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I finished reading all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books last month, including A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Journeys Across America, which was about her travels as an adult.

I highly recommend the Little House books, especially when your children are taking video games, fast food, and computers for granted. I loved reading about pioneer times, and the daily lives of the Ingalls and Wilders. I was especially interested in how they ate, since the gathering of food and cooking took of most of their time.

One dish that sounded especially appealing is Almanzo Wilder’s favorite fried apples and onions that is mentioned in Farmer Boy.  This should be easy to make on a modern stove, and would go well with a roast or a baked chicken. The recipe comes from The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories. As Barbara M. Walker writes:

This is a “country” dish, seldom mentioned in cookbooks but recalled by many old timers. Some feel sugar is essential; others call it a “sin.” If you share Almanzo’s enthusiasm you might also like to try fried apples’n'onions with fried potatoes for breakfast sometime.

Fried Apples’N'Onions
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 lb bacon or salt pork
2. 2 lb yellow onions (about 6)
3. 2 lb tart apples, chopped (about 6)
4. 2 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

1. Fry bacon slices in 12-inch skillet until brown and crisp. Set aside on a warm serving platter. While meat is frying, peel onions, leaving stems to hold for slicing. To prevent your eyes from watering, hold a slice of bread in your teeth while you slice the onions asthin as possible. Discard stems.
2. Core apples and cut crosswise in circles about 1/4-inch thick. Apple skins help the slices hold their shape and add color to the dish, so don’t peel unless skins are tough or scarred.
3. Drain all but 1 Tbsp fat from skillet, then add onion slices. Cook over medium-high heat about 3minutes. Cover with apple slices in an even layer. Sprinkle brown sugar over all, cover skillet, and cook until tender, a few minutes more. Stir only to prevent scorching. Remove to warm plate with bacon slices.

Now off to the library website to reserve fellow ClubMom blogger Melissa Whiley’s books about Laura’s maternal grandmother, Charlotte Tucker Quiner Holbrook and her Scottish great-grandmother, Martha Morse Tucker. So many books, so little time…

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