Sunday, September 27, 2015

A Traditional Farm Life - Indian Squaw Bread


A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

 
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!   Twenty years ago a dashing young man with rugged good looks swept me off my feet.  We were students at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. 

He was a senior, and I a lowly freshman, but in God’s timing we noticed each other and were drawn together by our mutual interests.  We were both double majors--Bible and Religion as well as History—and our love for “the old paths” continues to strengthen our marriage bond today.

Precept upon precept, line upon line, early on in our marriage we started making small changes in our lifestyle fueled by our understanding of the Bible.

Change has not always been easy, but with conviction comes courage, and we can’t imagine raising our children any other way.

Even so, on our wedding day almost 18 years ago, we certainly did not imagine ourselves joyfully going through life in suspenders and straw hats, flowing dresses, black aprons and head coverings. 

A simpler lifestyle without television, radio and internet access in the home creates a fertile environment for family interaction in the evenings after the chores are done.  Reading is a favorite evening activity of ours.

In years past, on long winter evenings my husband has read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series to us as a family.  Historical novels such as these have been both inspirational and tutorial to us, as we seek to find ways to live a simpler lifestyle.

Over the years, we’ve had the opportunity to give our six children traditional farm chores Laura and Almanzo were very familiar with.  Our little ones have gathered eggs, older ones have tended large gardens, milked cows and fed horses.  I’ve made butter, cheese, and yogurt by the gallon and spent the summer canning pickles, tomatoes, jams and jellies.

There is great satisfaction in eating vegetables from your own garden, spreading fresh-churned butter on warm homemade bread, and admiring rows of sparkling jars full of canned produce put by against the winter winds.

If I led an academic life today, I would probably specialize in the history of food and how it relates to one’s culture.  I love old cookbooks and comparing and researching “the way it used to be.”  The yellowed pages of old cookbooks have opened up another world of “cookery” to me.   The years in which we had farm fresh milk were enriched by those farmwives of old who wrote down how they made butter, used the buttermilk, and baked with truly soured cream.

Adding fuel to the fire recently was our friend Kelly Taylor of Chapman lending us two cookbooks featuring Native American recipes.  “American Indian Cooking and Herb Lore,” and  “Corn Recipes From the Indians” are invaluable windows into that culture’s cuisine. 

Indirectly, these slim volumes shed light on the similarities of that culture with pioneer cooking.  We all know the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, so it’s no wonder that a good portion of early American pioneer cooking also centered on beans, corn, and squash as well.

With two cookbooks in front of me, it shouldn’t have been hard to choose a recipe for you to try this week.  My fun-loving family very much wanted me to share the recipe for “Dakota Weshungle,” a taste-tempting stew of Indian sweet corn, fresh short ribs, dried pumpkin, black pepper, wild prairie turnips, dried cow hoofs, and salt.   (If you find yourself planning to tend a slow fire for 6-1/2 hours with 4 dried cow hooves on hand, give us a call at The Buggy Stop and we’ll get you the recipe.)

Instead, I decided to share with you the recipe for “Indian Squaw Bread,” a biscuit-like dough rolled thin and fried in oil.  Today it is often referred to as “Fry Bread.”  Interestingly, the recipe is very similar to “Crullers,” thicker strips of biscuit dough twisted and fried as an accompaniment to watermelon—a favorite of my pioneer ancestors, the Russian Mennonites.  It’s a small world after all!


Indian Squaw Bread

2 cups (8.5 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 to 3/4 cups milk
oil for frying
  (lard would be the traditional choice)

1.  In a 12” a skillet, pour oil to a depth of 1/4” and begin heating over medium-high heat.
2.  Place flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl; mix with a fork.  Add 2/3 cup milk, and stir with the fork until all flour is moistened, adding more milk if necessary.  Divide into 4 pieces, kneading gently 2 or 3 times to form a ball. 
3.  Dust each piece in flour and roll out on a well-floured board until 1/8” thick and approximately a 7” circle.  Cut two slits in the center.
5.  VERY CAREFULLY slip into hot oil. Fry until bottom is golden brown, turn with tongs and fry other side until golden brown as well.
6.  Remove to paper-towel lined plate.  Repeat with other three fry breads.  Cut into wedges to serve.  Sources indicate these treats were served with maple syrup or fruit jam, and often with bacon.
Yield:  4 fry breads (7”).

Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.

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