Thank you to everyone who has attended one of my free webinars or in-person workshops. They have been so much fun for me to teach and I hope my attendees have enjoyed them as well. Below is my new schedule for May and June.
Webinars: Google Hangout
To register for the webinars, please choose one or more from the list below and fill out the comment form at the bottom, noting which webinars you want to join. You will need a Google account to participate. For now, I’ll continue to use Hangouts for these—and not simply because Google puts some sort of blush-in-the-cheeks filter on them. (Several people have said to me “I look really good on here!” Have you ever heard anyone say that on Skype or Webex?) Up to 10 people can join the video call and I can share my screen if I want to show a picture of a SCOBY or anything else.
Please note that all class time are Pacific. I had been holding the webinars on Saturdays at 10am PT so people from various time zones could attend. Saturdays don’t work for everyone however, so I’ve added weekdays and weeknights to this schedule. Please let me know if a different time would work better for you or if you have any requests for webinar topics.
1. Saturday, May 9, 10am to 10:30am: Ginger Bug
If you want to make kombucha but can’t find a mother to get started, you may want to try making ginger beer instead. All you need is ginger, sugar, water and time. I’ll show you how to make a ginger bug to get started. You can also use your ginger bug to make grown-up soda from tea or juice. I named my ginger bug Mary Ann (à la Gilligan’s Island).
2. Thursday, May 14, 5pm to 5:30pm: Zero-Waste Cooking 101
In this webinar, I’ll cover how I prevent waste in my kitchen. Cutting the waste starts with shopping and ends with basic cooking skills and creativity.
3. Tuesday, May 26, 10am to 10:30am: Kombucha
If you can brew tea, you can brew kombucha. And if you drink a lot of kombucha, you’ll save loads of cash making your own better-tasting brew.
4. Saturday, June 13, 10am to 10:30am: Sourdough Starter
Until the introduction of commercial yeast about 200 years ago, people had baked with sourdough for thousands of years. The slow fermentation of a true sourdough makes grains more digestible, boosts nutrition and tastes delicious. But you’ll need to make a starter before you can make the bread. (You can read my posts on making a starter here and here.)
5. Thursday, June 18, 5pm to 5:45pm: Fermented Whole Vegetables
How do you make dill pickles? In short, place small cucumbers in a jar, cover them with a brine of water and salt and wait five days. In this webinar, I’ll explain the benefits of fermentation and demonstrate how to make these dill pickles and other whole fermented vegetables.
6. Tuesday, June 23, 10am to 10:45am: Fermented Tomatoes
You will not believe how delicious fermented tomatoes taste—tangy, salty and slightly effervescent like a really good salsa. Just in time for tomato season, I’ll demonstrate how to ferment tomatoes and how to make fermented salsa.
In-Person Classes: Palo Alto, California
I have outgrown my current kitchen and have a new venue at the JCC in Palo Alto. I’ll be teaching two classes in May.
Brew Your Own Kombucha
Learn to make your own probiotic-rich kombucha and gain the confidence to successfully brew it on your own at home. Save money! Impress your friends!
- Sample different flavors of kombucha
- Take home a young batch of kombucha you make yourself in class
- Get a piece of my highly coveted, virile kombucha SCOBY
- Class fee includes all materials and food
- Small class size with a maximum of 8 students
Check out the kombucha class outline here and refer back to it after class.
Date: Tues May 12, 6pm to 8pm
Location: Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA Map
Fee: $75/person
Register by phone: 650-450-8205
Add Some Culture to Your Veggies
Learn to make dill pickles and sauerkraut. After this class, you’ll have the confidence to successfully make these on your own at home.
- Sample sauerkraut, krautchi—a cross between sauerkraut and kimchi—and dill pickles
- Take home one jar of kraut and one jar of dill pickles you make in class
- Learn about the benefits of including more fermented foods in your diet
- Class fee includes all materials and food
- Small class size with a maximum 8 students
Check out the sauerkraut/kimchi class outline here and refer back to it after class.
Date: Tues May 19, 6pm to 8pm
Location: Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA Map
Fee: $75/person
Register by phone: 650-450-8205
Take Both Classes and Get the Second Class Half Price!
These small classes fill up quickly. Sign up for both today to secure your spot AND save money!
Fee: $112.50/person
Register by phone: 650-450-8205
we are having a discussion here annemarie about sourdough bread – bec has started a starter and I have been trawling thru your recipes to give bec a few ideas as both her and her dad have just made it up as they went along and – here is what they dont understand is why you discard 80% of the starter and built up a new starter to make the loaf ?
maybe you have a post that explains this if so point me in the direction.
sandra
I believe that the replacement flour feeds the organisms so that they don’t run out of food.The starter sours as the bacterial population grows. If you taste it before and after, replacing flour, you’ll notice that it’s sweeter afterwards. So we’re maintaining health of our critters and maintaining the taste that we like. How’d I do, annemarie?.
I am excited about the webinars and will tell my friends.
Sounds good, Aggie. Thank you for the explanation and I look forward to seeing you in a webinar 🙂
Hi Sandra. Like Aggie said, you feed the starter fresh flour and water to keep the microbes happy. You only need a few tablespoons of microbes to get the new batch going. If you fed the whole starter, you would have to add so much flour and water that soon your starter would grow and take over your kitchen, possibly engulfing you and your entire family 😉 So, you set aside 80 percent of the starter and add the 20 percent to a new batch. I use my discard for Aggie’s pancakes (http://wp.me/p554KR-6S), sourdough crackers, tortillas and other baked goodies. I have two posts on making a sourdough starter. The second one I drew in stick drawings and is more succinct: http://wp.me/p4sJ3i-5Oq People ask me about the discard all the time. It throws everyone off. I hope that helps.
I have read about other ways to make and feed a starter but this is how I do it. It took me almost at least six months to learn to do this confidently and consistently turn out good loaves, so I stick with it and experiment with only one or two variables (there are so many) at a time.
thank you for that – have passed on to the breadmakers in the family – bec is still reticent re the discard as although she appreciates using the discard as you do she does not want to get that involved in ‘having ‘ to make other things. she found a recipe that uses a couple of cups of starter and is going to follow that and see what that is like. as she says she made sourdough bread off the top of her head for over a year when she was living in newcastle and thought the loaves were alright. work in progress…. and we will see where this journey takes us. your bread does have that lovely professional ‘look to it.keep you posted ….
Yes, please keep me posted, Sandra. I know there are different ways to nurture a starter but I haven’t experimented much.