Last year for Christmas, my family decided to get both of my grandmothers gift certificates to Bygone Basics, a business in Montague that teaches you how to “put food by” as it was done many years ago. Started by Valerie and John Hanson in Whitehall, Valerie decided to take her experiences as one of eight children growing up on a family farm, and put them to use.

My family gathered together on Saturday, a rainy, cold day and headed out to the Hanson’s home, also now a bed and breakfast. While my mom’s mother, Nita, had made bread before, the closest the rest of us can come to baking bread was buying it the store.