Why Art Matters: Little Foodie Across the Prairie

I combined an invitation to judge a test session in North Dakota with what I consider the trip of a lifetime, visiting two Little House sites in Minnesota and South Dakota. These sites were the settings for books 4-9 in the Little House series and the exit point for the On the Way Home diary.

So how could I make a personal connection on this trip? The answer was to eat or drink something described in the books. If I could do it on-site, all the better.

On the Banks of Plum Creek: Country girl party of one at the very spot where the original dugout home and footbridge were. There were no vanity cakes to be had, so donut holes from Hy-Vee were a suitable replacement.

 

Fresh milk pint courtesy of Holiday Inn, Brookings. Cheers, Laura!

By the Shores of Silver Lake: Laura experiences one of her first modern conveniences, a water cooler that served water from a spigot. Ma treated the girls to a box of candy they split to celebrate their first trip on a train to Tracy. I treated myself to a SmartWater and a roll of sour grape hard candy.

The Long Winter: The Ingalls survived on Ma’s baking powder biscuits until the flour ran out. After that, they survived on brown bread made by grinding wheat in a coffee mill and baked potatoes. Around Christmas, Pa bought a 2 lb. sack of tea that lasted the family until the trains came... in May. I had tea and a biscuit with butter and honey at the hotel near the train tracks. 

Ever glared at inanimate objects for offending you? I have. These are the train tracks from Tracy to Brookings to De Smet. Why on earth didn't someone have the wherewithal to drive a team, or a series of teams, with supplies out to De Smet? And the book exaggerates: Brookings is maybe 40 miles away, not 100.

Little Town on the Prairie: Pa digs a well, and I was there at the actual, original well on the Ingalls homestead. Suddenly, so thirsty…

Citrus was a rare fruit for pioneers on the plains back then; Carrie and Laura were treated to lemonade at the Independence Day celebration in town by a local politician. I was able to get water from the homestead by filling my "jug" at the gift shop water faucet and adding a generous squeeze of lemon juice, I drank under the cottonwood trees that Pa planted 142 years ago.

These Happy Golden Years: I enjoyed a chef salad at the former Tinkham Furniture Store, across the street from the location of Pa's store building in town.  The salad was chosen because it included many of the vegetables Ma grew in her garden and served for a healthy midday meal - lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and carrots. She always had hard-boiled eggs from her chickens to serve too. My only regret was not having her vinaigrette as a salad dressing.

First Four Years: After the hail storm destroyed their wheat crop, Laura and Almanzo gathered the ice to make ice cream. The neighbors thought they were crazy. I think they were stunned and this was an attempt to make the best out of a bad situation. The ice cream I had was from South Dakota State University's Creamery, their signature Hobo flavor. 

Hang the SD Road Commission for tearing up SD-25 so I missed the chance to be on-site at the Wilder honeymoon homestead and tree claim north of town. I must have driven past it several times as I looked for it, but the sign was gone and the road was torn-up blacktop. For my FFY experience, I was caught up in a rainstorm that turned to hail on my way back up to Bismarck. It was terrifying.

On the Way Home: It is noted in writings after the Little House series that the Wilders were not the teetotalers Ma and Pa were; Laura thought drunks were funny and Almanzo enjoyed a beer from time to time. On the Way Home was the 1894 diary Laura kept about the journey from South Dakota to Missouri, where they found Rocky Ridge Farm; I drank this sour kettle at the conclusion of my slog across the prairie and packed my bags to return home.