The star of this Kaya inspired breakfast!
Kaya is one of my favorite historical dolls. That may sound silly because I genuinely love all of AG's historical characters, but Kaya has always had a special place in my heart. Her books are great, and she goes through a real journey, learning how to become less selfish and what makes a good leader. Her collection enchanted me from the second I saw her in the catalog for the first time, especially because I'd had to do a major research project on the Nez Perce a few years before she was released! Seeing so much of what I'd studied come to life in doll form was really exciting, and even though I was starting to feel a little too old for dolls (if only middle school me could see me now!), I asked for her for Christmas.
But something that's always disappointed me is that despite how well researched and crafted her stories and collections were, she missed out on the neat supplemental material the Pleasant Company produced for their historical characters like craft books... and cook books! I'm still slowly working through making the recipes from the Pleasant Company cook books, but had the idea that I'd try my hand at making a Kaya inspired breakfast the way it might have appeared in an official American Girl cook book.
The main course? Smoked salmon scrambled eggs, of course!
But something that's always disappointed me is that despite how well researched and crafted her stories and collections were, she missed out on the neat supplemental material the Pleasant Company produced for their historical characters like craft books... and cook books! I'm still slowly working through making the recipes from the Pleasant Company cook books, but had the idea that I'd try my hand at making a Kaya inspired breakfast the way it might have appeared in an official American Girl cook book.
The main course? Smoked salmon scrambled eggs, of course!
My idea for this recipe came from The Food Journal of Lewis and Clark, one of my favorite historically inspired cookbooks that I've referenced a lot for past Kaya recipes. The bulk of the book features modern recipes that draw on the ingredients and foodways of the Native peoples the Voyage of Discovery would have encountered, so a lot of them are appropriate for Kaya themed foods. I was thumbing through it looking for inspiration when I saw the recipe for smoked salmon scrambled eggs and immediately thought of the tasty scrambled eggs I made with the leftovers from my lomi lomi salmon. I thought it could be a fun base for a Kaya themed breakfast, and quickly got out the rest of my smoked salmon to whip some up.
All you need to do is crack a couple eggs, whisk them together with some salt and pepper, and add as much smoked salmon as you'd like. You should shoot for more eggs than salmon.
All you need to do is crack a couple eggs, whisk them together with some salt and pepper, and add as much smoked salmon as you'd like. You should shoot for more eggs than salmon.
Then scramble the eggs like you usually would! Jess and I each wanted about two eggs, and it took about five minutes at most to get everything cooked.
Voila! Nice and simple.
To compliment it, we made some home fries and served up some blueberries. Berries would have been a staple of Kaya's diet, as would root vegetables and tubers, even if our modern potatoes wouldn't have been on her menu. I was thinking it would be cool to try making home fries with sweet potatoes instead, as that's a little closer to the flavor profile of many of the root vegetables her family would have gathered and enjoyed baked, stewed, or roasted. Of course, they wouldn't have eaten exactly these foods in exactly this fashion, but for most of Kaya's recipes, I've had to pull inspiration from historical foodways rather than produce them 100% accurately.
As I've said before, I'm not really into doing any kind of big breakfasts on a regular basis, but this was a nice, fairly simple way to spice up a lazy Sunday morning, and it was fun trying to plan a Kaya themed meal when American Girl hasn't offered fans much by way of Kaya inspired recipes to try out. It might be fun to try and make my own version of Kaya's Cook Book, and maybe do something for the other characters who missed out on having a canonical cook book.
What do you guys think? What else would you like to see in a Kaya themed recipe collection?
As I've said before, I'm not really into doing any kind of big breakfasts on a regular basis, but this was a nice, fairly simple way to spice up a lazy Sunday morning, and it was fun trying to plan a Kaya themed meal when American Girl hasn't offered fans much by way of Kaya inspired recipes to try out. It might be fun to try and make my own version of Kaya's Cook Book, and maybe do something for the other characters who missed out on having a canonical cook book.
What do you guys think? What else would you like to see in a Kaya themed recipe collection?
Let us know what you think!
Yum! That is my kind of breakfast! I try to follow the Paleo diet (not always super strict about it, though), so I appreciate seeing recipes that are grain-free. I love smoked salmon! I don't always have it, but I'll have to remember to try it scrambled with eggs.
ReplyDeleteI could never go full Paleo but I am definitely looking at ways to cut down on my beloved carbs (ignore the potatoes...) so recipes like this are always fun to stumble upon!
DeleteI completely agree that we need more food for Kaya! I think you would be a perfect author for a historic Native American food cookbook. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm curious what their staple ingredients would have been and the methods they would have utilized. I always say, "People have not gotten any smarter over time, they just have different resources." So what would they do and what would you do given the same access? :)
Thank you! That's very flattering, although I'd argue I'm nowhere close to an expert and I'd rather defer to a Native historian. I'd feel like I was speaking out of turn if I published a cookbook about cultures I'm not a part of or very familiar with.
DeleteThe Nez Perce would have relied on berries, tubers, and greens grown in their historic land, mostly around modern Idaho, Washington state, Oregon, Montana and up into British Columbia. They hunted animals like elk, deer, and bison along with smaller game like rabbits, and salmon was a hugely important part of their diet. Food would have been eaten fresh, cooked or dried/smoked to preserve it for winter. If you want to see how I've made use of similar ingredients over the years, check out Kaya's character tag! There are also a lot of great resources online produced by members of the Nez Perce about their historical way of life that are definitely worth reading if you're interested in learning more.