This week I’m making a bread for you that was standard fare in Germany. A dark, heavy sourdough rye bread. If you’ve not had this kind of bread before, you’re in for a new experience. It’s not light, like a deli rye, but it has some of those flavors. Rye has a kind of earthy flavor, and if you pair it with some bright and briny flavors.

Try it topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and maybe some capers. Or even with a tart jam and salted butter. Or dip it in a big bowl of split pea soup with ham. Let me know how you’re going to try it this week!

Always available is my house sourdough, which goes like hotcakes when a fresh loaf comes to the table. If we ever have ends leftover, I like to let them dry out and then toss them in the food processor for bread crumbs!

Orders will be open until Tuesday of next week, and ready for pickup on either Thursday or Friday, March 7-8. 

We’ve been seeing Robins and Finches in our backyard recently, and are filling the birdfeeder more than we have all winter. When we left Wisconsin, dear friends gave us a clear feeder that attaches to a window. We love watching all the different birds up close as they vie with each other for the perch on the feeder! These signs of spring seem to boost everyone’s mood.

March is around the corner and that means another month of bread subscriptions! I have a mix of new-to-me bakes and favorites for you this month. And, as always, a special treat for subscribers 🙂 Here’s the bake-of-the-week rundown:

February 29 – March 1: Sourdough bagels

March 7-8: Sourdough Rye (90% rye)

March 15: Morning Glory Muffins

March 21-22: Maple Spelt Sourdough

March 28-29: Sourdough Hot Cross Buns

Please note: the third week, March 15th, will be a Friday pickup only. 

Sourdough bagels are a huge hit around here. As with all my sourdough items, I don’t add any commercial yeast but let the natural leavening do its work! I make these plain, but there’s nothing plain about them. Great with a fried egg, or sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar these are delicious any way you choose!

The rye bread in the second week is a dark, dense loaf which will improve over the first few days if you can wait that long to cut into it. Morning glory muffins are chock full of all sorts of seeds, nuts, and dried fruit. Just sweet enough for a great start to the day. Maple spelt sourdough is a bread list favorite – local maple syrup and freshly milled spelt make for one of the best breads I’ve eaten. And naturally leavened hot cross buns are a Holy Week tradition!

I’ll also have a monthly subscription for my house sourdough, a great addition to any meal at any time of day. If you’re hesitant to try sourdough bread, or have had bad tasting ones in the past, give mine a try. If you don’t like it I’ll make you something else, on the house 🙂

House sourdough subscriptions and bake of the week subscriptions are available to order now on hillsdalehearth.com. Orders are also open for individual orders of house sourdough and sourdough bagels for this coming week. All monthly subscribers will receive a special baked item in the first week of the month. This month I’m making an old, old family recipe: a German kuchen from my great grandmother. Kuchen is like a coffee cake, but not the fluffy iced kind in a box. Real fruit, real butter, handmade, passed down for generations!

Orders will be open for March subscriptions as well as house sourdough and sourdough bagels until Tuesday, February 27th, with the first March orders going out Thursday and Friday, February 29th and March 1st. 

The sunshine and warm weather last week has had me turning my sights toward spring and outdoor projects. We (mostly my husband) are building a chicken tractor in the garage this month – a moveable coop and run together – as we plan to have a few birds in the backyard come summer. Any suggestions on favorite (or least favorite!) breeds are welcome! We’re also planning out fruit trees and a vegetable garden, now with much more space than we’ve had in the past, and also with growing children who can lend a hand.

When the thermometer plunged this week, as it always does in February, I found myself thinking of spring flavors. For me, there are few sweet combinations better than lemon and blueberry to welcome in spring. It’s like sunshine in baked form, somehow. This week, I’m baking lemon blueberry scones: tender and lemony, packed with blueberries, and topped with a lemon drizzle. When the gray days start to feel unending, a little bit of sunshine goes a long way.

Available every week is my house sourdough, with freshly milled flour. I usually get my whole grains (wheat berries) from an organic mill in Illinois that offers a great variety of grains. It’s a fun way to experiment with different flavors and see what we most enjoy! I let these sourdough loaves ferment for 24 hours, which helps with both digestibility and flavor: a win-win!

Next week, I will open March subscriptions and share with you what I’m baking in March. If you have any favorites, or special requests, be sure to let me know! Orders are generally open from Friday when you get this email until Tuesday. That gives me enough time to start the sourdough process Tuesday night for Thursday’s loaves. If you’re looking for a special gift, you can purchase loaves for friends, or a gift subscription for a month of sourdough! 

House sourdough and lemon blueberry scones will be available for pickup at my Hillsdale home on Thursday and Friday, February 22-23, and at Hillsdale College on Thursday, February 22nd. Orders for scones and sourdough will close on Tuesday, February 20th.

This week’s bread is sourdough challah. While it might be typically found in Jewish bakeries, it’s one that I’ve enjoyed making for many years. It’s a *slightly* sweet bread that is enriched with eggs and just a bit of brown sugar. This version is also naturally fermented so no added yeast at all! I love making it in part because I enjoy eating it, but in part because it’s a braided bread that can be arranged in many different ways! Sometimes I get fancy with a 5 or 6 strand loaf, or weave it into a round; other times it’s the plump 3 strand braid that wins me over. We’ve been tearing off great hunks and eating it plain this week, or slathered with butter and jam. If you’re lucky enough to have some survive for a few days, it makes outstanding french toast!

Always on tap is my house sourdough, made with freshly-milled grains and fermented for 24 hours. If you’re on the fence about sourdough, or you haven’t had one you like, give mine a try. If you don’t like it, I’ll make you something else – on the house!

Challah and house sourdough both also make wonderful hostess gifts, if you’re headed out of town or joining friends for dinner. 

I often like to plan some of our meals around the breads I’m baking. It gives me some inspiration for meals and lets me have one main part of a meal already covered. That really helps on busy days! This week, challah will be a breakfast feature – I have an egg bake on the menu that I mix up overnight and bake in the morning. Challah with butter and jam is a perfect pairing! It fills everyone up, and usually leaves us at least a few leftovers. 

Orders can be placed on hillsdalehearth.com/shop/, and are open from Fridays through Tuesdays. If I reach a limit to what I can bake, I may close orders a bit sooner so order early and often! Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp on pickup, or by credit card when you order.

Sourdough challah and house sourdough orders should be in by Tuesday, February 13th and will both be ready for pickup on Thursday, February 15th and Friday, February 16th. 

Please let me know if you have special requests, or any questions about orders or bread!

This week’s bake of the week brings a special bread, one that I usually only make around this time of year near Valentine’s Day. But whenever I make it I wonder why I don’t make it more often! I’ve made different iterations of this loaf, but this one is my favorite. The bread itself is a sourdough with 50% rye flour, bringing a deep flavor with a nutritious punch. On top of that I add dark chocolate chunks and  dried cherries, giving it sweet and tart notes. There is no added sugar in this bread; the chocolate and the cherries bring just the right amount of sweetness to keep it interesting without simply tasting like sugar. I like that this bread is good at any time of day – it feels indulgent for breakfast toast with warm, soft chocolate peeking between bright cherries and whole grain bread.

I’m also making my house sourdough with 25% freshly milled grains. This recipe is flexible and can use different grains, but these days I’m really enjoying a mix of red and white wheat with spelt! This loaf is great for everything, and we eat it in various forms every day. If you want to make it stretch, or have some around for a rainy day, try slicing half of it when you get it home and freezing it. That way, you can take out slices as you need them.

Breads can be picked up on Thursday, February 8th at Hillsdale College outside of my husband’s office, Kendall Hall 413. Orders can also be picked up at my home on Thursday and Friday afternoon, February 8th-9th. Be sure to indicate your pickup place when you order! If you need a time outside of those listed, just let me know.

Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp on pickup, or by credit card when you order at hillsdalehearth.com. Orders will be open online from now until Tuesday evening, February 6th.

April showers might bring May flowers, but February brings birthdays at our house! One of our boys turns 7 next week and his excitement has been building for weeks. This little future engineer has drawn out what he would like for his birthday cake, and let’s just say that it involves an active volcano.

In less complicated baking, I have great bakes in store for you this month! Here’s the rundown for February:

Pick-up dates

February 1-2: Parmesan and black pepper sourdough focaccia

February 8-9: dark chocolate cherry sourdough loaf

February 15-16: sourdough challah (heart-shaped, if you’d like!)

February 22-23: lemon blueberry scones

For monthly subscribers, I’m making millionaire shortbread bars with whiskey toffee. I think I first had these in England, but a sickly-sweet packaged version. This decadent bar cookie is made with a rye and sourdough crust, filled with a whiskey toffee, and topped with a dark chocolate ganache. These are very rich, and very delicious! Subscribers will receive a few of these with their first week’s pickup.

The parmesan black pepper sourdough is a bread take on the classic pasta dish, cacio e pepe. This one drew everyone out of their rooms to the kitchen when it came out of the oven! The tangy sourdough and the creamy parmesan pair perfectly along with the bite of the freshly-ground black pepper. Try this one stuffed with prosciutto and greens, or alongside a big salad or bowl of pasta!

I will continue to have breads available week-to-week, as well, and my freshly-milled house sourdough is for sale both as a monthly subscription and a weekly purchase. 

If you’re new to the list, subscriptions are available for either my house sourdough, or the bake of the week (listed above). You can, of course, order some of each! Order once and have fresh bread made to order weekly. This helps me know what to plan for each week and it ensures that you don’t miss out on delicious homemade bread.

I make everything by hand, with a bit of help from a stand mixer every now and then. Wherever I have whole grains, I mill those here at home to give the best flavor and optimal nutrition. 

Both subscriptions and weekly orders are available for purchase on hillsdalehearth.com from Friday-Tuesday of the following week. (Subscriptions are only available this weekend). You can select your pickup place – either Hillsdale College on Thursdays, or my home in Hillsdale on Thursdays or Fridays – when you order. Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp on pickup, or by credit card when you order online. Please order by Tuesday, January 30th for pickup on February 1st or 2nd.

I’m sitting in a quiet house as I write, a rarity for me. The fire is blazing and the snow is falling gently outside. I like winter on these days.

Despite the landscape my thoughts are turning toward warmer days. This weekend I’m headed to a seed swap at Rebel Farm. I’m not totally sure what to expect, but there will be a lot of good garden knowledge and sharing of ideas and seeds for the coming season of planting. We didn’t have a garden last year but we’re planning on one this year. The kids are all poring over catalogs to find the most outlandish veg. I tell them that I’ll plant it, but they have to eat it!

This week I’m making sourdough biscuits, a super-versatile bread for your meals this weekend. Cheesy fried egg sandwiches? Check. Strawberry shortcake? Also check. Feeling fancy with biscuits and gravy? Just promise to invite me over for those! These are flaky, buttery, and just plain delicious. Top them however you like, or enjoy them in all their sourdough goodness. You win either way!

Also and always available this week is my house sourdough. I’ve been experimenting with different grains and combinations. For now, I’ve settled on a mix of hard red wheat, hard white wheat, and spelt that I mill myself just before mixing. Even after many years of baking various versions of this bread, there are always great sighs of contentment when a fresh loaf hits the table.

My schedule is the same this week, pickup on Thursday, January 25th here at my  home and at Hillsdale College, and Friday, January 26th here at my home. If you’re a subscriber, your order will be ready for you as usual!

Next week subscriptions for February will open, and do I have a delicious month planned for you! Stay tuned, and let me know if you have any requests. I love to make special breads for special occasions.

It’s snowing! We don’t usually have our first big snow of the year in January, but despite the cold and blustery weather it sure is nice to look out the window and see white. I am glad to be sitting by our wood stove, where my toes are warm! When the weather turns extra cold, I find my thoughts going in the opposite direction. Flavors are a big part of that for me – I’m craving warm spices, colorful soups, creamy pasta – anything that makes me feel warm(er). On my menu this week are a chickpea curry, minestrone, chili (with cornbread, of course), and tomato soup. My favorite bread to go with tomato soup is the one I’m baking for you this week: asiago sourdough.

Sharp cheese and tangy sourdough are a match made in heaven. The asiago melts right into the bread, marrying the two flavors together. We’ve enjoyed this loaf in so many ways, not just alongside tomato soup! It makes the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich, it’s lovely with a fried egg at breakfast, cubed and sauteed it makes fantastic croutons for your salads, and is really good just on its own. If you’re sensitive to dairy, I hear you; I’m working on a goat cheese sourdough loaf that I hope to have out in a few weeks!

As always, my house sourdough is available for purchase. Both my house sourdough and the asiago are true sourdough, fermented for at least 24 hours to give you maximum nutritional benefit and to make it easier on your gut. My house sourdough uses a mix of freshly-milled grains, which adds such a lovely flavor and retains all the good parts of the wheat! Give it a try; give one to a friend.

If you are a subscriber, remember to grab your loaves on Thursday/Friday of this coming week, January 18th/19th! 

Orders are open now through Tuesday afternoon, January 16th. January subscriptions are closed but you can order your favorite breads every weekend for pickup the following week.

The old year is nearly behind us, and what a year it’s been. We’ve had a lot of changes over this past year – many to our home! – and it’s been fun to see our kids grow and change as they continue to settle into a new life here in Hillsdale. I restarted my baking business in the last year, and what a joy that has been! I’m grateful to have gotten to know so many of you and feel honored to make the breads that grace your tables.

Next week begins a  new month of bread subscriptions, and I have a great January lineup for you! I’ll offer house sourdough subscriptions, as well as a subscription for the bread of the week. If you can’t pick up every week, feel free to send someone for you or to share that week’s loaf with someone! I’ll just be baking three weeks of the month as we’re traveling for one week.

January 4/5: house sourdough, and 100% freshly milled whole wheat sourdough

January 18/19: house sourdough, and asiago sourdough

January 25/26: house sourdough, and sourdough biscuits (set of 6)

Subscribers of any kind will also receive dark chocolate sourdough cookies along with their order for January 4/5. I make these with sourdough discard and some rye flour. The flavor benefits from an overnight reset in the fridge! You do not want to miss these cookies 🙂

If you’re not ready to commit to a subscription, you can also order on a weekly basis as long as there are loaves available. I’ll send an email each week reminding you of the upcoming bake of the week. Subscriptions and weekly loaves can also be given as gifts! Just indicate that in your order so we can be sure to get the bread to the right person.

All the sourdough breads I make are what bakers call ‘true sourdough’. That means that the loaves ferment for at least 24 hours, which is important for the way that our bodies digest wheat. If you’re interested, a great book on this is called ‘Sourdough School’, by Vanessa Kimball. Even if you don’t struggle with gluten intolerance, this long fermentation makes for fantastic tasting bread! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Breads will be available on Thursday and Friday of next week, January 4th and 5th. Orders can be picked up at my Hillsdale home both afternoons, and at Hillsdale College on Thursday, January 4th. This is generally the schedule that I keep, and I will let you know if there are any changes to it!

Payments can be made by cash, check, or cashapp on pickup, or by credit card when you order at hillsdalehearth.com. Please let me know if you have any questions or special requests! 

Happy New Year, friends!

Today felt like a reprieve with the warmer weather, didn’t it? It’s hard to believe that it’s December and that Advent is nearly upon us. Growing up, my mom always made cut-out cookies with the different symbols described in the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” and in the O Antiphons: the Key of David, the Root of Jesse, the Dayspring, the King of all nations. But, because it wasn’t Christmas yet, she left them unfrosted, and we looked forward to celebrating fully when Advent came to an end. It was a neat way to mark these weeks leading up to Christmas!

This coming week, on December 7th and 8th, I will be baking a honey whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread. That’s a mouthful, I know! I made two loaves over the weekend and they disappeared so quickly that I didn’t even get a picture. But, I took one of our youngest enjoying a piece slathered with jam! This is such a good one and will likely go into my regular rotation. It’s made with 50% freshly milled whole wheat and enriched with honey, egg, butter, and olive oil. I made ours with vegan butter for my dairy-intolerant kiddos and it was great that way, too. If you enjoy soft sandwich bread that has just a bit of sweetness, this is the one for you. The sourdough really only deepens the flavors that are there from the honey and the whole wheat; I didn’t detect the tangy notes in a regular loaf. And it’s soft – so soft! – and will keep well for several days, if it lasts that long. 

We will be traveling a bit, so I will not have any orders the week of December 14th and 15th.

Then, just before Christmas, I will have Christmas cookies available! Let me do some of your holiday baking for you this year. I’m planning to make gingersnaps, peppermint snowballs, white chocolate cranberry cookies, and chocolate crinkle cookies. These are available by the dozen, with a mix of cookies included (3 of each kind.) If you would like only certain varieties, please note that when you order – I’m happy to make changes! These make great hostess gifts and should also travel well if you’re hitting the road for your celebrations. Cookie orders will be open from now until December 9th, for pickup at my home on the afternoon of December 21st. 

I’ll also have my house sourdough available next week, but not on the 21st. Look for that when you place your order for cookies! Gift certificates are also still up on the site and will likely remain there at least until Christmas.

Honey whole wheat sourdough and house sourdough will be available for pickup on Thursday, December 7th at Hillsdale College and at my home, and Friday, December 8th at my home. Orders will be open until Tuesday afternoon, December 5th.

Cookie orders will remain open through December 9th, and gift certificates at least through Christmas.

Payment is by cash, check, or cashapp when you pick up, or by credit card through the website when you order. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions or special requests!