Hello! I’m so glad you’re here!
My name is Elanor, creator of Baker on the Prairie. Join me as I share wholesome baking recipes, natural living tips and tricks, and my homesteading ventures.
My happy place is between two worlds that I feel are connected more than we humans understand. From the grounding feeling of walking alongside wildflowers on the prairie, feeling the wind blowing on your face, to stirring a pot of homemade yogurt, watching the milk begin to simmer and take form. Both of these evoke a deeper sense of purpose and meaning in my life. These times make me feel like my best self, and I want everyone to experience these feelings.
I’m a Kansas girl through and through, loving the rolling hills of the prairie as much as I love to bake. I started baking at an early age, and have always had a passion for it. The day after I turned 16, I got a job at a local coffee shop as a baker. The smell of fresh bread and pastries coming out of the oven made up for opening the restaurant alone at 4 o’clock every Saturday and Sunday morning! After I left the bakery a few years later, (and memorized recipes I couldn’t live without!) I started my own baking business out of my family’s kitchen. I named my special project Prairie Pastries. I would take on the challenge of friends and family members ordering bakes I had never heard of, researching and perfecting each recipe, no matter how wild, (looking at you, croquembouche!) before hand delivering each order in a signature brown box package with a twine & gold laced bow. I am very detail oriented and take extreme care to make sure everything is done right!
This love of detail orientation extends to natural living. I try to practice conscious consuming, always striving to look for a more beneficial or healthy way to have “the best of both worlds”. I cleaned houses for other people as a young woman (as an entrepreneurial spirit, I can’t sit still!) and found that many people, including myself, were very accustomed to harsh chemical cleaners and synthetic fragrances. After learning some serious side effects of these cleaners, I began to integrate natural cleaning products I made myself from simple household ingredients like baking soda and vinegar. To my surprise, these ingredients still preformed at a level that was just as good, if not better than their synthetic counterparts! With this knowledge, I was energized and spurred on to learn more about how I can eliminate toxins from my home and garden, one step at a time. You can expect a lot of cleaning tips, made-from-scratch household cleaning products, as well as simple living routines I have found a great deal of value from.
Since learning about toxins in the environment and even in households from my cleaning days, I have seen the difference that intentional choices make. As a baker, naturally my mind turned to food. I realized that the quality of the outcome of my bakes could be dramatically increased by the way I sourced my ingredients. This led me to buying my first flock of seven different hens one spring. Months later, after nurturing each lady bird and anticipating, we got our first few eggs. I rushed inside once I found them, eager to see if I could taste the difference. I will always remember seeing the difference between a typical, cage raised, machine sanitized chicken egg and a free range, grass fed, hand washed chicken egg from my backyard. It is a magical feeling when you become more self-reliant. Your quality of life, self confidence and happiness skyrocket, and, the comments about how good your bakes are never hurt 😉
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you stick around and find some value in what I have to share!