Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
8th out of 64 books
—
21 voters
The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories
More than 100 recipes introduce the foods and cooking of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s pioneer childhood, chronicled in her classic Little House books.Notable Children’s Books of 1979 (ALA)
Best Books of 1979 (SLJ)
Notable 1979 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Children's Books of 1979 (Library of Congress)
1980 Western Heritage Award
Best Books of 1979 (SLJ)
Notable 1979 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Children's Books of 1979 (Library of Congress)
1980 Western Heritage Award
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
September 7th 1989
by HarperCollins
(first published 1979)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
2,510)
"'It takes a great deal to feed a growing boy,' Mother said. And she put a thick slice of birds-nest pudding on his bare plate, and handed him the pitcher of sweetened cream speckled with nutmeg. Almanzo poured the heavy cream over the apples nested in the fluffy crust. The syrupy brown juice curled up around the edges of the cream. Almanzo took up his spoon and ate every little bit." (from Farmer Boy).
The Little House books are filled with glorious, worshipful descriptions of food which could o...more
The Little House books are filled with glorious, worshipful descriptions of food which could o...more
This is such a wonderful book because it has authentic recipes, not just watered down versions of real pioneer food. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the Little House series.
2 likes · like · see review
view 2 comments
Recently, I really enjoyed reading The Wilder Life. by Wendy McClure - in it she mentioned The Little House Cookbook. I hadn't thought of it in years, but I remember getting it out of the library multiple times when I was in elementary school. I was pleased to discover it's still out there! The research Barbara Walker did into the foods that appear in the Little House books is very impressive, and makes for interesting reading, although not for the squeamish or the vegetarian (and I'm the latter...more
For Laura Ingalls Wilder fans, The Little House Cookbook is a no-brainer, must-have, geek fest. As a Laurafan, I’ve been salivating over Ma’s vanity cakes and sourdough biscuits since 1972, pining for those heart-shaped cakes sprinkled in white sugar. Chapters often feature a quote and original illustration by Garth Williams form the “Little House” series. Even the font and point size are the same. Comfort and nostalgia abound.
An admitted “Bonnethead,” I read with the intention of holding a pion...more
An admitted “Bonnethead,” I read with the intention of holding a pion...more
I know I probably shouldn't judge a cookbook without trying out a single recipe in it, but I'm giving this five stars for these reasons:
— Walker has done a tremendous amount of work, tracking down every mention of food or drink in all the "Little House" books and trying to come up with a recipe for each.
— each section describes generally how food production and storage methods in each category (meat, dairy, vegetables, grains, etc.) have evolved, from the time before Laura Ingalls was born to th...more
— Walker has done a tremendous amount of work, tracking down every mention of food or drink in all the "Little House" books and trying to come up with a recipe for each.
— each section describes generally how food production and storage methods in each category (meat, dairy, vegetables, grains, etc.) have evolved, from the time before Laura Ingalls was born to th...more
I'm in the middle of this book, and am really enjoying reading it. I owned the box set of the Laura Ingalls books when I was young, and read them over and over again! So, a good part of the enjoyment comes from the nostalgia of remembering the stories I loved so much 3-ish decades ago. :) However, it has not increased my desire to cook blackbird pie, or use QUITE so much salt pork in my cooking! I also doubt that I'll be making cracklins or very many of the other recipes, but reading about how t...more
This book is just what the title says: the author has gone back to all the books in the Little House series, and found recipes. In some ways, it's written as for a child (warnings to have an adult help, for example), but I think most children would be bored reading it. I found the explanations between the recipes much more interesting than the recipes themselves -- it's sort of hard to read all the details in a recipe you don't plan to cook. However, I was thrilled to find a recipe for vinegar p...more
We have had this one for years, ever since my boys and I were reading the Little House books aloud together. Reading it again brought back fond memories of making the “Pulled Candy” from Farmer Boy with Eric for a 4th grade book report. In the story, the candy pull was less-than-successful, but ours turned out pretty good and made us appreciate modern candy. This book is a delight to read, with excerpts from Wilder books, accurate historical information about frontier cooking ingredients and met...more
Walker, Barbara M. The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.
*Informational
- A collection of recipes from Laura Ingalls Wilders books
-Themes
-Recipes
-Prairie life
-Activities to do with children
-have the children create a recipe from the cookbook
-Compare the steps it would take to create one of these recipes in Laura's time compared to ours. Which one is more difficult
-Have students share one of their favorite family re...more
*Informational
- A collection of recipes from Laura Ingalls Wilders books
-Themes
-Recipes
-Prairie life
-Activities to do with children
-have the children create a recipe from the cookbook
-Compare the steps it would take to create one of these recipes in Laura's time compared to ours. Which one is more difficult
-Have students share one of their favorite family re...more
The recipes in this cookbook are adaptations on recipes cooked by pioneer women. Because of this, they aren't necessarily recipes I would be interested in making today. What I did enjoy about the book though, is the history the author went into when writing about the different methods of cooking, about what types of fruit and vegetables were eaten in the 1800's versus what we eat now and the detail she used when adapting the recipes to modern kitchens. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this b...more
As a child, I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder. My mom was also a great cook so when I came across this book on one of our library trips, I was intent on having her help me recreate the old-fashioned recipes. Although I think it is now out of print, my mom was eventually able to get me my own copy simply because she was sick of having to check it out of our library every time we went.
As I recall, the recipies are, where possible, organized according to where the ingredients would have come...more
As I recall, the recipies are, where possible, organized according to where the ingredients would have come...more
I was so excited to learn that I wasn't the only one that wanted to try all the meals that were talked about in the "Little House on the Prarie" books. I have tried quite a few recipes already and I appreciate the authenticity rather than trying to adapt too much to our modern society. There is actually quite a bit of reading that goes along with the recipes that explain foods in those times. I have found this book very fun and a great piece of history.
I had forgotten about this until I started sorting a whole batch of clippings &etc. to organize my recipes. These recipes aren't exceptionally healthy, but they're inexpensive. More importantly, the heritage of the American frontier home kitchen is wonderfully valuable and interesting. If I liked keeping books instead of releasing them via bookcrossing.com, this is one I'd put on my shelves. Especiallly note Cambric Tea and Fried Apples & Onions.
I checked this out because my kids and I are planning a "Little House on the Prairie" party for ourselves for finishing the series. This was interesting to read - not sure if I will do any of the recipes for our party because, well, it was a lot of hard work (and a lot of grains). It was really nice to look through and read the quotes and remember the parts about the different meals. Also a reminder at what a contrast Almanzo's upbringing was to Laura's.
Part of 'Little House' birthday bundle - yey! Really enjoyed the history aspect of the book; fascinating stuff (and not for the squeamish...brain cheese...yuck!). I can't see myself making any of the recipes, though, particularly as there are many ingredients I couldn't get hold of. Also, I don't think children would enjoy this at all.
I saved and saved my birthday and christmas money in order to get this book when I was a young girl. I had read the main series already and also some others by her. I think this is the cookbook that got me interested in cooking. I thought I had held onto it all these years but I'm not sure I do. I'll have to do more thorough searching.
I'm giving it 4 stars because it brought back so many fond childhood memories of reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. It intersperses excerpts from her books with the history of frontier foods and authentic recipes. However, I was not tempted to make many of the recipes, unlike most other food essay books I read.
Apr 06, 2008
Dioscita
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Little House fans
Shelves:
cooking-food
This is an interesting combination of Walker's trials in replicating food described in the Little House series, a look at what pioneer food/eating/cooking was like (particularly as they differ from today), and excerpts from various books in the series. While reading the books I would often wonder what, say, "hardtack" was (and what it tastes like), so I thought I would be totally gung-ho about making these different dishes. However, a glance at the ingredients in most of these recipes begs the q...more
This book is so much. It teaches you how to make things the way they would have been made in pioneer days. It talks about using vinegars to make all kinds of cider. There is a vinegar pie recipe in it too! It has a lot of neat information as well as facts.
Vaak heb ik zitten watertanden bij de beschrijving van de maaltijden in de Kleine Huis boeken; dat deed Laura Ingalls Wilder zo goed, dat je ze bijna kon proeven. Nu kan dat dus echt, al betwijfel ik zeer of ik ze net zo kan maken als Ma Wilder.
A great companion piece to the Little House series. Laura talked about food quite a lot in her books, and this brings a new sense of understanding to them.
Also fun if you're really into cooking - shows how far we've come in this country!
Also fun if you're really into cooking - shows how far we've come in this country!
A wonderful book that picks out passages about food in the Little House books and provides a history of the food/cooking methods and a recipe. Contains illustrations found in the books. So interesting even my husband enjoyed it.
I have read this book it was a on my Christmas wish list and one of my parents given it to me for Christmas it have a lot a neat things and recipes they have to re create the recipes to make the food test good.
Booooring. I wanted actual recipes I could use. This was the history of the food and recipes that could not be duplicated. I was expecting the historical recipe converted into modern equivalents.
I think this book is wonderful. I understand why some may not because it is better titled a cookbook rather than a recipe book. The recipes are not in a standard recipe book format and really it is more of a book you have to actually read. However, the author did a lot of research on cooking and food from the 1800's. It is this knowledge that is so fun and enriching in this book. I LOVED in the "Little House" books and read them almost every year. These recipes have been fun. I have been trying...more
After spending a season cooking in the pioneer cabin I found this book. Some good recipes and tasty. It does help understand the time period, and is a good cookbook.
This is a cookbook you will red cover to coer. I loved the descriptions of food in the Little House series and this brings it all to life in such a fabulous way.
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11662911
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11662911
Being the laziest homemaker I know, I can guarantee that I'll never make anything out of this cookbook - too much work. But it was interesting to read about the foods and preparations present in my all-time-favorite series of books. :)
A cookbook that deserves reading. Or at least, that's how I treated it. Have yet to try a recipe--and there were several that I have no interest in trying. But, the amount of detail and general readability is to be commended. I would highly recommend this as an introduction to 19th century food history as well.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
