{"product_id":"survival-food-north-woods-stories-by-a-menominee-cook-9781976600210","title":"Survival Food: North Woods Stories by a Menominee Cook","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn intimate and engaging Native food memoir\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eGood Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e is a hybrid of modern foodways, Indigenous history, and creative nonfiction from a singular storyteller. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eSilver winner of the 2023 Midwest Book Award for Cookbooks\/Crafts\/Hobbies \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThomas Pecore Weso's \u003ci\u003eSurvival Food\u003c\/i\u003e was selected by the Wisconsin Center for the Book as the Wisconsin entry in the \"Great Reads from Great Places\" program of the Library of Congress.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"This book is not only about survival food, but about the singular beauty, creativity, and fortitude that comes out of that survival.\" \u003cbr\u003e --Chef Sean Sherman, author, \u003ci\u003eThe Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eSurvival Food\u003c\/i\u003e is interesting because it's one part cookbook, three parts memoir, one part history, and one part multidisciplinary exploration of its setting, northern Wisconsin.\" \u003cbr\u003e --James Norton, The Cookbook Test \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Nothing brings people together like good food and good stories. There's an abundance of both in Thomas Pecore Weso's latest memoir. As Weso attests, food can bring back happy, loving memories of times that were far from happy. Even a tray of funeral sandwiches brings a kind of comfort. This is a wonderful, honest portrait of northeastern Wisconsin, enlightening even to those of us who call this area home.\" \u003cbr\u003e --Jared Santek, Founder \u0026amp; Artistic Director, Write On Door County \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eSurvival Food\u003c\/i\u003e provides ample nourishment for the mind and body. . . . The stories, told with humor and affection, are complemented by recipes ranging from mouth-watering instructions for cooking wild asparagus to ever-so-interesting advice for preparing bear stew.\" \u003cbr\u003e --Lucille Lang Day, author of\u003ci\u003e Birds of San Pancho and Other Poems of Place\u003c\/i\u003e and coeditor of \u003ci\u003eRed Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"His grandmother cooked according to Native traditions; his mother, 'a nontraditional college student during my teens, ' resorted to instant meals. His grandfather was town constable and days spent with him brought Weso to the meatloaf, sausage and sauerkraut of German and Polish neighbors. Uncle Buddy's flash car brings buckwheat pancakes to Weso's mind, and he lived for a time near Cheese Box Curve--so called after a truck hauling dairy products overturned. Weso includes a few recipes, but mostly, \u003ci\u003e Survival Food\u003c\/i\u003e is an entertaining look back at life in Wisconsin's rural north.\" \u003cbr\u003e --David Luhrssen, \u003ci\u003eShepherd Express \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eSurvival Food: North Woods Stories by a Menominee Cook\u003c\/i\u003e by Thomas Pecore Weso is a posthumous sequel to his celebrated collection of family stories, \u003ci\u003eGood Seeds: A Menominee Food Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e. . . . Rich with captivating tales that include driving a convertible on logging roads, agreeing on terms before throwing eggs at passing cars, and his grandmother's brief stay in a jailhouse she'd later purchase, Weso's entries offer readers catharsis--demonstrating how to laugh, boast, debate, eat, mourn, and heal.\" \u003cbr\u003e --Ryan Winn, College of Menominee Nation, \u003ci\u003eTribal College Journal \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThomas Pecore Weso\u003c\/b\u003e (1953-2023) was an author, educator, artist, and enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Nation of Wisconsin. His book \u003ci\u003eGood Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e, 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 \u003ci\u003eNative American Stories for Kids\u003c\/i\u003e (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.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Wisconsin Historical Society Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50614521889042,"sku":"9781976600210","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_98816c0c-32c4-4326-8b76-8ecadaaa62f0.jpg?v=1732448013","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/survival-food-north-woods-stories-by-a-menominee-cook-9781976600210","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}