welcome

I’m Katie, and I share approachable, from-scratch recipes inspired by my life on a Virginia hobby farm.

Here you’ll find lots of sourdough recipes, yeast breads, canning tutorials, and soap making, all with step by step instructions.

I firmly believe that if you can read, you can do all those things that seem mysterious… from baking your first loaf from bread to making your very own liquid dish soap.

My dream is make everything simple enough that you believe you can do it!

picture of smiling female
brown eggs next to sink

I started this blog to share everything I was making with my kids. Dark photos and all.

2017

Sourdough mania arrives and we all make bread together.

202o

girl drawing in garden in front of barn

Still here, still sharing.

2025

2018

I published what is still my most popular recipe, crusty sourdough rolls. Still pretty dark photos.

2022

I start sharing some chicken and gardening articles about what has worked for me.

going beyond recipes

Sometimes a recipe is… more than a recipe.

Maybe you’re drawn to bread baking or soap making — not just for the end result, but because you’re craving something real at home.

So even if you’re not ready to bake bread or mess with lye, there’s still room for you here.

And if you just want a great lemon cake? You’re just as welcome.

The Homemaking Corner
pinkish purple sunflower brnaching type.
Pretty Sure WE’re best Friends Now

And all my best friends are on my email list. You’ll like it.

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Something else you’d like to know?

Here are some questions readers ask me a lot. If it’s about a specific post or recipe, please leave a comment there and I’ll help you ASAP. (I’m very nice.)

As long as you link back to my site, yes. If you’re doing a roundup or similar, you don’t need to ask!

They are for personal use. You may use them however you’d like, but you can’t sell them. If you are using a tag or label for something you sell, like jam for example, that is fine with me. All I ask is that you don’t sell the PDF files.

The best way is to leave a comment on a post. I check them daily and try to respond to each one.

Most photos are my own. My daughter creates my watercolors for home posts using Midjourney, an AI image creator.

Thank you for being here.

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It is my true desire to make this a kind and beautiful corner of the internet, whether you need a recipe for dinner or the motivation to get up and make it.

I’m cheering you on.