The goodie bag dilemma Earlier this week, a reader asked me if I had any good ideas for kids’ goodie bags. She and her family throw a big Christmas party every year. She cooks all sorts of delicious food, organizes games for the kids and dresses up as Santa. She had been stressing out over […]
Author: The Zero-Waste Chef
Turn Trash into Treasure (and Inexpensive Props)
The zero-waste journey will change your perception of trash I have been on the lookout for photo backgrounds for months, maybe longer. I’ve checked out expensive wooden cutting boards and pricey marble pastry slabs and giant pieces of natural fabrics but I can’t bring myself to buy more new stuff. I’d feel silly buying a […]
I’m not Extreme, Consumerism Is
A woman rides her bike to the farmers’ market to buy locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables. After carefully selecting some apples, oranges, avocados, potatoes and kale, all grown on small farms without the use of synthetic pesticides, she places them in her homemade cloth produce bags. Before she hops back on her bike, she […]
A Zero-Waste Vegan Thanksgiving Menu
Like all things zero waste, this menu requires a bit of planning but not that much. A few weeks ago, I decided to schedule a weekly Instagram Live chat on Wednesdays at 4pm Pacific Time. Yesterday, I discussed tips for preventing waste at Thanksgiving—not just food waste but packaging waste also (read 18 waste-busting tips […]
How to Equip a Kitchen When You Start Out or Start Over
When you choose kitchen tools, look for multi-purpose items. Yesterday on Instagram, two people sent me messages asking how to equip a kitchen from scratch. One was moving to a new apartment. The second? The Camp Fire had razed her home in Paradise, California. I can’t imagine losing my home in one of these mega-fires—the […]
How to Invest in (Fennel) Stalks and Fronds
Never waste fennel stalks and fronds again! For the last few weeks, after I’ve returned home from the farmers’ market, I’ve roasted lots of vegetables such as potatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions, zucchini and fennel—but not all together. My daughter and I love them. I will slice up a fennel bulb, roast it with olive oil […]
8.3 Billion Reasons to Choose Reusable Produce Bags
Back in March this year, I hosted my first of several reusable produce bag sewing meetups. During that initial get-together, a group of us sewed about 50 bags in one afternoon. People took some of the bags home to use, I donated a handful to the kitchen in my intentional community and the rest I […]
By Popular Demand: Online LIVE Sourdough Bread Workshop
So many people have asked for it and here it is: an online, interactive, sourdough bread workshop Years ago I taught myself to make delicious sourdough bread—and didn’t bake a really good loaf for months. Drastically shorten your learning curve! The first person who took my sourdough bread class baked a wonderful loaf—on his first […]
Homemade Fresh Pumpkin Pasta
I had trouble coming up with a title for this post. If you google “pumpkin pasta” a pile of recipes will pop up for pumpkin sauces to toss with cooked pasta—and those do look delicious. But in this recipe, the pasta itself contains the pumpkin—and quite a bit of it. A Pumpkin by Any Other […]
New In-Person Workshop: Pasta Party!
I regularly receive requests for cooking classes suitable for beginners, kids or team building. Until now, I have focused on fermentation: kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, dill pickles, sourdough bread and so forth. While these are all suitable classes for beginners, kids or team building, not everyone has drunk the fermented Kool-Aid (yes, that’s a thing and […]
Take Action on Climate Change to Cope with Your Grief
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James To live without hope is to cease to live.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky You have to show them that there’s a better way. You need to inspire them like you inspired me! You need to give them hope.” — Barry, Sausage Party […]