Celebrate your child's love of learning

© Wondertime

She's hungry for what Laura Ingalls Wilder ate — so dish it up.

Have you noticed how book food always sounds more delicious than real food? And it has a strange way of staying lodged in the memory long after the details of a story plot have faded.

The recipes here are tie-ins to a couple of my children's own favorite stories. I hope you'll use them as the starting point for more bookish cooking adventures with your kids.

Fried Apples 'n' Onions
(Adapted from The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker)
"He asked Royal, 'What would you like best to eat?' They talked about spareribs, turkey with dressing, baked beans, crackling cornbread, and other good things. But Almanzo said that what he liked most in the world was fried apples 'n' onions." — The Little House Cookbook

Serves 6 (as a side dish)
1/4 lb. bacon
1/2 lb. yellow onions, chopped
1 lb. apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, or Gala), cored, peeled if desired, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tbsp. packed light-brown sugar

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove the slices and cool, then crumble bacon into a bowl.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of grease from the skillet, then add the onions and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until translucent and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the apple and cook, stirring, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the brown sugar over the onion-apple mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the crumbled bacon and salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

What's Good for You
Fiber is as important for little kids as it is for adults, and apples are a great source of it. Soluble fiber helps keep blood cholesterol in check and insoluble fiber aids in digestion.

Hatbox Cake
"But where was the cake?... She had put the cake into her hatbox instead! Then she remembered something else. She had thrown the hatbox up on the shelf with a terrific wham... Perhaps the cake was all right. But how could it be — when it was such a soft cake and she had given it such a wham. She tried not to think about it." — The Hatbox Cake

1 cake of your choosing (homemade, from a mix, or store-bought)
2 cups frosting (as above)
Chopped nuts (optional)
1 pt. ice cream

Frost the cake and sprinkle with the nuts. Put the cake into an appropriate-sized plastic container (you may want to cut the cake into pieces to fit, or use 2 containers). Tape the lid on securely with packing or duct tape. Now let your kids throw it around and drop it until the cake and frosting are "swoozed together." Serve the "pudding" topped with ice cream.

What's Good for You
It's not the occasional piece of cake that overloads kids on sugar. It's more likely to be hidden sugars (like high-fructose corn syrup), found in everything from ketchup to granola bars, that can make kids' diets unhealthy.