Jumping out of an airplane and building a parachute on the way down. That’s pretty much the perfect way to describe how I came into homesteading and learning how to cook from scratch. People assume I took a course, had family members who taught me the ropes, or went to some sort of homesteading school. Nope. My education was messier than that. I came into the world of homesteading knowing absolutely nothing. I wasn’t raised around this lifestyle and I didn’t have any local mentors to take me under their wing. It was trial by fire, right from the beginning.
I tapped into a hodgepodge of resources at first. I pored over various blogs, tattered books from the library, and YouTube videos as I wrapped my mind around something new. I tried to read a variety of voices and opinions on each topic in an attempt to stay well rounded, and then I unceremoniously jumped in. It was a haphazard progression of trial and error, but bit by bit I found my comfort zone expanding as I bumbled my way through milking a cow, baking bread, and crafting various staples from scratch. I also became adept at picking up the pieces and forging ahead after my many explosive mess-ups. (Literally. Once I exploded a bottle of blueberry kefir in the kitchen and was scraping blueberry bits off the ceiling for months.)
One of the things my unorthodox educational journey taught me was how obsessed I am about expanding skill sets, especially kitchen-related ones. I’ve kept a running list of experiences and skills we needed to master as we progressed on our journey, and I celebrated each time I crossed something off the list. Homemade fries with real potatoes? Check! Refried beans made from dry beans instead of from canned? Check! Coleslaw without bottled salad dressing? Check!
Only a few generations ago, the average person was impressively capable without really even trying. Most people had an innate understanding of how to grow, forage, and prepare foods, handle farm animals, and keep themselves alive in various situations. These skills weren’t special or niche, they were just life.
Modern advances have brought us a long way, but in some aspects, they’ve also caused us to take a flying leap backward. I’m not completely dogging contemporary conveniences and industrialized food—there are definite benefits to both. But they’ve eliminated the need for most folks to know how to cut up a chicken, grow something edible, or turn cucumbers into pickles, among other things. Because of this, many miss out on the intoxicating satisfaction intertwined with producing, creating, and inventing. It’s time to get back in our kitchens and expand our skill sets, and there’s no better place to start than right here.
Side dishes don’t have to be complicated. More often than not, the sides gracing our table are simple roasted vegetables, drizzled with butter or olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. However, sides provide ample opportunity to expand your skills repertoire as well. In this chapter you’ll find techniques and tips for turning basic dry beans into a savory company-worthy dish, transforming real cranberries into sauce instead of relying on a can, and taking cucumbers from your garden or farmers’ market and turning them into the perfectly garlicky jar of refrigerator pickles.
It’s empowering to create something new in the kitchen. It’s exhilarating to master a task that previously felt intimidating and foreign. And most of all, it tastes incredible. It’s time to skill up!
