Scandinavian-American and Rural Humor Books

Look and Cook: A Cookbook for Children  by  Tina Davis

Do you have Grandkids coming to visit this summer?  It seems because so many two-parent families have each parent working full-time these days, teaching kids to cook is becoming a lost art and a forgotten activity. This is sort of the "Let's Cook With Gail" 50 years later!  Remember getting that book for your birthday in the mid-'50s, and making Funny Face Cookies?

If you are fortunate enough to be a semi-retired grandparent and your "kids" will be spending some time with you this summer, this cookbook could provide you some quality time with your grandchildren, and the grandkids could return home with some surprises for their working parents.

This cookbook features more than 50 simple recipes that capture the fun of cooking for kids of all ages. From salads to desserts, each recipe is clearly explained and colorfully illustrated with vintage artwork. Different utensils and techniques are described, along with hints about how to measure, safety in the kitchen, how to properly set a table, and much more. 

Perfect for ages 8 to 13.

CK - 1     $19.95              Hardcover with concealed wire-o-binding.

Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons    by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Perhaps this shouldn't be listed as a cookbook, but the young child who receives this book will learn not only how to make rolled Christmas cookies and the joy of decorating them, but will learn about the importance of holiday traditions and sharing as well. This book — listed for "all ages," but geared to children ages four to eight — is really a glossary that teaches the meaning of "big" words (charitable, appreciative, responsible, celebrate, selfish, gracious) and how these words are applied to fulfilling the spirit of the holidays.

Jane Dyer, who has teamed up with Rosenthal in previous books, has delightfully illustrated each page in watercolor paintings with the focus on home, the kitchen, winter and the holidays. 

 CR - 5  Hardcover    $12.99

This cookbook, subtitled "Recipes And Traditions From The Old Country", is a compilation of recipes for time-honored, Christmas-appropriate dishes from the culinary heritage of Finland that would grace any family meal or celebratory occasion. From Kotikalja (Homemade Beer) to Suolattu lohi (Salted Salmon) to Luumukiisseli (Prune Pudding) to Karinin voirinkilat (Karin's Butter Rings) this book is a wonderful compendium of cook-friendly recipes, supplemented with traditional meal menus and with black and white photos and also color photos of lovely table spreads. 

Both authors grew up and were educated in Finland, and both live now in Wisconsin and, their their expertise in the kitchen as well as their academic training and research abilities come through in this 111-page book. Unlike in Norway and Sweden where rural traditions and foods prevailed among the immigrants, Sarriner and Krumsig's research found that today's Finnish Christmas celebration mainly comes from genteel customs that evolved in city life and gradually spread to all parts of the country during the past one hundred years.  The authors traced the origins of many Finnish Christmas customs and rituals to harvest times.

CK 3 Paperback $14.95

The Finnish Cookbook by Beatrice A. Ojakangas

First published in 1964, this cookbook — called "Finland's best-selling cookbook adapted for American kitchens" — is in its 23rd printing. As part of the Crown Classic Cookbook Series, a set of publications featuring the world's best-loved international cookbooks, it is specially adapted for use in American kitchens. To make things less frustrating for the American cook, the measurements are given in U.S. Customary Units rather than metric, and recipes are listed by both their English and Finnish names.  

Ojakangas, who has been called the "queen of recipe books," is an author and chef in Duluth, MN, and has written more than a dozen cookbooks. Along with recipes for specialties such as Karelian Rice Piirakkaa (thin oval-shaped pies filled with either rice or mashed potatoes), Rovastinpipparkakut (Bishop's pepper cookies), spinach pancakes, fish in a crust, and the Finnish Smorgasbord, the author has included recipes from both country and city, full sample menus, and gives the cultural background for many of the dishes — especially ones for holiday events. 

Ojakangas includes relevant and interesting tidbits about the land and its people, background information invaluable to anyone who wants to know more about Finland and Finnish cooking, and she shares memories she attaches to some of these hearty foods from the Land of the Midnight Sun. 

CK 4 Hardcover $17.95

Depression Era Recipes by Patricia R. Wagner

According to Wagner, the "Depression wasn't all soup lines and poverty." She has collected "brittle, hand-written" recipes from family and friends, "Gramma Signe, Aunt Minnie and Mom," and put forth a book that will show the reader how others coped during that era with what they had. Cooks can experiment -- and maybe even reminisce -- with Spoon Bread, Plain Nut Bread, and Dyspeptic Bread or Communion Wine, Cottage Beer or Wrinkle Cream.

CK - 2   Paperback (spiral binding)     $9.95