
Nothing beats homemade and the experience it curates! To this day I will only eat homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam. There is no compromise.
People wonder where the name Ruthie comes from, keep reading and it’ll make sense. My name is Tricia Ruthann & my earliest memories are trying to see over the edge to the top of Mimi’s chest freezer to see all the pies that she had prepared for Christmas dinner and the worry of which ones I’ll need a piece of. Or the excitement of walking into my Grandma’s (Mary Ruth) house at Christmas and feeling like I was walking into Willy Wonka’s factory. Everything from homemade candy, cookies, special treat that were reserved only for that special Christmas spread & of course Christmas pudding with the coveted rum sauce. Food & Experiences where food is shared has built who I am and what I treasure. Luckily my mother (Patricia Ruthann) carried on the traditions that both my Grandmothers shared with her and was a Home Economics teacher to boot. For those who do not know what a Home Economics teacher is, they taught life skills. Meal planning, preparation & nutrition, sewing, knitting, managing finances, family planning & parenting. Our dinners were at home, restaurants were for a special occasion, fast food wasn’t an option and our birthday dinners were our favourites. Mom could do anything to a whole new level! On top of everything else, she taught me that I could do anything. The process of cooking and sharing the experience with your family, the conversations that happen & the time spent together is priceless. When your done, you celebrate and share in enjoying the fruits of your combined labour or if it doesn’t turn out, you laugh together, debate what went wrong and start over. Simple life lessons come from these experiences.
Sourdough bread has always been a favourite of mine, not because of the health benefits, simply because it’s yummy! Being healthy is a bonus for sure! Where I grew up just outside Windsor there were bakeries that I could find Sourdough bread whenever the craving hit. This was not the case when my family relocated in 2022 to the Chatham Kent area, specifically Highgate. So what do I do? I build a Sourdough Starter and bake my own! After lots of practice, using my family & friends as test subjects, I decided to start sharing my bread with others who shared the same love of Sourdough. In doing this friends have shared their stories with me regarding their Sourdough journeys and the benefits they’ve experienced. That’s when I started researching the benefits associated with Sourdough and using my starter in additional products.
The kitchen is truly the heart of the home and cooking is the love language that was shared with me by all the women in my life and in turn is how I continue to share my love with family & friends.
There is nothing more exciting than sharing food with someone and seeing the smile that is slowly created on their face or hearing their stories & memories that just rushed into their head as the flavours hit.