Kate Downham

Some of my favourites from when we used to go to bakeries… Apple turnovers (the kind made from puff pastry, apple pie filling, and lots of whipped cream), chocolate eclairs, cheesecake, almond croissants, chocolate croissants, Danish pastries, cherry pie, bee sting cake, mud cake. Custard tarts and vanilla slice can be nice if made well too.

There’s a thing that I’m not sure exists outside of Tasmania or not called a “house cake” which is this little torte, slightly smaller than the palm of my hand, with a shortcrusty base, a filling that I think is pastry cream, and then berries and a sweet jelly on top. I looked it up years ago looking for a recipe and it doesn’t seem to be known by that name, but I wonder if it has a different name in another country.

My favourite is a stovetop version, where I make a basic roux sauce, add cheese, keep it hot while I cook homemade sourdough pasta (and usually some leafy greens towards the end of the cook time), then mix through the pasta, heating it up a bit more to make sure it's really bubbling and hot.

I serve kimchi on the side of it. It goes surprisingly well.

Imagine you are going into your favourite bakery to get some treats - what do you choose?

And what are your favourite treats to bake at home?

Is there any treat that you love and that you’d like to see a healthy version of?

My children are telling me I should write a cookbook of treats, and that they need to be the official taste testers. We’ve been compiling a list of ideas to work on and are wondering if there’s anything we’ve missed.

We are the highest house on the side of a hill, there’s no heavy industry or sewerage above us, so the scary water quality stuff that affects people closer to sea level in Tasmania isn’t an issue for our lovely mountain stream.

Lead, cadmium, and other random things do show up in remote wilderness areas though, which is one of the reasons we are filtering.

The water gets to our house through a long line of 2” polypipe. I have no idea how old these pipes are or what’s in them, and while I will gladly scoop water up from the stream with my hands and drink it without filtering, I have no idea what is lurking in this old pipe system so prefer to boil or filter it.

I don’t think it’s minerals that are clogging it up - our soil is quite low in calcium and magnesium. P.h of around 5.3 I think.

I still haven’t gotten around to re-priming… I’ve just been lightly scrubbing with bottle brush, emptying, and refilling every morning + topping it up during the day, and so far we’ve had just enough water. I will have to try re-priming before the hot weather really kicks in though.

I think both have their good points - The cartoons in the original make me smile, but I think the new one looks smoother and maybe more normie-friendly. The sales bit of the new one is more clear - the old one it's a bit busy for some people - they have to make that extra decision of which option to get, in the new one the $35 combo is more obvious.

May Gardner wrote:Does this book include how to make feta and similar types of brined curd cheeses?

There are full instructions for feta and halloumi. Lovely tasty cheeses.

May Gardner wrote:Kate, I have a glass-top electric stove that has burners that cycle on and off when turned to high, which apparently is a no-no for pressure canners. There was an article about what kinds of stoves can and can't work for canning, and it actually had a photo of the exact stove I have (same color too) as an example of what doesn't work, lol. It's a Frigidare Electrolux Gallery Series self cleaning oven with speed bake. It came with the old house I'm in. While I like the control an open flame gives for cooking, I prefer to not have natural gas or LP appliances.

I wonder if a single induction burner could work? These can be picked up pretty cheaply. Not all canners will work on induction stoves though, so you'd need to check the model first. I know there is a type of Presto that will work on induction, but I don't think all Prestos will.

I've only pressure canned on a wood stove, so can't say exactly what is needed for an electric stove, but on wood (which is something they don't recommend), you generally need it heating at medium-high to high at first when it's venting and getting to pressure, and then it gets lowered just to maintain the same heat once you get it to the right pressure. As a safety precaution, I tend to can at 12 to 13 instead of 10, so that if the pressure drops, I don't have to start the timing all over again. But if it is a "the canner will explode if used with this type of stove" issue then you'll need to do more research.

I do a lot of fruit sauces without any sugar at all - just cook up the fruit, mash it a bit while it's cooking, hot pack into jars, then water bath can 20 mins for pints 25 for quarts.

My stove is not considered suitable for pressure canning, and I've been able to pressure can with it. What kind of stove are you using?

We can leave roots in the ground all winter here, or potatoes can be put in a clamp, but root cellars are a good idea, because it means I can use the root patch to grow green manures or overwintering crops.

In times when I haven't grown enough food, I've bought in some bulk roots and 'cellared' them in barrels or buckets in a cool place (unheated room, or crawlspace under house) surrounded by dry leaves. Beetroot seems to work the best out of anything for this.

Here's my article about root cellaring without a root cellar: https://thenourishinghearthfire.com/2024/07/01/root-cellaring-without-a-root-cellar-simple-off-grid-food-storage/

Homegrown carrots, unwashed, with soil still attached seem to keep OK in an unheated room for a while. Last time I did this I just needed to clear a patch of ground, and had them in a large stainless steel bowl in the larder, we ate them within a month or so and they still tasted nice and crisp.

I have different favourite recipes at different times of year - this one is my favourite recipe most of the year: https://thenourishinghearthfire.com/2026/05/04/fresh-milled-flour-sourdough-beginners/

In the cooler parts of the year I get better results using a larger amount of starter or pre-ferment, but still basically a similar basic mix of flour, water, starter, and salt.

I really enjoy rye breads, I used to make around half our bread a 40-50% rye 50-60% wheat mix, but I've been getting lazy lately and just making lots of wheat bread!

I have lots and lots of favourite breads, but for the kind that we eat every day, those basic wheat or rye ones are our staples.