Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Over 100 authentic recipes of pioneer food from the pages of Laura Ingalls Wilder's series are included in this book. All ages. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
Expanded from material in the Wilder books, this handsome, useful volume celebrates the ancient pleasure of preparing food in a setting of family life. Passages from the Little House books place the foods and recipes firmly in their proper contexts, and each chapter is studded with pertinent historical facts. Beautifully designed, and illustrated with Williams's famous drawings, the book is both a culinary and a literary feast. Bib., glos., ind. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder's copious references to frontier food and her family's enjoyment of it, and bolstered by considerable research, Walker has come up with over 100 recipes that will allow Wilder's readers to share some of her enthusiastically remembered experiences. True, ""we can only guess at"" what a pig of that time tasted like; ""there isn't a vegetable grown by the Ingalls that hasn't been changed in the years since by scientific breeding""; and ""[you can't] expect your custard to be yellow like Eliza Jane's unless your cream came from grain-fed Guernseys and your eggs from scratch-fed chickens."" But Walker's recipes are faithful to the old procedures, and where departures are necessary they are noted and explained. All recipes come accompanied by quotes from Wilder, and Walker adds much historical information on how things were done at the time and how they have changed in the meantime. (At one point, she corrects Wilder's memory of the color of goose breast meat.) Walker acknowledges that many of the recipes are of more historical than culinary interest--on ""Long Winter Bread,"" ""You are not likely to find this heavy, coarse loaf as satisfying as Laura did--unless you eat nothing else during the day, help to grind the grain, and share it with five hungry people in a room where a bottle of ink might freeze""--and indeed much of this makes better reading than eating today. Still there are enough treats, pies, preserves, and so on to please spoiled palates, and even some of the plainer or more laborious dishes will probably be savored as links with life in the Little House. A true labor of love and careful study. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
