FOODFIC: Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

For anyone who doesn’t know, although Little House on the Prairie is the most well-known of Wilder’s titles, it’s actually the second book in the series, preceded by Little House in the Big Woods. And not that life in the big woods was a picnic, but it’s nothing compared to the trials of westward-moving life, i.e. weeks of riding in a covered wagon, followed by weeks of building a house log-by-log with things like having a roof and a floor being major milestones and getting glass for the 2 small window being the grandest of luxuries. 

Under such circumstances, you can imagine that the food (in this case FoodFact rather than FoodFic) is going to be rustic, meager, and wholly dependent on the environment. We tend to romanticize that pioneer era of brave settlers venturing out, hungry for new lives, but we often forget that they found themselves just plain hungry a lot of the time. 

In the Ingalls’ case, after months of traveling and then building – all on a diet of mostly game and bread – they were finally going to have fresh vegetables. They’d planted a full garden in which the peas and beans were already starting to come up; they’d a cache of potatoes snuggled deep in the earth, and they’d just plowed the corn into the soil…when they got the news that their perfect little house on the prairie had been built 3 miles on the wrong side of a territory line. 

They’d wished and waited and worked for that blossoming patch of fresh life, but Pa doesn’t even wait for the official notification before packing up the family and hitting the road. Now, in both the book and TV show, Laura (and everyone else, really) idolizes Pa, acting as if he can say or do no wrong. But on their first night away from their home, as they eat another meal of meat and bread by a fire built on the side of the trail, Pa muses, “What fun the rabbits will have eating that garden we planted.” Seriously?!

The ever-composed Ma just says, “Don’t.” I guess that shows what a terrible prairie wife I would’ve made; I sure would’ve had a lot more to say to him than that.

Toastworthy Teens - Hayley Okines

Hayley Okines, Autobiographer

Hayley Okines’ shoulders may look frail – as frail as those of a 105-year-old person, to be precise – but they are in fact strong enough to carry the weight on an entire cause.

Because at not just 14 years old but amazingly 14 years old, Hayley is defying the odds of Hutchinson Gifford Progeria Syndrome – a disease which ages children at 8 times the normal rate. “Progeria” (derived from the Greek word for prematurely old) normally claims the lives of young people by age 13.

 

Hayley has become the face of Progeria awareness both because of her strength and perseverance and also due to the success of her autobiography, Old Before My Time, in which she expresses both her struggles and her triumphs. I bet you can guess from her smile which ones she focuses on. :)

Meet the beautiful young author here:

http://hayleyokines.com

  

Do you know a toast-worthy teen you’d like to see featured here at BWATE? 

Comment below with your email address so we can get a post together!

FOODFIC: Please Welcome Wendy Owens, Author of The Guardians Series

One of the things I love so much about food in stories is how it can really give you insight into a character’s journey.  What they are eating can tell you when they are low on their luck, or living the life many only dream of.  Is the person stealing food at a local street market just to survive, or are they attending lush balls with buffets as far as the eye can see - covered in delectable and scrumptious nosh?  This tells us a lot about their current station in life.

What do you picture in your mind when I use words like lavish, bounteous, luxurious, extravagant?  Were there any folks out there thinking of an orphanage?  Of course not, we have these ideas in our head of how places are, and an orphanage is none of these things.  Therefore, it’s not surprising to find out, Gabe, the main character in The Guardians series lives at a home for wayward boys where they force a breakfast of burnt toast and powdered eggs on their charges.

When Gabe is brought to a new and strange place by an interesting character, named Uri, he has no idea what to expect.  At that point, Gabe imagines few things can be worse than his current lot in life.  Gabe begins to question this logic when he and his escorts are attacked by winged demonic beasts.

When at last, he is at his destination, he is brought to their leader, a younger looking man, named Michael.  Gabe is given cryptic answers, and while he doesn’t feel directly threatened he also doesn’t feel secure.  One thing helps put him at ease however... food!

In Sacred Bloodlines, when Michael takes him to the kitchen after their talk and this is what he finds:

There were stacks of flapjacks with butter pooling on the top and drips running down the side.  Another plate was overflowing with twisted cinnamon buns that were smothered with homemade icing so thick the top of the buns were barely visible.  Crisp bacon, brown sausage (links and patties) and ham slices were artistically spiraled on another platter.  Scrambled eggs, any fruit you can imagine, biscuits, and gravy so creamy and smooth that Gabe mistook it for buttermilk.

Food signaled a significant change for Gabe and his outlook moving forward.  What we eat plays a special part in our daily lives, so think about that the next time you are preparing a meal - is it delicious or boring?  I think I am off to have a pumpkin spice latte and a warm blueberry muffin while I work on finishing up book 3 of The Guardians!  Happy Reading!

Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Wendy!

 

You can find Wendy here: 

Wendy-Owens.com

Twitter @WendyLOwens

The Guardians Series on Amazon

SOUND (Solid #3) GIVEAWAY GAME!

To celebrate the release of the 3^rd book of the SOLID series,
I've put together a giveaway game! 

EVERY ENTRANT who COMPLETES the task will win
ebooks of BOTH “Solid” (Solid #1) AND “Settling” (Solid #2). 

The GRAND PRIZE WINNER will win SIGNED COPIES of ALL 3 BOOKS,
including “Sound” (Solid #3) just as it hits the shelves on Nov. 1^st!

The rules are simple:

1. Visit each blog on the list.

2. Leave a quick comment to show you were there.

3. Copy each image fragment and paste it into a Word .doc.

There are 18 stops to visit, comment on, and collect pieces from;
once you’ve hit all 18 stops and assembled* all of the pieces to complete the image,
email your entry to: SolidNovel@gmail.com.

4. Return to this post: But What Are They Eating?
and leave a comment letting me know you’ve sent in your completed entry.

ALL 4 STEPS are important because I will choose the Grand Prize Winner
from the blog comments (using Random.org) and then check the email account to verify the entry.

*Don’t worry; the pieces are in order, so if you follow the list, it’ll be easy. :)

The Game runs from Oct. 25^th through Oct. 31^st;
last day to enter is Oct. 31^st and winner will be chosen Nov. 1^st.

Good luck and get gathering!

Here are the stops:

1.  Books Devoured

2.  I’d So Rather Be Reading

3.  Paromantasy

4.  Book Lovers Inc.

5.  Magic of Reading

6.  Paranormal Indulgence

7.  Katie’s Book Blog

8.  One Book at a Time

9.  To Read or Not To Read

10. Wanted Readers

11. The Itzel Library

12. My Reading Room

13. Reading Teen

14. Confessions of a Bookaholic

15. Royal Reviews

16. Books with Bite

17. Skyla 11377

18. Me, My Shelf & I

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Toastworthy Teens - Timothy Doner

Timothy Doner, Polyglot

Some kids dread the required school language course; others who’ve grown up in multi-lingual homes see it as an easy A.

Timothy Doner is neither of those. It was actually studying for his bar mitzvah that got him started speaking Hebrew, which then perked his interest in Arabic, followed by Russian, Italian, Persian, Swahili, Indonesian, Hindi, Ojibwe, Pashto, Turkish, Hausa, Kurdish, Yiddish, Dutch, Croatian, and German. 

Yes, you’re reading that right; the 16-year-old New Yorker has to date taught himself 20 languages, mainly through grammar books and iPhone apps, his goal being “not to speak like a native, but to learn the basics of as many languages as possible.”

Because of his special ability to pick up languages, Timothy has been able to both connect with a subculture of polyglots around the world via the internet, as well as engage in conversation with the foreign-speaking folks he encounters in daily life, like a NYC cab driver from West Africa with whom Timothy was able to chat with in Hausa.

Being able to talk to anyone, anywhere is a gift that truly does make the world Timothy’s oyster. ;)

See his skills in action here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/PolyglotPal

Do you know a toast-worthy teen you’d like to see featured here at BWATE? 

Comment below with your email address so we can get a post together!