About

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rachael from milk glass home in a kitchen with a water bath canner and apple butter.

Welcome to Milk Glass Home!

Milk Glass Home is a food blog about cooking from scratch, eating with the seasons, and preserving the harvest.

I’m Rachael, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve turned my suburban house into a mini-homestead and would love to help you do the same exact thing. If we can do it with our picky HOA and small yard, you can, too!

My focus is highlighting seasonal recipes, particularly recipes that include produce from the garden or local farms.

I’m specifically interested in food preservation and learning more about how people have preserved the harvests for generations. You’ll find plenty of recipes about infusing fresh ingredients, dehydrating, freezing, and canning.

One of my passions is bringing back old-fashioned ways of baking, including working with natural yeast (sourdough!) and freshly milled flour.

My goal is to help people who crave this sort of lifestyle jump into it confidently and successfully with simple, easy-to-follow recipes and practical knowledge. Everything I’ve learned over the past decade, I’m sharing right here with you!

Who is Rachael?

I’m the owner and main writer of Milk Glass Home. I’ve been interested in how people used to live since I was a child, always stuck with my head in books wondering about the past.

I grew up in a military family, but I have deep, deep roots in Wisconsin farm country and spent as much time as I could with my grandparents, listening to stories, visiting farmstands, and driving around the countryside.

woman slicing an onion in the kitchen to make soup.

In 2011, I started my very first blog and instantly fell in love with the platform. This is when I made my first sourdough starter, started culturing kefir, and cooking with seasonal produce.

After moving back to Washington in 2013, we lived on a property with a tiny front yard garden and a little patch of strawberries on the side. That was the first year I ever planted my own garden.

My little beet seeds exploded and turned into these gorgeous, beautiful roots, and my newfound love of gardening took root.

Eventually, I started working at a local farmers market, met a bunch of amazing farmers, and fell in love with local food.

Finally, the past and the present connected for me. I could take a leaf out of my grandparents’ book and also spend time with people who loved the same things I did!

I started canning, expanding my garden every year, raising chickens and turkeys, fermenting all kinds of things, and working on local farms. For a while, I was a farm sitter, and I have LOTS of stories about chasing ducks or accidentally stepping on slugs.

Eventually, I ended up becoming the manager of my local market and worked there for a total of four years before I became an elementary school teacher.

After being part of a local food community for so long and taking baby steps to grow my own food and preserve the harvest, I’ve seen firsthand how small actions build into something much greater.

I know how powerful this lifestyle can be and love to share recipes and tips to help people unlock these experiences for themselves!

woman using an electric grain mill to make flour.

woman smiling and stirring dough in a bowl in a kitchen.

Connect with Rachael

Rachael is a jill-of-all-trades (master of some). She loves running websites and working on blogs and is a full-time professional blogger.

In addition to Milk Glass Home, she also runs:

Freshly Milled Grains – A blog exclusively about working with fresh flour
Seasonal Slow Living – A blog and podcast focused on shifting to a slower, seasonal way of living
Bright Spark Writing – A content writing agency tailored to food bloggers

What types of recipes do you post?

As a former teacher, I can’t help but bring that teacher lens to the blog. I like to break complex tasks down into simple steps for beginners to help them realize they can do this on their own!

Although I cook like my ancestors did centuries ago, I still use modern equipment, so get ready to break out the food processor, air fryer, and grain mill.

My recipes do include sugar, but I often highlight natural sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, and coconut sugar, and I tend to avoid vegetable oils and processed ingredients. You’ll never find canned cream of anything soup! I’m a firm believer that homemade is best.

Many of my posts feature produce from my own garden, local farms, or the local farmstand. If I can’t find it locally, I’ll look on Azure Standard or sometimes grab it from a regular grocery store.

rachael from milk glass home in the kitchen making apple butter.

Why is this blog called Milk Glass Home?

I grew up as a military brat, but have always had deep roots in Wisconsin. Every summer, I would visit “home” and spend time with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings, and more. I spent a lot of time visiting people, driving around farm country listening to stories about the old days from my grandpa, and shuffling through antique stores, farm stands, and flea markets.

These days, the milk glass symbolizes this connection to the past and alternative ways of finding things.

It reminds us all of this slower, more old-fashioned way of living that just feels right.

apple cider scones on a milk glass plate

vintage blue mason jar with homemade toilet bombs.

Fun Facts about Rachael

I was born in Scotland as an American citizen but only lived there until I was 9 months old.
After moving and traveling so much in my childhood, I really can’t stand moving and don’t enjoy flying anymore. I’d rather be home (or in the woods).
I’ve lived in Washington for 17 years total (7 years as a child and 10 years as an adult), which is much longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere else.
I went to high school on an American military base in England and graduated in a cathedral.
As a child, I was an avid reader and would routinely bring home a mountain of books from the library. I still have a thing for used bookstores and absolutely love learning.
I have a deep, deep love of antiques, specifically kitchen equipment. I collect stoneware mixing bowls, crocks, and a variety of tools and equipment.
I was a teacher for 3 years and consider this blog a way to continue that tradition in a way that feels a bit less stressful.
I weave baskets and often sell them or teach basket-weaving classes for fun.
I’m married and have a mini Labradoodle named Rosie and a rescue cat named Hillybilly Potatoleaf (“Billy” for short).
I am sensitive to fragrance, so we are a completely fragrance-free household.

Press

Milk Glass Home has been highlighted on a variety of other blogs and websites! Here are some of those features:

Redfin: 16 Expert-Approved Earth Day Tips for Going Green at Home

Homes & Gardens: How to save money at home – 20 expert ways to cut bills in 2022

Sustainable Minimalists: Desperation Dinners

Dr. John La Puma: Anxiety and Nature As Experienced by Content Creators

Pretty Progressive: Best Environmentally Friendly Presents For Your Loved Ones

Where the magic happens

More often than not, you’ll find me tinkering in the kitchen working on a recipe, feeding our sourdough starter, cleaning up thrifted antiques, or even starting seeds.