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by Terri J. Martin (Author)
This Norwegian cookbook is dedicated to my grandmother Myrtle (Torkelson) Overland (b.1903, d.1987). Myrtle shared memories of feeding the poor who would stop by the farm during the Depression. The hardworking farmers needed high protein and fat in their diets to maintain their energy. She said they would always have food from growing their own vegetables and fruit, raising their own chickens, pigs and cattle. There was always fresh eggs, milk, and cream from their small dairy and poultry operation. The 250 indexed recipes use the Norwegian language as references to many old time favorites. Myrtles's family history of the immigration from Norway to America is included. The women immigrants were an important part of the survival of pioneer farmers. As I witnessed my grandmother's role in supporting her family through every day cooking, cleaning, nurturing, and working side by side with her family, I realized her strength of character. She took pride in her work and place in society. My grandfather, uncle, and farmhands would come in from a hard day's work and know there would be a hot meal waiting for them.
Author Biography
Myrtle (Torkelson) Overland By Granddaughter Terri J Martin This cookbook is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, MyrtleTorkelson) Overland (born 1903, died 1987). She loved to cook and had a gift of creating meals by taste. She said "I loved to collect recipes - and have oodles of them". I remember visiting her during the summer months when I was young and watching her on bread baking day. She would make bread and buns by scratch for the week. The bread was wonderfully light and delicious! Another day it would be sugar cookies, oatmeal, and brown sugar cookies to be frozen. This would be besides her busy daily schedules of gathering eggs for market, and cooking meals for the family and hired hands. Myrtle's life growing up must have been similar to how author Mildred Armstrong Kalish described frontier life in her book "Little Heathens: hard times and high spirits on an Iowa farm during the great depression". The Torkelson farm was right on the state border of Iowa. The same cook stove pictured in this book, she used is still in the house that her father and uncle built in 1914. The Overland farmhouse where Myrtle lived for over 50 years of marriage was built in 1909 with the materials ordered as a kit from the Sears Roebuck catalog and still standing. Both the Overland farm, where Myrtle and Grandpa Art lived; and the Torkelson farm, where grandma grew up are being recognized by Freeborn County as Century Farms this year, 2012. I was fortunate to live on the farm for 3 years to experience their enjoyment of country life. My memories of learning to cook and growing fresh produce come with great humiliation and rewards of reaping fresh delicious meals. Rewards of earning blue ribbons at the county fair, selling jams, jellies and apple pies at the Farmers Market in Albert Lea are priceless. The wear and tear of working an old century farm adds up and can consume your life if there were no rewards. Hours of taming the jungle-like vegetation and thinning out the wild fruits and berries of invasive Buckthorn were spent. Raising chickens was a challenge, where chicks dined on the acres of bugs, and sprouts free ranging. When you depend on the land to feed yourself, it can be felt as a necessity to become sustainable. In today's world there isn't the land for the poor who are hungry to be able to feed themselves as immigrants did throughout history.
