Hand Made: The Modern Woman's Guide to Made-from-Scratch Living

I absolutely loved this book. I reference it at least 3-4 times a week. The master dough bread recipe has to be my favorite! I have been baking all of my families bread for maybe close to a year. Until I purchased this book I always used the recipe that was on the back of our flour bag for our homemade sandwich bread. It was good, but always seemed to be missing something. My new recipe from the book is not only MUCH faster active time (I don't dread bread baking day anymore😂) but is also more delicious everytime! The recipe can be used for more then bread also . My family has verbally exclaimed how much better they like this pizza dough recipe then one I used from Pinterest. The recipes are amazing and I have tried numerous of them including French bread, barbecue sauce, chocolate chip cookies, doughnuts and carrot cake! Other then the amazing , easy recipes there is such great knowledge and amazing useful, practical tips to be had. Melissa is so relatable which makes reading her work that much more enjoyable. The scriptures she uses as well as the back stories make it more then just a cookbook. And the gift giving ideas...AMAZING!! I tune into her podcast at Melissaknorris.com almost daily! She was absolutely the sole educator in my families first garden this year!!! As a book junkie who loves learning I highly recommend this book.

This book's ideas are thought-provoking and valuable. It's full of tips and tricks that the average homemaker or homesteader can quickly implement. The sourdough recipes are terrific. I finally found a gorgeous sourdough white bread recipe that slices like a proper loaf and isn't challenging. (It's time-consuming but simple.) This book stays out on my counter now.

I have followed Melissa's web site for a while now. I decided to take a chance on this book. Actually one of the reasons I ordered it was because of the other negative reviews I read prior to purchase. Reviews like this is too preachy or too much God talk. Well I am a Christian and who doesn't need more positive and encouraging words in their life? Especially now in the craziness of 2020. So I ordered it looking forward to the more devotional style. Melissa shares her memories or experiences that were a joy to read. This also has lots of tips and recipes. It came just in time. I was reading through the homespun holidays part when I came across White Turkey Chili. This was 2 days after Thanksgiving. Who doesn't have left over turkey? I happened to have a good amount this year and didn't want to eat it for weeks. So I gave this recipe a try. I have to admit turkey chili really didn't sound appetizing but I was a bit desperate considering the amount of turkey that was taking over my meat drawer. WOW this was great! So good that we will actually look forward to making it after every holiday. About the rest of the book. I found it fun to read and purchased another one to give to a friend. I am a pretty good cook and baker. I know this is a simple book but found it to be worth the money. Looking forward to trying my hand at soap making. Thanks Melissa for taking the time to write this wonderful book!

I love how Melissa ties in scripture in her book! I love the recipes in this book and how she goes into depth explaining things. When it came to the decluttering section of the book I quickly started decluttering my house and its because she inspired me. I'm about half way thru this book. I love learning and trying new things the old fashioned way. And there's plenty in this book!

Well written with personal stories intertwined with the recipes. Down home writing and food.

I enjoyed this book very much. It has a lot of good tips, some of which were new to me, and it also has recipes that I will be trying soon. At the top are the Pumpkin Applesauce Cake, Chocolate Custard Bread Pudding, Pumpkin Sugar Cookies and the White Sauce Chicken Pizza, just to name a few. There are many others I will be trying. I did make the Chocolate Chip cookies and they were delicious. It makes a lot of dough so I ended up freezing half of it as she suggests in the book. That's not something I think of doing when I make cookies but will definitely do that more in the future. Now I'll have cookie dough ready to make more cookies once my husband finishes this first batch. (Okay, I'll probably eat my share, too!) There were some good tips on herbs as well that I wasn't aware of like growing basil without any dirt. I do grow my own basil in a pot outside but was not aware you could grow it without dirt. Very good to know as I love basil and use it often. There are some good tips and suggestions for kitchen organization, something I actually started doing before reading this book. There are also recipes for making soap and candles, not something I've ever done but might consider doing. Great idea for gift giving. I enjoy cooking and baking quite a bit, although I do have those days when I ask: "I have to cook again?" I do make a lot of things from scratch now. Every so often I'll buy certain pre-made things for those lazy days but for the most part I find that home made is definitely better. I highly recommend this book for those that enjoy making things from scratch or want to learn to do it more often. The recipes do not look complicated to me, and I think even a novice cook would be successful at making them. Melissa Norris includes personal stories and some scripture in some parts of the book that I enjoyed reading as well. Since I received a digital review copy of this book, I ended up purchasing a paper copy because I love collecting hardcover cookbooks and this is one I'd like to add to my collection, even though it's not strictly a "cookbook" but that is something I really like about this book. I might have to check out Melissa Norris' other book, The Made From Scratch Life. Thank you to NetGalley and Harvest House Publishers for the advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is one of my "go to" books for baking. She is a delightful writer and her stories make me want to try everything in the cookbook! I use her artesian bread recipe ALL the time and make the BEST pancakes out of sourdough starter that my family loves and can't wait till I've built up enough to bake with!

I love books that have little stories prefacing the recipe or topic and Melissa does this well. Great recipes and advice.

I enjoyed this. Read it on a quiet afternoon. Can't wait to try some of the recipes. Thank you Melissa.

This is a good book to add to anyone's kitchen who wants to make recipes from scratch. Well done.

This book has some great recipes that are quick and easy.

Definitely 5 out of 5. . This is a great example of an American culture from a sweet woman with a great deal to share about helping to make the world a better place. Thanks so much Melissa!!