These coming-of-age tales, set on the Menominee Indian Reservation of the 1980s--90s, explore the interrelated nature of meals and memories, recalling foods that influenced the author's youth: subsistence meals that were hunted, fished, and gathered, culinary traditions of settler descendants; and commodity foods distributed by the government that made up the bulk of what his mom called “survival food.” Includes dozens of recipes, from turtle soup to twice-baked cheesy potatoes.