Thursday, August 10, 2017

Our August / September 2017 Pick: Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Coming off of a spate of foodie memoirs, it's my pleasure to kick off our grouping of foodie fiction books, with Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, our Cook the Books August/September 2017 selection. 

Like many children growing up in the United States, the Little House on the Prairie books were a big part of my childhood. They were favorites of my mom, who loved pioneer stories and she read them to and with us over the years. The television series first came on when I was in elementary school and it stayed on the air into my high school years--so I definitely grew up with the stories and the characters. 


When I was younger, I was not that interested in the character of Almanzo Wilder--much preferring the stories with Laura as a young girl and life with the Ingalls family and so Farmer Boy is the book I am least familiar with out of the nine books in the series.  A few months ago I was exchanging foodie book recommendations with friends on a favorite book site and someone brought up Farmer Boy and what a great foodie book it was. That sentiment was shared by a few different people and I decided I needed to reread this children's classic and the surest way to make it happen was to select it as my Cook the Books pick. 

Farmer Boy is the second book of the Little House series and was first published in 1933. It is the only book that does not focus on the childhood and life of Laura Ingalls and instead focuses on the childhood of her future husband, Almanzo Wilder. Set in the 1860s in upstate New York, before Laura Ingalls was even born, it begins just before Almanzo's ninth birthday and details life on the Wilder family's farm. Almanzo is pretty much constantly hungry and apparently quite the foodie, so I think we'll have a lot of fun exploring the food and recipes of America in the 1860s as we step back into childhood with this selection. I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!

Submissions for this round of Cook The Books are due by end-of-the day Saturday, September 30, 2017. Anyone can join in the fun by reading the current selection, preparing a dish inspired by its contents, and writing about it. Let me know when your entry post is up by commenting on this post and/or sending me an email at: debinhawaii@gmail.com. 
 
New to Cook the Books? Welcome! Check out our About and Guidelines pages or leave a question in the comments on this post 

Aloha,

Deb

11 comments:

Debra Eliotseats said...

I'm having the librarian bring a copy over from our elementary!!!!!! :) I really am interested in the foodie angle because it's probably been many (ahem) years since I read any of her works.

Deb in Hawaii said...

I checked it out from the library too Debra.
Looking forward to exploring the food! ;-)

Simona Carini said...

My copy is on the way. Looking forward to reading the book. Not having grown up in the US means I don't know the author, so it will be a surprise. Thank you deb for hosting.

Deb in Hawaii said...

I hope you enjoy it Simona. Since I grew up on these children's books and the characters, it will be great to have your perspective. ;-)

A Day in the Life on the Farm said...

I read this to my kids years ago so this time I ordered it up on audible and had it read to me. I know what I am making but am pairing this with another event so it will be posted in September. Thanks for picking read that brought back so many fond memories.

Terri Steffes said...

Here's my post! http://www.terristeffes.com/2017/09/dairy-free-homemade-ice-cream.html

Deb in Hawaii said...

Thanks Wendy! I look forward to seeing your entry! ;-)

Thank you Terri! Going off to take a look at it now! ;-)

Claudia said...

I enjoyed the book, had actually never read this one. My post is up now: http://honeyfromrock.blogspot.com/2017/09/birds-nest-pudding-for-farmer-boy.html

Deb in Hawaii said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it Claudia! ;-)

Simona Carini said...

Here's my contribution: http://www.pulcetta.com/2017/09/recipe-apple-tart-crostata-mele.html

Thank you for hosting, Deb.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Thank you Simona!