Sourdough For Beginners. Step one: All the basics and a fool-proof recipe.

Here’s the thing… I read a lot and I mean A LOT of blog posts and watched lots of videos on how to make a starter and a load of sourdough for basically two days straight…. and I even ordered a book. The hyer-fixation was real. The conclusion was:

There’s no one perfect way to make a loaf. Which busts the doors wide open!

Now, for my recipe loving people, don’t worry. There’s some hard and fast rules to live by in the sourdough world. BUT those doors are wide open to play around and figure out what works for you. Lot’s of mistakes, which we’ll take, so we know what NOT to do, and wide open for all the adventuring.


So, first things first, you need a starter. If you live close to me, I’m more than hay to share a blob of Eve (yes, it has a name)… If you don’t live near me, find a friend that does have some starter to share or click this link. That link will take you to a bunch of basic tools for bread making, so even if you have a starter there might be some helpful tools in that list for you.

I’m slowly growing my tools but you will for sure want:

+ A nice size jar to make your new pet a home
+ A kitchen scale
+ Large bowl
+ Parchment paper (Not wax)
+ A few proofing towels if you don’t want to invest in some baskets right away. These are my favorite.
+ Cast Iron Dutch Oven (This is key!)

Besdies those few things you probably have, it’s just flour, salt and water. For flour, I have always used all-purpose and unbleached of any brand. But the King Arthur defs makes the best loafs IMO. You can use bread flour if you want, totes up to you, just keep it the same flour for your feedings.
Water should be as clean as possible. So no tap (unless it’s all you got then go for it. See what happens, those doors are wide open) We have a Berkey but I’ve also just used the filtered fridge water and had zero issues. Room temperature or slightly warm is best. Cold will make those little cultures living in your kitchen sleepy; and we want them up and active!
As for salt, I use my regular iodine free sea salt.

P.S. A scoring knife is definitely helpful but I did just use my sharpest kitchen knife for about a month. Once I knew I was committed I started to figure out what was helpful and necessary.

OKAY! You have your tools and starter (What did you name it? Please tell me because I’m nosy and it’s fun!) It’s time to ‘feed’ it. This is where my recipe lovers will exhale a bit. You want equal parts starter-water-flour. Meaning, if you have 100 grams of starter, you will feed it 100 grams of your unbleached flour and 100 grams of your filtered water. Stir it up good with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula… just not anything metal… leave it on your counter with the lid on top f the jar and within 3 hours (give or take) your little friend should have doubled or more. It will look bubbly and frothy or kinda like melty cheese. This means you have a happy, active starter and it’s ready to bake! If you’re unsure it’s you can test a little spoonful in some water. If it floats, you’re Gucci.

There are a bazillion recipes out there. Lot’s of methods and steps people will swear by, BUT, I have never not once had a loaf fail from this King Arthur No-Knead Sourdough. It’s straight forward and so basic! Still my go-to recipe for an Artisanal loaf. I suggest following the steps exactly a few times to get the hang of it and understand what they mean when it says “shaggy dough” or “stretch and fold” and all the other little lingo words and phrases used that feel like a foreign language. I promise it will all make sense if you follow it blind.

That’s it! Way easier and WAY less intimidating than it seems. Just trust the process and you know where to find me if you have questions.

The Best Carnitas

The best carnitas don’t really have a recipe. They have a method… and one special ingredient that just takes it to the next level. But isn’t necessary even for good carnitas.

Start with a bone-in pork butt/shoulder. Whatever your store calls it. Why they have different names or why they call the shoulder a pork butt I’ll never understand… please enlighten us if you know…

You’re gonna take this hunk of meat and put it into a searing hot pot with a little beef tallow or mild olive oil… preferably one you can just transfer to the oven… fat side down first.

While it’s searing, grab your spices and shake them on like it’s nobody’s business. We do salt, pepper, chili powder, oregano, cumin, mustard powder… anything that sounds good really. Garlic for sure! Powder or minced. Load it up, think that you maybe went a little too far with the seasonings. That’s when you have enough… now you flip that baby over on to side you just seasoned… and season the fatty side the same way. That’s right. Do it all over again. Take it to the limit.

Now! Once you know the bottom is nice and crispy-seared, add a cup or so of water. Almost half way up the meat. This is where that special ingredient come into play. Are you ready for it?!! Orange juice. A quarter to half a cup. Legit, that’s about all you need. Pinky promise it makes all the difference. Add some onion wedges if you want, then pop the lid on -or transfer it all to an oven safe pan- and let it cook for about three hours. It’ll depend on the size of your pork butt, but I think the rule of thumb is about thirty minutes a pound.

You’ll know it’s done when the bone slides right out and the meat just melts. Stir it all up to mix in those delicious seasons you drenched it in and you’re good to go.

We make Cuban bowls with black beans and rice, tacos or flautas, soups, bbq Sammie’s… literally anything. It’s so good. Here’s a link to my favorite refried beans.

Easy -no measure- Pork Canitas

  • Pork shoulder
  • Oregano
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Chili Powder
  • Garlic
  • Cumin
  • Mustard powder
  • Orange Juice
  • Onion
  • Step one: Heat a large pot with a generouse dollip of beef tallow, pork fat or olive oil. Fat side down, sear the Pork shoulder.
  • Step two: Season generoulsy with spices of your choosing. And I mean generously. Flip and season the top.
  • Step three: Add water almost half way up the meat in an oven safe pan/dish and orange juice, onion wedges and really anything else that sounds good to you. There are no rules here.
  • Step four: Cover and transfer to oven at 350* for about three hours. Until bone comes out easy and clean and the meat is tender.

Mashed potato’s? Good.

Fresh beef? Goood.

Peas, carrots, corn? Gooood. 

You ever try new foods?

Shepards pie (shepherds? what is the spelling on that?) gets a bad reputation but I’m sorry, have you ever tried it? Or have you just looked at it funny and believed what the masses have said about it? 

I was the latter. Till recently. And now, I could totes put it on the weekly rotation.

Not all in the house feel the same, unfortunately. So I don’t. But I think of it fondly often.

Also, pretty sure trying new dishes for the first time by making them yourself is a beautiful thing. There’s no standard or previous experience to live up to. You try it, you like it and tweak it from there. Does it taste like it should? Who knows… but does it taste GOOD? Yessssss!

So try new foods. Even when expectations aren’t high.

And that’s on shepherds pie.


Oh! And heres the recipe I loosely follow. Don’t skip the parm in the mashed potatos. It makes the BEST Potatos.

Blog Pasta.

To start, let’s add ‘Blog’ to the things I never thought I’d do in a million years. One of the many ‘things I’ll never do’ my thirties have been filled with. Not complaining AT ALL. I could go on and on about this,

But, Blog Pasta..

A random, one off meal I made for the family with what was left in the fridge after Christmas. Shared a steamy snipet of it without much thought on my instagram, and about a million of you -read 5ish- asked me for the recipe.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve shared our food or someone has asked for a recipe. Most of the time I cringe a little becuase I rarely follow a recipe. I’m the type to read a few different recipes and then make something up myself. Mostly out of lack of ingredients… And I’m alwasy hay to share. It’s never bothered me and I’ve never been the “secret recipe” person. So I share the link or do my best to remember what I did… which was this pasta.

And this time the ‘blog’ thought came to mind. I don’t know why, but it did.

“Maybe a designanted place to easily share these instead of copy-pasting it would be nice”? “Are blogs dead? Could I make a few buck off ads? Can I make the time? Do peole even care?”

All that and a whole lot more came to mind… but something felt right and so here we go, with a screenshot of the first DM asking what I did. The first of many unconventional recipes for sure.

You’re welcome.


P.S. I would LOVE to know if you make this and how it turned out. My kids all loved it and there will be an attemt to make it again.

The Fisrt One.

Alright, my official first blog post. To be honest, I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t even read blogs. I just skip to the recipe. Or the occasional craft instructions. But here I am, doing what feels like the next best thing.

The idea is to share our kitchen chaos. Lots of recipes and the schooling shennanigans that happen between first and second breakfast, snack number 3,241 of the day and dinner time.

It will be as messy as our dining table and there will for sure be some unconventional recipe sharing cuz ya girl hardly follows them to begin with. So grab some popcorn cuz it’s bound to be a little entertaining.