Little House in the Big Woods-part 2

If you are reading this together like I suggested, maybe you are wondering what things mentioned in the story you can cook together with you kids. These are the things I would try:

1. Make the pancake men like Ma did. Try serving them with molasses instead of syrup as they often did. This can really spark a discussion about the changes in our foods over the years.
2. Try making candy out of maple syrup as they did at the dance/party/sugaring off. Good time to talk about the different sweeteners we use as compared to those they used.
3. Try hasty pudding with maple syrup. Not a favorite of mine. I don't consider hasty pudding a dessert no matter what topping it has. To me, it is just cornmeal mush.
4. Try churning butter-maybe shaking a jar of cream until it churns. We did it that way for my girl scout troop. There are lots of other ways, though.

These different cooking activities can help us better appreciate the many conveniences we have. It is easier to buy than make-as evidenced from how much more expensive maple syrup is now.

Have fun!