The full quote attributed to William Shakespeare is, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”. The phrase has been used as both a compliment and an insult.

Hello, I’m Sam. I’m one of those people- everyone knows at least a few of us. We like to DIY (or, more correctly, DIO – do it ourselves). Basically, we have ADD, usually self-diagnosed. We try things, maybe we’re naturally good at one or two of them, but we get bored quickly and move on to the next thing. I cannot begin to think of how much money I have wasted over the years on components of DIY projects, only to get distracted or disheartened by mounting costs before moving on to the next thing. I have ongoing projects that I may or may not ever finish, too much stuff in my house, and a laundry list of other things I want to try with the hope of becoming a more self-sufficient human, for the ultimate benefit of my family.

Since this is my introductory post I think I have to write about me today, and then I hope not do that again for a long time.

The first thing I am is a Traditional Catholic, politically-unaffiliated, mother of two young boys, and wife to a non-practicing Lutheran (now that’s out of the way) butcher. I worked for nearly a decade as a pastry chef and cake decorator (graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in St. Louis back in 2010), so I have some skills that some might consider mastery. Unfortunately, I left that business several years ago and those skills, when not practiced often, tend to ebb. In my case, they deteriorate to the point that I’m no longer comfortable taking money for decorated cakes and I am forced by my own lack of confidence to offer less. I do, however, LOVE to bake.

I am a strong proponent of the health freedom movement and a fairly recent convert to the practices of naturopathy and herbalism, so I make a lot of my own toiletries and household items, despite my husband’s protests. I have been trying over the last 3 years to grow my own vegetables and herbs, because I don’t trust what comes from grocery stores, and I also don’t know how long we’ll be able to afford what’s available. My battles with the critters around my home are ongoing… still searching for solutions there. I have equipment and supplies to begin canning what I grow, and books on how-to, but I’ve never had the balls to get started because I’m scared of wasting food or harming my family with canning mistakes. Oh- and, I do swear like a sailor, a bad habit I’ve been trying to curtail for years since I have small children. They won’t be reading this blog, though, so if you have delicate sensitivities that are offended by random cursing, maybe my writing won’t be for you.

What else? Oh! Very exciting, I recently began playing with fermentation methods. I have an 18-day old sourdough starter that I’ve dubbed Breadna Krabappel (she was quite cranky at first and there was a lot of alcohol involved [hooch, IYKYK]), as well as a ginger bug that I’m hoping to use to make probiotic sodas. I have only done one bake yet with the discard from Breadna, some scones that I made with the strawberries I picked with my oldest boy earlier this week. I have yet to get into actual sourdough bread baking- coming up this weekend.

SO. To sum up, if you want to follow along and maybe gain insight from my eff-ups along the way, please subscribe to this dumpster fire. Maybe I’ll bake some beautiful bread or build a garden enclosure or create some detergent that you want to use to replace the toxic crap they sell in stores. Maybe I’ll lose interest in this, too, and abandon the project. Either way, you can laugh at my stupidity or be inspired by my blind luck and use it to fuel your own fire.

Godspeed,

Sam