Utah’s Homemaking Twist On The Internet’s Prettiest Trend

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram lately, you’ve probably seen the cottagecore trend: dreamy bread loaves cooling on wooden counters, fresh eggs in a wire basket, and women in flowy dresses pretending they just stepped out of an 1800s homestead. But in Utah? That’s not a rebrand — that’s Tuesday night. I really do need to find some of those dresses tho....

Utahns were living cottagecore long before it became a thing on social media. Bread baking isn’t a novelty here; it’s practically a competitive sport where the winner passes out the recipe. Sourdough starters are handed down like heirlooms, and every church Relief Society activity has at least one “famous” roll recipe in circulation. When pandemic shortages hit and everyone else panicked over flour, Utahns just opened their food storage and carried on.

Backyard chickens? Check.  Roosters crowing at 6 a.m. is less whimsical and more, “Yep, the neighbor’s "chicken math" at it again.” And while the internet loves the romantic idea of homemade jam in mason jars, Utah families have been lining their pantry shelves with peaches, pickles, and salsa for generations. We are just making it prettier.

Sure, TikTok may frame it all as a nostalgic escape from modern life, but in Utah, it’s more about practicality. It’s not just about how pretty your bread looks with a gingham napkin — it’s about being ready when Smith’s is out of yeast again.

So while cottagecore influencers carefully stage photos of their rustic lifestyles, Utahns simply keep doing what they’ve always done: baking, bottling, and raising chickens because it’s normal — and because preparedness is basically a state pastime.

Maybe that’s the real charm of Utah’s homemaking rebrand. It’s not a curated aesthetic. It’s the blend of tradition, practicality, and just enough quirkiness to make “cottagecore” feel like home.