Cooking is a favorite Investigations activity. Students work together to make a food that they share with the whole school. In the process, they see practical applications for math and science.

In their read-aloud group, the younger students listened to some of the Little House On the Prairie books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. So, over the course of a few weeks, we cooked some of the foods that Laura and her family and many other nineteenth century Americans would have eaten.

We made Crackling Cornbread—without the cracklings because some of our students don’t eat meat. Unlike modern cornbread recipes, the recipe called for only cornmeal—no flour—and no sugar. But, topped with real maple syrup, it still tasted delicious to all who tried it.

We made steamed Blueberry Pudding. That was a summer treat the Wilders could make even without an oven. Because we made it in the winter, we were grateful for frozen blueberries! We topped the pudding with a sauce flavored with rose water. While we didn’t make our rose water, they would have, as roses were widely available, and vanilla and lemons were not.

Dumplings that we cooked in vegetable stew were enjoyed by all.

We cooked Pancakes and Buckwheat Pancakes, using vegetable oil instead of salt pork drippings. And, again, with no sugar added, we were happy to top them with real maple syrup.

Two of the most common vegetables the Wilders ate were potatoes and carrots, so we cooked Hashed Brown Potatoes, using vegetable oil instead of drippings, and Creamed Carrots.

Preparing and eating some of the foods that Laura and her family ate gave us an appreciation for their way of life that we didn’t have before.