Meet Shara Cooper
Nordic Prairie Life explores Scandinavian culture on the Canadian prairies through food, gardening, seasonal traditions, history, and everyday life.
What began as a site about Canadian food traditions has grown into something more personal. As I've explored my own Scandinavian heritage, this space has become a way to connect with the customs, recipes, landscapes, and stories that have shaped generations before me. It is also part of how I continue to honour and remember my mother, whose passing inspired me to look more deeply at the traditions and family history that might otherwise have been lost.
Living in Edmonton, Alberta, I'm fascinated by the similarities between the Nordic countries and the Canadian prairies—the long winters, short growing seasons, forests and fields, and the resilience that comes from living closely with the changing seasons.
Here you'll find Scandinavian-inspired recipes made with Canadian ingredients, traditional baking, gardening and preserving, foraging, seasonal celebrations, folklore, historical research, and reflections on building a slower, more intentional life rooted in both heritage and place.
I'm a writer and editor by profession, and I bring that curiosity to everything I publish. My goal isn't simply to recreate old traditions but to understand them, share their stories, and explore what they can teach us today.
Whether you're reconnecting with your own Nordic roots, curious about Scandinavian culture, or simply looking for inspiration for seasonal living on the prairies, I hope you'll find something here that feels welcoming and worth returning to.
If you'd like to learn more about my professional writing and editing work, you can also visit my personal website at sharacooper.ca.
Site History & Migration
Nordic Prairie Life was originally launched and published under our previous domain name, www.recipesandroots.ca. In order to better align with our focus on Scandinavian culture on the Canadian prairies, all 400+ original articles, recipes, and historical research pieces have been permanently migrated here to www.nordicprairielife.ca. I remain the sole author, creator, and copyright holder of all historical and new content found on this domain.
Indigenous content
I am not Indigenous. I include a lot of Indigenous historical information on my site because Indigenous people existed in “Canada” and on the prairies before it was settled. As much as possible, I try to source and redirect to Indigenous voices. If you think I have missed someone I’m always happy to correct myself.
Find recommended reading and resources here.
To make a prairie
Emily Dickinson
1830 –1886
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
Read at my mom’s funeral.
This site is created in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton), within the boundaries of Edmonton, on the lands encompassed by Treaty 6 and within the Métis homeland.
I acknowledge the diverse Indigenous peoples who have lived on, cared for, and continue to have deep relationships with this land, including Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Dene, Nakota Sioux, and Métis peoples.
While I recognize this is a formal statement, I also recognize that words alone are insufficient without action. I understand land acknowledgements can become procedural, and I treat this one as a commitment to ongoing responsibility rather than a symbolic gesture.
In practice, I try to support and amplify Indigenous voices, perspectives, and work whenever I can, and to remain attentive to the limits of my own understanding in relation to the histories and present realities of this land.