The Stove That Started it All: Wyoming Bread House Dishes on Living, Baking Off-Grid

Before moving to Casper, Wyoming Bread House owner Emily White and her family lived on 20 acres of wooded land in Western New York, living an off-grid life in a military tent known as a GP Medium.

Coming up on the Bread House's two-year anniversary, she shared a photo of the beautiful oven that heated their home and made their food.

"You can't imagine how much you can learn about cooking and baking with a wood burning stove" said White. "I baked my first batch of Sourdough in this oven, made from a starter that I had started with the mother of an apple vinegar I had made."

Sourdough is, pun intended, White's bread and butter. It's loaded with good bacteria and easy to digest.

After dropping off her three kiddos at school, she has four hours of preparation before bake-time. First she feeds the starter, and then a few hours later starts getting the dough ready.

If you show up when doors open at 11:00 AM you have a shot at catching her pulling fresh loaves from the ovens. The smell is irresistible.

Everything White sells is made from scratch including fresh soups, sandwiches and pastries. She offers a rotating weekly menu that features vegetarian options as well.

(I've become a big fan of the smoked turkey sandwich; its made on cranberry, orange, and rosemary sourdough with white cheddar, apple, bacon, pickled red onions, arugula, sprouted seeds, mustard, and mayo. And for adventurous people you can add pickled ginger to anything for an additional fifty cents. I highly recommend).

The Whites decided to move to Wyoming in 2020 because New York was not condusive to the life they wanted to live. They first came to Casper for a home-schooling convention but quickly fell in love with its wide open spaces and friendly community. Next thing you know they were packing up their things and heading West.

Wyoming Bread House is White's first business venture. "I'd been dreaming of this for years," she said. "Here [in Casper] I got to go slowly. I started at my house, I didn't have to take out loans and put my family at risk."

She's not afraid of experimenting and getting things wrong. There are lots of days she confesses when things don't go right. It would be easy to try to sell everything, but White credits her values and integrity for only offering customers the very best.

"Never be satisfied with what you're doing. Always push to do better," she says, her blue eyes twinkling. Several customers stop in as we chat, making off with eclairs and seasonal pumpkin spice rolls.

It's a good day for the spicy chili, which is very traditional and made with ground beef. She's also offering hot mulled cider through the end of November.

You can see the full menu at her website here.