Ma was busy all day long, cooking good things for Christmas. One morning she boiled molasses and sugar together until they made a thick syrup, and Pa brought in two pans of clean, white snow from outdoors. Laura and Mary each had a pan, and Pa and Ma showed them how to pour the dark syrup in little streams on to the snow. They made...
Those stockings weren’t empty yet. Mary and Laura pulled out two small packages. They unwrapped them, and each found a little heart-shaped cake. Over their delicate brown tops was sprinkled white sugar. The sparkling grains lay like tiny drifts of snow. The cakes were too pretty to eat. Mary and Laura just looked at them. But at last...
Then they plunged their hands into the stockings again. And they pulled out two long, long, sticks of candy. It was peppermint candy, striped red and white. They looked and looked at the beautiful candy, and Laura licked her stick, just one lick. —Little House on the PrairieWhile the peppermint sticks that Mr. Edwards brought to Mary...
'Let’s make ice-cream!’ Royal shouted. Eliza Jane loved ice-cream….They set the pail in a tub and packed the snowy crushed ice around it, with salt, and they covered it all with a blanket. Every few minutes they took off the blanket and uncovered the pail, and stirred the freezing ice-cream. —Farmer BoyIf you’ve ever made ice cream by...
That afternoon the finished black cashmere was carefully pressed, and then Ma made a big, white cake. Laura helped her by beating the egg whites on a platter with a fork, until Ma said they were stiff enough. “My arm is stiffer,” Laura ruefully laughed, rubbing her aching right arm. “This cake must be just right,” Ma insisted. “If you...
At last, as Grandma stirred, the syrup in the saucer turned into little grains like sand, and Grandma called: ‘Quick girls! It’s graining!’ Aunt Ruby and Aunt Docia and Ma left the dance and came running. They set out pans, big pans, and little pans, and as fast as Grandma filled them with the syrup, they set out more. They set the...
Laura kept popping corn and Ma made it into balls until the large dishpan was heaped with their sweet crispness. —These Happy Golden YearsPopcorn has been an irresistible snack for kids since the 19th century, and a food the Ingalls family could grow in their home garden. While there are many kinds of feed and sweet corn, some of...
Then Laura gathered up all the paper wrappings, and she helped Ma set on the table the big platter of golden fried mush, a plate of hot biscuits, a dish of fried potatoes, a bowl of codfish gravy and a glass dish full of dried-apple sauce. …and nothing could taste better than hot biscuits and applesauce. —By the Shores of Silver...
Eliza Jane opened the dinner-pail on her desk. It held…four delicious apple turnovers, their plump crusts filled with melting slices of apple and spicy brown juice. —Farmer BoyApples were a popular fruit for many pioneers because they stored well and could be used in a variety of ways. Every respectable pioneer garden would have...
Hurry and get the work done,” said Ma. “And then, Laura, you go to the corn-patch and bring me a green pumpkin. I’m going to make a pie!” “A pie! But how…” Mary said, and Laura said, “A green pumpkin pie? I never heard of such a thing, Ma.” “Neither did I,” said Ma. “But we wouldn’t do much if we didn’t do things that nobody ever heard...
There was pie plant in the garden; she must make a couple of pies. —The First Four YearsAfter years of living on the plains with her parents, Laura finally settled into a house of her own with Almanzo. In The First Four Years, we learn about Laura’s life as a new wife on the South Dakota prairie. When Laura was getting ready to cook the...
When all the trading was done, the storekeeper gave Mary and Laura each a piece of candy. They were so astonished and so pleased that they just stood looking at their candies. —Little House in the Big WoodsRock candy or sugar candy has been around for centuries, so it’s almost certain that Laura and Mary would have seen something...
But best of all Almanzo liked the spicy apple pie, with its thick, rich juice and its crumbly crust. He ate two big wedges of the pie. —Farmer BoyApple pie is an American classic. People have been enjoying this warm, comforting dish for generations. We typically think of it as a dessert, but in the pioneering era it was also enjoyed as...