Crispy Fried Cod Balls: A Prairie-Inspired Cooking Lesson

One of my favorite ways to bring history to life in our homeschool is through food. When children cook recipes inspired by the past, history becomes something they can touch, smell, and taste, not just read about. This simple recipe for Crispy Fried Cod Balls immediately reminded me of the humble fish cakes described in Little House on the Prairie. Though the Ingalls family lived far from the sea, preserved fish and simple ingredients like potatoes and eggs were staples of pioneer life. Recipes like this help children understand how families stretched what they had into nourishing, filling meals.

Catch Up! If you haven’t read all about our first week on the prairie, I would encourage you to go and read my Little House in the Big woods post. This covers everything we did from making nightdresses, to prairie cooking and making button strings. It also gives you a good idea of everything we achieved with our own little house on the prairie renovations!

Cooking together also opens the door to meaningful conversations about daily life on the prairie, resourcefulness, and gratitude. These are key themes in any Little House on the Prairie Unit Study.

Check out week two! Last week we focused on Farmer Boy. This is the second book in the Little House on the Prairie book set. During the week we did lots of prairie cooking (hasty pudding, making a sour dough starter and some prairie bread) and also made some button lamps, a prairie ladder, and some peg hooks. Gary and the little ones did some gardening in our prairie garden and we tried to make some more of our rag rug.

Prairie Cooking: Making Do With What You Have

Prairie families didn’t follow recipes the way we do today. They cooked by memory, availability, and necessity. This dish reflects that spirit beautifully: basic ingredients, minimal seasoning, and simple preparation.

Here’s how we made our prairie-inspired fish patties:

• Cod boiled in water until fully cooked, then flaked with a fork
• Potatoes (about eight), cooked and mashed with butter and milk
• Two beaten eggs
• Chopped parsley
• Flour for shaping
• Gently fried until golden

Once everything cooled, the fish, potatoes, eggs, and parsley were mixed together, shaped into patties using flour to reduce stickiness, and lightly fried. The result? Really, really good, crispy on the outside, soft and comforting on the inside.

It’s easy to imagine Ma Ingalls doing something similar at the hearth, turning simple pantry items into a satisfying family meal.

Check out week three! We focused on The Little House on the Prairie. This is the third book in the Little House on the Prairie book set. During the week we did some of prairie cooking (soda biscuits) and also made some curtains, hay sticks and a hammock net. Gary and the little ones did some gardening in our prairie garden and we tried to make some more of our rag rug.

Why Cooking Prairie Recipes Matters in Homeschooling

Incorporating Prairie recipes into your homeschool does more than teach cooking skills. It supports:

• History comprehension – children better understand daily pioneer life
• Life skills – cooking, food safety, and kitchen confidence
• Math practice – counting, measuring, doubling recipes
• Literature connections – linking food to scenes and themes in Little House books

Best of all, it slows learning down in the best way—inviting conversation, curiosity, and connection.

Week four we focused on ‘On the Banks of Plum Creek’ and the children learnt about herbal medicine, stained a rocking chair for the corner of the house, made some baskets and began a productive Little House vegetable garden. And lastly, we made some home-made yogurt and a blueberry pie.

Hands-On Activities Linked to Making Crispy Fried Cod Balls

Here are a few simple, meaningful ways to extend this cooking experience into a full lesson:

1. Prairie Kitchen Comparison

Have your child compare a modern kitchen to a pioneer kitchen. What tools did Ma Ingalls not have? What would cooking this recipe have been like over an open fire?

2. Ingredient Investigation

Research how pioneers preserved fish and potatoes. Discuss why cod was commonly salted or dried and how food preservation mattered on the prairie.

3. Cooking Journal

Ask your child to write or draw:

• What the Crispy Fried Cod Balls looked like
• How they smelled while cooking
• Whether they think Laura Ingalls would have liked them

4. Math in the Kitchen

Practice fractions and multiplication by halving or doubling the recipe.

5. Taste Test Reflection

Let your child rate the recipe and explain what they would change (or why they wouldn’t change a thing!).

During week five, we focused on By the Shores of the Silver Lake. We made signs for over the front door and inside the cottage, wove our own baskets, Thomas began building a stove for the cottage, made some molasses popcorn balls and a very tasty prairie chicken with home grown green beans.

Reflection Questions for Your Child

Use these questions during or after the lesson:

1. Why do you think pioneer families relied on simple recipes like this?
2. How did cooking without modern appliances change daily life?
3. What skills did children on the prairie need to learn early?
4. How does cooking this recipe help you understand Little House on the Prairie better?
5. What are you grateful for in your kitchen today?

Last week, our focus was on The Long Winter. We made this tea towel and dish cloth (I’m posting about them a bit later), did some prairie cooking and made butter, bread, and jam. Thomas also completed the Little House stove and Lillie made a table cloth.

Bringing History to Life, One Recipe at a Time

Food is memory. Food is history. And in homeschooling, food can be one of the most powerful teaching tools we have.

These Crispy Fried Cod Balls are more than a meal, they’re a hands-on history lesson, a connection to the past, and a meaningful addition to any Little House on the Prairie Unit Study. Whether you’re studying pioneer life for a week or a full year, cooking Prairie recipes like this one helps children truly experience history.