Pemmican and pickled plums, sauerkraut and salmi of quail, Swedish flatbread and Bohemian kolaches and Danish meat roll, dishes familiar and foods exotic--you'll find them in this cook's tour of the state from Lewis and Clark to the Age of Elegance, for in its cuisine as in its weather Nebraska is a land of variety and extremes. Interspersed with the recipes are descriptions of food preparation and fare which tell us much about how our forebears lived--industriously, ingeniously, and sometimes very well. Although many of the recipes could not be duplicated in today's kitchens, there is plenty here to challenge and stimulate amateur and professional chefs--and plenty of food for thought for social historians.

Pemmican and pickled plums, sauerkraut and salmi of quail, Swedish flatbread and Bohemian kolaches and Danish meat roll, dishes familiar and foods exotic-you'll find them in this cook's tour of the state from Lewis and Clark to the Age of Elegance, for in its cuisine as in its weather Nebraska is a land of variety and extremes. Interspersed with the recipes are descriptions of food preparation and fare which tell us much about how our forebears lived-industriously, ingeniously, and sometimes very well. Although many of the recipes could not be duplicated in today's kitchens, there is plenty here to challenge and stimulate amateur and professional chefs-and plenty of food for thought for social historians. Kay Graber is managing editor emeritus of the University of Nebraska Press.

Pemmican and pickled plums, sauerkraut and salmi of quail, Swedish flatbread and Bohemian kolaches and Danish meat roll, dishes familiar and foods exotic--you'll find them in this cook's tour of the state from Lewis and Clark to the Age of Elegance, for in its cuisine as in its weather Nebraska is a land of variety and extremes. Interspersed with the recipes are descriptions of food preparation and fare which tell us much about how our forebears lived--industriously, ingeniously, and sometimes very well. Although many of the recipes could not be duplicated in today's kitchens, there is plenty here to challenge and stimulate amateur and professional chefs--and plenty of food for thought for social historians.

Omaha is known for its beef, but the history of its most famous restaurants goes far beyond. The French Café was the place to go to celebrate. Piccolo Pete's, Mister C's and Bohemian Café helped shape neighborhoods in Little Italy, North Omaha and Little Bohemia. The tales of restaurateurs like the tragic Tolf Hanson; the ever-optimistic Ross Lorello; Anthony Oddo, once a resident at Boys Town; and Giuseppa Marcuzzo, a former bootlegger, also tell the story of the city. Restaurants played a prominent role as history unfolded in Omaha during prohibition, wartime rations, the fight for equal rights and westward expansion. Author Kim Reiner details the fascinating history behind Omaha's classic eateries.

For more than a century, American communities erected monuments to western pioneers. Although many of these statues receive little attention today, the images they depict—sturdy white men, saintly mothers, and wholesome pioneer families—enshrine prevailing notions of American exceptionalism, race relations, and gender identity. Pioneer Mother Monuments is the first book to delve into the long and complex history of remembering, forgetting, and rediscovering pioneer monuments. In this book, historian Cynthia Culver Prescott combines visual analysis with a close reading of primary-source documents. Examining some two hundred monuments erected in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the present, Prescott begins her survey by focusing on the earliest pioneer statues, which celebrated the strong white men who settled—and conquered—the West. By the 1930s, she explains, when gender roles began shifting, new monuments came forth to honor the Pioneer Mother. The angelic woman in a sunbonnet, armed with a rifle or a Bible as she carried civilization forward—an iconic figure—resonated particularly with Mormon audiences. While interest in these traditional monuments began to wane in the postwar period, according to Prescott, a new wave of pioneer monuments emerged in smaller communities during the late twentieth century. Inspired by rural nostalgia, these statues helped promote heritage tourism. In recent years, Americans have engaged in heated debates about Confederate Civil War monuments and their implicit racism. Should these statues be removed or reinterpreted? Far less attention, however, has been paid to pioneer monuments, which, Prescott argues, also enshrine white cultural superiority—as well as gender stereotypes. Only a few western communities have reexamined these values and erected statues with more inclusive imagery. Blending western history, visual culture, and memory studies, Prescott’s pathbreaking analysis is enhanced by a rich selection of color and black-and-white photographs depicting the statues along with detailed maps that chronologically chart the emergence of pioneer monuments.

Spanning nineteen thousand square miles of central Nebraska, the Sand Hills--North America's largest sand dune--is held in place by only a thin, sturdy layer of native prairie grasses and continuing faith that the land can be made prosperous by its residents. Settlers in the area had to be hardy and resourceful, making use of what the land provided and holding fast when their hard work blew away with the prairie winds. From foraging to ranching, food meant survival, but it also meant community. Staples like fried chicken, biscuits, fruit pies, preserves and cakes all play a role in the fascinating story of the region. Join food writer Christianna Reinhardt as she dishes up the unique and tasty history of this exceptional part of the world.

First published in 1939 and never before available in a paperback edition, this remarkable compendium of Nebraskiana includes chapters on the state's history, natural setting, flora and fauna, Indians, government, agriculture and industry, ethnic groups, folklore, architecture, art, and literature. Far more than a tour guide, it is replete with all manner of colorful and unusual sidelights on Nebraska places and people, the kind of information not readily accessible outside of archives. Tom Allan, veteran roving reporter for the Omaha World Herald, has written a new introduction which bridged the years between 1939 and 1979 an reveals some of his own off-the-beaten-path discoveries. Rewarding reading for the armchair traveler and an indispensable companion for the tourist, Nebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State will delight and inform all those interested in Nebraska and the Great Plains region.