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
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 […]
What Is Fermentation and Why Do I Go On About It So Much?
If you have read my blog at all, at some point, you may have had one of the following thoughts: Fermentation sounds revolting. Why does she keep going on about it? OMG. I love fermentation. I named my sourdough starter [insert name]. On [insert date] she turns [insert number] years old. We will throw her […]
How to Ferment Vegetables in Brine
Click here to go straight to the recipe When I prep sauerkraut, I add salt to a bowl of chopped vegetables, crush the vegetables, let them sit while they release water and then pack everything into clean jars. When I prep kimchi, I add a lot of salt to a bowl of chopped vegetables, pour […]
Zero-Waste Menu No 7
I’ve come up with the seventh and last menu in my zero-waste menu series. When we first went plastic-free, menus would have helped us a lot. Figuring out what to eat presented the biggest challenge of our new lifestyle. I’ll write a roundup of all the menus soon. Until then, if you’d like to peek […]
Someone Tell Me How I’m Missing Out
If you read environmental news, you may have stumbled across articles within the last week or so on a new type of edible straw. This article from Fast Company contains some unfortunate wording about these alternatives to wasteful, single-use, ocean-polluting plastic straws: It’s not about the consumer sacrificing anymore, it’s about the consumer having fun and […]
Pear-Cranberry Chutney
The bad news about this recipe is that you have to start it at least two days before you eat it. So, you can’t make it for thanksgiving dinner this year. The good news? This chutney tastes fantastic—sweet and sour, a little salty, a little spicy and slightly effervescent. I’ll serve this tomorrow at our […]
Labneh (aka Yogurt Cheese)
I mentioned my labneh in a post last week but people had questions on social media about it so I thought it deserved its own post… If you’ve gone plastic-free and zero-waste and still want to eat cheese, trying to find it may drive you over the edge. Where I live in Northern California, I […]