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‘Tis the season for eggnog! Every year at Christmas, when I was little, my mom would pour eggnog into special Christmas mugs and sprinkle a bit of nutmeg on the top. We’d have eggnog and Christmas cookies while opening a few gifts on Christmas Eve. When we moved abroad, and eggnog was nowhere to be found, I decided to make my own. Turns out, the homemade version is outstanding! For this week’s bake, I wanted to take those nostalgic flavors and bake with them. Muffins seemed a natural fit – the muffins have eggnog in the batter and are topped with a nutmeg-infused streusel. They are on the sweeter end of what I like to bake, but pleasantly so. 

I usually try to wrap up Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving time, so that Advent can have one less item on my to-do list. I’m mostly there, with a few things left to order for parents/grandparents. Everyone seemed easy to shop for this year, but it’s not always that way. If you’re looking for a gift for someone local, think about a subscription for fresh bread for a month! Gift subscriptions are available on the website. Or, if you’d like to gift a week, just put that in the notes when you order.

My house sourdough is available to order every week. I’ve tweaked this recipe over the years, depending on which grains are most readily available. i’m really enjoying the current version with red wheat, white wheat, spelt, and triticale. So much flavor, so many great vitamins and minerals in these four grains! These loaves have a long proof, first on the counter and then overnight in the fridge. This long period of time (24+ hours) makes them most easily digestible, even for those who are sensitive to gluten. 

We’re looking forward to a fun weekend – our church hosts a Maker’s Market for kids from all over the community, where they all make sweet crafted items for sale. If you like handmade gifts, this is a wonderful group of kids to support! It takes place at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church from 2-4 on Saturday. The tail end of a basketball game and Founder’s Fest round out our Saturday, then Lessons and Carols at the College on Sunday! 

What does post-Thanksgiving look like at your house? Are you up early for Black Friday sales? Do you sleep off that big meal as long as you can? After the days here of cooking, baking, and readying the house everyone looks forward to a slow day to pursue their own activities. Today I’m hoping to spend time outside planting garlic and perhaps to finish my Christmas shopping.

December is a great month for warmth – warm sweaters, warm blankets, warm boots and jackets. It’s also a time for warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and others. They’re some of my favorites to bake with as the house is filled with comforting scents! With that said, here’s your December lineup:

December 5: House sourdough and gingerbread biscotti

December 12: House sourdough and eggnog muffins

December 19: House sourdough and mini sourdough cinnamon sugar babka

December 23: White chocolate peppermint scones and soft sourdough dinner rolls

With many people traveling around Christmastime, subscriptions will only be for the first three weeks of December. Orders for the 23rd will open at least a week ahead of time and I’ll send out an email about those orders as the date approaches. Instead of an extra treat for subscribers this month, I will add in a few biscotti or eggnog muffins to that week’s order. When you order, let me know which one you would like!

Gingerbread biscotti bring all of the warm flavors! I like the crunch of biscotti, and that it’s not usually as sweet as a cookie. I can see these dipped in coffee, or (if you were going to be fancy), Mexican hot chocolate. Biscotti will come with six to each order.

Just a note about babka, if you’ve not had it: imagine a cinnamon roll in bread form, but richer and with more filling. Babka is one of my favorite breads to make, and also to eat. Plus, they’re gorgeous! I’m planning to make these in mini loaf size in a few weeks. 

The wood stove is blazing as I write this morning, filling the quiet house with its glow and heat. I could sit here all day, an endless mug of tea in hand and a good book. Yesterday we picked up books from the library; this morning there are piles of books in various stacks all around the living room where children left them after sitting by the fire and reading when we returned home. Much of life seems to center around this hearth in the cold months when we’re home. i’m grateful for the warmth and also for the calm and togetherness that it seems to bring!

We’re at the end of November already and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. While I like to experiment with food, I’m also glad for traditions that remain the same year after year. Our Thanksgiving menu doesn’t change much, nor does the schedule for getting everything to the table when it’s still hot. We’ll start prepping a few things this weekend – cranberry sauce, gravy, pie dough – and get all the shopping done. And for all of you I’m baking sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls for the big day! These are gorgeous, fluffy rolls that will be the perfect addition to any festive table. Enriched with butter, pumpkin puree, and a bit of honey these are just a little sweet and so, so good.

I’m also making scones for you this week! For me, it’s challenging to muster up creative energy to make food on the day after Thanksgiving. These scones will give you a quick, easy, and delicious breakfast option! Made with buttermilk, I’m also adding in lemon and dried apricots for a super fresh and bright treat. We really enjoyed these and I hope you will, too!

Orders will be ready on Wednesday this coming week, November 27th. I will still have orders available on campus for those who would prefer to pick up there, and will have the rest here at my home. If you subscribed and would like to change your pick up location for this coming week, please let me know!

Due to the earlier pick up day, orders will close on Monday, November 25th or when they’re sold out.

I will also have sourdough house loaves this coming week, perfect for making stuffing or for leftover turkey sandwiches! 

This time of year always arrives with bane and blessing for me. The gray, cold days are hard on everyone, and it seems that we all start moving more slowly. Yet, as soon as it’s just cold enough, we also keep a fire going in our wood stove and have a pot of tea always under the cozy. There’s something so special about a wood fire on any day, but especially on a day that’s dreary outside. Most mornings here find children slowly getting out of bed and pulling up a chair to be close to the fire. Sometimes they have books in hand, sometimes they just gaze into it for a little while. But it warms my heart to see them snuggled together by the fire as the day is beginning.

This week I’m making a special sourdough that feels like the thing for the changing weather. A friend requested this quite a while back, and I’ve been playing with different recipes to find just the right mix of grains. It’s a sourdough loaf made with freshly milled whole wheat flours, tart dried cranberries, and toasted pecans. Friends, this is an absolute delight! I made two loaves earlier this week, and the first was gone as soon as I sliced it. Toasted, with good butter, it will be a fantastic way to brighten your day.

I have a budding photographer in the family who has graciously offered to take bread photos for me! Thanks to a friend who is loaning her a very nice camera to try, she has been photographing anything that catches her eye this week. She spent some time deciding how she would stage the bread, then took it to where the light was best. I think she did a great job!

My house sourdough is available every week, and is a wonderful bread to have on hand. I make every loaf by hand from start to finish, and the freshly-milled flour is a flavor boost like none other. All of my sourdough is long-fermented, which adds not only to the flavor but also to its digestibility. If you have the job of making stuffing for Thanksgiving, you’ll want a loaf of this! Pick up one for stuffing, and one for post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches and you’ll be all set to celebrate.

Orders can be placed at hillsdalehearth.com, and pickup is either at my home or Hillsdale College (Kendall 413) on Thursday afternoon. Please indicate your preferred pickup place when you order. Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp when you pick up, or by credit card when you order.

When I first started baking sourdough I thought that all sourdough bread was simply crusty loaves with mostly bread flour. That’s what I first started making and what has developed into my house sourdough. Little did I know then that practically anything made with yeast can also be made with wild yeast, aka sourdough. This small detail has opened up worlds of flavor and foods for our family! Learning that one of our children reacts badly to yeast set us down the path of alternative breads. I had no idea that so many baked goods could be made with wild yeast! This week I’m making a sweet sourdough for all of you – sourdough cinnamon sugar knots.

In a way, these knots are a bit like cinnamon rolls, but with more texture. And while they aren’t as sweet as a traditional cinnamon roll, they do satisfy a sweet tooth craving! The dough itself is enriched with butter and milk and benefits from a long rise in the fridge overnight to let the wild yeast work its magic. The cinnamon sugar filling is just that – cinnamon and sugar! I’ve made these with chocolate, or with raspberry jam in the past, but something about the spiciness of cinnamon seemed the right fit for a dreary November week.

My house sourdough is available to order every week. It’s made with 25% freshly milled grains and is a true sourdough – no added commercial yeast. Each loaf goes through about a 36 hour process from the time I mix enough starter for the loaves to the time it comes out of the oven. Time is what makes it taste so good, and what makes it so easy to enjoy! If you’ve struggled with gluten, this is a great sourdough to start with as it is only made up of flour, water, salt, and sourdough starter. I’m happy to send some links your way if you’d like to read more about gluten sensitivity and sourdough – just let me know!

Sourdough knots (two in each order) and sourdough house loaves are available to order now through Tuesday, or until sold out. Orders can be placed here, and payments is by credit card online or by cash, check, or cashapp at pickup. When you order, be sure to indicate where you would like to pick up your Thursday bread – either at my home in Hillsdale near the hospital or at Hillsdale College outside of Kendall 413.  

It’s hard to believe that November is here already! Other than the fall colors it’s hardly felt like fall in the least. Nevertheless, the months keep turning over and life keeps on a steady pace.

November subscriptions open today and I’m excited to bake for you this month! Here’s what you can find from Hillsdale Hearth in November:

November 7th offers a sourdough sandwich-style loaf that I’ll make with 100% freshly milled grains. This particular loaf is a mix of whole wheat and spelt, and it’s absolutely delightful. It would be a good one to stash in the freezer for leftover turkey sandwiches later this month.

November 14th will bring something sweet – sourdough cinnamon sugar knots. I’ve made these with chocolate and raspberry in the past, but fall seems just the right time for the cinnamon sugar combination. These are delightfully sweet and a perfect treat for any time of day.

November 21st I will be making a rustic loaf studded with dried cranberries and pecans. This loaf is as delicious as it is beautiful! It’s lovely as toast, or to serve alongside of soup, and it can stand on its own as an appetizer.

For Thanksgiving week I plan to have orders ready on Wednesday, November 27th. I will be making sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls – light, fluffy, tender, and so beautiful! I’ll also be making buttermilk lemon & apricot scones. These will be great for a light Friday morning breakfast when everyone needs to eat, but no one wants to prepare any more food!

House sourdough loaves are available each Thursday in November except for Thanksgiving week. Those loaves will also be ready for pickup on Wednesday, November 27th. Subscribers will receive several buttermilk biscuits with their first week’s pickup in November. I love a good biscuit – it goes with everything and rounds out simple meals in a perfect way. They can be savory or sweet, equally as good with butter and jam (or strawberries and cream!) as they are dipped in a hearty beef stew. I hope you’ll like these as much as we do!

I have a friend here who loves to bake, and we’ve been looking for a time to bake together. We pored through each other’s baking books and decided on a donut theme! We made donuts with choux pastry (think cream puffs), some with chocolate and rye and filled with vanilla cream, and an apple cider donut cake. There are nine children between us, so we had plenty of taste testers! Mostly, it was wonderful to have an afternoon to chat and to watch kids having fun together. The delicious donuts were the cherry on top of a great day!

This coming week I will be making scones fit for the fall, with pumpkin and cinnamon. These are so delightful without being too sweet. They will also freeze well – pop some in the freezer for company, or for an easy breakfast on a slow morning. 

My house sourdough is available each week, made in part with freshly-milled flour. If you’re curious about sourdough, this is a great place to start. It’s hearty, it’s filling, it’s full of good-for-you vitamins and minerals, and it’s delicious! This is our most common bread, and even after years of making it, my family still swoons over a warm slice of bread.

If you subscribed in October, this will be your last week of your subscription. November subscriptions will open on Friday, November 1st. Watch your email next week for the month’s menu. I love fall flavors, and Thanksgiving is around the corner, so there are good things coming your way!

Orders are open now until Tuesday, or until sold out. Pickup is on Thursday afternoon at Hillsdale College or at my home in Hillsdale. Payment is by cash, check (made out to Rachel Mumme), or cashapp, or by credit card when you order.

I recently came across a bread recipe that quickly moved to the top of my ‘to be baked’ list. A sourdough loaf with whole wheat flour, dark chocolate, toasted walnuts, and flax meal. If you’ve only ever eaten cardboard tasting healthy bread, you are in for a real treat. We polished off a loaf nearly all in one day and I asked my family what I should call this one. The youngest declared, “It tastes like fall!” He’s not wrong – something about the warm flavor of the toasted walnuts makes this the perfect slice to have on a cool, fall morning. A slice of this bread, toasted, makes an outstanding breakfast! 

The garden work is coming to an end; this weekend we’ll pull all of the remaining vines and plants to clear it out for its winter rest. The hot peppers were all ready at once, so I decided to try making giardiniera – the spicy vegetables you’ll often find on a real-deal Italian beef sandwich. I’m excited to get these out when we next make that for dinner!

My house sourdough is available every week – four different freshly milled grains go into each loaf, and the long, cool proofing gives it great flavor and makes it easily digestable. I don’t find this bread overly sour; it has a nice, tangy flavor that goes as well with jam as it does with cheese.

Orders are open now and will be available until Tuesday or until sold out. Breads can be picked up at my home in Hillsdale, or at Hillsdale College – just indicate your preference when you order. Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp, or by credit card when you place your order.

I can’t remember a time when my garden has still been producing in the middle of October. Granted, there’s not much left, but enough to have me thinking about what to do with all of the basil and hot peppers just waiting out there. I have everything ready for pesto after stocking up on walnuts and olive oil. We love it on pizza as an alternative to tomato sauce, or as an easy dinner tossed with pasta and some fresh veggies.

One of the things that is still growing out back is rosemary. When I transplanted it this spring, it can’t have been more than about 2 inches tall. It has taken all summer and through the fall to get big, but now it looks great! I’ll use some of that, along with chopped garlic, to adorn the sourdough focaccia for you this week. Focaccia is one of the most versatile breads I make. We eat it just as it is, or slice it for sandwiches. We dip it in olive oil or eat it alongside a big salad. We’ve made pizzas from focaccia, or top it with grated cheese and broil it for just a few minutes. It’s light and airy, and substantial enough to keep you full. If you haven’t tried it you won’t want to miss this version that’s amped up with garlic and rosemary.

I have the honor of contributing a basket this weekend for a fundraiser for the Early Pregnancy Loss Association. This non-profit supports women and families experiencing miscarriage, providing help in physical as well as spiritual and emotional ways. If you’re attending the banquet, you can bid on a few of my freshly baked items as well as a month-long subscription. There *might* be sourdough cinnamon rolls in the basket, so get your tickets if you haven’t already! If you’re not attending but would like to donate, you can find more information at miscarriagecare.com.

Available weekly is my house sourdough loaf. I mill four different grains just before mixing, and they each add a different bit of flavor to this bread. This is a fantastic bread to have in the freezer for those nights when you don’t have anything ready for dinner. It makes a killer grilled cheese sandwich, a BLT, or buttered toast to go with eggs. (Breakfast for dinner is a regular occurrence at our house). An easy way to freeze and thaw a loaf like this is to slice it before freezing, then just pull out as many slices at a time as you need.

Orders are open now until Tuesday, or until sold out, and can be placed at hillsdalehearth.com for pickup on Thursday, October 17th. Please choose either Hillsdale College (Kendall 413) or my home in Hillsdale as your pickup location. Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp, or by credit card when you order.

This week I’m making a nostalgic food, one that always reminds me of our time in Germany. We spent five years living there while Jonathan worked on his doctorate. We lived in a quaint university town in southern Germany for half of that time, then moved to Berlin for the remainder of those years. In both places there were bakeries (yes, plural) just around the corner from our apartment. Saturday mornings would often find us on a walk to one of the local bakeries to enjoy a delicious German breakfast of fresh rolls, meats and cheeses, jams and Nutella. We would sit and watch the world go by as we leisurely ate roll after roll. *sigh* Pretzels were also ubiquitous at every bakery. The southern Germans made them softer, somehow, than the Berliners, and sliced and smeared them with good butter. I would often pick one up as I biked into work, savoring it for a snack later in the day.

Those days may be behind us, but I’m bringing the taste and scents of those bakeries to Hillsdale this week. Soft sourdough German-style pretzels are the bake of the week. I make them in the traditional way, with long fermentation and a dip in a lye bath before sprinkling with pretzel salt and baking. These are really best on the day they’re made, but could also be frozen to enjoy later, if they even make it home!

Always available is my house sourdough loaf. I’m still using triticale in the grain mix and have also added back in red wheat, white wheat, and spelt. It’s a great combination and the loaves are full of fiber and nutrients, both from the freshly milled flour and the long, slow fermentation I use with all my sourdough breads.

Sourdough soft pretzels and house loaves are available to order now until Tuesday, or until sold out. Orders can be picked up on Thursday, October 10th either at Hillsdale College (Kendall 413) or at my home in Hillsdale. Please indicate your pickup location when you order. 

Payment is by cash, check, and cashapp when you pick up, or by credit card when you order. If you are paying by cash, please note that there is not always someone available to make change for your order!