Food and Family Memoir with Recipes

Survival Food: North Woods Storiesby a Menominee Cook

Thomas Pecore Weso

About the Book: An intimate and engaging Native food memoir

In these coming-of-age tales set on the Menominee Indian Reservation of the 1980s and 1990s, Thomas Pecore Weso explores the interrelated nature of meals and memories. As he puts it, “I cannot separate foods from the moments in my life when I first tasted them.” Weso’s stories recall the foods that influenced his youth in northern Wisconsin: subsistence meals from hunted, fished, and gathered sources; the culinary traditions of the German, Polish, and Swedish settler descendants in the area; and the commodity foods distributed by the government—like canned pork, dried beans, and powdered eggs—that made up the bulk of his family’s pantry. His mom called this “survival food.”

These stories from the author’s teen and tween years—some serious, some laugh-out-loud funny—will take readers from Catholic schoolyards to Native foot trails to North Woods bowling alleys, while providing Weso’s perspective on the political currents of the era. The book also contains dozens of recipes, from turtle soup and gray squirrel stew to twice-baked cheesy potatoes. This follow-up to Weso’s Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir is a hybrid of modern foodways, Indigenous history, and creative nonfiction from a singular storyteller

Wisconsin Historical Society Press (October 10, 2023), 312pp
Ebook: $11.99
Print: $24.95
Buy:
Wisconsin Historical Society Press
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My Review:

I already experience of pang of wounded conscience reading Weso’s preface listing foods he grew up eating in the generation of change when food preparation sank to the bottom of the list of family activities. Allowing strangers to create shelf-stable quick-prep eat-and-run food marched us another step away from our identities. In twenty-one stories about life growing up Menominee, Weso attempts to redirect us toward our own family memories as well as encouraging us to forge new ones and pass them on to the next generation.

Weso lived mostly with his grandparents. “Grandma’s meals always followed the basic Menominee food pyramid….sweet, salt, meat and water.” Meal times were family times, stories and making plans, sharing news. The recipes that follow each story are full of pithy comments, such as the one in Venison Soup: “This is a relatively simple dish to make, after preparing the corn, and finding a deer, dispatching it, and dressing it.” Some of the recipes I’m excited to try, such as Winter Tamale Pie, many ingredients of which can be substituted with canned goods. “These also work during pandemic quarantines when trips to the grocery store are limited.” Other recipes…not so much. I do believe and accept that grasshoppers have lots of protein, but I’m not quite so anxious to make grasshopper tacos. Weso ate a grasshopper taco once in his “search for authenticity” as a college student in Madison.

Every story is an opportunity to share a life lesson or comment such as why Grandma encouraged them to drink coffee and tea, not alcohol. The stories are generous memories of tick bites, porcupine rescues, bear hunting, working on a road crew, felling trees, going to college, learning family lore such as the history behind Grandma and Grandpa’s house. All the way to the passing of Weso’s mother, Weso’s memories weave a loving and poignant, sometimes funny, and always thought-provoking tale of the importance of family and memory and how food is often the main ingredient of home.

About the Author: Thomas Pecore Weso (1953–2023) was an author, educator, artist, and enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Nation of Wisconsin. His book Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press in 2016, was reviewed widely and won a national Gourmand Award. He also wrote many articles and personal essays, a biography of Langston Hughes with coauthor Denise Low, and the children’s book Native American Stories for Kids (Rockridge Press, 2022), which was named a 2023 Kansas Notable Book. Weso was an alumnus of Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas, where he earned a master’s degree in Indigenous studies. He died in Sonoma County, California, on July 14, 2023.

Meet Amy Laundrie

Laugh, Cry, Reflect: Stories From a Joyful Heart

Amy Laundrie

HenschelHAUS publishing

June 1, 2018

200 pages

$9.98 Ebook

$14.95 Print

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

IndieBound

About the Book

Amy shares:

A dear, elderly friend, Gisela Hamm, encouraged me to compile my favorite columns into a book. Sections include anecdotes about my family, my teaching career, and raising pet ducks.

I attended the book signing of Rose Bingham, happened to sit next to her editor, Kira Henschel, who happened to mention that she published memoirs. I thought, Gee, I have a memoir. I filled out her requested 16-page marketing plan and Laugh, Cry, Reflect: Stories From a Joyful Heart came out less than 8 months later.

Laugh, Cry, Reflect: Stories From a Joyful Heart is a collection of short yet powerful personal stories. Some will make you laugh—like when you find out why the author’s 12-year-old daughter requested a home pregnancy test. Other stories may tug at your heartstrings—like when you learn what item was placed on a beloved relative’s casket. Many of these poignant essays will prompt you to reflect on moments from your own life. All are offerings of hope, wonder, and joy.

About the Author

A retired fourth-grade teacher, Amy Laundrie began writing personal essays because of a desire share some of her favorite stories and connect with others. Readers have called her stories poignant, humorous, and heartfelt testimonials to a woman's life. They have universal truths and emotions that speak to a wide reading audience. She considers herself a goal setter and is proud of finishing a half-marathon, surviving two wilderness backpack trips, and earning a black belt. She enjoys playing tennis, cross country skiing, hiking with her dog Josie, and raising pet ducks.
to 

Amy continues to write a weekly column for her hometown newspaper, The Dells Events, and work on various children's books.

Enjoy these Reviews

June 11, 2018

These short essays each offer insights and emotional connections from daily life events. Details are compellingly specific while mirroring universal experiences and reminders of our own lives, even if starkly different from those of the author.

The compiled pieces fall into place with each other to reveal a lifetime lived well and thoughtfully.

Highly recommend this as a quick and easy read that will draw you back to read again, because the memoir it provides is so well named. Readers will laugh, cry, and reflect- perhaps even attempt to write their own life experiences.

August 5, 2018

Do yourself a huge favor (we ALL deserve one these days) and brighten and enrich your life by having this book on your nightstand or your coffee table or in your top drawer at work (for THOSE kind of days!). I have read this book 3 times--and my favorite chapters and passages many more times than that. It’s rare that one finds an author whose words and ideas on the page echo so clearly the essence of a person who has not only a “joyful heart” but a brilliantly curious mind that is constantly seeking to find a deeper meaning in life’s and nature’s happiest, saddest, and most humorous events. The chapters on nature (“Spring’s Promise” - “Silent Rock” - “Moth Lives on Tears”, e.g.), on special moments with her family and friends (“The Magical Little Cabin in the Woods”), and on her imaginative insights into the the history of the common in life (“A Dust Rag Rich with History”) are my favorites. But I also find much joy and much to reflect on in Ms. Laundrie’s wonderful stories about her children, her many happy and event-filled years as a 5th Grade teacher, and her loving and “suits her just right” husband, Frank. In short, get this book, treasure it, and share it. Where else can one find lines as authentic, insightful and beautifully written as these regarding her family’s magical little cabin in the woods: “How can four log walls hold such power? It’s not the walls, of course, but the foundation of a family, the mortar of wanting to share each other’s lives, the seasoned logs of an enduring future.” I rest my case. Oh, one addition to my case--lovely photos and paintings throughout the book (nature, family, Ms. Laundrie enjoying nature's beauty and, in one special photo, the company of her dog Josie).

July 7, 2018

I started reading this book one or two short stories a night but on the third night, I just kept reading until the end.

I found part of this memoir to be a delight. Little snippets from the author’s life that could make you Laugh, Cry, Reflect. A set of stories about 3 runner ducks named Huey, Duey, and Louey had me doing all three. I also enjoyed the little peeks into the author’s life as a 4th-grade teacher. The story about her “Magic Key” game with her grandaughters was my absolute favorite.

For very personal reasons, her Only One Life story had my tears flowing. You see, there are been two times in my life beyond my control, that objects that hold near and dear memories have been left behind or lost due to moves I wish we had never had to make. That story brought back feelings about the things I didn’t get to “weed through” myself and only learned sometime later precious ones were no longer with me. It is times like these that yes, I know we only have one life to live and I realize yet again how badly I have screwed this one life up. I think I was living my life to the max like this author and God threw a huge monkey wrench into it not once but twice. There are many days I still search for my purpose and wish I could go back in time.

I found Ms. Laundrie’s memoir sent me on a little emotional roller coaster of my own, but my story is not unique. Everyone has memories that make us Laugh – Cry – Reflect. Maybe this author’s book will help you reflect on your own life. Maybe you have a book in you that you would like to share with a precious few or the entire world.

August 5, 2018

Do yourself a huge favor (we ALL deserve one these days) and brighten and enrich your life by having this book on your nightstand or your coffee table or in your top drawer at work (for THOSE kind of days!). I have read this book 3 times--and my favorite chapters and passages many more times than that. It’s rare that one finds an author whose words and ideas on the page echo so clearly the essence of a person who has not only a “joyful heart” but a brilliantly curious mind that is constantly seeking to find a deeper meaning in life’s and nature’s happiest, saddest, and most humorous events. The chapters on nature (“Spring’s Promise” - “Silent Rock” - “Moth Lives on Tears”, e.g.), on special moments with her family and friends (“The Magical Little Cabin in the Woods”), and on her imaginative insights into the the history of the common in life (“A Dust Rag Rich with History”) are my favorites. But I also find much joy and much to reflect on in Ms. Laundrie’s wonderful stories about her children, her many happy and event-filled years as a 5th Grade teacher, and her loving and “suits her just right” husband, Frank. In short, get this book, treasure it, and share it. Where else can one find lines as authentic, insightful and beautifully written as these regarding her family’s magical little cabin in the woods: “How can four log walls hold such power? It’s not the walls, of course, but the foundation of a family, the mortar of wanting to share each other’s lives, the seasoned logs of an enduring future.” I rest my case. Oh, one addition to my case--lovely photos and paintings throughout the book (nature, family, Ms. Laundrie enjoying nature's beauty and, in one special photo, the company of her dog Josie).

Garden Memoir sure to enchant

 

Garden Truths From My Family’s Stories

By Chris Eirschele

c. 2013

36-page book with eight chapters, photographs

 

“The innate ability to grow plants is a gift from my parents; this is their story; what I did with it is mine.”

 

Garden Truths is a charming story of family, legacy, gifts, secrets and joy, through it all, growing things. Eirschele’s memoir will touch readers who have fond memories of their parents.

 

Eirschele’s dad loved to grow flowers from bulbs and perennials, and especially loved to share them. Some of the authors’ family and friends shared their memories of the precious gift.

 

Throughout the book, Eirschele has photographs of her own plants, plants that illustrate the chapters. She also takes care to include instructions for the growth, nurture, and storage of the plants she talks about.

 

From lilies to sweet Williams to her mother’s indoor potted citrus trees (an orangery), exotic plants, and fruit and vegetable hints, Eirschele’s gentle memoir is sure to enchant.

 

 

About the Author:

Chris Eirschele is a freelance garden writer whose current work is found on www.BucketTripper.com. Chris' inspiration comes from plants grown, gardens explored and garden paths traveled. Her articles have been read in such far ranging publications as Ohio Gardener, Greenhouse Grower and Milwaukee Magazine. Her muse resides at her blog, www.StayGardening.com.

She is a past Master Gardener with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee County Extension and as member of the Southeast Wisconsin Master Gardeners and was horticulturally educated at Milwaukee Area Technical College. A native of Wisconsin, Chris now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

She has maintained a membership with the Garden Writers Association since 2006. Chris' past memberships include the Perennial Plant Association and the Daylily Society of SouthEast Wisconsin.

Meet Deborah Chamberlain

Deborah Camberlain and Orange Picnic, a Memoir

My story is a poignant love story that began over 40 years ago, and defines my life today. It's about my best friend and me after we met and started dating two older guys who were also friends with each other. We met at the Newgate, a little coffee shop in Homewood, Il., where I was living at the time.  We hung around together, did naughty things like skipping school to pop over to Indiana or downtown Chicago, fell in love and had a great life as two couples together until life and the Vietnam War interfered. Within a span of 7 months, we lost both guys. We were just 17 years old.

I wrote the book to preserve the memories of my first love – a man who made me feel truly loved.  I also wanted to honor the memories of these two men who were not able to live their lives to the fullest and experience the typical joys of becoming a husband and father. My other motivation was to put a finished book into the hands of my boyfriend’s mother before she died – which I was able to do on Mother’s Day after the book was finally published.

BIO: A long-time Wisconsin resident, Deborah (Donaldson) Chamberlain is the owner of Donaldson Media & Marketing Services. She has a Masters Degree in Mass Communications and taught college-level courses in media, marketing and advertising. In addition to being a business owner and author of her memoir, Orange Picnic, Deborah is also a mom. Her daughter, Becca Donaldson, was recently named a Fulbright scholar and is completing her research in the United Arab Emirates.

The book is available by contacting Deborah at (414) 777-0430 or by e-mail at orangepicnic@gmail.com.  The book is also available at Amazon.com and BN.com.  For reader comments and other information, visit www.orangepicnic.com.