, the Ingalls would leave them outside in the cold weather, depending on the type of food. In Wisconsin in particular, the food is plentiful and this allows the family to have different approaches to keeping food cold. In the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, much description is given of these methods. A deer that Pa has shot is hung up in the trees before it is turned into venison, not only to keep it preserved but also so that the wolves cannot eat before they can. Afterwards, the venison strips are stored in a hollowed-out tree. Vegetables such as the potatoes and turnips on the other hand are stored in the cellar, as not only does it keep them cold but it also prevents them from freezing over and going off as a result, unlike what would happen if they were left outside. The ones that are not stored here such as the onions and pumpkins are kept in the attic instead.

Ma prepares the venison strips in Little House in the Big Woods, copyright Garth Williams.

Another way of preserving the food is by pickling it, especially if it involves fruit and vegetables. For example, The Long Winter features a scene in which the Ingalls take in their crops and when they get the tomatoes, Ma “sliced them and cooked them with salt, pepper, vinegar and spices” (p. 28). These are the traditional ingredient for pickle, with salt in particular being capable of preserving food by itself. Not only are the ripe tomatoes preserved, but also the green ones, which are made into green tomato pickle. This helps to present the Ingalls as efficient workers, preparing their food supplies carefully so that they will not go hungry during the winter season and making the most of different types of food, whether they be ripe or unripe.

As well as making pickles from the fruit and vegetables, both the Ingalls family and the Wilder family would dry them in order to keep it preserved. This most frequently happened with the apples, which can be used for other recipes such as the dried apple and raisin pie made in The Long Winter. When making this dish, I did not have to de-seed the dried raisins like Laura and Carrie did as nowadays, according to The Little House Cookbook "the raisins you buy will be free of stems and seeds" (Walker, p. 130). The pie had a similar taste to apple pie but the texture was quite different. It was delicious and not something I would have considered baking normally.

A slice of dried apple and raisin pie.

 

In the books, the Ingalls always make the most out of the meat, which tends to be salted and left in the pantry along with the dairy products. In Little House in the Big Woods, Pa has a pig in the forest that he kills for food in the first chapter. They use the pig to make sausages and ham and turn the pig's head into head cheese. At no point is any part of the animal wasted; even the pig's tail is eaten after being cooked over the fire and the bones are given to their dog Jack to eat. Describing this in the first chapter helps to set the Ingalls up as people who know how to make the most of food, even the parts that seem to be unimportant.

The plentiful amount of food that the Ingalls family have and can preserve in Little House in the Big Woods contrasts with the scarcity of food in the later books, especially in The Long Winter. Though Pa is able to catch fish in On the Banks of Plum Creek, the crops still fail due to grasshoppers and cold weather. It is not until Little Town on the Prairie that the family start to have plenty of food again.

Almanzo's Buckwheat Pancakes

My previous posts have explored the different types of foods for different events and what these signify in the Little House books. For this however, I will be discussing how even one food item can have significance in the stories, both in literary context and in historical context.

In The Long Winter, Pa visits the Wilder brothers during a snowstorm in order to fetch wheat from them, as his family don't have any. During his stay, he is able to eat buckwheat pancakes with them. While I originally questioned why he would eat with the brothers himself and not think of his family, I believe he needed the energy more due to the work and it is a reflection of attitudes towards men at the time.

This is not the first time that buckwheat pancakes have been mentioned in the Little House series. In Farmer Boy, Almanzo and his family eat them in tall stacks for breakfast with apple pie and oatmeal. This is a surprisingly extravagant breakfast that would not be common nowadays unless we are talking about the upper classes, which shows how well-off the Wilder family is. As they are a working family, they would also need the energy for the rest of the day, which the immense amount of food provides them with. In contrast, the pancakes in The Long Winter simply come with slices of ham, highlighting the lack of food that people are able to get during the winter season. Additionally, this shows the difference between two bachelors like Almanzo and Royal looking after themselves and a family with a mother and daughters like with the Wilders preparing the food. Almanzo's mother does produce butter that she sells, but her main role is to keep house and cook. Without the mother with them, Almanzo and Royal have to learn to cook for themselves.
 

It is stated that “the pancakes were no ordinary buckwheat pancakes. Almanzo followed his mother's pancake rule and the cakes were as light as foam” (p.187). Walker assumes in The Little House Cookbook that the “pancake rule” involves making a starter the night before and them putting the rest of the mixture in later. This was the exact same method I used to recreate the buckwheat pancakes. The pancakes had a very strong flavour and whilst I assumed this was because I might have put too much yeast in originally, it has been stated that buckwheat has a strong flavour. Nevertheless, it was still an enjoyable breakfast dish and worth the hard labour.



A stack of buckwheat pancakes.

The buckwheat pancakes help to emphasise the situation of each family in the story. Almanzo and Royal, having had their claim for longer, are able to have enough food and ingredients including wheat, whilst the Ingalls cannot. Additionally, Royal works as a shopkeeper and is therefore receiving plenty of money; this ensures that they have enough food for the winter and, coupled with the fact that their father ran a successful farm helps to establish their higher social status. The fact that the Ingalls do not have pancakes and ham, like the Wilders do, and are instead relying on brown bread, which at the time was held in less regard than white bread, shows that they are in a dire situation and are starving.

The pancakes scene also gives us more insight into Almanzo. Beforehand, he made small cameos but did not properly interact with the family. This is the first time that he has any interaction with the Ingalls and his actions throughout the scene, such as offering Pa a place to sit and making sure that he is being fed well, establish him as a caring and welcoming individual – possibly to justify him getting married to Laura later on. It is also the gateway to Almanzo understanding the situation that Pa's family is in and deciding to go off on the journey to fetch the corn for them. In the footnotes for Pioneer Girl, Pamela Smith Hill says that “the action in that chapter…focuses entirely on Almanzo and Royal. This switch in perspective signals to readers that Almanzo will be a central character in The Long Winter and foreshadows his role as leading man in subsequent novels” (p. 220).

Social Gatherings

As well as parties, other social gatherings are held in the Little House books for different reasons. Most of the time it is for a festive holiday such as Christmas and family gatherings, although these are not the only reasons.

Pies appear frequently at these social gatherings, and it is rare to find a scene in which pie is not mentioned. Notable ones appear such as chicken pie and pumpkin pie, the latter being a classic American dish that is still a signature part of Thanksgiving meals. It takes quite a bit of time to prepare it, mainly because of the fact that the pumpkin has to be stewed up first. In fact, I had to make the pie itself the next day due to the length of time, which was a much easier task. The process of making pumpkin pie is described in Little House in the Big Woods, where Laura is put in charge of stirring the pumpkin to prevent it from burning, and the pumpkin cooks for several hours. It is implied that Laura is five or six years old when doing this, showing how girls were expected to be involved in cooking from an early age, preparing them for the time in which they will be responsible for their own kitchen. The pumpkin pie itself has a sweet fruity flavour along with a soft wet texture, which was certainly satisfying to taste.

A slice of pumpkin pie.

However, there is also mention of vinegar pie, which in contrast is a much less common dish in the modern era. It was mainly made as an alternative to lemon pie, which richer families such as the Olsons and the Woodwards would probably be able to have. For my recreation of this dish, I chose to use cider vinegar as this was the closest I could get to the home-made apple vinegar which would have been in most pioneering kitchens. Surprisingly enough, the pie actually tasted good, with the nutmeg flavour being more prominent than the citrus-like vinegar flavour, making me wonder how it even fell out of fashion in the first place. It is most likely that this is because people don't make their own vinegar nowadays and lemons have become more accessible.

A slice of vinegar pie.

In Little Town on the Prairie, a New England Supper is held in order to raise money for the church. It is organised by the Ladies Aid and it coincides with Thanksgiving, which has been associated feasting by the Americans for a long time. For this gathering, the women prepare their own food at home and bring it to the feast for everyone to eat, and there they continue to cook and serve the food. Everyone pays a small amount for their supper as it is used for the church funds, but the families donate their own food. It is a joyous occasion and the gathering allows the whole town to connect with each other for a good cause, establishing how close-knit they are.

It is notable that the women are the ones preparing the food for the dinner and do not eat until all of it has been served up, whilst the men and the children are able to take pleasure out of eating the food first. This relates to Nicki Humble's quote on how “the man in the kitchen is always there as a gourmet: interested in excellence, style and adventure; the woman is there as a cook, diligently working for the benefit of others”. Throughout history, women were expected to take up cooking in order to prepare themselves for the roles of housewives whilst no such attitudes were expected of men, though these attitudes are starting to change nowadays with more men taking to cooking and more women wanting freedom from the kitchen. This links to memoirs like Slater's Toast, where the mother figures were ultimately cooking the food for the family and the father only starts to cook for Nigel after his first wife dies. The father is described as not being a good cook and his second marriage occurs since he hired a housekeeper to cook the food for Nigel instead, thus giving up on cooking himself as soon as his new wife comes along. Nevertheless, Nigel goes on to be a successful chef, possibly because the book is set in the mid to late twentieth century when gender norms and views on cooking were changing.

Unlike the parties, social gatherings do not explore the theme of class, especially with the church fundraiser as people of all classes can attend. Instead, they offer insight to communications and relationships between people as well as the many descriptions of the foods you would expect to find.

Party Time

Parties are an effective way for people to socialise in the Little House series. They help to show off social status and the food is a great indication of this. Whether it be the ingredients used or how “exotic” it is, they emphasise how wealthy a family is and where they come from, though this has no effect on how enjoyable the party itself is.
 

In On the Banks of Plum Creek, Ma makes vanity cakes for the party that the Ingalls family host, with the preparation being described in great detail. When asked about the name by the children, she says that “they are all puffed up, like vanity, with nothing solid inside”. Vanity was a trait that was frowned upon by the Ingalls family and in this scene, not only does the food emphasise their negative view on vanity, but it also serves as a storytelling device to ridicule Nellie Olson, who earlier had been tricked into going into a leech-infested lake and in the previous chapter, had held a more extravagant party during which she ridiculed Laura. We can contrast this with something like Nigel Slater's Toast, which is written as a factual memoir rather than historical fiction. Therefore, food mainly represents a moment in the narrator Nigel's life rather than a theme such as family or arrogance like in the Little House books, though family is just as important in Toast and due to the writer Slater being a chef and interested in food, it also features intricate descriptions of food like you would expect from Laura Ingalls Wilder.
 

The cakes have very few ingredients in them and consist of a very thick batter made from egg and flour. When recreating them I chose to use sunflower oil instead of lard for health reasons. They did not have “nothing solid inside” like Ma's description suggested, but that could have been because of how I chose to cook them. Other people have stated that they have had trouble making the vanity cakes exactly how they were portrayed in the book and as Laura stated that she'd never learnt to bake them herself, the description may have been an example of artistic licence in order to compare it to Nellie's vanity. A book like Toast on the other hand may have tried to provide a more accurate description of the food or thoughts on the food that the child narrator had at the time. Nevertheless, they were extremely tasty and I could easily put myself in the shoes of the children who ate them at the party, who had a positive response to them.


A plate of vanity cakes.

The food consumed at the country party contrasts with the food eaten in the town party. Nellie Olson's party features a fancy marble cake with white sugar as one of the ingredients, something that would have only been used for special occasions by the Ingalls family who usually cooked with brown sugar. Of course, this has changed in current times, with brown sugar being seen as more desirable due to being healthier. In the book however, it helps to show off the wealth of the Olsons and how they are richer than the Ingalls. The cake is served with lemonade, something that Laura would not have drunk at home. When they eat the cake, it causes the lemonade to taste sour. This contrasts with the cold, creamy milk in tin cups and the vanity cakes. The children say they have "never tasted anything so good" (p. 117) therefore showing that Laura's party is superior despite the lack of luxuries. Similarly, Ben Woodworth's party in Little Town on the Prairie features oranges, an exotic fruit that the Ingalls could not grow on their own land. Therefore, the contrast between food is also used to show the contrast of social class between the people from the country and the people from the town, with the townspeople having well-paid jobs and being able to afford more expensive food.

Ultimately, Nellie's party does not seem to be an enjoyable one despite the luxurious food, although the children are polite about it anyway. In contrast, Laura's simpler country party is enjoyed by everyone apart from Nellie and the vanity cakes are particular popular with the children. It shows how Ma can make a delicious treat from only a few ingredient with great skill, something that even the Olsons cannot buy with their money.

Snacking

Snack food is a universal thing enjoyed by many people, and the Ingalls family are no exception. Several instances in the Little House books involve them making snacks to eat, some which are common even today.

It was common for pioneer families such as the Ingalls to eat turnip raw and in slices, after peeling off the rinds. For the Ingalls family in particular, they enjoyed eating it in the evening at winter time. Trying raw turnip, it has a peppery taste similar to radish along with a dry grainy texture. Being from the 21^st century and not from the pioneering era, I was not used to this as a snack and would probably have eaten it cooked instead, in much the same way that the Ingalls utilised it for mealtime purposes. However, Barbara M. Walker says that they “are excellent snacks for modern people whose problem is too many, rather than too few, good things to eat at hand” (p. 115).
 

Raw sliced turnips.

Popcorn is another snack that the Ingalls like to eat, which is something that a modern audience can relate to. The Wilder family, who the Ingalls become acquainted with later on, also enjoy popcorn. Nowadays, the snack itself tends to get taken for granted as we can easily buy it or put it in a popcorn maker, but at the time they would have to get the corn from the fields, dry it and cook it in a pan over the fire. In the books, snacks like these are used to emphasise when the Ingalls have enough leisure time and when they are too busy working. For example, Mrs. Boast secretly brings popcorn to the Surveyor's House in By the Shores of Silver Lake and Pa claims “I haven't tasted popcorn since – if I'd known you'd brought popcorn, Boast, I'd have routed it out before now” (pp. 152-153). This helps to signify that the work is over for now and that the family can now celebrate. It also highlights that the popcorn is a treat rather than something that they snack on regularly.
 

Before adding the milk to the popcorn.

 

The Ingalls and the Wilders also used the popcorn for different purposes. One of Almanzo's favourite things to do in Farmer Boy was to place popcorn in milk because it supposedly did not cause the milk to overflow. At first, I assumed that this was a form of artistic licence due to the books being historical fiction and Walker warns in her cookbook that it is best to try this out in a bowl to catch the milk, suggesting that my assumptions would be correct. Bizarrely enough however, the popcorn actually fizzed and sank to the bottom of the glass without a single drop of milk coming out, something I did not expect. When eating the popcorn in the milk, the taste is the same (if somewhat more milky) but the texture is more soggy and is almost similar to rice pudding. It is likely that the popcorn was not salted as this would have given the milk a sour taste, as well as caused the popcorn to float more easily.

After adding the milk to the popcorn.

 

There are more uses as well. For Christmas celebrations, the Ingalls family would make decorations out of popcorn to hang on the Christmas tree, a tradition that has been very popular in America and still persists to this day. In These Happy Golden Years, there is a scene where the family make popcorn balls together, which helps to emphasise the relationship between each other as they each help out with different instructions. Laura pops the corn and Ma stirs it into the hot molasses before shaping it into balls. According to Walker in The Little House Cookbook, homemade popcorn balls like these are no longer common due to the arrival of new cooking equipment, and it could be said that therefore the social interaction has dwindled in modern times due to this.

It is interesting how the Ingalls only seem to use popcorn for special occasions such as Christmas whilst the Wilders eat it more frequently. This is probably to do with their different social statuses, with the Wilders being wealthier and having a set supply of crops on their farm. They also lived in New York, where the climate was less temperamental. It is also fascinating that Almanzo eats his popcorn by himself (or at least wants to eat it by himself) but the Ingalls share their popcorn out as a way of socialising. Overall, these factors help to contrast the families in a literary context as well as a historical context in order to show that life for Almanzo was different for Laura, down to the small details such as how they ate their popcorn.