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Up to 2 years ago, when I thought of beer, I thought ‘bitter’ and ‘it’s a man thing’.
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So when I started researching historical brewing I was floored to find out that, for most of history, in most of the world, women have been the brewers.
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Add to that the fact that the brews my ancestors in England would have made in their kitchens (yes, kitchens!) was sweet, not bitter and I realised that everything that I thought I knew about beer was wrong.
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If you’re curious, listen to today’s @ancestralkitchenpodcast. In it, I share much of what I’ve both learnt and experimented with the last two years.
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I’d love your feedback on this episode! Tell me what you knew, didn’t know, what surprised you the most and how you feel after hearing what @farmandhearth and I share 🙂

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Did you know that women have been the predominant brewers of beer throughout history….up to just 400 years ago? How about that up till that same time period beer tasted completely different to the beer we are used to now? Join us in this episode to hear the real story of beer, how we messed it up and why Alison is passionate about bringing beer back where it belongs – the kitchen!… Read More

My new *free* sourdough course is all about your starter. 10 video tips that’ll help super-charge your starter whether you’re new to sourdough baking, have tried and failed at a starter or are experienced but would like some extra help.
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You can sign up for the course via the button ‘*Free* course: 10 Tips for Creating & Maintaining a Sourdough Starter’ in the courses section of my profile link.
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Do pass this on to any other sourdough bakers (or wanna be sourdough bakers) you know!

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Have you ever lived without an oven?
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For several months I had no oven. I had to change how I cooked. That’s nothing on kitchens a few hundred (let alone a few thousand) years ago though; ovens are a really recent thing.
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Before ovens, in England, many dishes were steamed instead of being ovened.
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Here’s my most recent steamed oat pudding. These were common in the UK (where in many parts oats were the staple cereal) and were often as simple as oats, stock and a bit of onion. Here I’ve added pork, walnuts and orange too. I steamed this for two hours in a glass bowl resting raised off the bottom of a large saucepan that had two inches of simmering water at the bottom.
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It’s delicious and the recipe will be going in the book on oats I’m dreaming of writing!
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See my story today for more information (and details of how I messed up the first one of these!)

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Free Printables I know that having a reminder, right there in your kitchen, can sometimes be invaluable, so here you’ll find short ancestral food printables that you can download and keep by your side. For more free content, check out … Read More

I would much rather eat nutrient-dense real food than take a supplement. Why pay extra for a supplement (which has been packaged and shipped to you) when you could generate the same thing in your own kitchen from real food?! … Read More

Seeing wholegrain rye bread come to life in someone else’s kitchen thanks to the work I do fills my heart with such joy!
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Repost of @jenniferments
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Whole grain rye sourdough plus a bonus rye spice bread made with sourdough discard. I have been baking for a long while but shied away from making a whole grain rye sourdough. First, because I thought it was too difficult to get a good result. And second, because my kiddo and I have been basically gluten free for the past 4 years or so. Last year I discovered that we can tolerate Einkorn sourdough, and recently I’ve been reading that folx with gluten sensitivities might also be able to tolerate rye (and spelt – that’s next on the list to try!) I have been following Alison Kay @ancestral_kitchen for a while and I am so inspired by her food journey, plus the practical and down to earth manner in which she shares and teaches. So when I had the opportunity to take her class called Wholegrain Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The Basics at @thefermentationschool I took the plunge! I watched every video and with her experience and knowledge I felt very confident that I would be able to make a great loaf of rye sourdough… and I did! Not only a loaf of WHOLE GRAIN rye sourdough, but I also used my discard to make a rye spice bread! I am so grateful that @ancestral_kitchen and @thefermentationschool have made learning so accessible and easy! The photos show 1) the finished whole grain rye sourdough that I baked in a Pullman loaf pan, 2) rye starter bubbly and ready, 3) rye berries before milling, 4) my old “Whisper Mill” which sounds like anything but a whisper 😂 I’ve had this thing for ~18 years and though it’s loud it still works great! 5) preferment all bubbly, 6) finished rye spice bread- it has golden raisins, pecans, molasses and honey, plus cinnamon, ginger, and freshly grated nutmeg. It smells heavenly! 7) a slice of the spice bread – it was absolutely delicious with butter! 8) bubbly main dough after fermenting and ready for the pan, 9) beautiful crust on the finished whole grain rye sourdough straight out of the Pullman pan, 10) dense yet airy crumb that had a rich, gorgeous flavor!

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When I first read Nourishing Traditions back in 2010 (I’m ever-grateful to you @jennierutzcom for passing the book my way), raw goat milk was one of the first things I brought into my transformed kitchen.
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I had always had congestion problems with supermarket (aka ‘normal’) milk and my hubby, Rob, had found his skin peeled whenever he ate too much dairy.
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These negative issues, which had caused both of us to stop eating dairy, disappeared when we consumed raw milk. We were amazed.
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And then, 12 weeks into our son’s life, when I had to face the fact that I could not produce enough breast milk to feed him, we turned again to raw milk – making the Weston A Price baby formula at home from @elliesdairy goat milk.
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Raw milk played a pivotal role in bringing us to ancestral foods and our son’s early days. It has brought us health (as well as amazing taste!).
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And yet, when I look outside my bubble, I see how raw milk generates so much unfounded fear. Listen into episode 53 of @ancestralkitchenpodcast to hear about *real* milk; how it’s always been, and why industrialisation meant the advent of pasteurisation and the transformation of this amazing food stuff (and the places that produce it) into a shadow of what they could be.

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As well as being a delicious, gluten-free grain, buckwheat is nature’s vitamin-B tablet. It contains B3, B4, B5, B6, B9 & B12! And for even more nutrient-density, if you sprout the buckwheat the levels of those vital B vitamins increase. … Read More

Have you wondered if raw milk is truly safe? Why did we start pasteurizing it in the first place? Have our ancestors always drunk milk? What is the fermentation all about, and is it really necessary? In this episode, we will share some of what we have learned about raw milk over the past ten years.… Read More