Homestead Recipes: Midwestern Inspirations, Family Favorites, and Pearls of Wisdom from a Sassy Home Cook
Homestead Recipes: Midwestern Inspirations, Family Favorites, and Pearls of Wisdom from a Sassy Home Cook book cover

Homestead Recipes: Midwestern Inspirations, Family Favorites, and Pearls of Wisdom from a Sassy Home Cook

Hardcover – April 12, 2022

by
Price
$18.45
Format
Hardcover
Pages
304
Publisher
William Morrow Cookbooks
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0063008205
Dimensions
7.38 x 0.93 x 9.12 inches
Weight
2.1 pounds

Description

“Amanda Rettke is truly the heart and soul of the food blogging community, with her authenticity, laughter, genuine spirit, and passion for what she does. My girl Amanda keeps it real! These recipes are the kind I grew up loving, filled with soul and pure comfort. This book is a necessity for home cooks everywhere, and I can't wait for everyone to have this glimpse into Amanda's heart” — Jocelyn Delk Adams, author of Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories “Whether you pick up Homestead Recipes for the food or the writing, you'll be fully satisfied with both. Amanda delivers no-fail food in a delightfully nonsensical way. Loaded with flavor and tips but also humor and heart, this book will have you gathering your family around the table to eat, then lingering a little longer to swap stories, share anecdotes, and make memories with a little added sprinkle of Amanda's signature Midwestern flair.” — Susie Bulloch, BBQ expert and founder of Hey Grill Hey “Food is a common love language that connects us all. These are Amanda’s family favorites, and you can feel the love she has for each member of her family in every recipe. This magical love language comes to life in your own kitchen with your own family for years of treasured memories to come, with amazingly delicious food as the centerpiece.” — Rachel Farnsworth, author of The Stay-at-Home Chef Slow Cooker Cookbook “Amanda makes cozy home cooking easy and accessible with recipes that are perfect every time. Filled with tried and true family favorites, this is a book you’ll reach for again and again.” — Holly Nilsson, founder of Spend with Pennies “I Am Homesteader blogger Rettke (Surprise-Inside Cakes) offers the homiest of home cooking with recipes that highlight “how fantastic and crazy the food is here in the Midwest.” . . . A spoonful of sugar, then several more, help the treats go down in this waistline-be-damned parade of comfort foods.” — Publishers Weekly Amanda Rettke began her food blogging career in October 2010 with the introduction of her first surprise-inside cake, and since then she's been featured in the New York Times , Los Angeles Times , Woman's World , Midwest Living , Brides , and Romantic Homes . A regular contributor to Food Network and HuffPost Food online, she has also been featured on the Martha Stewart Show and marthastewart.com. She lives with her husband and five children near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Features & Highlights

  • From the author of
  • Surprise-Inside Cakes
  • and the hugely popular I Am Homesteader and I Am Baker blogs—a book filled with sass, charm, and 110 tried-and-true home-cooked favorite recipes that shine whether you’re a megamart devotee or a garden-to-table enthusiast.
  • With 75 chickens, 25 ducks, 5 guinea hens, and a 1/2-acre garden on her Minnesota homestead, Amanda Rettke and her family have dedicated themselves to learning about the land and feeding everyone who steps foot on it, from beloved friends to delivery drivers. After pleasing many sweet teeth with recipes from her popular I Am Baker blog, Amanda opens up more of her kitchen to share how her family eats on a daily basis. All of her 110 recipes are accessible regardless of how close to the land you live, with a combination of ingredients you can grow at home (but don’t have to) and store-bought staples. A small-town smart-aleck, Amanda pairs her recipes with sassy commentary and food and homestead photos as beautiful as her famous desserts. She’ll make you feel right at home with practical, easy methods and real ingredients that give you incredible flavor.
  • Amanda has you covered with recipes for all types of meals, with chapters for breakfast, casseroles, soups, appetizers, ground beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, salads, bars, desserts, and cookies. She even has an entire chapter dedicated to zucchini recipes, as every Midwesterner with a garden has been subjected to Zucchini-pocalypse—that moment when you can’t even give away the bounteous green deluge.
  • Homestead Recipes
  • is sure to please, with Amanda’s no-fail versions of delicious, unmistakably Midwestern staple recipes, including:
  • Tater Tot Hotdish
  • Tater Tot Hotdish
  • Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms
  • Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms
  • Skillet Hamburger Nachos
  • Skillet Hamburger Nachos
  • Buffalo Stuffed Chicken
  • Buffalo Stuffed Chicken
  • Roasted Asparagus Puff Pastry
  • Roasted Asparagus Puff Pastry
  • Zucchini Corn Chowder
  • Zucchini Corn Chowder
  • Butterscotch Bars
  • Butterscotch Bars
  • Cream Cheese Pound Cake
  • Cream Cheese Pound Cake
  • Amanda invites you into her kitchen, garden, and family with this eagerly awaited, down-to-earth cookbook.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(597)
★★★★
25%
(249)
★★★
15%
(149)
★★
7%
(70)
★
-7%
(-70)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

A PERFECT EVERY DAY COOKBOOK. AND BOY, DO I LOVE AMANDA

My two daughters hooked me up with I AM BAKER years ago so I guess that classifies me as her NUMBER ONE FAN (don't let the Annie Wilkes reference scare you). I was leaning over the counter, thumbing through the recipes and came across Sausage Patties with Jalapeño and Cheddar and having a freezer full of ground pork from a slain pig, made them this morning. Man oh man! Delicious, easy and wonderful. Afterwards, I sat in the recliner to begin to actually go though the book. I got to the end of the introductions, after laughing out loud several times, and misted up. She got me good in the first introduction to Olivia. I said, "wait, did she just say that?". Went back and re-read, again....and again. Whoa. Then I kept reading through the introductions, and after the 2nd one, I belly laughed. I need a friend like Amanda. We ALL need a friend like Amanda. I want to BE a friend like Amanda.
I'm about a third of the way through it and decided to write my review because nothing is going to change my mind about this book and I know enough about cooking to know that these recipes are damned good. The next thing I'm going to do is send a copy to each of my daughters who are incredible cooks and bakers. You doubt me? Check out Snarky Kitchen on Instagram ---that's my oldest.
This is a beautiful cookbook and the spirit of Amanda shines throughout. If you love cookbooks and humor, and need a dose of sunshine you have come to the right place. Just do yourself a favor and buy it. I"ll update the review in a few months and talk about the recipes, but for now, the real star of the book is the incredible heart of Amanda.
28 people found this helpful
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Comfort Food Central

There are things I look for when I purchase a cookbook. 1. Are there pictures for most of the recipes? Because I need the visual cue of, “that looks yummy I think I will make that.” There ARE photos for ALL the recipes. I took the time to check while watching football. 2. Are the ingredients reasonable and can be easily found? Yes. 3. Are the directions clearly written? Yes. 4 Is there nutritional information included? No. I didn’t buy this because I was on a diet. I bought it for the comfort food that is within the pages. If I really really need to know, there are nutritional food calculators online and she gives you the amount of servings, so you don’t have to dish out the entire meal to figure out how many it serves. What else did I like? Amanda’s funny quips throughout the book.
20 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Feels like baking and cooking with a fun friend!

This was delivered to my door this afternoon. By the time 7 pm rolled around, I had bookmarked a slider recipe to try for a baby shower and had baked over 4 dozen of her snickerdoodle cookies! They were / are AMAZINGLY YUMMY!

I had never heard of this lovely lady before. This book was on my Amazon, " things you may like, based upon your shopping" list. You know the list....the one where Amazon temps you with More stuff you probably would like. Well, I am glad they suggested this book. I adore this woman! She is like the silly and fun friend you look forward to hanging out with. Her sense of humor is right up my alley and her description paragraphs for each recipe both make you chuckle and want to make them right away!
Her down home way of life and her love of family, friends and food draw you in, but going by those snickerdoodles I made tonight, her recipes will keep you coming back to try all her delicious creations! Mind you, if you are looking for a cookbook of super healthy, fancy schmancy, need lots of ingredients that you never heard of, type of recipes, then this cookbook is NOT for you. However, if you want recipes that recall your childhood or ones that have stick to your ribs deliciousness, then definitely buy this book! If I could give this book a 10 star rating, I would.
20 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Such a wonderful treat: Enjoy the food AND the stories

We use food to connect with others, and it makes sense to start that connection as we begin cooking the recipes. Amanda shares funny, heartwarming thoughts—even poignant remembrances— as she gives instructions in how to make each dish. My 17 year old daughter read each recipe intro to me as soon as the book arrived, which happened to be as I was prepping dinner. My daughter does not usually enjoy reading, as she struggles with dyslexia, but together made our way through. It’s a beautiful memory now for me. And shouldn’t a good book provide that?
The photos are lovely, instructions are clear, and the recipes range from “oh my gosh I would never have thought that would work!” (Dill Pickle Chowder, pg 87) to “I had no idea how empty my life was before this dessert” (zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting, pg 192) 😉
And I gotta say as a veggie lover, having Amanda creatively share recipes with zucchini is so good. We grow a lot of these (simply bc they are easy, inexpensive, as well as tasty) and oftentimes the only way presented to use this veg is zucchini bread or sauté it. Thankful to have a bit of diversity: noodles, chowder, cakes, brownies, and Five Cheese Zucchini Crust Pizza!
Last thing I really love about this cookbook: when Amanda shared about a good memory associated with food, her mom cooking and doing her best, and she remembering a bunk bed in a trailer— and sharing that memory with the same straightforward, unashamed joy of adding potato chips to a recipe…just another example of earlier thought on how a good book makes you think, feel, and consider. To get a cookbook that does that, and is filled with delicious and hearty meals, AND DESSERTS, well that’s just (salted carmel buttercream) ICING (pg 252) ON THE (chocolate beer) CAKE (pg 257)!
19 people found this helpful
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Amazing Cookbook

I stumbled across the I Am Baker Facebook page a few years ago as a struggling teenager attempting to learn how to cook for my boyfriend. Now as a mother and wife, I have spent years using Amanda’s recipes for various occasions.

I’ve never bought a cookbook before, but I’ve had some gifted to me. The ones that were gifted to me had a couple of good recipes, but the rest of the recipes weren’t very tasty or called for outlandish ingredients I had to search for.

When I saw there was an I Am Baker cookbook, I knew I had to have it. I have had such good luck with her recipes online, so I knew it would be good. And I was so right!! I have had the book for 3 months now and have tried majority of the recipes. I honestly haven’t came across one recipe I didn’t like. And it’s all so EASY. My picky family and in laws rave about my cooking, and it’s mostly due to I Am Baker.

I highly recommend this book. And if another one is released, I’ll be first in line to get my copy!
16 people found this helpful
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Real, everyday, simple & easy recipes!

First of all, the book is exactly what I expected! If you follow her site, you know her cooking style. This is NOT claiming to be full of fad diets or lifestyle modifications....it's a basic simple cookbook. I love that it isn't full of recipes with extravagant ingredients that I have to search high & low for (of which I may not use that ingredient often & waste money on). This is Midwestern homecooking for busy moms & families. There are cheese & butter so move on if you're objective to those things or make your own substitutions, but don't blame the author. Love her & the book. I also appreciate her down-to-earth approach and bios of her family. Makes her even more loveable!
15 people found this helpful
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Recipes to warm the soul

Amanda has all of my go to recipes that are yummy and easily made!! In fact, several of her dessert recipes are some of my friends’ favorite desserts I make. The peanut butter red velvet thumb prints are to die for, as well as the ginger bread crinkles. For all of the “low carbers” that are haters on anything that has carbs, you came to the wrong site, and you should have been smart enough to know when the cook book has “HOMESTEAD” on the cover!! You should have shopped smarter and done your research by watching Amanda’s YouTube!! And FYI, being a homesteader is all about having family at the center of everything you do, get over her introducing you to the loves of her life….husband, children and cooking. Amanda, you’re amazing and I pray you keep inspiring people to cook!! You’re the best!! All my best, Del!!
14 people found this helpful
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Best Cookbook Ever!!!

If you’re looking for a low carb cookbook, keep scrolling; BUT, if you’re looking for a cookbook with delicious and flavorful recipes that have been tried and tweaked to provide the absolute best results… then hop on the wagon and get your copy! I absolutely LOVE the recipes in this cookbook! They are easy to follow, have pictures, and best of all… are delectable! Haven’t made a recipe that my family or guests haven’t raved about!!! Now, don’t get your feathers ruffled if you don’t find low carb recipes in this book… I’m sure Amazon has something for you. THIS cookbook is full of tried and tested recipes that remind me of my grandma’s home cooking!!! BEST cookbook ever!!!
13 people found this helpful
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One star???

I have a bad habit of always looking at the lowest rated reviews to help me make my decision as to whether I should buy an item. There are three one star reviews for the cookbook and one of them is a complaint that it doesn’t have low carb recipes(?) This is not a diet book and certainly not a low card cook book, nowhere does it state that it is. Another says, “Not anything new or exciting.” Well, it’s not French cuisine, it’s home cooked favorites. Have I seen some of these recipes before? Sure, but a lot of them have variations that I haven’t seen. I just got my book today and I’m excited to try some new and old recipes out.
12 people found this helpful
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A Wonderful Cookbook

I learned about Amanda on Facebook, and loved her recipes. I was beyond excited to learn she had a cookbook! If you love comfort food like I do, this is the book for you. It doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. I also appreciate learning about Midwest terminology and even some recipes I wasn’t familiar with. The recipes most often involve ingredients you have on hand, which is always appreciated. I’m super happy with this purchase.
8 people found this helpful

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