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All blog posts
As you can probably guess, in this category you’ll find every single post from The Nourishing Hearthfire, from the very latest recipes and reflections, to my earliest blog posts, all in one simple category, sorted by date.
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Root cellaring without a root cellar: Simple off grid food storage
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Root cellaring without a root cellar You may be wondering why I have three buckets of leaves in my laundry… This is how I store root cellar vegetables through the winter: 1. Gather dry leaves in autumn It can be a bit tricky here some years finding the right time when the leaves have fallen but have not become a sodden mess from autumn rains. I’ve used both maple leaves and blackwood leaves, and both work well, as long as…
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Simple baked cheesecake
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Simple Baked Cheesecake Cheesecake is one of my favourite foods, but not something I used to make very often until I created this recipe. The recipe I’m sharing today is from A Year in an Off-Grid Kitchen, and could not be simpler. It features the easiest cheese to make at home – a simple whole milk ricotta. Or you can use whatever soft cheese you have around the house, as long as it is drained well and is not too…
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Homemade French Onion Soup
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The secret to a great French onion soup is the quality of the bone broth – it should be lovingly made at home from beef bones which have been first roasted to create extra flavour before being slowly simmered for 24 hours or longer, or until the broth is so infused with flavour and minerals that it smells delicious on its own when hot, and sets like a jelly when cold. Allowing plenty of time for the onions to slowly…
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Creating a cheesemaking book for the rest of us: Natural Small Batch Cheesemaking
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Creating a cheesemaking book for the rest of us When I first started making cheese I thought I was failing at it. The recipes said to stir constantly for a full 45 minutes or so, and in my busy kitchen I just could not do that. The more I perfected my own style of making cheese, the more I began to think back about how things were done in the past: was the busy peasant really stirring for that whole…
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How to Make Yoghurt Off The Grid
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Yoghurt with a taste similar to what we might find in a grocery shop was something I gave up on for a long time. I made only room temperature viili for years, thinking that a good Greek or Bulgarian style of yoghurt was beyond me. At some point I decided I preferred the taste of this style of yoghurt enough to find ways to make it work, and now I make yoghurts far tastier and healthier than anything I can…
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How Homemade Dairy can Transform your Homestead
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Self reliance I sometimes get asked “how do you live without a fridge”, or “how do you get by without having to go grocery shopping all the time” and my answer every time is the same thing: We raise dairy animals and make the most of the milk they produce. When we have dairy, we have the key to self reliance. When you have milk coming into the kitchen fresh every day, there is no need for refrigeration. Milk is…
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German one pot beef and vegetable stew
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This hearty German one pot beef and vegetable stew, based on the German dish Pichelsteiner, is my favourite meal to make with beef osso bucco (sliced bone-in beef shin). The meat is first seared, and then slow cooked with the vegetables to tender perfection. The onions melt into the broth as the meat falls off the bone to form a sturdy broth that is full of deep flavour from simple, natural ingredients. A meal to savour and enjoy again and…
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Growing our homestead this past year… Achievements, failures, and goals for the year ahead
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This has ended up being quite a long post, as there has been a lot happening on our homestead in the past year. I’d like to try and share updates more frequently for this coming year if I am not too busy. We are in really exciting times on our homestead and I’d like to share a little about what we’ve learned and achieved. Growing our homestead Maremma livestock guardian dogs This has been a long story with some sad…
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Simple Flapjacks
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Flapjacks is a bit of a confusing name for this delicious slice. Some people use that word for pancakes, and other people know all about this delicious crunchy oaty buttery treat. This has been a favourite recipe for many years. At picnics it disappears very quickly, at my market stall I get complaints if I do not bring it along. When I want to make something really quick and simple for a treat, this is often what I turn to.…
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How to Start a Homestead: Priorities, Staple Crops, and Survival
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The best time to start a homestead was ten years ago, the next best time is now. This is what I would focus on if I were wondering how to start a homestead now. How to start a homestead: Animals for food and fertility Look at what resources are around you and find the right animal to make the most of what is growing where you live. If you’re starting with lots of pasture, cows and sheep are good choices.…
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Pickled Garlic Scapes
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When growing garlic, the flower stalks (also called garlic scapes) are removed soon after they appear, to direct the plant’s energy towards growing a bigger bulb. These garlic scapes are really tasty, and I use them in any recipe that normally calls for garlic. They can also be pickled or fermented to preserve them for later. This recipe uses the ‘hot jar, hot lid, upside down’ method that is used in many parts of Europe and Australia. If you live…
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Quinces: How to prepare, cook, and preserve them
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Quinces are an easily-grown fruit that’s often ignored in modern diets. Not many people know how to properly prepare them, and they can seem a bit fiddly and slow to cook compared to other fruits. I think it’s definitely worth learning to prepare and cook quince – they are like no other fruit, and there’s something deeply warming about the way they taste on a cold autumn day. My favourite way to cook them is to slowly simmer them in…
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