Do you love the sweet and nutty chewiness of a whole wheat loaf of bread, but want to leaven it with sourdough? Look no further. While I use a homemade seed mix, Bob’s Red Mill makes a nut & seed mix that can be added to any bread recipe for a hearty dose of heart-healthy grains and seeds

This is a perfect way to maintain your sourdough starter without it taking over your life! It spends most of the time in the fridge in a small jar, but it always available if you need it. When baking with it always remember to reserve at least 50 grams of starter to keep it going.

I can say without an ounce of trepidation that this batch of minestrone soup is the BEST we have ever tasted! I have made gallons of it, and the pot is always scraped clean by the night’s end. It comes together quickly and easily, and pairs amazingly with a side salad or even just some fresh homemade bread.

But now that I’ve started making my own yogurt at home I have cut our overall dairy cost by over half, even though I’m paying twice as much for milk – and in my mind that’s an investment worth making. A two week supply of yogurt now costs us $7 instead of $50 and it requires minimal work on my part! And can you really put a price on the quality of homemade food? I sure can’t.

In my quest to find a traditional sourdough recipe for this type of bread, I found two things to be true: it is typically made with olive oil, something that I’m not as experienced with in sourdough; and the rosemary is either added to the olive oil to impart flavor, or the dried herb is chopped and added to the dough – but NEVER both. So, in typical fashion, I decided to put my own twist on the traditional and do the rosemary flavoring a little differently.

Over the past year that I’ve spent honing my home baking I’ve come to one important conclusion: Bread is not as complicated as it’s made out to be. This is especially true when it comes to sourdough! I don’t feed my starter on a regular schedule, rather by what its reaction is to feeding; I don’t measure out exact quantities when I do feed my starter, but go by sight and feel; and I don’t know the hydration of my starter – nor does it matter to me. I just do what works in my home.

While it’s more of a guide than a recipe I’ve written up my garden bouillon process below. I highly recommend experimenting with the meats and veggies you add to the stock pot for an interesting flavor combination!

Making your own chicken stock (or any kind of broth, really) is amazingly effortless, especially if you own a pressure cooker! I threw this recipe together after butchering a naughty hen from our egg layers – you can see more about that experience in my Homestead Kitchen Diary – but you can use any whole, raw chicken you pick up locally or from the supermarket.

The beauty of this method is that you only need a small amount of the starter to reactivate for each round of baking you do while it’s in the fridge. As long as it’s not moldy it will be safe and ready to use until you only have a small amount left; this remaining starter is used to mix another batch of dry starter to refill your container.

If you’ve never made scones consider this a sign! They’re amazingly delicious and so simple to make. Every time I make scones I think of Mrs. McCarthy of the TV series Father Brown, who for much of the show’s duration offers her famous award-winning scones to passerby at every opportunity. These aren’t quite as fancy … Read more

It’s been a tradition of ours even before we moved to Idaho to make regular outings to the regal stands of cedar in the mountains snaking across the Panhandle region; we spend countless hours working tirelessly throughout the season to pick huckleberries by the quart until we have a few gallons put up for later use. While they improve anything they’re added to, huck-shakes are a treat on the unforgettable level, and they’re surprisingly easy to make.

it or leaving it in the fridge over vacation until a thick layer of blackish alcohol forms on the top. With the assistance of a calendar reminder I’ve got a jar of levain just waiting for the weekend baking rush.

Since our very first trip to Idaho back in 2017 I have been absolutely hooked on hucks. I’m convinced there’s nothing that can’t be made better with huckleberries! Ice cream, milk shakes, turnovers, scones, pancakes, jams and jellies, you name it! My husband even had chicken and waffles with huckleberry syrup at a restaurant downtown.

I love a good piece of artisan harvest grains bread. A dear friend of mine, my fiddle instructor and my knitting buddy for many years, showed me her favorite snack when I was a teenager spending my summers weekending at her tiny cabin: a thick-sliced piece of whole grain bread, crusty and hearty, with a … Read more

One of my favorite winter cookies, these will dazzle friends and family! They make a great addition to a gift basket or potluck. Feel free to substitute other types of dried fruit or even add chopped nuts.

I was inspired a few years ago by a gift from my mother-in-law to put together a recipe scrapbook with my most-used and precious family recipes. She is an avid scrapbooker, and while my version is much simpler in design it brings me no less joy to use it! Many of my fondest memories can … Read more

This a very basic pancake recipe that has the special addition of some heart-healthy whole grains, namely oat bran, which makes for a rib-sticking hot breakfast. The oats magically disappear in the voluminous batter and give a delightfully complex flavor and texture. This is my new favorite breakfast recipe and I hope it’ll be yours too!

Looking for a quick and easy comfort meal? This hearty, soul-warming soup takes less than 30 minutes to throw together and tastes like it’s made from scratch. It was a lifesaver for me on a day when our whole family was sick and I needed a quick meal to soothe our sniffles! If you don’t … Read more

After much trial and error I have finally recreated the best cake I’ve ever had – inspired by my sister’s wedding cake (the recipe for which is closely guarded and wasn’t available to a lowly home baker such as myself), a luxurious huckleberry-infused white cake that tastes like it’s straight from heaven. Moist and fluffy, … Read more

Cream cheese frosting is my favorite for any occasion! I don’t do a lot of fancy piping on my cakes and cupcakes so it holds up just fine for birthdays and family parties. This is a quick and easy recipe that takes a classic flavor to the next level with creamy melted white chocolate.

Our family is a dessert family. That’s why when I say these turned out amazing, I am not afraid to toot my own horn! Pastry dough has always intimidated me because in order to get that perfect, flaky golden crust, the directions must be followed exactly: knead this many times, roll that many times, fold … Read more

Breakfast is definitely the most important meal at the cabin, especially on the weekends! Every Saturday and Sunday at the very least I make a traditional farm-style breakfast; more recently I’ve been experimenting with various baked goods, and much to my husband’s enjoyment have been blessed with wild success. One of those creations is a … Read more

Until this past year I hadn’t fully understood the importance of tapioca pudding in my life. It’s something my husband used to buy for his weekday lunch. Little plastic, foil-topped pudding cups full of corn syrup, food coloring, added flavors and saturated fats… Ew! But since visiting his grandmother’s house this year and discovering her … Read more