Q&A WITH MARY 

Why did you write the book?

I love teaching home cooks the skills they need to properly prepare traditional foods. I want to preserve time-honored techniques for current and future generations so they are not lost in this fast-paced world. I wrote The Modern Pioneer Cookbook to provide a detailed manual to new home cooks who want to transition from a processed foods kitchen (where most purchased foods are packaged or pre-made) to a traditional foods kitchen (where as many foods as possible are homemade). I also wrote this book for home cooks who are already on their traditional foods journey, advancing from making simple homemade foods to more advanced ones such as sourdough bread.

What is a Modern Pioneer?

Pioneers blaze new ground in different fields, and some bring back traditional ways that may have been forgotten. A Modern Pioneer in the Kitchen wants to learn how to be more self-sufficient by making as many foods as possible homemade while also learning how to properly prepare these foods to maximize nutrient absorption. Plus, a Modern Pioneer in the Kitchen uses every last scrap of food, much as our ancestors did, so we can come as close as possible to a low-waste or no-waste kitchen. These Modern Pioneers will find The Modern Pioneer Cookbook to be an essential guide that captures their spirit and meets their needs in the kitchen.

What makes this book different from other cookbooks?

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook is more of a manual or roadmap than a typical cookbook filled with recipes. Unlike an ordinary recipe book, this book is an indispensable reference guide to help home cooks on their journey of transitioning from a processed foods kitchen to a traditional foods kitchen. Home cooks who want to learn the skills to properly prepare food and be more self-sufficient will want to have this book as part of their essential kitchen bookshelf. These skills include baking, fermenting, souring, soaking, sprouting, canning, and more.

What’s the easiest recipe in the book for a new cook?

I tell every new cook to just start with a roast chicken. Once you get past the squeamishness about touching a whole raw chicken (and yes, you can wear disposable gloves), the oven does the bulk of the work. Then, as I describe in The Modern Pioneer Cookbook, you can throw in some carrots, onions, and maybe a cut-up potato or two, and you have a complete meal. Once you eat the chicken, you have the carcass and some scraps you can use to make roast chicken bone broth. Nothing goes to waste, and you have created a nutritious protein-rich broth that can be used in place of water when cooking rice or other grains, as a base for soups and stews, or as a simple sipping broth. With just one roast chicken, you’ve already made progress towards creating a traditional foods kitchen.

What recipes can I make homemade for cheaper than store-bought?

Whether you buy your real food ingredients at the grocery store, the farmer’s market, or directly from a local ranch or dairy, what you make with those basic provisions usually will always be cheaper than what you can buy already prepared from the store. But there is a much more important reason for learning how to make most of your foods homemade: you control the ingredients. As a result, your homemade food is going to be considerably more wholesome than anything you can buy at the store.

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook shows you how to make both cheaper and more nutritious versions of a whole host of homemade foods, including bone broth (some of which can be made for pennies), bread (including sourdough and sprouted breads), jams, cultured butter, yogurt and kefir, stovetop cheeses (including cottage cheese), and an assortment of condiments. 

What’s a good recipe for new bakers?

I have a chapter called “The Home Baker” that shows new bakers how easy it is to get started baking and how each recipe builds on the skills they previously learned. New bakers will begin with a simple pioneer brown bread that is a “quick bread” because it does not require yeast, a sourdough starter, or any rise time. From there, the new baker will advance to a simple, soft, and tasty no-knead sandwich bread. This yeast-risen bread helps the new baker become accustomed to making breads that require a rise time, giving them the experience and confidence to advance to how to make a no-knead sourdough bread.

Why did you start a YouTube channel?

I am passionate about preserving the skills needed to properly prepare traditional foods. I started teaching these skills in my kitchen over 20 years ago to my friends who were interested in learning the traditional food preparation techniques my mother had taught me when I was young. When I found myself an empty nester, my son and husband encouraged me to put my lessons on YouTube. I created the Mary’s Nest channel, and I was able to share how to make traditional foods with a much wider audience. It is a joy to see how many people are interested in learning how to be Modern Pioneers in the Kitchen and begin their traditional foods journey!

What are your most popular recipe videos?

My most popular videos include how to make naturally fermented sauerkraut, beef bone broth, no-knead sandwich bread, homemade cream cheese, raw apple cider vinegar with the “mother,” and how to properly prepare and cook dried beans for maximum nutritional absorption. Home cooks will find these recipes and more in The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.