Skip to content
  • Home
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Self Sufficiency
  • Sourdough
  • Cheesemaking
  • Free Resources

The Nourishing Hearthfire

/

A Beginning

Home » blog

katedownham

·

Feb 5, 2016

·

All blog posts
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA


I find my enthusiasm for nourishing, tasty and sustainable food hard to contain sometimes, so this is where I’ll write about it.

Sometimes with food it feels as though everything is new to me. I went vegan at a young age, and when I woke up from that unnatural way of living I had to teach myself how to cook meat, dairy and eggs at an age where I really should have known how to already. I’d never whipped cream or egg whites, and now it’s all too exciting being able to make this stuff with nothing but a whisk and a bowl, when so many people just buy it in spray cans full of dodgy sounding unpronounceable ingredients. Same goes with stock/broth, I’d only used these little msg-laden cubes of stuff called stock, and now I can put some bones leftover from a roast lunch in a pot with some water, leave it simmering for a few hours, and be rewarded with the most delicious base for a soup, or a drink in its own right. It all fits together so well, that we can easily make these delicious creations that are brimming with nutrition, often from things which are considered waste products in the modern world. No matter how much msg or xanthan gum are thrown into a supermarket package in an attempt imitate our traditional foods, real food made from healthy animals will always be superior in every way.

Maybe other people are in the same boat that I am, learning how to cook real food for the first time. I’ll be posting up lots of recipes, as well as posting plenty of other useful stuff on here. The internet sometimes looks like a giant cesspool full of advertising and clickbait promises that always disappoint, all the while filling my sense of aesthetics with rage, and I want to provide an alternative to this.

I’ll start with some recipes.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Want more posts like this?

Join The Nourishing Hearthfire for real food recipes, traditional skills, and monthly inspiration for your hearth and homestead.

    Built with Kit

    We respect your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.

    • Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard
    Kate Downham off grid homesteader

    About Kate Downham

    Kate Downham has been growing, preserving, and cooking real food since 2007. She is the author of four books on homestead skills: A Year in an Off-Grid Kitchen, Natural Small Batch Cheesemaking, Backyard Dairy Goats, and Sourdough Without Fail.

    Off-grid with her family of nine in the Tasmanian forest, Kate milks her own goats, makes all their cheese, mills all her own grain, and bakes fresh sourdough bread daily.

    Learn more about Kate’s books →

    Related posts

    • Blog reflections and future directions
    • Young Liflin
    • Growing our homestead this past year… Achievements, failures, and goals for the year ahead

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    8 different homesteading ebook covers

    My books

    Sourdough without fail: 100% whole grain sourdough breads, pizza, and pastries for any kitchen fresh milled flour sourdough book cover
    a year in an off grid kitchen by kate downham off grid homesteading book cover
    natural small batch cheesemaking natural cheesemaking book cover
    backyard dairy goats homesteading book cover

    More Resources for Off-Grid Living

    off grid solar dehydrator
    garden master course
    diy wood fired pizza oven
    the $50 and up underground house
    natural swimming pools

    Categories

    • All blog posts
    • Homestead Recipes
    • Natural Cheesemaking
    • Self Sufficiency & Homesteading
    • Whole Grain Sourdough Baking

    Recent Posts

    • No Knead Sourdough Sandwich Bread from Fresh Milled FlourJuly 16, 2026
    • Light and darkJuly 10, 2026
    • How to Scale Cheesemaking Recipes Up or Down: Rennet, Culture, and MoreJune 15, 2026
    • Easy Leftover Vegetable or Meat Pasties (Savoury Hand Pies Recipe)June 13, 2026
    • Magic Overnight Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe with Fresh Milled FlourMay 26, 2026

    The Nourishing Hearthfire is reader-supported and mostly ad-free

    Buy me a coffee

    Search

    • Home
    • Books
    • Blog
    • Recipes
    • Self Sufficiency
    • Sourdough
    • Cheesemaking
    • Free Homestead Resources

    © 2026 Kate Downham – The Nourishing Hearthfire. This blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

    Join The Nourishing Hearthfire mailing list for thoughtful monthly emails and free ebooks
    Find us on forums and social media

    Permies: Permaculture and Homesteading Forums

    Instagram

    Facebook

    X

    Goodreads

    About

    Contact

    Privacy Policy

    Terms and Disclaimer

    The Nourishing Hearthfire

    %d