Little House recipes I've found and collected

Ginger Water
idea from Little House book, a treat for when pa was out threshing hay in the extreme heat
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ginger (powdered)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 quart water

Maple Candy:

• 2 cups pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• saucepan (non-stick works best)
• candy thermometer recommended

Instructions:

1. Cook syrup over very low heat until it begins to boil, stirring frequently.
2. Continue boil until it reaches 233°F on the candy thermometer.
3. Remove from heat and cool for aproximately 60-70 minutes, or until the temperature on the candy thermometer reads about 110°F
4. Add the vanilla extract and heat until smooth and fluffy.
5. Shape this mixture into small patties, or while still warm you can pour onto pans of clean snow as Laura did. If you have no snow, you can blend ice cubes until they are crushed, then place crushed cubes into a pan before pouring the maple candy. You can also use candy molds.
6. Maple candy must be stored in airtight containers to prevent the candy from drying out 

Vinegar Pie:

• 1 c. sugar
• 3 heaping tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. cold water
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 6 tbsp. vinegar
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

Instructions:

1. Mix sugar and flour in saucepan.
2. Add water, egg yolks (reserve egg whites), whole egg, butter and vinegar.
3. Cook until thick.
4. Pour into baked 9 inch pie shell.

For Meringue:

1. Beat reserved egg whites until stiff.
2. Add 4 tablespoons sugar, spread over pie.
3. Brown meringue lightly. 

Heart-Shaped Christmas Cakes

"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."
- Little House on the Prairie

Always ask permission from an adult before you begin cooking. Never cook by yourself.

You will need:
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Flour for sprinkling
Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Measuring cup and spoons
Large mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Floured board
Heart-shaped cookie cutter, about 2 or 3" across
Cookie sheet
Pot holder
Wide spatula
Wire rack

Heat the oven to 325%.

Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla together until they are light and fluffy. Stir in the flour.

On a floured board, pat the dough out in a circle about 1/3" thick. Cut out shapes with the cookie cutter. Sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar. Put the heart shapes on the cookie sheet and bake them for about 15-20 minutes, until they are lightly browned. Take them out of the oven and sprinkle more granulated sugar on the tops. Carefully remove the cakes from the cookie sheet with the spatula and put them on the wire rack to cool.

Makes about 12 cakes.

Recipe taken from The Little House Treasury by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christina Wyss Erikson. 

Doughnuts, from The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker (Harper Collins, 1989)

For 2 dozen doughnuts you will need:
2 pounds lard (I will probably substitute peanut oil, my choice for frying)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2¼ cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
a shaker full of powdered sugar
quart kettle
quart bowl
rolling pin
candy thermometer

Melt the lard in kettle over low heat. Beat egg, baking soda, and salt into the sour cream in the bowl. Beat in 1 cup of flour until well mixed. Continue to work in flour, ¼ cup at a time, until you have a dough that can be rolled. Roll the dough in a strip about 4 by 16 by ¼ inches. With a floured knife cut into inch strips about five eighth inch wide.
Heat the lard to 375 degrees F. Twist a strip like a corkscrew (it will stretch as you do); bring ends together and pinch them. Drop twisted dough in hot fat. In 2 minutes the dough should be brown on both sides, crisp and cooked through. If browning takes more than 3 minutes

Saved

, the fat is not hot enough; if browning takes less time, the fat is too hot.
Remove cooked doughnut to brown paper to drain and coat it with powdered sugar.  Continue twisting and cooking the remaining dough strips.  Roll some of these in cinnamon sugar and serve the doughnuts immediately.

 fun activities to go with the Little House book series

 Laura's Prairie House treasury of links

Little House Lesson Activities