Did Your Mom Teach You? Learning to Make Things from Scratch

There are a lot of things my mom didn't teach me.

She didn't teach me how to make sourdough bread, or sandwich bread.

She didn't teach me how to make dinner rolls from scratch, turn a handful of simple ingredients into homemade gnocchi, knit a blanket, or make my own coffee syrup.

And I don't say any of that because she should have. I say it because somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us started believing that if we weren't taught how to do something growing up, maybe we just weren't the kind of people who knew how to do it.

But you can learn! And I am here to help :)

You Don't Have to Grow Up Doing It

I didn't grow up knowing how to make everything from scratch. There wasn't some secret family sourdough starter passed down through generations with handwritten instructions tucked into an old recipe box. I learned.

I tried things. I messed them up. I tried again.

And eventually, the things that once felt intimidating became normal. That's probably my favorite thing about learning a new skill. At some point, you stop thinking, I don't know how to do that, and start saying, Oh, I make that.

There's something really special about that.

I Learned How to Make Sourdough

Obviously, we have to start here.

There was a time when I didn't know what a sourdough starter was doing, when to feed it, what "active" meant, or how flour and water could possibly turn into a beautiful loaf of bread.

Now sourdough is such a normal part of our home that it's hard to imagine a time before it.

If you've been watching other people make beautiful loaves and thinking, I could never do that—you can.

You don't have to know everything before you begin.

Beginner's Sourdough Loaf – Acts of Sourdough

I Learned How to Make Our Sandwich Bread

There's something incredibly satisfying about realizing you can make the everyday things you normally grab off a grocery store shelf.

Sandwich bread was one of those things for me. It's not fancy. and it's not supposed to be. It's just soft, homemade bread ready for sandwiches, toast, grilled cheese, or whatever everyone is eating that day. And that's exactly why I love making it.

Honey Whole Wheat Discard Sandwich Bread – Acts of Sourdough

I Learned How to Make Dinner Rolls

For a long time, homemade dinner rolls felt like something reserved for holidays—or something someone's grandma knew how to make. Then I learned!

Now there's something about putting a basket of warm rolls on the table that makes even an ordinary dinner feel a little more special. You don't need a holiday or a perfectly set table. Sometimes Tuesday night is reason enough to make the rolls.

Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls – Acts of Sourdough

I Learned How to Make Gnocchi

This one sound much fancier than it actually is. Gnocchi was one of those foods I assumed you just bought... Then I made it. And once again I had that little realization:

Wait... I can make this. That's the feeling I want you to have, too.

Making something from scratch doesn't have to mean spending the entire day in the kitchen. Sometimes it's simply learning one more thing you didn't know how to do yesterday.

Sourdough Discard Gnocchi – Acts of Sourdough

I Learned How to Make My Own Coffee Syrup

And then there are the little things. Like coffee syrup. Do I need to make my own coffee syrup? No.

Do I love knowing that I can? Absolutely!

It's one of those simple things that makes home feel a little more special. A jar in the refrigerator, coffee brewing in the morning, and something homemade to pour into it.

Not everything we learn has to be necessary. Sometimes we make things simply because we enjoy making them.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Syrup – Acts of Sourdough

You Are Allowed to Learn as You Go

Maybe your mom taught you all of these things.

Maybe she taught you completely different things.

Maybe you had a grandmother who could bake anything without measuring and you're still wondering why that skill somehow skipped you. Or maybe no one taught you how to make things from scratch at all.

That's okay. You aren't behind. You don't need to have grown up doing something to become someone who does it now. You can learn at 25, 35, or 55!

You can decide on a random Wednesday that you're going to learn how to bake bread, grow tomatoes, sew something, make pasta, knit a blanket, or do whatever else you've always assumed other people just knew how to do. Most of them didn't. They learned.

Maybe You're the One Who Starts It

I think this might be my favorite part.

My mom didn't teach me how to make sourdough.

But my kids are growing up knowing that I do.

They're growing up in a house where bread rises on the counter. Where we make things with our hands. Where homemade doesn't have to mean perfect. Where trying something new and getting it wrong is just part of learning how to get it right.

Maybe someday they'll make these things in their own homes.

Maybe they won't. But they'll know they can. And maybe that's how traditions actually begin.

Not because something has been done in your family for generations. Sometimes it begins because one person decides: I'll learn.

So, if there's something you've always wanted to know how to do, this is your permission to start.

Make the bread. Roll the gnocchi. Knit the blanket. Make the coffee syrup. You don't have to know how yet. You just have to be willing to learn.

MORE RECIPES TO HAVE IN YOUR BACK POCKET ;)

Classic Chicken Pot Pie – Acts of Sourdough

Sourdough Biscuits – Acts of Sourdough

Pork Schnitzel with Red Cabbage – Acts of Sourdough

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls – Acts of Sourdough

Sourdough Discard Pretzel Buns – Acts of Sourdough

Sourdough English Muffins – Acts of Sourdough

Apple Crisp Brioche Buns – Acts of Sourdough

Just Make the Cake – Acts of Sourdough