What a joy my presentation and book signing at the Decatur Book Festival turned out to be! From the moment I arrived on the morning of October 4, 2025, the staff and volunteers made me feel right at home. The culinary demonstration room filled quickly with friendly faces, and as everyone settled in, we shared smiles, stories, and lots of hugs before the start of the event featuring my new cookbook, The Modern Pioneer Pantry.
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Table of Contents
- A Quick Glance: Highlights of the Decatur Book Festival 2025
- Sharing the Joy of Fermentation
- Inspiring the Next Generation of Cooks
- A Heartfelt Thank You to The Decatur Book Festival
- The Modern Pioneer Pantry
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum
- Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
- Kitchen Academy Videos
- Shop for My Favorite Items
A Quick Glance: Highlights of the Decatur Book Festival 2025
- I had the most wonderful time at the Decatur Book Festival in Georgia, which ran from October 3-4, 2025.
- I demonstrated how to make my fermented “pink” cauliflower and pear onions recipe, met the kindest staff and volunteers, and even had three delightful high school students as my “sous chefs.”
- The audience was so engaged, and it was pure joy signing copies of The Modern Pioneer Pantry and The Modern Pioneer Cookbook afterward.
- My heartfelt thanks to everyone who came—what a beautiful day to celebrate good food and good company!
Sharing the Joy of Fermentation
For my presentation, I demonstrated how to make the Fermented “Pink” Cauliflower and Pearl Onions recipe from my new cookbook, The Modern Pioneer Pantry. It’s a colorful ferment that always brings lots of ooohhhs and aaahhhs from the audience.
Ligaya Figueras, who recently retired as the senior editor for food and dining at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was my thoughtful moderator who asked insightful questions and relayed additional inquiries from the crowd. It felt less like a formal demonstration and more like spending time in my own kitchen with friends—laughing, learning, and enjoying the simple joy of good food made with care.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Cooks
One of the sweetest surprises of the day was before my presentation when I was taken into the prep kitchen, where a local high school culinary teacher and three of her pupils volunteered to be my “sous chefs”. They were working quickly to prepare the ingredients needed for me to make the cauliflower ferment on stage. Two of her students were in 9th grade, and one was in 10th grade. They were an absolute delight!
These young ladies worked so hard, staying calm, cheerful, and focused through every step of the prep. Watching their enthusiasm gave me such hope for the next generation of home cooks and teachers who will continue to keep traditional food skills alive.
I gifted the girls with copies of both of my cookbooks to use in their culinary class, and their teacher was anxious to download my free Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum, which contains lesson plans to teach students in grades K-12 how to make traditional foods. Their teacher said she would stay in touch and fill me in on their classroom traditional foods journey!
A Heartfelt Thank You to The Decatur Book Festival
After the presentation, I had the pleasure of signing copies of The Modern Pioneer Pantry and The Modern Pioneer Cookbook and chatting with so many sweet friends who came out to support traditional foods and home cooking. We talked about recipes, favorite ingredients, and the importance of passing these skills along to our families. You have no idea how much it meant to me to meet you in person and give you a big hug.
I’ll never forget this special day! My heartfelt thanks go out to the organizers of the Decatur Book Festival for inviting me to participate—and to everyone who attended. You made the day shine brighter than ever!
Order YOUR COPY Now!
The Modern Pioneer Pantry
Simple ingredients, timeless techniques, and a well-stocked pantry. Discover over 100 nourishing recipes to preserve food and turn pantry staples into homemade meals. Build a wholesome, traditional pantry—just like a modern pioneer!
Start Your Traditional Foods Journey
Sharing my passion for traditional cooking goes beyond my YouTube cooking school—it also comes to life in the pages of my cookbooks. Both of my books, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook and The Modern Pioneer Pantry, are proudly published by Penguin Random House.
The first is filled with time-honored recipes to help you create a traditional foods kitchen, while the second is your complete guide to home food preservation. Order both books today to start or continue your traditional foods journey.
Order YOUR COPY Now!
The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
Seasonal ingredients, traditional techniques, and nourishing recipes. Over 85 traditional, from-scratch recipes! Discover for yourself how you can use simple ingredients and traditional techniques to cook the modern pioneer way.
The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum
The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum provides comprehensive lesson plans to teach traditional food recipes and kitchen techniques to students in grades K-12. The curriculum is free and is over 250 pages.
📖 What is The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum?
The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum is a FREE, comprehensive educational companion to The Modern Pioneer Cookbook. Each lesson features a different recipe from the cookbook, as well as discussion questions, engaging activities, and cross-curricular connections to math, science, history, and more.
Children and adults of all ages will enjoy digging deeper into the topics of The Modern Pioneer Cookbook, becoming experts in traditional cooking methods and their health benefits.
The best part? Tasting all the delicious foods and beverages you will make!
📕 Where Can I Get The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum?
Download your free copy of The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum.
📝 Learn More
Learn about The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum Lesson Experience Article Series, and get ideas on how to use the lesson plans with your family or homeschool group. Each curriculum experience includes free worksheets you can download and print to use with your students.
☎️ Stay In Touch!
Be sure to sign up for my free Mary’s Nest Newsletter to be informed of updates to the curriculum and more! 😄
Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.
Kitchen Academy Videos
How to Make Oatmeal Higher in Protein (The Old-Fashioned Way)
Turn simple oats into a hearty, protein-rich porridge.
The Only Traditional Recipes You’ll Ever Need!
Focus on traditional recipes with real food. Don’t chase trends.
Let’s Talk Akkermansia: A Tiny Helper for Big Gut Health
Discover how Akkermansia muciniphila supports gut and immune health—and how traditional foods help this mighty microbe thrive.
Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest
- Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
- Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
- Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook - Get a hardcover book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.
- Order The Modern Pioneer Pantry - Get Mary's latest hardcover cookbook about preserving food and making delicious meals from your Four Corners Pantry. Mary's second cookbook is also published by Penguin Random House.
I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!
Shop for My Favorite Items
Favorite Kitchen Supplies
- Favorite Aprons
- Spice Grinder
- Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
- Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
- Vacuum Lids
- Whisk
- Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
- Cast Iron Dutch Oven
- 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
- Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
- Flour Sack Towels
- pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)
Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide
- Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
- Get a 30-day Audible trial with a free audiobook
- Visit my Shopping Guide page
Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Backwoods Home, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, and More!
