Recipes for a sweet wintery feast

By Danielle Prostrollo

Recently, we held a Thanksgiving event at the library which included a taste of some classic flavors from the holiday dessert table. Now that Thanksgiving feasts are finished and everyone begins to prepare for the Christmas holidays, I wanted to point out some of the great recipes that were used for our event that can be easily made for any autumnal and winter get-together!

PIES

Classic Pumpkin pie from Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) is a stalwart at the dessert table. Paired with a bit of fresh whipped cream, it can’t be beat.

Similar to pumpkin pie, but a bit more mild tasting, BHG’s sweet potato pie is a similar custard-like pie for those who may prefer a more subdued flavor.

 

OTHER

Tending more toward a winter-y flavor, a gingerbread loaf cake makes for lovely nibbles with a cup of coffee or tea. I made this loaf, minus the lemon drizzle, and people loved the spicy counter balance to the other sweeter offerings.

Another popular pie in America is a classic pecan pie. This isn’t a tidy bake, by any means. So, to recreate a similar flavor palette for easy eating, I served candied pecans made with a buttery sugar glaze.

 

I hope these classic American recipes help to get everyone into the holiday season, and use the inspiration to have their own wintery social hour with family and friends in this lead up to the Christmas holidays.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving and Christmas season!

 

Thanksgiving Baking

By Danielle Prostrollo

In preparation for the Thanksgiving talk happening in the library on 20 November, I have been sifting through recipes and childhood memories of pies, cakes, and all manner of autumnal desserts. For the event, American Scholar Don Allen is going to give a short talk about the cultural significance of Thanksgiving, and a quick history lesson about the relevance of the holiday in America. My role is to whip up some timely and traditional desserts.

The afternoon will include pumpkin and sweet potato pies, a gingerbread quick bread, and candied pecans. Pumpkin pie, unarguably the star of the Thanksgiving dessert table. A cup of coffee and a slice of pie, with a dollop of whipped cream on top, is a standard method of winding down after the big feast. Sweet potato pie is very similar, both in preparation and in some ways in flavor, but definitely a more retro option. For both of these bakes you can find endless advice online about the best pie crust, whether or not to use fresh or canned for the filling, and so much more. The afternoon’s pies will be baked with consideration of many sources and a little bit of home knowledge!

A gingerbread quick bread sounds strange, but this quick bread is more like a cake. There is no yeast, so it rises up with a cake-like consistency and is popular in America for making zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, and banana bread. This gingerbread variety will hopefully help set people into an autumnal mood.

And lastly, the candied pecans come into the picture as a play on the pecan pie. For anyone who may prefer something a bit lighter than cakes and pies there will be candied pecans available with your coffee and tea. Pecan pie is a popular dish across America and certainly so in the South where pecan trees are plentiful.

If you would like to explore some of these American desserts (and many, many others) here are a few books you can find at the Memorial Library:

Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook

The New Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving 101

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well

Thanksgiving: Recipes for a Holiday Meal

Williams Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining

From Crazy Horse to Wall Drug: Visiting Home

By Danielle Prostrollo

This autumn I am taking a few weeks off from writing, reading, and studying to be with family and introduce my other half, Dan, to the beauty of South Dakota. Having grown up there its easy to go back and entertain myself – its home. But this will be Dan’s first trip to America, so I feel the pressure to make sure he gets to experience everything.

So I’m going to do what no born-and-bred South Dakotan has ever done (I’m guessing?)… consult a tourist guidebook. The library has an heroic collection of travel guides for all corners of the United States so I was lucky enough to find two different books to use: Mount Rushmore & The Black Hills by Laural A. Bidwell (a Moon guide) and Off the Beaten Path: The Dakotas by Lisa Meyers McClintick.

The obvious ‘Must-See’ attractions are there – Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands. Those aren’t in question, we’ll certainly put those on the list. Other options that would normally be a given include Hill City/Keystone salt water taffy but sadly we’ll have missed out on taffy season.

From the guidebooks I realised I had forgotten about the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and Launch Center Delta-01 – a site we will definitely visit, weather permitting. The old Cold War missile silo and launch center are something a little bit different in a state that is best known for its Wild West history.

While reading I stumbled into the history of Mount Rushmore, something we all learn as kids but hadn’t thought about in a long time and resonated much more now that I have been living abroad for a few years. Specifically, what I found interesting is that Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum was friends with famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin and had exhibited for Queen Victoria before returning to America and taking on large scale projects such as the Stone Mountain project (which his temper eventually saw him relieved from) and Mount Rushmore.

And in a bit of reminiscence, the entry on the Black Hills Institute brightened my day. The Institute was a stalwart of my childhood summers. Sue the T. rex was my favorite. I was of the perfect age to be devastated when she left the Black Hills for good but on this visit I hope to see Stan, the most complete T. rex, to date.

There’s so much to see, hopefully we can tick off as many as possible.

There’s:

Wall Drug – the greatest emporium/roadside attraction around

Alpine Inn in Hill City – ultimate restaurant for the indecisive (you get a steak, either a big one or a smaller one)

A beer in Deadwood – toast one to ol’ Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane (for more info on Wild Bill in South Dakota, we have some great books on the man in the library)

Mount Moriah – a similar but more solemn remembrance of Bill and Jane at their resting place

Nick’s Hamburgers – on the other side of the state these famous burgers are tiny but delicious

Corn Palace – who wouldn’t love a building covered in corn murals?

Falls Park – the namesake of Sioux Falls, the Falls are a great attraction for anyone who enjoys a walk in the park

Al’s Oasis – to get between East and West River you have to stop at Al’s Oasis to recover and recuperate in their cafeteria.

And the list goes on. Undoubtedly, this trip will spark a ton of lists for future visits as the Black Hills and the Great Plains offer such beautiful landscapes and rich culture.

 

 

 

American Independence Day

This week at the Memorial Library we are preparing to celebrate, commemorate and consider the American Declaration of Independence, the Revolution that followed and the culture that flourished in its aftermath.

Independence Day is a federally recognized national holiday that is often celebrated with picnics, barbecues, fireworks, concerts and parades–just as John Adams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the 2nd President of the United States, imagined it (although he was a few days out).

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. –John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail Adams

The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1750 and 1783 during which the Thirteen American Colonies broke from the British Empire and formed an independent nation, the United States of America. The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in American society, government and ways of thinking. Beginning in 1765 the Americans rejected the authority of Parliament to tax them without elected representation: ‘no taxation without representation.’ Protests soon escalated such as  the infamous Boston Tea Party of 1773.

The British responded with punitive laws and military aggression—but so too did the American patriots. The Patriots fought the British in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. American independence from the British monarchy was officially adopted on July 4th 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence and its acceptance by Congress.

Signing of Declaration by Trumbull (1817) held in the U.S Capitol

This is only a small fraction of the American Independence story. There are many perspectives and numerous interpretations about the American struggle for Independence and the meaning of independence then and now. This is a debate still ongoing between contemporary scholars, writers and observers in the USA today.

For your own interpretation of events, I point you in the direction of only a small handful of our collection on the American Revolution and Declaration of Independence. All of these books and more will be displayed on our main display shelf (just outside the Memorial Library doors) and are available for check out.

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to this, you will find books on various aspects of American culture: American English, American food, American Art, American holidays and even fine American whiskey! You can reserve any of these books online here. But of course, if you’re in the library why not stop in and catch one of our American scholars! Until then, to all of our Americans out there: Happy 4th of July Weekend!