How icicles are formed:

Here are some examples of what Pa may have made Ma for Christmas in the wooden bracket she put her china shepherdess on:

carved wooden bracket

Recipe for rye bread with cornmeal that Laura mentioned:

https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=327994

Link to a recipe for the not-crispy Swedish crackers:

http://littlehouseclub.blogspot.com/2012/06/swedish-crackers.html

Want a recipe for vinegar pie for the holidays?

https://www.wildercompanion.com/2020/04/vinegar-pie-recipe.html

Here is the beautiful and sad song “Nelly Gray” (1856).

And finally, here is a link to Pa’s big green book (The Polar and Tropical Worlds by Dr. Georg Hartwig, available on Google Books.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Polar_and_Tropical_Worlds/ZOk7AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=polar+and+tropical+worlds&printsec=frontcover