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Ancestral Kitchen

Ancestral Kitchen

By: Alison Kay & Andrea Huehnerhoff
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The Ancestral Kitchen is a twice-monthly podcast hosted by Alison, a European town-dweller and Andrea, living on a family farm in northwest Washington state. Pull up a chair at the table and join us as we talk about eating, cooking and living with ancient ancestral food wisdom in a modern-world kitchen. Find us here: http://ancestralkitchenpodcast.com Podcast theme and audio production by Robert Michael Kay, find him at www.robertmichaelkay.comCopyright 2026 Alison Kay & Andrea Huehnerhoff Art Cooking Food & Wine Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • #134 - Freezer Meals: Ancestral Foods for busy days, post-partum, and make-ahead food prepping

    #134 - Freezer Meals: Ancestral Foods for busy days, post-partum, and make-ahead food prepping
    Jun 15 2026
    Whether it's anticipating busy days between work and school, heavy project days writing or working in the garden or canning, postpartum or surgery recovery period - there are many reasons why having a stocked freezer supplied with ready to go meals and ingredients is an enormous benefit to living an ancestral, locavore style life. For many reasons - financial, ingredient concerns, sourcing concerns, access - many of us are not able to rely on the fallback of quick easy prepared foods from a grocery store or restaurants, and many of us don't have a village around us that can supply emergency meals in time of need, much less meals that would comply with our sometimes complicated or weird dietary requirements.Building the routine of freezer stacking has been invaluable for our family, and in this episode I hope to share some of the ideas, meals and ingredients that have been helpful for us. Of course I thought of many more as soon as we finished recording, but there is plenty here to work with!There is a bonus download for this episode available to all listeners, where we included recipe links for many of the foods we are going to discuss. If you are in our supporter community, we look forward to hearing your freezer ideas and contributions in our discussion boards on Discord. Let’s get the ideas flowing and keep those freezers stocked!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sign up to the pod's newsletter here.Get a free 30-page guide to Baking with Ancient GrainsRead our Guide to Milling Your Own FlourGet all three of the podcast cookbooksWear our beautiful, sustainable merchandiseAlison's course, Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The BasicsAlison's Sowans oat fermentation courseVisit our (non-Amazon!) bookshop: US here and UK here.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Come join the podcast community! You can select from a variety of levels with benefits including monthly live calls, a private podcast feed stuffed with bonus content, and a Discord discussion group Find out more here!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *What we talked about:Leah's business, which relies on freezers!The free bonus download for this episodeWhy and when freezer meals can play an important roleIdeas to consider when planning your freezer mealsAll-in-one prepared meals and casserolesSidekicks, or parts of meals that can be paired with morePrepped ingredients, meant to be use in a dishContainers and storage solutionsThe personal views and opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect our own personal views or opinions. We recognize that our guests are whole persons and this may include views we or our audience actively disagree with; our guests are invited to the show because we feel they have something valuable to share with us all, and we do not ask them to censor their personal views on air. Our sharing of their work is not necessarily an endorsement of their personal views.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *If you love the show, leave us a 5* reviews on Apple Podcasts:Open the Apple Podcast app and find Ancestral Kitchen Podcast in your libraryScroll down to 'ratings and reviews', click on 'write a review', give us 5*s and then tell us why you love listening* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Resources:Ketchikan Sam’s podcast link or go to Ketchikan Sam’s and use code ANCESTRAL26For more recipe links and our working notes, check the download hereIndustrial SharpieNon-Gummy Masking Tape (I use for everything in the kitchen)Souper CubesSpaghetti SauceSwedish MeatballsEnchiladasMexican Lasagna (not Mexican, and not lasagna)The Pastured Pork CookbookMeals at the Ancestral Hearth CookbookDo you have memories, documents, recipes or stories of those who cooked ancestrally? Visit our website here for how to shareThe podcast has a website here!Stay in touch with Alison via her newsletter at Ancestral KitchenThe podcast is on You Tube hereThe podcast is mixed and the music created by Alison's husband, Rob. Find him here: Robert Michael Kay
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • #133 - Home Milling Q & A

    #133 - Home Milling Q & A
    Jun 1 2026
    We get lots of questions from supporters and listeners about milling your own flour and thought it was about time we brought them all together a Q&A.This episode is packed with information:We start with troubleshooting bread made with freshly milled flour, including:why your bread might not be rising as muchwhy you might have experienced your bread pancakingand why freshly milled flour breads need more water and how best to transition to thatWe then go on to talk about sifting, how to do it, and the nutritional effects.We talk about storing grain, whether we're personally concerned with the heat that grinding grains at home produces, and then how we store excess flour.We cover freshly milling gluten-free grains, including a deep dive into oats.And we talk about all the other things you can use your home mill for, and there are lots of them.Whether you have a mill or whether you're just thinking about getting a mill, this episode will bring you something new.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sign up to the pod's newsletter here.Get a free 30-page guide to Baking with Ancient GrainsRead our Guide to Milling Your Own FlourGet all three of the podcast cookbooksWear our beautiful, sustainable merchandiseAlison's course, Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The BasicsAlison's Sowans oat fermentation courseVisit our (non-Amazon!) bookshop: US here and UK here.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Come join the podcast community! You can select from a variety of levels with benefits including monthly live calls, a private podcast feed stuffed with bonus content, and a Discord discussion group Find out more here!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *If you love the show, leave us a 5* reviews on Apple Podcasts:Open the Apple Podcast app and find Ancestral Kitchen Podcast in your libraryScroll down to 'ratings and reviews', click on 'write a review', give us 5*s and then tell us why you love listening* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Resources:Ancestral Kitchen Podcast Guide to Home MillingThe Grain Flavour Wheel ProjectAlison’s article on making stone-ground oatmeal in the mockmillMockmill Milling GuideBread LasagnaDo you have memories, documents, recipes or stories of those who cooked ancestrally? Visit our website here for how to shareThe podcast has a website here!Stay in touch with Alison via her newsletter at Ancestral KitchenThe podcast is on You Tube hereThe podcast is mixed and the music created by Alison's husband, Rob. Find him here: Robert Michael Kay
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • #132 - A Week of Ancestral Meals: what we really ate

    #132 - A Week of Ancestral Meals: what we really ate
    May 18 2026
    What was the last thing you ate? This is the question we always begin our podcast episodes with. The reason is because we always want to know what the other is fixing and cooking! What’s going on in your kitchen these days? What’s fresh and good? One of our earliest episodes recounts everything in our refrigerators at the moment! That was a lot of fun to record.Part of what drives this interest in what we are eating is developing the ideas and understanding of what a day in the life of ancestral food looks like in a world where you may be the only person you know who is eating anything like an ancestral or ancestrally inspired diet. A world where once upon a time it would have been the norm to eat this way, but now you are trying to create a life, habits, rolling tasks, completely on your own, and without the benefit of examples from your childhood or the people around you or expert cooks who live nearby and can give suggestions and show you a good way to use up chicken carcasses or how to feed a lot of small children filling food day after day. And another reason why is - there is something intangible we learn when we travel to a place, stay in a home and break bread with someone. It is an intimate communion that tells us something about that person.For this episode, we decided to track our meals for an entire week so you could see the shape of them - where some were more interesting, some were new and exciting, and others were leftovers, scraps, things we were just trying to use up. An ancestral diet is often made up of the mundane and simple, but exquisite foods. Pure in their sourcing, flavour, freshness but simple in their preparation and humble in their serving.To create a supporter bonus, I reached out to our supporter community and asked if they were willing to contribute a week of their meals as well, to be published as an accompanying booklet to the episode. The incredible booklet for podcast supporters that accompanies this episode includes at last count 50 pages with about 20 delicious menus, real menus made by families eating ancestral and home prepared meals ranging in size from empty nesters to 7 children in the home, including a special weekend with 12 children to be fed!There is also an aftershow - we wanted to go over some details from these contributed menus and we were really pushing the limit on podcast length so we continued recording some of those discussions as an aftershow which supporters can find in the podcast feed. Now without further ado, let’s find out what is on the menu in ancestral homes today.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sign up to the pod's newsletter here.Get a free 30-page guide to Baking with Ancient GrainsRead our Guide to Milling Your Own FlourGet all three of the podcast cookbooksWear our beautiful, sustainable merchandiseAlison's course, Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The BasicsAlison's Sowans oat fermentation courseVisit our (non-Amazon!) bookshop: US here and UK here.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Come join the podcast community! You can select from a variety of levels with benefits including monthly live calls, a private podcast feed stuffed with bonus content, and a Discord discussion group Find out more here!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *What we talked about:What we ateA lovely review from a listenerWhy talk about a week of meals?An incredible download for supporters, contributed to by supporters!The beauty of the mundaneWhere our concept of mealtimes came fromAlison's upper-class menu styleAlison's notes on her menu: low histamine, gluten-free, and moreAndrea's notes on her menu: winter fare, gluten-free, an outdoor weekOur week in meals, alternating daysThe most common concerns listeners had about their menusSharing samples from some listener menusSupporters can visit the private podcast, Kitchen Table Chats, to see the aftershow for this episode and hear more from the listener menus.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *If you love the show, leave us a 5* reviews on Apple Podcasts:Open the Apple Podcast app and find Ancestral Kitchen Podcast in your libraryScroll down to 'ratings and reviews', click on 'write a review', give us 5*s and then tell us why you love listening* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Resources:Supporters can download A Treasury of Ancestral Menus, Volume I in the downloads section today!The Evolution of MealtimesWhy and How to Study Food History - hour long YouTube lectureThe Little-Known Evolution of LunchThe Regency Town House: MealtimesMegan's Ranch SeasoningSending in a menu? Include how many adults/children (and the children's ages!), any special dietary needs, and roughly where you are in the world (country/state or major city if you like), and Firstname/Last initial. Any other details you feel are pertinent such as sourcing, what you grew, special processing info or food prep, is all delightful and adds to much color! Photographs...
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    1 hr and 51 mins
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