Have a low-waste cold and flu season with these tips for both treatment and prevention.
fermentation
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Overcome Your Fear of Commitment—to Sourdough and Other Starters
I can’t look after more than four starters. My ginger bug Mary Ann, my kombucha SCOBY Etheldreda, my sourdough starter Eleanor and my buttermilk Betty all need regular feedings or they’ll die. I take care of this little family in addition to fermenting all sorts of other foods that don’t require starters—kimchi, dill pickles, chutney, […]
Waste Nothing Beet Pickles
How can I possibly be so excited about something as lowly as beet pickles, besides the fact that they taste delicious? My daughter MK has loved these since she was little. I ate most of the pickles I made for this post though…I had to do quality control…sorry MK… Nothing goes to waste To make […]
How Do I Juggle All of This?
Sometimes this lifestyle makes me crazy. I will admit it. When I try to rush out the door in the morning and notice my sourdough starter sitting on the counter, yearning for the feeding I have neglected to give it, I get why people don’t want to look after one. Although feeding my starter takes […]
Fermentation 101 Online Workshop
Every time I post pics on Instagram of my table set up for class or the food we make or short videos of my students working away, people ask me if I will do an online version. After hearing this over and over, I finally got the message and set up a new class: Fermentation […]
15 Creative Uses for Food Scraps
Last week I rewatched Anthony Bourdain’s documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste in Berkeley on the big screen and spoke on a panel after the film. Anyone who eats should see it. (You can read my review of it here.) The chefs in the film came up with such creative dishes from food that […]
A Zero-Waste Business
I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that. — Lloyd Dobler, […]
Fermentation Tools, Equipment and Ingredients
You can spend lots of money on tools and gadgets designed specifically for making fermented foods—airlocks to let gas escape from jars, lids with small “windows” you open in order to release gas, glorified glass jars rebranded as “small fermentation crocks,” expensive weights, mandolines to cut vegetables quickly and uniformly… These tools all sound nice […]