Close-up of a woman in a peach blouse smiling and leaning against a kitchen counter, with fresh flour and wheat berries visible beside her.

About Emily

FRESH MILLED FLOUR & SOURDOUGH BAKER • SEASONAL RECIPE CREATOR • COTTAGE LIFESTYLE BLOGGER • HOME MILLER SINCE 1999

Welcome to The Modern Day Cottage, your cozy cottage haven that follows the rhythms of the seasons.

Here I share from scratch seasonal recipes, fresh milled flour recipes and guides, sourdough baking, and cottage living inspiration, all woven together with the belief that everyday moments are worth savoring.

As a mom, wife, and cottage lifestyle blogger who has been home milling since 1999, this is more than a blog. It is a way of life. Pull up a chair, put the kettle on, and let’s savor the seasons together.

Where It All Started

My love for cottage living was shaped by summers spent on my grandparents’ homestead in rural Oklahoma, where they were filled with the steady rhythms of farm life. It was there, as a little girl standing on a stool in Grandma Nub’s kitchen, that I first learned to mill flour, tend sourdough, and understand that the work of a home was something to be deeply respected.

In third grade, I entered my first 4-H baking contest and won second place, discovering something that has never left me. I loved developing recipes. At twenty-one, I began milling flour in my own kitchen, and that was 1999. Those rhythms have shaped my way of baking since.

What began on a small Oklahoma homestead has quietly grown into a life, and now a home, centered on seasonal baking, cozy living, and savoring the beauty of everyday moments.

Recipes
Hands holding a warm loaf of rosemary sourdough bread, showing off its rustic and artisanal design with a floral scoring pattern.
Hands holding a scoop of golden wheat berries over a jar.
A woman standing in a snowy landscape, wearing a pink fleece jacket, gray beanie, plaid scarf, and jeans. She holds a floral teacup, enjoying the serene winter scene.

A Little More About Me

This space isn’t just about what’s on the table. It’s about what happens around it.

We live on a single acre with a cottage garden and heritage chickens, where our food and our rhythms are still shaped by the seasons. My daughter works alongside me with photography and editing, and the steady, practical pace of our life together deeply influences everything you find here.

If you’ve ever felt drawn to a life that feels a little quieter, a little bit slower paced, and cozy, you will feel right at home here.

Cozy Cottage Living
Woman standing in a cozy kitchen, scooping whole wheat berries from a glass jar into a wooden grain mill, with a bowl of freshly milled flour on the counter.

Join Me at the Cottage

The Modern Day Cottage is your cozy cottage haven for fresh-milled flour recipes, sourdough baking, seasonal from-scratch meals, and cottage lifestyle inspiration. Here you’ll find whole grain baking, sourdough starter tips, seasonal cooking, cottage decor, DIY projects and tutorials, and seasonal living shaped by the rhythms of the year.

And if you’d like weekly recipes and seasonal cottage living inspiration delivered straight to your inbox so you never miss out on what is happening at the cottage, I’d love to welcome you into our Cozy Cottage Community.

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Get To Know Me

My go-to ritual to wind down

A good cup of tea & a well-loved book.

I couldn’t live without

My mockmill and wheat berries!

My Favorite Cottage Garden Plants

pumpkins & dahlias

My Dream

To one day have a little bit more land and a few more farm animals.

My Favorite Music

A blend of folk, classical, and indie music.

Crafts I enjoy

Sewing, needlework, and cozy projects.

My Favorite Colors

sage green & pink

Most Days, you’ll find me

In the kitchen, homeschooling, or in the garden.

My Favorite Cozy Series

Lark Rise to Candleford, & Anne with an E,& Edwardian Farm. Currently watching Outlander and Blood of My Blood.

My Favorite Hobbies

Cooking, gardening, chickens, and homemaking.


“Cottage living, to me, is baking from scratch, milling fresh flour, tending sourdough, and savoring the beauty of everyday moments.” ~Emily Rider

Explore The Recipes New? Start here!

FAQ’s

I first milled flour at the age of three, standing beside my grandmother, Nub, in her kitchen. Years later, in 1999, I began milling flour in my own home — long before it became a popular topic online. I was 21, newly married, and deeply committed to feeding my family the same way my grandparents had fed theirs.

It’s more than flour. It’s nourishment, simplicity, and a connection to where I came from.

I started baking with sourdough when I was very young, standing beside my grandmother in her kitchen. She never called it sourdough; she simply told me to “go get the thick leaven from the refrigerator.” It was a simple, no-waste way she used for bread, biscuits, pancakes, and everyday baking.

After my grandparents passed, that rhythm was lost for a time. When I was 21, a neighbor gifted me freshly milled flour and a jar of sourdough starter, and it brought everything back. I’ve baked with sourdough and fresh flour ever since, using the same low-maintenance, no-fuss method my grandmother taught me. If you’re curious, I share my exact starter method — simplified, beginner sourdough starter, and the whole wheat fresh flour sourdough starter here on the blog.

Today, I pair freshly milled flour with sourdough because it feels wholesome, nourishing, sustainable, and easier on my digestion, especially in my midlife.

It’s more than flour. It’s nourishment, simplicity, wholesome, and a connection to where I came from.

Yes, every recipe you find here is either created by me or passed down and carefully tested in my own cottage kitchen. I draw on more than four decades of hands-on baking experience, beginning as a child beside my grandmother, especially with freshly milled flour.
Each recipe is baked, tasted, and enjoyed by my family before it’s ever shared in the Recipes collection on the blog.

Yes, every photograph you see here is taken by my daughter or me, most often in the natural light of our home. I aim to capture the true textures, colors, and feeling of each moment — from a golden loaf cooling on the counter to a table set for Sunday supper.You’ll see this most clearly in the Freshly Milled Flour How-To section, where I use step-by-step photos to show the process in a way that feels both clear and beautiful.

The Modern Day Cottage grew out of my lifelong love for slow, cottage living. I created this space as a place to step away from the rush and rediscover the simple beauty of baking from scratch recipes, honoring the seasons, and tending to home with care.

My hope is that it feels like a well-worn kitchen table, where stories are shared, recipes are passed down, and everyday moments are truly treasured.

We live in a cottage my husband custom-built, one we thoughtfully designed after downsizing from our forever home. It’s just over a thousand square feet, with an open floor plan and spaces shaped carefully for how we actually live.

Set on one acre, it’s small but deeply loved — filled with warmth, purpose, and the quiet rhythm of daily life.

I grew up spending summers on my grandparents’ farm in rural Oklahoma, where cooking, gardening, and seasonal rhythms were simply part of daily life. That environment shaped how I approach food today: practical, seasonal, and grounded in tradition.

While our home is smaller and more modern, the values remain the same: cook from scratch, grow what we can, and live at a pace that supports real nourishment.

Emily’s Favorite Recipes

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