Today, after two years of writing, testing, revising, photographing, editing, second-guessing, and wondering if this thing in my brain would ever be “real”…

…the Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook is officially out in the world.

And in very on-brand fashion, I’m not on a glamorous book tour today.

Rather, I’m doctoring a horse, running to grab wood so I can finish my bedroom makeover, ordering a (literal) dump-truck load of compost, and managing 39 other normal-life things.

Real life, baby.

But that feels right for this book, because I didn’t write it to be a precious cookbook for a pristine kitchen.

It’s for actual life. Busy days. Hungry people. Messy counters. Full schedules. (All of which are part of my day today and every day.)

Maybe that’s why seeing it show up in your real kitchens feels especially satisfying. After spending so long making something mostly behind the scenes, seeing it become part of someone else’s home is a pretty surreal feeling.

So today is mostly just one giant THANK YOU.

To Lindsay Linton Buk, who photographed both this cookbook and my first one. It’s magic when she and I work together, and she brought my vision to life in a spectacular way.

To everyone behind the scenes who helped me test, edit, photograph, design, organize, troubleshoot, and bring this project over the finish line, especially during a year that looked very different than I expected it to. You know who you are. 

And of course, thank YOU for buying my books, cooking my recipes, sending me photos of your stained pages, and giving my work a place in your homes.

I hope you use this one hard.

I hope you spill on it, write in it, dog-ear it, and make the recipes so many times you stop needing the instructions.

I do have one big ask today, though:

If you’ve been meaning to get a copy, would you grab it today?

Launch week is one of those rare moments when a bunch of individual orders add up to real momentum for a book, and I would love to send this cookbook into the world with a strong first week behind it.

The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook is available everywhere books are sold—your local bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and beyond.

And don’t forget!

The Heritage Cooking Crash Course bonus ends TONIGHT at 11:59 PM Mountain Time.

So if you order today, you can still get the full $147 course free with your book.

How it works:

1. Order the cookbook from your favorite retailer or local bookstore.
2. Upload your proof of purchase.
3. We’ll email you access to the course within 24 hours.

I’ll send one final reminder later today so nobody who meant to grab it accidentally misses the deadline.

But for now…

It’s really, finally, actually pub day!!

And I’m very, very glad this book is finally yours. 

-Jill

The post Well, We Made It appeared first on The Prairie Homestead.

When I wrote The Prairie Homestead Cookbook in 2017–2018, I was in a very different season of life.

Same core person, yes. But a different kitchen. Different rhythms. Different ages of kids. And a different version of homesteading.

Needless to say, I’ve changed a lot since then, even beyond the few more wrinkles and grey hairs…

But I think that’s what’s supposed to happen when you actually live with your ideas for a while. You get less precious. More practical. And hopefully a little wiser about what’s actually worth your time.

And I see that evolution all over my new cookbook.

For example:

I’m much less fussy about sourdough.

I still love it. But I no longer think sourdough needs to take over your calendar—or your personality. So the sourdough recipes in my new book are very normal-life-friendly, with lots of practical ways to use discard too.

I’m more selective about what I preserve.

These days I care a lot less about shelves full of novelty jars and a lot more about foods that make future meals easier. Things like the tomato sauce, refried beans, and hummus you’ll find in this book.

I cook much more by frameworks now.

It’s that comfortable rhythm you earn after enough years in the kitchen—where you stop needing exact instructions for every meal and start cooking more by feel.

I love that. It’s my version of the elusive “flow state.” So this book includes things like Supper on a Sheet, Flexible Empanadas, a go-to vinaigrette formula, and Garden Stir-Fry.

I bought a restaurant.

Which was NOT on my bingo card when I wrote cookbook #1…

But running the soda fountain has stretched my culinary skills more than almost anything else I’ve done. It’s been a crash course in flavor, timing, volume, sauces, texture, and figuring out what people actually love to eat. And I’ve included quite a few of those hard-won recipes in this book too. (Yes, even our famous milkshake recipe!)

My life got busier.

There are more moving pieces, businesses, sports, and logistics now than there were when I wrote the first cookbook.

Which means I have become extremely intolerant of recipes that require unnecessary fuss. That reality shaped this book in a big way. I made a point to include recipes that still feel special and nourishing, but are streamlined enough for a normal weeknight.

I stopped confusing “harder” with “better.”

I still believe in doing things from scratch, but now I care much more about whether something actually adds value to my life.

Aka, any desire for performance is DEAD.

If homemade tastes better? Great.

If it saves money? Great.

If it teaches me a useful skill, helps me use what I already have, or makes me more capable? Even better.

But if doing something the hard way just makes me tired? No thank you.

That philosophy is all over this cookbook too. It’s still very much from-scratch—just with a much sharper filter for what is actually worth your time.

And of course…

I’m launching this cookbook from a completely different house.

A different kitchen. A different garden. A different chapter of life.

So yes, a lot has changed since book #1.

But the deeper stuff hasn’t.

I still love feeding my people.

I still believe there is something urgently important about knowing how to turn basic ingredients into real food.

I still want dirt under my fingernails, meals around a table, useful skills in my repertoire, and a life that stays connected to the seasons and the soil.

And in a world that gets more abstract and robotic by the day, I still believe those things keep us human.

Actually, I believe that even more strongly now.

Basically, this new cookbook feels like the best parts of everything I’ve learned over the years—just with more mileage behind them.

And that’s why I’m so proud of it.

The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook launches tomorrow.

And if you order by 11:59 PM Mountain Time on October 6—aka TOMORROW NIGHT—I’ll also give you my full $147 Heritage Cooking Crash Course FREE.

How it works:

1. Order the cookbook from your favorite retailer or local bookstore.
2. Upload your proof of purchase here.
3. We’ll email you access to the course within 24 hours.

-Jill

P.S. Already preordered? Simple submit your proof of purchase above and you get it too. Keep an eye on your inbox for the link. And if you just submitted your proof of purchase, my team is working through the requests and granting access manually—so thank you for being patient with us!

The post You’re Allowed to Change Your Mind About Homesteading appeared first on The Prairie Homestead.

When my first cookbook came out, I wrote in the introduction that I wanted people to ruin it.

I wished for flour in their bindings. Dog-eared pages splattered with gravy. Scribbles in the margins. Bent corners. A cracked spine from being opened to the same recipe 75 times.

My biggest fear was writing a beautiful cookbook that lived untouched on a shelf.

Thankfully, my fear never came true.

Over the years, readers have sent me photos of their very well-loved copies of The Prairie Homestead Cookbook, and they are genuinely my favorite reviews.

Although these are pretty great too:

“This lives on my counter in my kitchen now.”

“I read it from cover to cover before I even cooked from it!”

“My kids/husband LOVE recipe XYZ and I make it every week.”

“I borrowed it from the library twice before deciding to buy my own copy.”

And one reader told me she was only halfway through and had already nearly run out of Post-it flags marking recipes she wanted to try.

THAT was my goal.

I don’t care to produce pretty coffee-table books… My aim is to create something that becomes part of the rhythm of your home.

As I wrote The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook, that remained my goal.

Actually, maybe even more so. Because I have a few more years of cooking, feeding people, running businesses, raising kids, and figuring out what actually IS useful under my belt now. And I think that makes cookbook number two even better.

And yes, I hope you ruin my new cookbook, too.

I hope the Essential Everyday Dough page gets dusted with flour.

I hope the One-Pot Beef Stroganoff page gets stained with sauce.

I hope you scribble all your substitutions for Supper on a Sheet in the margins.

I hope the binding eventually falls open automatically to your family’s favorite recipe.

Because that means it did its job.

And if you want to put your own copy to work, launch week is a extra good time to grab one:

Order by 11:59 PM Mountain Time on October 6 and I’ll also give you my full $147 Heritage Cooking Crash Course FREE.

How it works:

1. Order The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook from your favorite retailer or local bookstore.
2. Upload your proof of purchase here.
3. We’ll email you access to the course within 24 hours.

(And yes! If you already preordered it months or weeks ago, you can still get the bonuses! Simply upload your proof of purchase via the link above.)

Here’s to stained pages and broken-in bindings. 

-Jill

P.S. The only catch is that once the clock hits 11:59 PM MT on October 6, this bonus is gone… Because giving away one of my most robust courses forever would be a questionable business strategy…

But I believe in this cookbook enough that I wanted to make launch week irresistible for you. If you’ve been thinking about getting the cookbook anyway, this is the week.

The post I Hope You Ruin This Book appeared first on The Prairie Homestead.

Pondering the cookbook graveyard + why “pretty” isn’t enough.

You probably don’t need another cookbook.

There. I said it.

Most of us already have plenty.

Whenever I’m thrift shopping (which is a LOT these days) I’m struck by the sheer volume of cookbooks for sale. Sometimes entire boxes of them. Often barely used.(And always a copious number of those Taste of Home compilation volumes. Remember those??)

So when I wrote The Old-Fashioned on Purpose Cookbook, I was adamant:

This would not be another book that takes up shelf space for a few years before landing in the donation box.

Because none of us simply need more recipes. We need our actual kitchen problems solved, like:

“I have food in the house, but I still don’t know what to make.”

“I’m bored with the same meals I make over and over.”

“I tried the whole-hog homesteading thing and it wasn’t for me—but I still want real, nourishing food.”

“I don’t want to buy one weird ingredient I’ll never use again.”

“I like cooking from scratch, but I also have a life and a schedule.”

“I want old-fashioned skills… but I’m not trying to cosplay 1892.”

Same, friend. Same.

So if you’re considering grabbing a copy of my new cookbook but wondering, Will I actually use this?

Here’s my promise to you:

This book was built for real life.

Breakfasts for mornings when nobody has time for nonsense

These are simple, non-fussy, and either quick to make or easy to prep ahead:

• Egg & Sausage Breakfast Bites
• Sourdough Breakfast Pizza
• Black Bean Breakfast Burritos
• Tomato Poached Eggs
• Sourdough Crepes
• Creamed Chard & Egg Skillet
• From-Scratch Breakfast Sandwiches
• Homestead Breakfast Bake
• Buttermilk Blueberry Buckle
• Icebox Oatmeal
• Overnight French Toast Bake
• No-Fuss Granola
• Tomato Poached Eggs

These are the kind of breakfasts that work when you’re heading out the door for school, sports, events, horse stuff, chores… or all of the above.

Main dishes that don’t require loads of brainpower

These taste good, use familiar ingredients, and can quickly become part of your regular rotation:

• Hamburger Helper—without the box
• Cheeseburger Salad
• One-Pot Beef Stroganoff
• Slow-Cooker Taco Meat
• Hearty Ham & Kraut Bake
• Slow-Cooker Sausage & Potatoes
• Homestyle Chicken Pot Pie
• Garden Stir-Fry Framework
• Mix-and-Match Empanadas
• Supper on a Sheet Framework
• Bacon Corn Chowder
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Cream of Mushroom Soup
• Creamy Meatball Soup
• Versatile Meatballs
• Cheesy White Bean Skillet
• From-Scratch Chicken Nuggets
• Salty Roast Chicken
• Shredded Beef Sandwiches

Plus several extremely flexible meal frameworks designed to help you use what you already have.

Sides that make ordinary dinners feel better

• Garlic Butter Rice
• Potato Gnocchi
• Homestead Wedge Salad
• Rustic Caesar Salad
• Farmhouse Salad v/ Lemon Vinaigrette
• Cauliflower Gratin
• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Sauerkraut w/ Kimchi variation
• Slow Roasted Onions
• Honey Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
• Dutch Oven Baked Beans
• Ginger Slaw
• Simple Mexican Rice
• Melting Potatoes
• Creamy Jalapeño Corn Dip

Nothing wildly complicated. Just the kinds of things that make a basic roast chicken or grilled steak feel like an actual meal.

Breads for when you want the from-scratch feeling without turning it into a full-time job

• Essential Everyday Dough
• Homestyle Cinnamon Rolls
• Maple Brown Sugar Scones
• Sweet Potato Biscuits
• Homemade Corn Tortillas
• Parmesan Dinner Rolls
• Easy Sourdough Boule
• Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
• Old-Fashioned Homestead Doughnuts
• Rustic Homemade Bagels
• English Muffins
• Soft Flatbreads
• Garlic Focaccia

They take a little more time than opening a package, obviously—but they’re approachable enough to actually make again.

Desserts that feel fancy without requiring culinary school

• Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie
• Peanut Butter Pie
• Cherry Pie Bars
• Cast-Iron Fruit Pizza
• Chocolate Pudding Cake
• The Best Boxless Brownies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Orange Buttermilk Sherbet
• Maple Marshmallows
• Slow-Cooking Hot Chocolate
• Classic Milkshake
• Ice Cream Soda
• Mason Jar Panna Cotta with Berry Coulis
• Banana Sheet Cake
• Best Boxless Brownies
• Oatmeal Cream Pies
• Lemon Curd Custard

And as always, I packed in a ridiculous number of guides and how-tos, because I want this book to teach—not just give you another list of instructions:

• How to cook the perfect fried egg
• How to make homemade mayo and aioli
• How to make homemade coffee creamer
• How to stretch a whole chicken for 3 meals
• How to cook for a crowd
• How to make all-purpose tomato sauce (canned or not)
• How to quick-pickle vegetables
• How to mill and use whole-wheat flour
• How to make sourdough for normal people

And plenty more.

Because more than anything, I wanted this book to be useful, not just impressive.

I’ve already tried the ultra-hardcore version of an old-fashioned/homestead life: Cooking nearly everything from scratch. Growing it. Milking it. Canning it. Fermenting it.

And while I still love many of those things, I’ve also learned that

Capability is incredibly valuable, but exhaustion isn’t.

So no. You probably don’t need another cookbook.

But if you need easier breakfasts and dinners, fresh ideas, and a little more confidence using what you already have, this book will earn its keep.

And just for launch week: if you order by 11:59 PM Mountain Time on October 6, I’ll also give you my full $147 Heritage Cooking Crash Course FREE.

How it works:

1. Preorder the Old-Fashioned on Purpose cookbook from your favorite online retailer or local bookstore.
2. Upload your proof of purchase here.
3. We’ll email you access to the full course within 24 hours and you’ll get all the other bonuses delivered via email.

(Already preordered? You’re included too!)

Tomorrow, I’ll show you exactly what’s inside the course—because there is a LOT. Stay tuned….

-Jill

The post You Don’t Need Another Cookbook appeared first on The Prairie Homestead.