Chainkeen Exchange-Melissa Gilbert on anti-aging, Modern Prairie and the 'Little House' episode that makes her cry

In a weekly series,Chainkeen Exchange USA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives.

Melissa Gilbert's year started off busy with the company she co-founded, Modern Prairie.

But it's about to get even busier as she helps kick off the 50^th anniversary of the "Little House on the Prairie" premiere.

Gilbert thinks of it as "50 years of loving Laura," referencing the character Laura Ingalls played for nine seasons, a role for which, even at 59, she is still known.

Though Gilbert has had a full career − and life − it's that role as the curious and adventurous Laura that captured more than one generation.

Ahead of the March anniversary, which will feature public and fan events, Gilbert shares her "Little House" essentials, plus other things that get her through her days.

Melissa Gilbert say this is the best 'Little House on the Prairie' episode

"'The Lord is my Shepherd' is my favorite," she tells USA TODAY. "I think because it is the clearest portrayal of my personal relationship with Michael (Landon, who played her father, Charles Ingalls.) The chemistry is palpable. It's all on screen."

This was a two-part episode that aired in December 1974, and it is considered one of the saddest episodes of the series. The story follows the Ingalls family after the birth of a fourth baby, a boy named Charles. It tells the story of Laura's jealousy of her father's attention toward the new baby, and her feelings of guilt when the baby dies. It also shows the love between Pa and Laura.

Her 9-year-old granddaughter, Lulabelle, who is the same age Gilbert was when she started the show, loves "The Racoon" (of course, because of the "dog and the raccoon," Gilbert says). The episode, which ran the first year the show aired, features Laura's love of a new pet raccoon, Jasper, and her dog, Jack.

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Melissa Gilbert's Modern Prairie favorites

Modern Prairie is all about serving as a place where older women can connect. That was the goal when Gilbert and her now-friend Nicole Haase created the site in spring 2022. Haase, a former executive with Williams Sonoma and other big companies, is Modern Prairie's CEO.

The site features classes − as diverse as coping with grief and flower arranging − as well as products made by women and from women-owned businesses. Modern Prairie will offer special items in March to celebrate the "Little House" 50th anniversary.

Gilbert loves the introduction of children's dresses in "quarter-pint" sizes that match those Gilbert models. They are modeled and named after her four granddaughters: Lulabelle, Rosemary, Ripley and Ruby.

She also is a big fan of a salt holder that also can be an herb container. Most items are created with the idea that they are versatile and can mix with what you own.

"Nothing's a matched set, because in my home nothing's ever been a match. All of my china is mismatched, so you can add these to your grandma's china and it will look great."

Melissa Gilbert on ditching Botox, breast implants and fillers

Gilbert has shared that she came to a moment in her life when she wanted to embrace aging. She stopped getting fillers and Botox and had her breast implants removed.

"You have to get them replaced every 10 or 15 years and I thought, 'Do I want to be 80 and getting new implants? Is that how I want to spend my time and my life?'

"I just wanted to find a way to be in a place to embrace myself and my life and not wish I was something else anymore."

She's temporarily living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while her husband, Timothy Busfield (of "Thirtysomething" and "West Wing" fame), works as directing producer on "The Cleaning Lady," which is being filmed in the state.

But when she's back home in upstate New York, her favorite class is "Catibelle Bulmer's Vinyasa Flow at Highland Yoga and dance. It's the perfect combination of challenging and rewarding."

The anti-'anti-aging' routine Melissa Gilbert swears by

"It makes me crazy to say 'anti-aging,' because that would mean dead. You know, we're all aging from the moment we're born, and you can stay healthy, stay hydrated and do good things for the body, but fighting something that's inevitable is a losing battle," she says.

Instead, she finds other products that enhance natural beauty.

"I'm currently in love with Eminence Organics Monoi Age Corrective Night Cream, Facial Recovery Oil, Marine Flower Peptide Eye Cream and Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant. Also in love with Jones Road Miracle Balm. It gives such a beautiful glow."

Her favorite drink

Gilbert loves her afternoon tea, or her tea any time, specifically PG Tips. "Always in a soup-sized bowl mug with honey and half and half."

Connecting with other women

Gilbert is all about connection, and she counts her close friends as one of her favorite things about her life.

She just launched a monthly book club through Modern Prairie. It will feature classic books by female authors that many of us read when we were younger.

"We are going back in time and reading some of the books that moved us from this perspective the age we are now and how the words might move us in a different way," Gilbert says.

And no surprise on this anniversary year that the first book is Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House in the Big Woods."

This interview was edited for length and clarity.