This Old Baker Podcast

Ginger, molasses, and warm spices show up in three cookies on my site, and they do not behave the same way. Here is how my recipes differ so you can pick the right one for your tray, your cookie cutters, or your gift jar.

Find out what makes homemade brownies fudgy, how to get a shiny crackly top, and how to tell when to pull the pan. Full from-scratch recipe at ThisOldBaker.com.

Learn how to make butternut squash soup that blends smooth every time, plus what to freeze, when to add the cream, and how to make it dairy-free. Full recipe at ThisOldBaker.com.

What does "homemade convenience" actually mean? I break down the pantry mix, dinner-in-a-jar, and seasoning blend philosophy behind This Old Baker, using five real recipes to show how a little prep now makes weeknight cooking easier later.

Tired of a drawer full of pantry labels you’ll never use? I walk through why premade label sets never match a homemade pantry, and the free tool and one setup step that let you print exactly the labels you actually need.

Why does a 30-minute soup taste like it cooked for hours? I break down the spice-blooming step behind this green chicken chili soup, plus how to make it thicker, spicier, or completely hands-off in a slow cooker.

Want a coffee-shop shaken espresso without the coffee shop? I walk through the real reason the shake matters — not just for looks, but for the foam and the chill — plus the salted caramel version and the one timing mistake that leaves you with stiff caramel at the bottom of your glass.

Why does homemade gravy from a dry mix turn out lumpy — and what's the one-step fix? I break down the pork gravy mix that skips the roux entirely, the cold-water technique that keeps it smooth, and how it's different from a classic gravy method.

Why does homemade strawberry milk mix turn out clumpy instead of smooth like the canister version? I walk through the ingredient that actually makes it work, the dehydrated-versus-freeze-dried mistake to avoid, and the one-step trick for a lump-free glass every time.

Why doesn't kielbasa need to be browned before it goes in the crockpot, and which potato actually holds up through a six hour cook? I break down what makes this crockpot kielbasa corn chowder turn out thick and smoky instead of thin or starchy, plus a couple of ways to change it up.

Want to know how to make a Starbucks brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso at home? Kim breaks down the exact technique, why the shake and the dissolve order actually matter, and how to get the same foam and layered look for under a dollar.

It's September, which means pumpkin spice is suddenly on everything from your coffee to your dog's treats. I dug into where this whole thing actually started (hint: the original Pumpkin Spice Latte didn't have any real pumpkin in it for twelve years) and why one spice blend turned into a half-billion dollar season. Plus, how I get the same flavor into my coffee, my cocoa, and my favori...

I took a three hour nap the other day. Not planned — her body just made the decision for her. In this episode she talks about the lie social media tells you about how much it needs you, why pushing through is sometimes the worst thing you can do especially when you're dealing with immune or fatigue issues, and what it actually looks like to build a content system that runs while you're sle...

Kim threw away leftovers yesterday. Good ones. And she's the person who teaches people not to waste food. In this episode she makes the case that the problem isn't willpower or discipline — it's batch size. Most recipes still feed six to eight people, and most households aren't six to eight people anymore. She breaks down the real math of leftover waste, gives explicit permission t...

Your grandmother had four cleaning products. You have 25. In this episode, Kim traces exactly how that happened — and why it matters for your health, your budget, and the air quality in your home. She breaks down the four ingredients that cover 90 percent of household cleaning needs, explains what vintage housekeepers understood about grease, minerals, and bacteria that got lost in 70 years of mar...

You don't need five gravy recipes... you need one roux and four decisions. Kim breaks down her whole gravy mix collection — chicken, brown, onion, and country — and shows you exactly what changes between them, so you can stop memorizing recipes and start building your own mix from whatever's in your pantry.

Your muffins keep coming out dense, and it's probably not your recipe — it's how you're mixing it. I'm breaking down the two silent culprits behind tough, tunnel-riddled baked goods: overmixing and flour that's been packed instead of measured. Fix these two things and your muffins, pancakes, and quick breads change completely.

Back to school means back to the snack drawer — and back to spending $5 on a box of 10 granola bars with 25 ingredients you can't pronounce. In this episode, Kim makes the case for making your own snacks from scratch: you'll know exactly what's in them and you'll spend a fraction of the store price. She walks through five snacks you can make in under an hour on Sunday — granola bars, trail mix, ho...

You went in for one thing and came out $75 poorer. Sound familiar? In this episode, Kim breaks down why the quick grocery store trip is one of the most expensive habits most households have — and why the fix isn't more discipline, it's better infrastructure. A real pantry with good mixes means the quick trip never needs to happen in the first place. Kim walks through the real cost of conve...

It is hot. And the summer drink budget adds up faster than most people realize — $8 to $12 a case, a case a week, three months of summer. In this episode, Kim walks through her full homemade lemonade dry mix collection: six flavors (Classic, Strawberry, Raspberry, Peach, Honey, and Arnold Palmer), all from one pantry base of lemon juice powder, sugar, and salt. Two tablespoons in a glass of cold w...

The skills our grandmothers had — scratch cooking, canning, pantry management, bread baking, stretching every ingredient — were dismissed for a generation as old-fashioned and unnecessary. They're coming back now, and not as a trend. In this episode, Kim talks about why these skills disappeared, what's driving their return, and what she wants the people who never stopped doing them to hear...

Store-bought seasoning isn't worse because nobody cared. It's worse because it was built to survive a truck, a warehouse, and six months on a shelf, not to taste good on your table tonight. In this episode, Kim breaks down the real reason homemade wins, what companies are actually optimizing for when they build a shelf-stable mix, and the one shift that lets you keep the convenience of a j...

Today's episode isn't about recipes. It's about what building something real actually looks like from the inside — the work that doesn't show up in follower counts, the frustration of watching shortcuts win in the short term, and why the audience you earn is worth more than the audience you buy. If you're a creator who's grinding honestly and wondering if it matters, this o...

The coffee shop is costing you $1,400 a year and you might not even realize it. In this episode, Kim breaks down the math on daily coffee shop spending versus making your favorite drinks at home — and walks through exactly how to do it. Cold brew concentrate, seven homemade simple syrups, a home coffee bar setup that actually feels like a treat, and step-by-step versions of the most popular coffee...

When a sweet craving hits, you don't need to bake a whole cake or run to the drive-thru. In this episode, Kim walks through three single-serving desserts you can make from pantry staples in under five minutes: single serving microwave fudge, the classic 3-2-1 mug cake, and a scratch vanilla mug cake that requires no box mix at all. Plus a quick pantry checklist for keeping your sweet craving s...