Embracing Self-Sufficiency
 through the Modern Pioneer Pantry Cookbook

Review by Bobbie Kitto
Two Recipes Included: Fermented Strawberry Soda & End-of-Season Vegetable Ferment

Ever thought about preserving food and thought, “Oh too complicated, I can’t do that!” We’ve all done it.  How about coming home from the market and putting that five pounds of hamburger into one pound batches, slipping them into the freezer zip lock bags, and then placing them in the freezer. This is one of six ways to preserve food.

Most of us think of preserving food by canning (both cold and pressure) or freezing. Some may think of dehydrating or drying food. Then there is fermentation and last but not least pickling.  We’ve all eaten food that has been preserved by one of the six ways to keep food. We just don’t give it much thought how we were able to eat fruit and vegetables that are out of season because most of the preservation is done for us by others.

In Mary Shrader’s  current book The Modern Pioneer Pantry, she shows us how we can take charge and do the same thing for less money and healthier.   Mary’s book demonstrates each of the six ways to preserving food for our family and community for our everyday life and emergencies. Mary even gives tips on how to make your own meals in a bag or TV dinners for those nights when dinner needs to be on the table and there is no energy to think of putting a meal together in a short time let  alone doing it.

Mary Shrader is the founder of Mary’s Nest, a platform dedicated to promoting traditional cooking methods and sustainable living. As a passionate advocate for homesteading and self-sufficiency, she has inspired many with her approachable recipes and practical tips. Mary’s The Modern Pioneer Cookbook shares her expertise in preserving, fermenting, and cooking with whole ingredients. Through her engaging online presence and workshops, she encourages others to explore the joys of a simpler, more mindful approach to food. Her work embodies a commitment to nurturing both body and spirit through wholesome, homemade meals.

Accompanying this survival manual for effective preservation of food is a short video Mary put together to peek our interest on beginning techniques for food preservation.  In this video we see how we can make our own fermented fruit sodas that are not only better for us, but taste better than the artificial drinks on the market today. The Recipe for Fermented Strawberry Soda is on page 189.

The next recipe Mary imparts to her audience is an End-of-Season Vegetable Ferment found on page 218.  She shows how end of season vegetables can become a special treat and be cost effective.

Besides all of the great sounding recipes (115 of them) like Einkorn Ready-to-Bake Yeast Freezer rolls (pgs240-241), Natural Home-Cured Corned Beef (pgs. 290-291) and Crystallized Ginger (pgs. 174-175) Mary demonstrates how to create a pantry system that saves money, eliminates last-minute trips to the store for missing ingredients, and ensures we can handle emergencies when weather events restrict our access to food or during sudden income loss.

Being a beautifully prepared book with lots of pictures of the finished product, The Modern Pioneer Pantry gives helpful hints on how to make the process of preserving your food easier and more helpful. This is a book I would highly recommend be given to any newlywed or your son or daughter as they venture out on their own. It will help keep them prepared for any food emergency, stretch their food budget, and allow them to eat healthier. Please enjoy the following recipes reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Mary Bryant Shrader”

Fermented Strawberry Soda

If you have ever made homemade ginger ale. you will love this variation on a classic. Homemade fermented strawberry soda is a delightful, probiotic-rich drink that refreshes and supports gut health. You’ll make this effervescent beverage using a ginger bug, which acts as a natural starter culture. The process is simple and yields a lightly sweet and tangy soda that’s perfect for summer days. This homemade soda is an excellent alternative to store-bought versions, offering a refreshing and healthy drink for the whole family.

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES FERMENTATION TIME: 2-4 DAYS TOTAL TIME: 2-4 DAYS 15 MINUTES YIELD: 4 SERVINGS

EQUIPMENT

Blender or food processor Colander or fine-mesh strainer flower sack towel or cheese cloth

Large Bowl

Half-gallon (64oz) jar with screw on lid (you need sufficient space for stirring with no mess)

Narrow-mouth funnel

4 glass bottles (approximately 4 oz each) with screw on cups

INGREDIENTS

6 cups fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed removed, and sliced

½ cup granulated sugar

Juice of 1 medium lemon

¼ cup Ginger Bug (see Cook’s note)

Chlorine-free water

• Puree the strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice in a blender or food processor.

• Line a colander or fine-mesh strainer with a flour sack towel or cheesecloth, place it over a large bowl, and strain the mixture.
• Add the Ginger Bug to the liquid in the bowl and add enough water to make 4 cups of liquid.
• Pour the liquid into the jar. Place the lid on the jar and tighten.
• Place the jar in an area away from direct sunlight. For best results, you should maintain the temperature between 68 ° F and 72° F (20 ° C and 22° C). On the floor of a cool, dark pantry is a good option, but the fermentation happens quickly, so a bit cooler or warmer will still work. The fermentation time may vary by 1 day, one way or the other.
• Within 24 hours, you should see bubbles begin to form in the jar and float to the top. This is carbon dioxide, a normal by-product of the fermentation process. Loosen the lid of the jar, allow the gas to escape, then retighten the lid.
• Since pH strips do not work well with highly colored ferments, use your eyes and nose to determine success. By the second day, this soda should look somewhat effervescent and have a pleasant strawberry aroma. Unfortunately, if you see any mold or the soda has a foul odor, it will need to be discarded.
• If the soda looks to be progressing along nicely, taste it.
• If you like the taste of the soda, you can begin decanting it as early as the second day, but you can allow it to ferment for up to 4 days. It will become more effervescent and less sweet the longer it ferments. Use a funnel to decant the soda into glass bottles with screw-on caps. Leave a 2-inch (5-cm) headspace in each bottle to allow for any additional fermentation. Refrigerate.
• The fermented strawberry soda will stay fresh for up to 4 weeks in the refrigerator but will lose carbonation over time. To retain a greater level of carbonation, you will need to decant the soda in swing-top air-tight bottles specifically made for carbonated beverages. But I generally don’t recommend this. Swing-top bottles are at risk of exploding, so great caution should be taken when choosing to use them.

COOK’S NOTES

How to make a Ginger Bug: Making a Ginger Bug is an easy way to create a fermentation starter for probiotic-rich homemade sodas. This recipe only takes a few minutes of daily preparation over 5 days. The result is a bubbly, gut-friendly beverage starter.

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

FERMENTATION TIME: 5 DAYS

TOTAL TIME: 5 DAYS 15 MINUTES

YIELD: APPROXIMATELY 1 ½ CUPS

EQUIPMENT

Quart (32oz) glass jar with screw on lid

INGREDIENTS

10 tbsp freshly grated peeled ginger, divided

5 tbsp granulated sugar, divided

10 tbsp filtered, chlorine-free water, divided

• Add 2 tablespoons grated ginger, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 2 tablespoons water to the jar. Stir well. Place the lid on the jar and tighten. Place the jar in a warm area away from direct sunlight for 24 hours.
• Repeat Step l each day for the next 4 days.
• After 5 days, your Ginger Bug is ready to use.
• You can store any remaining Ginger Bug in the jar at room temperature, but it must be fed every day, as stated in Step 1. Only plan on doing this if you make a lot of fermented soda. Otherwise, simply refrigerate your Ginger Bug until you are ready to make a new batch of fermented soda. (Refrigeration slows down the fermentation process and puts your Ginger Bug to “sleep.”) You will need to wake up your Ginger Bug with a few daily feedings until it is bubbly again, so plan ahead.

“Excerpted from The Modern Pioneer Pantry reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Mary Bryant Shrader”

Photography credit: Kimberly Davis

End-of-Season Vegetable Ferment

 As the growing season winds down, it’s the perfect time to make an End-of-Season Vegetable Ferment, which will allow you to harness the rich flavors and nutrients of a variety of vegetables. The simple fermentation process enhances the vegetables’ natural taste. It adds beneficial probiotics, making it a nutritious and delicious addition to your meals in place of the more commonly pickled veggies. Best of all, you can make this ferment with vegetable scraps left over from other fermentation or home canning projects. Pretty much any combination of nonstarchy vegetables will work in this recipe.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Fermentation Time: 7-14 days

Total Time: 7-14 days 20 minutes

Yield: 1 quart

Equipment

Quart (32oz) jar with a screw-on lid

Small bowl

Fermentation weight or small jar no larger than 4oz (optional)

pH strips

Ingredients

Mixed end-of-season nonstarchy vegetables, such as asparagus, beets, carrots, bell peppers, spicy peppers, yellow squash, and zucchini (see Cook’s Notes)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

Small bunch of fresh herbs, such as chives, dill, parsley, or tarragon (optional)

1 tbsp fine-ground sea salt

¼ cup chlorine-free water, plus more if needed

• Wash and chop the vegetables into bite-size pieces.
• Place the mixed vegetables into the quart jar, alternating layers with a few mustard seeds and peppercorns and the fresh herbs (if using). Pack everything tightly, leaving a 1-inch (2.5-com) headspace.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the salt in the ¼ cup water. This is your brine.
• Pour the brine over the vegetables, ensuring they are completely submerged. Add additional water, if needed, leaving a 1-inch (2.5 cm) headspace. If necessary, use a fermentation weight or small glass jar to keep the vegetables below the brine. Place the lid on the jar and tighten.
• Place the jar in a shallow bowl (to catch any seepage) in an area away from direct sunlight. For best results, you should maintain the temperature between 68°F and 72°F (20°C and 22°C). This temperature should be attainable since this is an end-of-season ferment when temperatures start to cool.
• After the first few days of the fermentation process, you should see bubbles begin to form in the jar and float up the sides to the top. This is carbon dioxide, a normal by-product of the fermentation process. Once you see the bubbles forming, loosen the lid of the jar and allow the gas to escape, then retighten the lid. Continue releasing the gas from the jar each day during the fermentation process.
• After 7 days, open the jar and set the lid aside. Examine the ferment. It should look somewhat effervescent and have a pleasant, somewhat tangy aroma similar to pickled vegetables. Use pH strips to determine the acidity level. If it is 4.6 or below, taste the ferment. (If you see any mold of the ferment has a foul odor, it will need to be discarded.)
• If the texture and taste are to your liking, it is time to refrigerate the jar. Keep in mind that initially the bring clinging to the vegetables may be a bit on the salty side, but once refrigerated, the vegetables will absorb more of the brine and become more tasty, and the bring clinging to them will be less salty. If you want the vegetables to have more tang, you can let them ferment for up to 14 days.
• Once the vegetables are to your liking, transfer the jar to the refrigerator, placing it in the door or on the top shelf. Alternative storage options include a cellar or root cellar if those locations can properly maintain a temperature of approximately 40°F (4°C).
• Fermented end-of-season vegetables will stay at peak freshness in your refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Cook’s Notes

Can you include green beans in your end-of-season vegetable ferment?

Unfortunately, there is some disagreement over this. I side with the camp the believes green beans should generally not be fermented raw because they contain naturally present toxins called lectins. To deactivate these substances, the green beans need to be blanched first. The drawback to blanching them before fermenting them is that the blanching process will kill the natural yeasts and good bacteria that are present on all raw vegetables. Will there still be some yeasts and good bacteria from the other vegetables in the mix? Yes, and those might be sufficient to foster a successful fermentation. You also have the option of adding some cultured whey or a bit of the brine from a previous ferment to help the fermentation process get off to a good start. However, all that said, I simply prefer to home can green beans or blanch them and then pickle them.

Copyright: “Excerpted from The Modern Pioneer Pantry reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Mary Bryant Shrader.”

 

Hardcover: About $21.00
Published August 19, 2025

Review by Bobbie Kitto
Edited by Linda Kissam

Note: Roberta (Bobbie) Kitto is a freelance writer based out of Laughlin, NV. Her interests include travel, culinary pursuits and gardening. No fee was paid for this article review. Her opinions are her own.

To make the best of each recipe, use for quality ingredients! Bobbie  highly recommends products from Melissa’s.