Kate Downham

Carla Burke wrote:

Kate Downham wrote:For some reason the brown looks a different colour when I click on the attachment.

In the design program, on the computer, and in the thread on both phone and computer it looks like a nice fertile earth brown. When I click on the attachment on Permies it looks lighter.

How does the colour show up for you?

It's hard to know exactly what it's going to look like when printed, so I'm very glad I can get as many proof copies as I need before I get everyone's copies printed, so I can make sure I'm happy with it.

Rich & chocolaty?

Sounds right : )

For some reason the brown looks a different colour when I click on the attachment.

In the design program, on the computer, and in the thread on both phone and computer it looks like a nice fertile earth brown. When I click on the attachment on Permies it looks lighter.

How does the colour show up for you?

It's hard to know exactly what it's going to look like when printed, so I'm very glad I can get as many proof copies as I need before I get everyone's copies printed, so I can make sure I'm happy with it.

Brown lines on the cover instead of black, and implementing Leigh's idea of changing the blurb into 3 paragraphs instead of 4.

Thank you all : )

What do you think of the blurb and back cover?

Would it be better to cut out the last paragraph before the quotes? Or change anything else about it?

Now it's time for me to design the entire cover, including the spine and back...

What are your thoughts on this design?

And the text on the back?

I am not sure if the black spine is a good idea or not... So I tested out the hardcover with brown (the extra area around the outsides is the casewrap and doesn't show up on the actual cover, please ignore it), if I end up choosing the brown cover I will probably change the black dividing lines on the front to be the same colour as the spine.

Here's the text, in case it doesn't show up on this small jpg cover:

Learn the skills that helped our ancestors to thrive in harsh times...

When the panic buying, empty shelves, and restrictive rations hit in March 2020, it was not a problem for Kate Downham and her family, because she knew these skills, and knew how to feed her family without the supermarket system. With the help of this book, you can learn these skills too.

Learn traditional methods of preserving pork without electricity. Make your own cheese, butter, and other dairy essentials. Learn sourdough bread recipes that take only 5 minutes of hands-on time to make. Preserve fruit and vegetables in many ways - from failproof fermenting through to jams, chutneys, pickles, and water bath canning.

Learn one skill at a time while also finding recipe inspiration in seasonal local recipes that are designed to be cooked in everyday homestead life.

These recipes have been tested in many different kitchens, and will work on wood stoves as well as conventional electric and gas cookers. Many variations and ingredient substitutions are included to help you make the recipes with whatever ingredients are on hand at the time, along with useful indexes to help make use of seasonal abundance.

"I love the intuitive approach to real food and seasonal eating in Kate Downham's A Year in an Off-Grid Kitchen. Recipes are thoughtful, nutrient-dense and, above all else, approachable.” Jenny McGruther, Nourished Kitchen

“An excellent addition to every homestead library.” Leigh Tate, 5 Acres and a Dream

"Full of homestead wisdom, healthy recipes, and helpful tips, Kate's book is a great resource even if you aren't off-grid or just one day aspire to be.  The seasonal organization coupled with discussing skills and methods at just the right time makes this a great guide to learning to live more in tune with nature and with less reliance on modern conveniences and contraptions." John Moody, author of The Frugal Homesteader

This is for anyone affected by the Kickstarter add-ons glitch who has received a message from me about it on Kickstarter.

This payment is for those who have selected "ebook only", with a paperback or hardcover as an extra add-on, and have been charged the incorrect amount of shipping.

Once this is paid for, I will manually move your details from the ebook-only spreadsheet to the correct spreadsheet and make sure the correct rewards get sent out.

Congratulations! And thank you for all that you do to make Permies a lovely place.

From memory, I think the River Cottage curing and smoking book was all nitrate-free, with no celery juice or other nitrate sources added. I can't remember if it had any recipes for duck though.

I've made and eaten nitrate-free cured pork many times.

I stick with traditional methods that pre-date nitrates to know that they're safe. Whenever a recipe tester for my book asked if they could make my cured meat recipes with a meat other than pork, I always recommended to search around to see if that meat is traditionally preserved in that way or not. Some meats have a long history of nitrate-free preservation, and specific methods that are used for this, other meats might be more of an experiment.

I've also eaten nitrate-free bacon and ham prepared by a butcher in his usual way, just without the nitrates. There wasn't any celery juice or other nitrate source added, but they were both hot smoked, so that might impact the safety of it, as well as how long it will keep for.

No worries. It can be hard to figure out what someone actually means when the words are on a screen.

We'll be mentioning your fundraiser in the daily-ish email in the next few days : )