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 […]
zero waste
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 […]
How to Sew a Bento Bag
Family, friends and coworkers, please stop reading now… And if you don’t sew, you can also skip this post and buy the original bento bag from Ambatalia, a small, locally owned producer of gorgeous textile goods made from natural fibers and purveyor of daily essentials to help you live “a non-disposable life.” Check out Ambatalia’s […]
Tomato Paste from Scratch
I finally made tomato paste and it tastes amazing. This has been on my to-do, to-cook, to-blog list since I started blogging. Like many things I now make from scratch, I will never be able to eat store-bought tomato paste again because homemade tastes incredible. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I followed the recipe […]
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, […]
Coconut Milk Made from Dried Coconut
I make my own coconut milk for several reasons: Store-bought coconut milk is packaged in either wasteful cans lined with plastic or hard-to-recycle and even more wasteful Tetra-Paks that contain plastic Many of these plastics contain BPA or a replacement that is just as harmful Store-bought often contains food-like and suspect ingredients Homemade contains only […]
Kitchen Gadgets You Didn’t Know You Already Own
A flimsy plastic kitchen gadget that should not exist inspired this post: the Evriholder Avo Saver Avocado Holder. Shaped like one half of an avocado, with a round indentation for the seed and an adjustable rubber strap, this gadget buckles in the half avocado you didn’t eat so you can store it in the refrigerator and […]
A Use-It-Up Challenge (or What We Ate Last Week)
Forgetting to bring your money before you head out shopping can provide a great opportunity to re-examine your shopping list—and in the case of grocery shopping, prevent food waste. The Sunday before last, I arrived at the farmers’ market late. Once there, before even opening my purse, I realized I had neither money nor my […]
Refried Beans
Homemade refried beans taste delicious, fill you up, cost little money to make and contain only a handful of ingredients. The taste of canned refried beans pales in comparison and I prefer that my food not come into contact with plastic. The epoxy that lines cans contains either BPA or a just-as-bad-if-not-worse replacement, such as […]
But When You Do Shop, Shop Small
Shop small could mean shop less. And I do suggest we all do that. But in this post, by shop small, I mean shop at small independent businesses—the local bookstore, bike shop and bakery. Why? 1. Less packaging waste Which came first, our addiction to convenience or the convenience of online shopping? Either way, this […]