Prairie Cooks: Glorified Rice, Three-Day Buns, and Other Reminiscences (Bur Oak Book) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Felicia Young (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...presents a vivid picture of life in the early part of this century on the plains of the Dakotas. In this harsh and demanding landscape, homesteading Norwegian immigrants clung mightily to the traditions--culinary and otherwise--of their native land." -- The Source

"The gentle care Young brings to her storytelling is reminiscent of other women writers from the plains, most particularly Bess Streeter Aldrich and Willa Cather. Her style and subject matter invite favorable comparison to these important predecessors....Her prose is a pleasure, especially in this day of cynicism and commentary on the human animal's disdain for its own well-being." -- Bloomsbury Review

Product Description

Growing up in a Norwegian American community imbued with the customs and foods of the Old Country, Carrie Young recalls how her mother and her neighbors skillfully blended Scandinavian with what they always called the American style of cooking. Young recounts how her mother, Carrine Gafkjen--after homesteading as a single woman in 1904--cooked for a large threshing crew during harvest season. Living and cooking around the clock in a cook car the size of a Pullman kitchen, she delighted the crew with her soda pancakes and her sour cream doughnuts, her fattigman (Poor Man's Cookies) and her fabulous North Dakota Lemon Meringue Pie.

During holidays lutefisk and lefse reigned supreme, but when the Glorified Rice fad swept the country in the thirties women broke new ground with inventive variations. And the short-lived but intensely experienced Three-Day Bun Era (when the buns became so ethereal they were in danger of floating off the plate) kept the Ladies Aid luncheons competitive. Whatever the times, in good years or bad, there was always the solace of Kaffe Tid, the forenoon and afternoon coffee time, when the table was set with smor og brod (butter and bread) and something sweet, like a Whipped Cream Cake or Devil's Food Cake with Rhubarb Sauce.

This book will appeal to those who feel nostalgia for a parent's or grandparent's cooking, to those who have a longing for the heartier fare of times past. The author's daughter, Felicia Young, who has "cooked Scandinavian since she was old enough to hold a lefse stick," has compiled and tested the seventy-two recipes accompanying this joyful memoir.

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877457174
• ISBN-13: 978-0877457176
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,026,602 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #46 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Scandinavian
  #68 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > North Dakota

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book was wonderful and included recipes and social history, August 31, 2004

By	Penmouse - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Let's just put it this way, I read the whole book in one sitting. In fact, I couldn't put the book down. The author wrote short histories and included recipes to go along with the family history. Of course along the way, she told some mighty funny stories, especially about how one of her sisters managed to set the out house on fire. Really funny. I haven't laughed so hard while reading a book in sometime. A definite buy --- even if I haven't tried her recipes. Most recipes are common to Scandinavian cooking and Scandinavian American cooking.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Than a Cookbook, September 7, 2008

By	Patricia Brunner (Seattle) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was very dear to my heart as both my parents were of Norwegian descent and grew up close to where the author did in Western North Dakota. It's a wonderful portrait of what life was like in the rural Great Plains in the early part of the 20th century and a thought-provoking contrast to our lives today. And I never did get Mom's recipe for Glorified Rice so I was glad to find not one but several ingredient lists for this nostalgic dish!