Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Little Heathens report

For October we read Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.

We all seemed to enjoy this book, though it was unclear how much of it was facts, and how much was just the romantic memories of an elderly lady.  We were very impressed by how much re-purposing of materials was done on the farm...everything seemed to have multiple uses until it was worn down to nothing!  It made some of us feel a bit shameful for how much we have and take for granted, and how easy our lives are by comparison.  The most fascinating parts were things we had never heard of, such as bumblebee honey and using egg whites to remove splinters.

Our spread was quite delish:

Heather McN – Apple Candy Pie with cream, greens with sour cream









Karen T. – carrot/orange marmalade and the Apple Candy Pie with nuts










Katie W. - carrot marmalade & homemade bread





Katie S. –fried chicken, tomatoes, homemade hot sauce









Laura – Homemade marshmallows, coffee, porcupines.







 Julie D. – grits

Dawn – corn on the cob with butter dipper



Next month's book is Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. There are extra copies behind the desk at the Mountlake Terrace Library for Foodie Book Group members. You may remember, we did one of Ms. Reichl's other books a few years ago about her early life: Comfort Me With Apples. This book takes place much later in her life, when she is living in NYC working as a restaurant critic for the New York Times! Should be able to have some real fun with this one. Maybe everyone should wear wigs? We will be meeting on Wednesday November 14, 2012 at 6:30pm at the Bethesda Lutheran Church.