My great-grandparents were homesteaders during the hardest leanest times. While modern conveniences can be useful, there is tremendous value in knowing how to cook from scratch.

My parents and grandparents took the time to teach me the importance of and the joy of cooking from an early age. I began, in turn, teaching my young children the basics of baking and cooking and they help me on a regular basis.

The health benefits of fueling your body with real, whole foods in invaluable. Overall, it leads to a healthier lifestyle. The best part about homestead scratch cooking is that you still can eat delicious ingredients and even tasty treats, but you control the ingredients!

With the number of handwritten recipes, we had accumulated from relatives, we had quite a selection of delicious food choices. The recipes however were beginning to crack and fade with age and handling.

I’m not sure what other folks would do but I designed a cookbook! The beautiful antique recipes are included in the book, too. The cookbook is designed to shed light on the history of homestead cooking from scratch. While cooking from scratch has evolved over the years, we can always learn something from the generations before us. Did you know that chicken grease was used in baked goods too? Waste not, want not!

Homestead Scratch Cooking was created for people who love to cook, people who may not know how to cook, and those who love a good old-fashioned meal or dessert. You can use traditionally canned foods or foods from the store. Older terminology is explained, and you are encouraged to dig out the old family recipes you may have hidden in a drawer and get back to cooking from scratch.

Here are a couple of examples of the delicious food you can make from scratch during this winter season:

SNOWDROP COOKIES

Snowdrop cookies are a delicious addition to your holiday baking! They have a great flavor and texture and are a great cookie to bake with the kids! This recipe should give you about 3.5 dozen delicious cookies.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter room temperature
• ½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar plus extra for dusting
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Sift flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy. Work in dry ingredients, gradually, until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
• Pinch off small pieces of dough, and roll gently between the palms of your hands to form balls 1 inch in diameter. Place dough balls 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.
• Place freshly baked cookies on a rack over waxed paper (or I like to put my cooling rack on top of another cookie sheet).
• Allow cookies to cool slightly and sprinkle lightly with confectioner’s sugar. Then, cool the cookies completely and sprinkle generously with confectioner’s sugar.

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Sour Milk Nutmeg Cake

Here’s another recipe from days gone by! I loved the moist but dense nutmeg cakes my grandmother made growing up — so I’ve slightly modified her recipe to create this wonderful nutmeg cake! It’s a big hit in our household.

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Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs beaten for several minutes 1 cup rich sour milk stirred (or substitute*) 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 level teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• Additional sugar and nutmeg for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 round 9-inch cake pans.
• Cream butter, add sugar and cream together.
• Add eggs and beat for a few minutes.
• Add sour milk and continue to mix well.
• Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg.
• Add flour mixture to the batter and beat well.
• Pour batter into greased cake pans and sprinkle generously with sugar and a good sprinkling of nutmeg. This will make a crispy crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, using a toothpick in the center to test when it is done.

Notes

*Sour milk substitute: 1 tablespoon of white vinegar OR lemon juice in a measuring cup, fill the rest to the one cup line with milk, let sit for 5 minutes.

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OLD FASHIONED OATMEAL COOKIES

If snowdrop cookies aren’t your thing — here’s one more holiday cookie recipe! And it’s another classic recipe from one of my grandmothers. This recipe is my absolute favorite for oatmeal cookies. I love the flavor and texture of these cookies. Eat them warm with a cold glass of milk and you’ll be sure to enjoy them too! In fact, these cookies don’t often have too much time to cool in our house! Sometimes I leave out the nutmeg and add in mini chocolate chips for a delightful change.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup butter room temperature
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg optional
• 3 cups oatmeal
• Optional: Add in 1 ½ cups of chocolate chips or raisins leave out the nutmeg!

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon (and nutmeg if using).
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well.
• Stir in oats.
• Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 8-9 minutes, until lightly golden.
• Cool for 1 minute a on cookie sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tried this recipe?Mention @homesteadlivingmagazine or tag #homesteadlivingmagazine!

My hope with the original cookbook, and the recent volume of Homestead Scratch Cooking Desserts! is to inspire you to take a step back. Rediscover the joy of cooking from scratch and let the smell of homestead scratch cooking fill your home.