Even if we weren't facing a winter indoors, staring at (or climbing) the same four walls, we'd probably appreciate Patrice Johnson's new Land of 10,000 Plates, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
A self-described "love letter to Minnesota," Johnson's book takes a look at some of our most beloved food rituals: meat raffles, hot dish and ice fishing, for instance. The kinds of things that, if a listener looks puzzled, a Minnesotan will remark, "You're not from here, are you?"