Fermenting...

Are you on the fermenting bandwagon yet?  I'm trying to hitch a ride myself, but still very much in the early learning stages.  I figure that it can't hurt, and within safe reason I love anytime I can present and prepare food for friends and family that has been minimally handled/processed.  So I am dipping my toe into the world of making my own fermented foods.  So far my two attempts have been kombucha and lacto fermented salsa.

A year or so ago I started buying those bottled kombucha drinks at the local natural food coop, and I was quickly hooked.  Those babies are expensive though and so I began researching how to make my own.  About that time I connected with a friend of a friend who had recently started experimenting with making her own kombucha and was willing to share some scoby and teach me the basics.  So after an afternoon spent sampling her variations and gleaning as much as I could from her experience I took home a couple scobys and set out to ferment my own kombucha.  I love this tutorial on brewing your own.  Once the tea was ready, I am finding that 7-10 days is a good amount of time for fermentation in our home (though with cooler temps settling in that may begin to stretch longer), it's time to flavor your tea.  Over the summer we used seasonal fruits, mostly berries, along with lemon and ginger to flavor our tea but now that fall is kicking in I'm thinking a pear/ginger combo sounds really great.  Have you tried making kombucha?  If so what are your favorite flavor add in's?

My second foray into the world of fermenting has been lacto fermented salsa.  We love salsa in this house and during the summer months when tomatoes are at their best we make and consume a lot of it.  That and my obsession with buying produce by the box led me to my first attempt at fermented salsa.  I had an abundance of tomatoes both from the garden and supplemental purchases and was looking for something new to try in the way of food preservation.  I stumbled on this blog post about fermented salsa and made quick work of transforming the remains of my tomatoes into several quarts of the best salsa I've ever tasted.  Not only is it super tasty, it is really fairly quick and easy to make.  A few rough chops, some blitzing in the food processor and a few days on the counter and you are good to go.  And no cooking folks!  No standing over a hot stove water bath canning salsa in 100 degree temps.  From what I've read you can hold fermented salsa in the fridge for fairly lengthy periods, likely longer than you will need because if you like salsa you will eat your way through your jars very fast.  The inner hoarder in me wants to make enough to last us well into and hopefully through winter so I dug a bit deeper and found that you can freeze this salsa with decent results.  I've got a tester quart in the freezer and another gallon plus working it's magic on my counter at this very moment.  Once we crack open the frozen jar I will report back but I do have high hopes.  I took a jar of this along on a weekend trip with friends and it got a raving thumbs up, even by my onion and pepper hating friend.  I was even able to successfully use it as a bribe for a teen friend of ours, its really that good.  I hope you try for yourself, I'd love to hear what you think.

Cake...

On the first day back to school this year I had a little celebratory coffee and brunch gathering with a few friends.  I knew I would keep it fairly simple yet wanted to bake a couple sweets to share with the ladies.  I also had the remains of a box of pears (ordered the week prior) that were calling to get used up, so in a search of the internet airwaves I found this recipe for a French Apple Cake that I thought could work well with my quickly ripening pears.  In fact the original recipe has one softening up crisp apples, so substituting nicely ripened soft pears seemed a perfect tweak.  I also wanted to make the recipe dairy free so I used coconut oil and milk in the recipe, and oh was that a winning call.  I had never made this cake before but am always excited to try out a new recipe on friends, though I could not have anticipated the absolute wonder of this cake.  Nearly everyone at the table tried it, even those who typically stay away from sweets and such, and I can honestly say that nothing else I have ever made for anyone has ever gotten quite the response this cake did.  There were seconds and thirds had, and many requests to share the recipe.  That simple rustic little cake in the photos above has caused quite the stir.  So naturally I made it again, I had to see if it was just beginners luck or some sort of fluke after all, for a dinner gathering with friends last weekend and I am happy to say that it wasn't a fluke at all.  This cake is amazing!  It has a slight custard quality to it and is loaded with layer after layer of fruit.  I hope that you try it and enjoy it as much as we have been.

Summer In Review...

Phew, where did the time go?  The kids are back to school, I can feel that our mornings and evenings have cooled off considerably, the leaves are already starting to shift from vibrant green to lovely shades of orange, and soup is once again making a regular appearance on our dinner table.  I guess I have to reluctantly admit to myself that summer is over, I mean even the calendar is trying to give me the hint with the solstice date looming.

It really does not seem real to me that our summer is now just a mere memory.  We had such a great time with friends and family, both near and far from home, adventuring and chilling out together on beaches, in canoes and kayaks, in swimming pools, hiking trails, riding bikes, seeing new parts of the country and revisiting some of our favorite local spots.  We also had a good amount of time at home just hanging out, which gave me time to indulge a favorite summer pastime... canning and preserving summer's beautiful bounty.  We've got enough jam, salsa and chutney to carry us through the year with just enough to share here and there.  I also got busy with lots of freezing of peaches and berries for smoothies and to top pancakes.  Then there were the tomatoes... I made a lot of tomato sauce (I will share my new favorite method for preserving tomatoes soon) that is stocked up in our freezer for soups and sauces, as well as several quarts of slow roasted tomatoes.   I get so excited looking at my freezer stocked with loads of treasure saved for the winter, but at the same time a bit anxious at the thought of a lengthy power outage.  But let's not dwell on that.

My go-to reference for all things canned is the Food In Jars website and cookbook.  I love Marisa's creative combinations and the smaller portions makes whipping up a batch or two at a time way more manageable for me.  This year we stuck with the standards -- raspberry jam, rosemary/apricot jam, peach salsa and pear/walnut conserve (equally good on toast or over your favorite soft or blue cheese) but added a few new items to the the mix as well including blackberry/sage jam, ginger pear jam (so amazing mixed into morning oatmeal!), and peach chutney.  I find those stacks of jars gleaming deep purple to vibrant raspberry red and even the pale creamy color of pear to be so simply beautiful on my shelf right now.

Just as I morn the move away from our summer adventures and lazy days I do also welcome the return to routine that comes with those misty morning walks to school and evenings that find us all home scattered throughout the house.

Mindful Monday...

Why I Ride
I've been out on my bike much more lately and loving the time sailing through the curves and straights of local streets and trails while feeling the incredible Northwest sunshine beaming down on me.  So today I wanted to share this poem accompanied with a short video promoting bike riding, follow the link above and enjoy...