War cannot be won. I’m not advocating anything dangerous here, just old-fashioned common sense—and practices. We are too clean and so are our homes. And that germaphobia has created a market—or the market has created germaphobia—for all sorts of wasteful products. I’m not advocating you never bathe. However, this MIT chemical engineer hasn’t showered since 2003 […]
probiotics
Pear-Cranberry Chutney
Unlike cranberry sauce, which you can make quickly before dinner, you have to start this chutney at least two days before you can eat it. This gives the microbes in the food and starter time to work their magic. So, if you’re reading this the day before Thanksgiving, bookmark it for dinner next year. This […]
7 Make Ahead Staples for a Zero-Waste Thanksgiving
Cooking without producing waste requires some planning but not that much. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner without waste needs a bit more planning. I don’t like to leave all my prepping for Thanksgiving to the day before or day of. I like to sleep. So this week and continuing on the weekend, I’ll prep a bunch of […]
Zero-Waste Menu No 5
When we first went plastic-free in 2011, it took us a while to figure out what to eat. One thing was clear, however—we would no longer eat processed foods, with all of their plastic packaging. We started eating more fresh vegetables from the farmers market and I also began fermenting like crazy. If you’ve caught […]
August Is the Reddest Month
Updated 07/07/22 If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and have planted a garden, you may have begun to experience what-am-I-going-to-do-with-this-glut-of-tomatoes syndrome. Mild symptoms often begin in early August and quickly intensify to the critical stage. The following ideas will help alleviate and, in some instances, depending on the harvest and the number of plants you […]
Will My Fermented Food Kill Me? Fermentation FAQs
I love teaching fermentation workshops and answering the many questions attendees ask me. Here, I’ve tried to address most of the common questions I hear but may have missed one or two. If you have a burning question about fermentation that I haven’t included, please ask away and I’ll do my best to answer. This […]
Kombucha Basics and a Brew Log
I teach fermentation classes and my students always have many questions during and after class (I love that!). This post outlines the basic lesson plan for my kombucha class. Near the end of this post, you’ll find my free brew log worksheet to take notes when you just start out. Brew logs? Worksheets? Classes? Is kombucha […]
Why and How to Make Sauerkraut and Krautchi
Click here to jump to the recipe Why ferment? People have fermented foods for thousands of years. At first, ferments must have happened by sheer accident—a handful of vegetables forgotten in salty water or a misplaced bowl of porridge, discovered days later and showing signs of life and gentle bubbling. When those first curious cooks tasted these supposed mistakes, they would […]
Garlic-Dill Pickles
For pickles, fermentation was the primary means of preservation until the 1940s, when direct acidification and pasteurization of cucumber pickles was introduced. — The Art of Fermentation Store bought pickles may taste good but to render them shelf-stable, food manufacturers pasteurize the cucumbers in vinegar. On the plus side, they last forever. On the down […]
Garlic-Dill Sauerkraut
I have converted several self-professed haters of sauerkraut with this garlic-dill blend. It tastes just like dill pickles. And almost everyone likes dill pickles, including kids. People who tell me they hate sauerkraut often also say they want to like it because of the many health benefits that lacto-fermented foods such as sauerkraut offer. Fermented sauerkraut: Is […]
Two Upcoming Free Webinars!
I’m so excited to teach some more webinars. People had always asked me if they could watch them later and I had to say no. But I can now record them! And if you don’t want to participate in the webinar but simply watch it live (or later), I’ll stream these on YouTube. Tonight, I hosted […]
How Does Fermentation Prevent Food Waste?
Today I taught a fermentation workshop at CVSan in Castro Valley as part of the organization’s Commitment to Serve Week. The theme of the week is zero-waste. It was so much fun! (Thank you Jordan, Naomi and all the staff at CVSan.) But what does fermentation have to do with food waste? Well, I’ve decided […]
A Fermented Bloody Mary
I’ve had one A Tale of Two Cities kind of summer. But some good things have emerged from the worst of times: daily yoga practice, more piano playing and fermented Bloody Marys. 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 […]
SCOBY Do’s and Don’ts: Your 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 […]
The Secondary Fermentation: Hippie Jargon for “Put Kombucha in a Bottle”
Updated 09/19/17 During my fermentation workshops, I give students samples of my various kombucha flavors before I put them to work. They always ask for the recipes so I thought I better get to it and post a bunch. Before you can flavor kombucha, you must first brew a batch and wait for it to ferment. You can […]