“When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” ― Desiderius Erasmus I have wanted to write a post with book recommendations on the topics of simplicity and food—I cannot separate the two—since I began writing my blog. I haven’t read all the books that […]
cultures
Fermenting Versus Canning
Updated 06/11/17 fermentation noun fer·men·ta·tion \ˌfər-mən-ˈtā-shən, –ˌmen-\ “[The] process by which microbes consume sugars and produce acid, alcohol and gases.” — from The Good Gut “The transformative action of microorganisms.” — from The Art of Fermentation Often when I discuss fermentation, people say to me “Cool! I’ve always wanted to try canning.” Before I started fermenting […]
How to Brew a Fermented Bloody Mary
Although this fermented Bloody Mary contains live cultures, I wouldn’t recommend guzzling these as part of a health regime. They certainly taste delicious though! Fermented Tomatoes In place of V8 or tomato juice, I use fermented tomatoes for this Bloody Mary. Fermented tomatoes don’t have that sauerkraut flavor that many other fermented vegetables do. They […]
How to Make Ginger Beer
I am not advocating anything illegal here. I merely want to point out that unless authorities ban ginger, sugar and water, anyone under the age of 21 or living in a dry state such as Tennessee can make alcoholic ginger beer pretty easily. Ginger beer tastes like grown up ginger-ale with a spicy kick that burns the […]
SCOBY Do’s and Don’ts: Your Top Kombucha Questions Answered
In 2014, I discovered that I absolutely love teaching fermentation (who knew?). My kombucha students have lots of questions during and after class so I thought I better write up an FAQ page. I’ll add more to this as more questions arise. If you have one that I haven’t addressed here, please ask away in […]
Simple Fermented Salsa with Live Cultures
Click here to jump to the recipe My younger daughter refuses to drink kombucha (referring to the SCOBY, “How can you put anything into your body that touched that!”). She won’t try sauerkraut (“What’s that smell?!”). She will eat sourdough, although somewhat reluctantly (“Why can’t we have a normal kitchen?”). But she scarfs down this. If […]
A Great Read: The Good Gut
microbiota noun mi-cro-bi-o-ta \-bī-ˈōt-ə\ : a microbial community microbiome noun mi-cro-bi-ome \-bī-ˈōm\ : all the microbial genes in a microbiota I first read about the Sonnenburgs—a husband and wife team of Stanford PhDs studying the gut microbiota—in an article Michael Pollan wrote for the New York Times a couple of years ago. […]
Thumb Your Nose at Big Soda: Naturally Carbonated Lemonade
Click here to jump to the recipe This past Monday, summer arrived here in Silicon Valley. I could hear kids splashing in the pool outside. The ice cream truck, which, oddly, plays “Little Brown Jug,” resumed trolling the neighborhood. And with school about to end, parents went into panic mode. But something else tipped me off that summer […]
How to Make a Ginger Bug Starter for Natural Soda
I have posted pics of my ginger bug on Instagram a couple of times but without directions. When people then ask how to actually make the ginger bug, they probably want more guidance than “mix some ginger, sugar and water together and add more daily for about five days.” But really, that’s about all you do. […]