October is right around the corner and all of the best fall things come with the change of seasons. Pumpkins, apples, fall colors, crisp mornings, cozy sweaters. It is a wonderful time of year.

This month, I’m leaning into the cozy vibes for each week’s bake. Here’s the lineup:

 October 2: Caramel apple scones. These lovely scones hit all of the right fall notes. Sweet, but not too sweet. Both these scones and the pumpkin cookies later in the month feature local homemade vanilla extract from Homemade by Halcyon Plains! I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as we do. (4 scones/order)

October 9: Whole grain chocolate-walnut-flax sourdough loaf. This bread just feels like fall: sweet chocolate, toasty nuts, and hearty flax all make for the ideal slice of toast on a cool morning.

October 16: Rosemary & garlic focaccia. Sourdough focaccia is superb on its own – a thick slab of flavorful sourdough goodness. But topped with rosemary and garlic, it is superb.

October 23: Sourdough soft pretzels. These are the perfect way to send off October and are as close to an authentic German pretzel as I’ve had. Guten Appetit! (3 pretzels/order)

October 30: Browned butter pumpkin cookies. What fall lineup would be complete without something pumpkin flavored? These cookies are fudgy in texture, thanks to the browned butter and reduced pumpkin. (6 cookies/order)

House sourdough loaves are available each week, now also offered sliced (courtesy of a bread slicer and my oldest daughter!). These loaves pack a nutritional punch with freshly milled grains and a long, cold rest in the refrigerator.

Great vanilla extract adds so much flavor to sweet baked goods. I met Emily Hill, owner of Homemade by Halcyon Plains, at church a few weeks ago and was delighted to hear of her small business making vanilla extract and nut butters. I’m excited to partner with her this month on the scones and cookies!

Here’s a little about her: “Hello, sourdough lovers! My name is Emily, I’ve recently moved to Hillsdale from Wyoming with my husband and 1-yr-old son. We started Homemade by Halcyon Plains this fall as a way to serve our family and community through creating and selling top-quality, locally-made food products from home. 

Our current specialities are homemade vanilla extract and homemade nut butters! All from scratch, with no additives, fillers, or preservatives. We currently have a booth at the Hillsdale County Farmer’s Market, and our website provides details about our online ordering system & contact info. Check us out on Facebook here!

Send us a message to let us know that you found out about us through Hillsdale Hearth and receive 10% OFF on your first order!”

Wonderful business, wonderful people, and wonderful pairing with sourdough baked goods!

We’ve had a special week with a dear friend from Scotland visiting us. He is the godfather of our oldest boy and it has been so sweet to see them get to spend so much time together. What a gift to have godly adults in our lives who are kind and interested in our children!

We had *just* started to get out all of the fall clothes when this hot weather hit. The kids are loving it, though, and soaking up the last of summer. We’ll likely make one last big batch of tomato soup and sauce before pulling those plants out of the garden. And we still have potatoes and sweet potatoes to harvest. But if anyone would like tomatoes, please let me know!

This week I’m baking morning glory muffins. These muffins are filled with all sorts of goodness: dried cherries, pepitas, whole wheat flour, apple, coconut, walnuts, and a few other delights as well (like sourdough starter!). Sure, they have some sugar (but no dairy!), but it’s not the first flavor you’ll taste nor will they give you the high and low of a breakfast cupcake. These have everything you need to get your day off to a great start! Each order contains four muffins.

My house sourdough is available both sliced and unsliced. It freezes well both ways and should keep for several days at least without getting stale. If you’re thawing from frozen, or even if it feels a bit dried out, run your loaf under running water for 5-10 seconds, then place the loaf in a warm oven around 300 degrees for 15 min (if dried out) or 30 min (if frozen). Voila! Fresh bread!

This past weekend we witnessed the births of 7 puppies to our sweet dog! The kids were able to witness the births and be a part of the quietly miraculous evening. Puppies and mama are all well. It is a delight to watch them grow and to watch our children grow as they learn about the responsibility of caring for tiny living creatures.

This week I’m baking a wholesome sandwich bread made with only freshly milled flours. I’ll use a mix of white whole wheat and spelt. Nutritionally, this bread is hard to beat. Milling the grains means that all parts of the grain make their way into the bread, which is different than whole wheat flour from the store. That flour must be sifted and processed, otherwise the oils in the grain would turn the flour rancid. Spelt is high in fiber, protein, magnesium, and B vitamins making this a loaf you can enjoy on many levels!

House sourdough loaves are available weekly to order, both sliced and unsliced. I also use freshly milled flour in these loaves in addition to bread flour from King Arthur Baking. I’ve tried a lot of flours and this is the one I keep coming back to. These loaves are a staple at our house. In this season, we’re especially enjoying them as the vehicle for BLT sandwiches with garden tomatoes!

We are anxiously awaiting a litter of puppies from our sweet dog, Sadie. She has been showing all the signs of getting ready for whelping and we’re watching closely, ready to help. The kids are beyond excited to watch this all unfold and to meet the puppies! Sadie is a wonderful family dog, and we’re looking forward to watching her be a mama, as well. Not all of the puppies are spoken for; if you’re looking for a pup with friendly and good tempered parents, do let me know!

Speaking of sweet, this week’s bake is always a hit. Babka originated as a Jewish bread made mostly in Poland. It was often made with leftover challah dough and twisted up with different fillings. I’m making this version naturally leavened (aka sourdough) without the sour! Instead of the traditional chocolate or cinnamon sugar fillings, I’ll be sauteeing apples with butter, brown sugar, and spices and using that to twist into these babkas. This treat is a perfect way to welcome fall!

Always available is my house sourdough, both sliced and unsliced. These crusty loaves with freshly milled grains are the perfect addition to just about any meal. As we get into soup season here, these loaves go quickly at our table! 

Orders are open every week from Friday through Tuesday. They close mid-week to give me time to bake and deliver all the orders. Sourdough babka and sourdough loaves are available to order now through Tuesday, September 9th for pickup on the 11th. 

September is right around the corner and I have a fantastic September lineup for you. If you’re new to the bread list, welcome! The way it works is this: I open orders online on Friday each week for bread pickups on the following Thursday. So, this week, orders are open now for pickup on September 4th. 

Every week I offer my house sourdough loaf with freshly milled flour (sliced or unsliced) as well as a bake of the week. Those items are available to order on my website – hillsdsalehearth.com – until Tuesday at the latest, earlier if I sell out. I bake only what has been ordered and then you pick up items either at Hillsdale College (Kendall 413) or at my home in Hillsdale. Orders are then closed from Tuesday night through Friday morning while I prepare orders for the week.

If you’ve paid online, you can just grab your labeled bag and go; if you’re paying with cash, check, or cashapp, you make that payment and then take your items. 

For semester or monthly subscribers, your items will be in the pickup location you indicate when you order every week of your subscription. All bags are labeled with your name so you’ll know just which one to take. Both the semester subscriptions and the September subscriptions will close on Tuesday or when sold out.

The September bakes are as follows!

9/4 – sourdough bagels

9/11 – naturally leavened mini apple pie babka

9/18 – 100% whole wheat sandwich bread

9/25 – morning glory muffins​

It’s an exciting time of year! College students are returning to campus, the garden is bountiful, school is starting up again – life is teeming at every turn. Sometimes, in the midst of so much – even so much good – I can feel overwhelmed. Some days, it’s being overwhelmed with gratitude; other days, life just feels like a lot. Baking has for a long time been a good antidote to stress. I think the physical nature of the work has a way of calming my spirit. I often think about how we as created beings were made to create, how the simple act of making something, especially something beautiful, has such a profound effect. 

As summer draws to its close, I’m making one last round of sourdough burger buns. Many of you grilling enthusiasts will fire up the grill all winter long, but ours gets tucked away sometime in the fall until the weather warms up again. We were all craving burgers last week so I made a big batch of buns and we enjoyed them alongside sweet corn and garden beans. Good summer eating!

New this week is the semester subscription. With it comes 13 weeks of baked goods – either sourdough loaves or the bake of the week – all matched up with the academic calendar at Hillsdale College. Looking for a gift for a new student? A way to make sure healthy carbs are available every week? Or a treat for a son or daughter – or for yourself?! Semester subscriptions are open in a limited quantity now through September 1st or until sold out. I will also have regular monthly subscriptions as usual, starting Friday, August 29th. The August baking lineup is looking great, so watch for that email next week!

Sourdough house loaves with freshly milled whole grains are always available and make for easy dinners at my house. It’s the bread that most people think of when they think of sourdough – crusty on the outside, tender on the inside. My loaves have a gentle sour tang, more of a depth than a tartness, if that makes sense. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s always a good time to start! These loaves are also now available sliced.

We’re halfway through August and it feels like a mad rush to finish projects before school starts! The garden is going gangbusters: beans, zucchini, pickling cucumbers, slicing cucumbers, and tomatoes are all in full force. I’ve harvested and braided strands of onions and shallots, and there are bundles of herbs drying. The school room is getting a refresh, so staining the remaining bookshelves is also on my list for today. The kids picked and snapped beans, which was a huge help to getting those in the freezer! It’s fun to see them growing into helpfulness.

This past week I ordered a tool for the bakery that we have all been enjoying immensely: a bread slicer! Not a big electric deal, but a hand crank slicer that has turned slicing bread into the most fun household job. It’s something I’ve wanted to offer to all of you for some time, and decided that this was a good time to give the slicer a try. I’ll be offering sliced house loaves weekly for just a bit extra. You’ll see a separate item to order sliced bread. The loaves freeze well this way, and the slices are so even! I definitely get more slices out of each loaf with this than when I cut into them by hand.

In the bakery this week I’m also making a chocolatey, decadent cookie that features rye flour and sourdough. Dark and milk chocolate along with pecans round out the flavors. These are so, so delicious! If you haven’t had the rye + chocolate combination, this is a great week to try it. These flavors are incredible together and make for an absolutely indulgent cookie!

Next week I plan to have the semester ordering plans up on the website. These plans will follow Hillsdale College’s academic calendar and allow for 13 weeks of bread over the semester, taking off when there are no classes (fall break, Thanksgiving, etc.). I will still have the monthly subscriptions for those of us who are here but wanted to make that available for students and others who might travel when there are no classes. If you know anyone who might enjoy that kind of subscription, please send this their way!

This email is coming to you early as I’m off to an adventure weekend with friends. We’ll be kayaking, hiking, thrifting, and enjoying each other’s company immensely. It’s such a gift to have good friends!

This coming week I’ll be baking a new-to-me bread: sourdough french bread. I packed some along for our girls’ weekend, and we’ll make garlic bread with it. If a baguette married sandwich bread, this is what the result would be. It’s a longer shape, more like a baguette, but not as crispy. It’s squishy, but also still substantial, holding up to anything you’d like to put on it. Here’s one idea: shrimp po’ boys! You won’t go wrong there. Aldi has some shrimp that would work well for that 🙂 Each loaf will make 2-3 sandwiches, I think, depending on how large you’d like them. Our family of 6 went through a loaf for breakfast, sliced up as toast. I hope you’ll enjoy this one as much as we have been this week!​

If you see any garden produce on the porch when you come, please feel free to take whatever you’d like! We’re making our way through it, but I love to share.

Always available are house sourdough loaves with three different whole grains. It’s the most versatile bread I make and has been a lifesaver this summer to pull loaves out of the freezer when I have no other plans for dinner! To defrost, I run frozen loaves under water for 5-10 seconds, then let thaw in a warm 300 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until warmed through. This trick also works if your bread has gotten a bit hard after a few days. Get it wet, put it in a low oven until soft. It’s like magic!

August is upon us and I have a great lineup for you! Drawing inspiration from my garden, from my stock of whole grains, and from a favorite cookbook, I hope you’ll enjoy what I’ve chosen this month. If you have a favorite that you’d like to see on the menu in the coming months, drop me a line and let me know! Without further ado, here’s what I’m baking in August:

August 7: Cheesy zucchini muffins. These are perhaps the most fervently requested item at our house once the zucchini start rolling in from the garden, even from the one kid who claims to dislike zucchini. This savory muffin is packed with fresh zucchini, cheddar cheese, and other savory goodness. Lighter than a sweet muffin, these are a delicious start to your day! Each order contains 4 muffins.

August 14: Sourdough French Bread with white whole wheat. Sometimes, you just want a good, hearty white bread that will hold all the delicious sandwich fillings you can think of. Squishier than a baguette, but sturdier than sandwich bread, this loaf hits all the right notes. I’ll mill white whole wheat to add in for extra flavor and nutrition. The long fermentation means it’s easier on digestion, as well. Just in time for tomato season we’ll be eating BLTs on this bread for weeks!

August 21: Double chocolate pecan cookies with rye. If you haven’t had cookies with sourdough before, consider this a sign to try them! The freshly-milled rye flour makes the chocolate really pop, and the flavors shine in this cookie. Decadent, yes. But flavorful and not simply sweet. If you’re feeling extra indulgent, pair two of these with ice cream in the middle for the ultimate ice cream sandwich! Each order has 6 cookies.

August 28: Sourdough burger buns. One last time this summer, sourdough burger buns are hitting the menu. With Labor Day just around the corner it’s a great time to put a few more burgers on the grill. What better way to enjoy them than with homemade buns? These freeze beautifully and thaw much faster than regular loaves. If you’re grilling into the fall, stock up on these – it’s the last time I’ll make them until spring!

Crusty house sourdough loaves are on the menu weekly. I make these with 25% freshly milled grains – red and white whole wheat as well as spelt. We named this ‘house’ bread because it’s on our table in some form nearly every day. Whole grains provide a host of nutritional benefits, from fiber to minerals and essential nutrients. But it’s the flavor of freshly milled flour that makes this bread the one that I make weekly.

I’m considering offering bread slicing as an option for a small fee. If that’s something you’d take advantage of, let me know. The slicer is an investment, but one I’m glad to make if there’s interest!

We’re getting ready to host my brother and his family this weekend and it’s been a flurry of activity to get ready. We live 12 hours apart and so there’s often a good stretch of months between our time together. Everyone is excited to play with cousins and to show them around Hillsdale. Both of our oldest girls start high school in the fall and I sense that these visits with all the kids are fleeting. I’m hoping to bake some fun things while they’re here for us all to enjoy together!

Speaking of fun things to bake, soft sourdough pretzels  – this week’s bake – are a family favorite both to eat and to make! Even my youngest loves to help roll out the dough for our family and shape it. He’s proud of a job well done, and the pretzels taste even better when you’ve been a part of making them. These sourdough pretzels are the perfect combination of soft and chewy with just the thinnest mahogany-colored crust on the outside. If I had to choose a desert island food, this just might be it. Each order has 3 pretzels, and while these don’t keep as well as other breads, they do freeze very well!

Always available is my house sourdough with freshly-milled grains. This is a wonderful introduction to sourdough bread if you are new to it. Sourdough is simply a term to describe the natural fermentation that gives this kind of bread its rise. I don’t use any commercial yeast in any of my sourdough bakes. Most (though not all) sourdough breads at the grocery store are still driven by yeast with some added sourdough culture for flavor. I let the natural leavening do its work in giving breads a long, cold rise which adds to both the nutritional value and the flavor profile. Give this one a try!