Once upon a time, not too many years ago, a little girl lived in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area in a little yellow house made of wood...

I love cooking, I love Laura Ingalls Wilder, so now (at the suggestion of my mother) I have undertaken a task somewhat a la Julie & Julia--to cook things from the Little House series. Laura wrote very vivid descriptions of all the cooking she and Ma did. For many years I've joked about finding an empty tree at my grandparents house (in the Big Woods of Maryland) and smoking some meat. Maybe I will still try that someday (MAYBE) but for now, I'll begin at the beginning and accomplish what I can. That means skipping all the butchering activities and starting with something very simple: butter. If I were born in the 1800's, I would probably be able to do this by myself by the time I was eight, but, alas...well, I'm only ten years behind.