The first book, "Little House in the Big Woods" talks about the daily life the Ingalls family had on their farm. It made me tired just reading it! There was so much effort put into everything they did, but in return they appreciated everything they had. I loved it when they had family get togethers and everyone enjoyed one another so much.
The second book, "Little House in the Big Woods" talks of when the Ingalls family decided to move west. There was even more work and diligence in this book! They picked their land and started from scratch. Whew! Reading these books makes me very happy for the age I live in!
In the first book, for their Christmas celebrations, Laura talked of one of the treats Ma baked every year. It was salt-rising bread. As I read this, I remembered that I have a recipe for this in one of my antique cookbooks (this one Patrick bought for me in Helen, Georgia) So, I decided to try this recipe. It did take some effort! It took about 24 hours from start to finish. There was lots of rising periods and mellowing, too. It was interesting to bake a bread that didn't require yeast. It was almost like a sourdough process, and the flavor was similar, too. We liked the bread, although I might just stick with my trusty yeast recipe!
I am so glad you joined in the challenge! I was struck, too, by how much sheer work there was to be done, yet there didn't seem to be much complaining about it -- it just seemed to be taken as a matter of course/ Of course, Laura was writing these when she was in her 60s, so she may have forgotten that part, lol!
ReplyDeleteI admire you for trying the bread! I tried baling bread a couple of times in early married days but it just came out very heavy, not light and fluffy. I suppose if I had kept with it I may have figured it out, but it was a lot of work only to then fail in the end. It's interesting that these weren't made with yeast. I imagine that kind of thing was really helpful when they couldn't always get yeast then.
I just held the drawing for the giveaway I was having in connection with the challenge -- and you won! I just sent you an e-mail about it -- if you'll send me your address, I'll be glad to get that off to you!
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