I Cooked Our Way Out of Poverty

Nora begs a man to buy her, insisting she can work and cook. He hands her over to Eli, who brings her to his family's home, where his mother says she can stay as long as needed. In the kitchen, Nora points out that the dough hasn't risen, then asks for a fishing pole or spear to catch trout.

Nora turns the failed dough into a meal that leaves the Hart family satisfied. Mrs. Hart cries after tasting it, saying they haven't eaten like this since she hurt her leg. Nora then agrees to go into the hills with Eli.

Nora's dough fails, and she quickly changes the subject. She tallies what they have: eggs from their hens, fish from the river, free greens and crab apples. They are eating better while spending less, so she announces they can afford meat and will go to Maple Creek tomorrow to buy it.

Nora and Eli shop in town for meat. They buy potatoes to eat and pull starch from. She walks away from a twenty-cent cut and bargains for three pounds of pork at seventeen cents a pound, getting the bones thrown in with a promise of return business.

Nora realizes cooking every order on the spot in town would take too long and plans to make food at home to carry in hot. She figures the pork is too expensive to sell cheap, but the bones give her stock and the potatoes yield starch. She tells Eli to eat lunch and decides to ask Mr. Hart to build a reclining chair.

Nora brings a bowl of meat to the bedridden Mrs. Hart and warns her not to overeat. She tells Mr. Hart she wants to sell food in Maple Quisk, plans to make a test batch for the family, and asks him to build a large container to keep it warm on the road. He agrees at once.

Nora makes potato cakes that smell richly of meat using only a little pork and stock. She takes them to town, lets passersby smell the aroma, and offers free samples to draw the first customers.

Nora keeps selling potato cakes and introduces a six-cent pork roll. She lets customers taste the slow-braised pork first, and its generous portion wins over skeptics. A customer who craved the roll since yesterday arrives early to buy one, along with potato cakes.