Description

Learn the skills that helped our ancestors to thrive in harsh times.

When panic buying, empty shelves, and restrictive rations hit in March 2020, it was not a problem for Kate Downham and her family, because she knew these skills, and knew how to feed her family without the supermarket system. With the help of this book, you can learn these skills too.

Learn traditional methods of preserving pork without electricity. Make your own cheese, butter, and other dairy essentials. Learn sourdough bread recipes that take only 5 minutes of hands-on time to make. Preserve fruit and vegetables in many ways – from failproof fermenting through to jams, chutneys, pickles, and water bath canning.

Learn one skill at a time while also finding recipe inspiration in seasonal local recipes that are designed to be cooked in everyday homestead life. Tested in many different kitchens, these recipes work on wood stoves as well as conventional electric and gas cookers. Many variations and ingredient substitutions are included to help you make the recipes with whatever ingredients are on hand at the time, along with useful indexes to help make use of seasonal abundance.

Inside you’ll find:

• Homemade staples from scratch – mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, bbq sauce, breakfast foods, and other pantry essentials without special equipment

• Nitrate-free charcuterie and meat curing – Make your own bacon, ham, salami, chorizo, and more using traditional no-electricity, nitrate-free methods

• Homemade dairy – Cheese, butter, yoghurt, ice cream, and more</li>

• Reliable food preservation – Tried-and-tested recipes for ferments, jams, pickles, canning, dehydrating, and more

• Naturally leavened sourdough – Reliable breads, pancakes, crackers, and baked goods using fresh-milled flour and wild yeast

• Over 130 hearty, family-friendly recipes organised by the rhythms of the homestead year: vibrant summer garden harvests, cozy winter one-pot meals, spring foraging, autumn preserving, and everything in between

• Off-grid kitchen wisdom – Cooking on wood stoves, fridge-free living, deep food storage, waste reduction, batch cooking, and meal planning strategies that make cooking from scratch easier and more joyful every day

Written in Kate’s warm, approachable style, this book makes ancestral skills accessible for beginners while offering fresh inspiration for experienced cooks.

Master timeless techniques, embrace seasonal abundance, and build lasting food security. Get your copy today and start your journey towards true kitchen independence.