Holiday Challah

This is not the challah you are making your family so you can eat healthier. This is the sweet yellow challah you make for special occasions where everyone around the table leans back and rolls their eyes in ecstasy.

While challah has come to mean the Jewish egg-bread traditionally eaten on Shabbat and holidays (or "challah-days" ;-) pun intended) the name comes from the piece of challah that is required to be separated as an offering or sacrifice to G-d. This "mitzva" or Jewish commandment is required anytime someone bakes with a substantial portion of flour. Baking and taking challah is a mitzvah special to women, and it is also a special time for women to ask for extra blessings - to ask G-d for what they need or want. Women often use this time to ask for peace, healing and blessings for members of the community. I put this recipe together in order to use enough flour to "take challah" or separate a piece of challah and make a blessing on this holy act.

It is traditional to eat round sweet raisin challah for Rosh Hashana, in the merit of having a sweet new year.

Makes approximately 6 substantial loaves (see images).

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz or 45 grams or 3 Tablespoons yeast
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 3.5 cups warm water (just below body temperature)
• 5 whole large eggs plus 2 additional yolks in the dough 
• 1/2 cup olive oil 
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (warm enough to be liquid)
• Heaping Tablespoon honey or more to taste
• 1.5 Tbsp salt
• optional - raisins (or chocolate chips, if you're feeling extra fun)
• 1700 grams all-purpose flour or bread flour (approximately 12-14 cups) (the proportions of the above ingredients do not translate well to whole wheat or other flours)

• some flour for rolling and braiding
• 1 additional egg yolk with water for tops
• optional - poppy seeds or sesame seeds for top

Note: save the 3 extra egg whites for the egg-white omelet you'll make yourself while waiting for the dough to rise. Or make meringues for dessert.

Method (can all be done by hand in one large bowl)

1. Mix water, sugar, and yeast.
2. Gently beat eggs.
3. Add eggs, oils, honey and (optional) raisins. Mix well. Leave the salt sitting out so you don't forget it later.
4. Slowly add approximately 2/3 of the flour mixing constantly.
5. Cover with plastic or a damp cloth and let this "sponge" rise approximately 1 hour. (Skip this step if dough will sit overnight.)
6. Add salt.
7. Slowly add the rest of the flour while kneading, stretching, and folding the dough to develop the gluten. The dough should loose most of its stickiness and be dense enough to hold the shape of a ball or snake.
8. Let the dough rise in a warm place for another couple hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
9. Now would be the time to separate "challah," as mentioned above. HERE are details.
10. Fold and roll the dough into separate balls in preparation for braiding or making rolls or knots. If you're not the braiding type, roll twelve balls a bit bigger than a golf ball and place in a round pan. We call this "pull-apart challah" (see image).
11. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
12. Shape dough as desired. Ideas and videos HERE.
13. Beat egg yolk with a spoonful of water and brush liberally on challah with a pastry brush or paper towel.
14. Preheat oven to 375 F or 190 C while dough rests and rises a bit.
15. Bake 20-40 minutes until interior temperate measures 190 F or 88 C.

Send me pictures of your Challah! Happy holidays! 

Passover List Making

I love lists. I need lists. Passover is THE list holiday.

For me, it starts the previous year. While I'm cooking and while I'm putting things away I make lists:
- Buy next year - Food (so I don't have to guess how much matzah, eggs, and cheese we actually ate)
- Buy next year - tools/appliances wish list
- Don't buy/what I have already

The tricky part here is remembering where I put the list. If you don't type up your lists, I recommend scanning them and emailing them to myself. (You hear that future self!? Email me my lists! Or where I put my lists!)

Keep your menus and shopping lists from year to year. Keep a list of links to recipes. No need to reinvent the wheel!
I start here: http://nonrecipe.blogspot.co.il/search/label/Passover
And here: http://nonrecipe.blogspot.co.il/2014/03/passover-pesach-preperation-menu-recipes.html

The problem is, I think I skipped all this list making last year. And this year I was very busy with work (I'm a tax accountant.) and I was a bit lazy about inviting guests anyway, so, I was thinking - I've done this a few times. I'll just wing it. Walk up and down the aisles, buy whatever I think we need. Start cooking a day and a half before Passover and don't stop until the holiday comes in.

Just because I'm living dangerously, doesn't mean you have to! I'd like to refer you to my friend and fellow Israeli entrepreneur, Rebekah Saltzman, CEO of Balagan Be Gone.

Rebekah says, "Most people think  Pesach is a pain but it doesn't have to be, you can get it all done and still arrive at the Seder calm and collected.  Use my guide to help you get there.  It takes a little time to populate but the payoff for years to come is so helpful and time-saving.  Keep a list of all your supplies, recipes, menus and guests all in one place for all the holidays!  I raise my glasses, all four of them, to a PAINLESS Pesach!"

Rebekah designed a spreadsheet to get you started AND made a video to walk you through it! It's free for the tiny price of your email address. You still need to personalize it, but the structure is all there! I'm going to start personalizing mine as soon as I hit "post".

Check out Rebekah's "Painless Pesach"!

If you use Gmail and Google Drive:
1. Enter your name and email address.
2. Click "DOWNLOAD NOW"
3. In the Google Sheet, select File > Make a copy...
4. Watch Rebekah's video and start organizing your Pesach

If you don't use Google Drive, for step #3 above, select File > Download as > [Microsoft Excel]. But remember where you saved it!!

Sprout Chocolate Chips to Maximize Health Benefits

With the ongoing war on sugar, and a new superfood on the shelves every week, you may be overwhelmed by the onslaught of health fads. Humans have been consuming and fermenting chocolate beverages for over 3000 years. But, is chocolate in its current form candy or superfood?

The sugar, fat, and additives you find in most major brands of chocolate make them a poor choice of snack. However, dark chocolate is a good source of fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, and an excellent source of antioxidants. 

You can increase chocolate's healthy properties even more by sprouting it. Even letting your chocolate germinate for 48 hours can unleash the benefits of sprouting. You can easily sprout chocolate chips at home on paper towels or in a plastic or glass container, just like sprouting alfalfa chia or seeds. For an example, see my tutorial on growing alfalfa sprouts.

Sprouting causes the chocolate germ to partially digest some of the starches and sugars in the chocolate, lowering its glycemic index and making it higher in fiber, vitamin D, and phytonutrients. Chocolate in its natural form has phytic acid and other "anti-nutrients" which inhibit the absorption of certain minerals. The process of soaking degrades these anti-nutrients, making it easier to absorb the natural iron and zinc.

Sprouting chocolate chips can be tossed on salad, used in sprouted grain pancakes, or eaten plain.

Follow my blog so you don't miss next week's post on fermented macaroni and cheese!

Directions:
1. Soak chocolate chips overnight in cool water.
2. Lay out on wet paper towel or cheesecloth and cover with another damp cloth.
3. Once the chocolate chips split open and a sprout starts peeking out, move the chips to a place with some natural light. Keep them away from direct sun, or they could melt.
4. This process works best on April 1.

This post was brought to you by the very talented Yoga Painter (image below)

Live Hummus with Fermented foods

This is how I make hummus. All the fermented things add natural probiotics to the diet and act as a natural preservative. I recognize you might not have all these things in the house, so feel free to substitute, and tell me what happens!

*Try this with white beans, black beans, fava beans, and other legumes.

Into a food processor, add:

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic (I use pickeled garlic from making cucumber pickers)

Chop garlic with seasoning.

Add:

• 4 cups cooked or sprouted chickpeas, a.k.a. garbanzo beans, that's two cans -
  SAVE THE WATER/cooking liquid, save a few chickpeas for garnish.
• About 1/16 (1"x1" piece) of a preserved lemon
• 1.5 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about half a small lemon)
• 1 Tablespoon live pickle juice (optional)

Blend until smooth.

Add:

• About 1/4 cup (2-3 oz) water from chickpeas
• 2 Tablespoons Tahini paste
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Garnish with with extra chickpeas, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little fresh, quality cumin or zaatar.

Chickpeas are high in fiber and iron, and have been shown to help regulate blood sugar. Hummus is an excellent way to turn some raw vegetables into a hearty snack.

Rich Mocha Fudge Brownies (Dairy Free)

Trigger warning:
My family has been eating a lot more wheat-free, no sugar added, raw, nutrient-rich things. This is NOT one of those things.

This recipe is based on a well tested recipe from America's Test Kitchen for chewy brownies. I've adjusted to make them with available, dairy free, ingredients, and more rich chocolate and fudgy.

These brownies are a real show-stopper, and they are relatively easy to make in that they don't require a mixer, separate mixing bowls, or whipping anything into "peaks."

YIELD: at least 24 very rich brownies, or one 9x13 pan or "half pan"

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3-1/2 cup (100 ml) cocoa powder (depending on your taste) (I use about 1.2 oz by weight) 
• 3/4 cup strong coffee
• 2 oz finely chopped unsweetened chocolate (I start with 7/8 of a 100 gram bar of 100% cocoa "Holy Cacoa")
• 4 Tablespoons (about 1.8 oz by weight) coconut oil
• 5/8 cup (5 liquid oz) olive oil
• 2 eggs (whole)
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups sugar (use a little less for a deeper bitter-sweet flavor, but significantly decreasing or substituting sugar will alter the structure of the brownie
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt (less if your salt is extra fine, more for kosher salt)
• 8 oz (250 grams) cold, high quality bittersweet chocolate chips or large chocolate chunks

1. Have all ingredients ready, except coffee.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C. Line a 9" x 13" pan with parchment paper (or foil) and a light coating of oil or cooking spray.
3. Brew strong coffee, add to large mixing bowl (must still be hot).
4. Whisk in cocoa powder, followed by chopped unsweetened chocolate. Whisk until smooth and melted. Mixture looks like ganache. Resist the urge to taste this bitter mixture.
5. Wisk in oils, then eggs, yolks, and vanilla.
6. Wisk in sugar until everything is homogeneous. Until this step, you don't need to worry about mixing too much.
7. Switch to a spatula and mix in flour and salt until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Scrape into oiled paper- or foil-lined pan.
9. Cook 20-30 minutes. Checking frequently after 20 minutes or as soon as you smell them. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with sticky chocolatey crumbs, but the brownies are not "soapy" or very jiggly. Remember these have a lot of chocolate and other ingredients that are liquid when hot and will cool to a solid. Do not leave them in until solid.
10. Let cool at least 1 hour, preferably several hours in the fridge before cutting.

Tips:
* Pull out as soon as you smell it.
* Double the recipe, slice into small squares, and freeze small portions. WRAP WELL because high fat foods absorb other smells/flavors. Plastic wrap just doesn't cut it.
* Serve hot with ice cream, or cold. I like them when they've been out of the freezer for about 10 minutes.
* Try adding pecans.
* For chewy, less gooey brownies, add an extra 1/4 cup flour and cook an extra 4-5 minutes.
* Try adding caramels and rock salt on top in the last 7 minutes of cooking. (Reduce salt in batter.)

"Live" Tahini with Preserved Lemon and Garlic

Healthy tehina/tahina/tachina/tahini dressing or dip or sauce

I make this dip most weeks. We dip bread in it on Sabbath and I use it as salad dressing during the week. It would also be excellent drizzled over eggplant.

I do all this with my stick blender, so you will want a tall cup that fits a stick blender.

You CAN do this by hand, but you will need to finely chop all the solids.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup tahini paste (I use Ethiopian or sprouted Tahini)
• 3/4 cup water (less for thicker dip)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1, 2, or 3 cloves of garlic - preferably fermented (I use the cloves that are left after we eat all the pickles. Fresh or frozen are fine, but adjust for the potency.)
• 1/8 of a preserved lemon, seeds removed
• juice from 1/4 lemon
• 1/4 tsp salt

* If you don't have preserved lemon, use the juice from half a lemon or more to taste and 1/2 tsp salt in place of 3 ingredients above.

Add all ingredients to cup. Blend or mix until tahini turns white and smooth.
Add

• 1 small bunch of parsley leaves, optional

If using a blender, pulse to chop parsley. You may want to keep a couple leaves for garnish.

Now here's the tough part: Transfer to a closed container without eating it all.

Just checking In

Hi! It's me. For real. I didn’t forget my password or stop cooking.

I will not apologize for being gone so long. Though, I cooked some yummy things that I will probably never remember to try again.

I've been both very busy and rather inhibited by the idea that my “non-recipes” needed to be well tested with carefully measured ingredients and Pinterest-worthy (or Instagram-worthy) photos.

I will not promise to post more often. I will not promise to measure better, though I will try. My pictures may even get worse as I no longer keep a real camera in the kitchen. I do promise to post what I can, photo or not, because it’s better than nothing. And, hey, I started this blog for myself, and I use it!

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Still fermenting, and making lots of things with fermented ingredients, which I look forward to sharing. I grow sprouts. I make soup stock from vegetable scraps. I also look forward to sharing more kitchen tips, menus, and meal-planning strategies. 

If you're still following my blog, I'd love to hear from you! Are there any nonrecipes that you keep going back to?

Oh, and while I was on hiatus, Google has informed me that
"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. "

So Trigger warning - There may be cookies on my blog. I hope they are delicious!

Pi Day 3.14.15: Classic American Apple Pie

In honor of the most pi pie day for the next hundred years, I'm making pie! I don't cook many things that require measuring. But Saturday is a special day... at least by the American calendar and any other math geeks using the MM-DD-YY format!

For more options on some simpler crumbles, see the original post Thansgiving: Crust and Crumbles.

And, I had my daughter take a video of me creating the lattice work.

Food Processor Crust RECIPE:
Makes 5 single crusts (enough for two double crusts plus 'security'.)

1. Chop together in a food processor:
- 4.5 cups pastry flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1.5 sticks of butter-flavored margarine

Add more flour if necessary to form a slightly crumbly mixture.

2. Mix with fork in a separate bowl or cup:
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 vodka (Inspired by America's test kitchen, made the dough so easy to work with!)

3. Slowly add liquid mixture to food processor,

4. Wrap dough in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate for at least half an hour (up to two days, or freeze for longer.)


Here is your NONrecipe filling:

1. Peel, core, and thinly slice 8-15 apples. Enough to fill your pie(s) in a heaping mound. I use a variety of apples - mostly green Granny Smiths, come pink crisps, all crunchy. Start with the green ones. Toss the red ones with a drop of lemon juice.

2. Season to taste: Mix all the sliced apples in a big zip-top bag or bowl with
 - brown sugar
 - cinnamon
 - nutmeg, prefferably fresh ground
 - butter or margarine
 - salt, ginger, allspice, and whatever else you want...
 - a little corn starch or flour depending on the amount of juice generated by the apples

Put it together:

Pre-heat oven to 425 F.

1. Oil and flour your pie pan(s).

2. Roll out 1/4 of the dough, I use a Silpat mat or canvas pastry cloth.

3. Gently transfer to the pan. Cut off excess, but leave about half an inch all the way around.

4. Fill with apple mixture in a big hill.

5. Cover with second crust. If your design does not have holes (like my lattice work demo), make slits for the steam to escape.

6. Bake 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and apples are tender (stab them with a toothpick.)

Improvisational Flour-less Chocolate Cake

Before Pesach I made Brownies, but I overcooked them and forgot to add nuts. They were a bit disappointing.  This week I wanted something chocolaty, but more moist and less traditional. I whipped these up:

LOL: Prunes "without a nucleus"

• 2 small carrots, peeled
• 2 red apples, peeled
• 2 bags (400 grams/ 14 oz.) of pitted plums
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 c oil
• 1 cup potato starch
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 bags (400 grams) walnuts, chopped
• fresh ground cinnamon and nutmeg
• Salt

Bake at 350 F/170 C for about 20 minutes depending on ingredients and thickness.

I encourage you to experiment with leftovers to make your own cakes and brownies. 

Do you have leftover cooked sweet potato, charoset, or applesauce? Over-ripe bananas, peaches, or pears? Throw it in! Add finely ground nuts for body. (Feel free to add baking soda or baking powder.)

I especially love to cook with kids and give them the reins with what and how much to add.

Please comment and tell me about your own baking improvisations.

Chewy Chocolate Almond Hazelnut Cookies - Gluten Free

These are the easiest no-fail special Passover dessert and snack. I just can't get enough!

Based on Faye Levy's Almond Macaroons, posted by Miriyummy.

For one batch, I would recommend a minimum food processor capacity of 1 liter or 1 quart.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup raw hazelnuts
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (preferably substitute some regular sugar with vanilla sugar)
• 1/4-1/2 cocoa powder (depending on your taste)
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (depending on your taste)

1. Grind nuts and half the sugar in a food processor until medium-fine.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend to a fine paste.
3. Preheat oven to 170 C/350 F.
4. Line 1-2 pans with parchment paper.
5. Dampen hands, then form small balls of "dough" and flatten slightly. (I had my kids do this. They were slow, but it kept them busy.)
6. Bake 18-20 minutes. The cookies should darken, but stay chewy on the inside.
7. Keep in an air tight container for at least a week.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

In the time I saved making this sauce (compared to traditional recipes), I was able to tell you about it! Traditional recipes involve chopping the ingredients, adding them to a pan at specific intervals, and lots of standing over the pan/pot and stirring. Sauce can also be made in a pressure cooker much faster, but you always run the risk of burning it or under cooking it, since you can't peak.

The dry heat of the oven gives the ingredients a deep flavor without the need to stand over a frying pan.

Ingredients:

Basic:

• tomatoes, preferably ripe
• onions (I used sweet and purple onions)
• olive oil

Optional:

• bell peppers (I used red and green)
• garlic (whole cloves)
• mushrooms
• chili peppers
• fresh or dried herbs
• salt and pepper
• vinegar or dry white wine
• sugar or honey

1. Cut up all the vegetables into relatively similar sized chunks - about quarters for the tomatoes.
2. Remove any tomato seeds which come out easily and quickly, but without wasting a lot of time.
3. Toss with olive oil in a large pan, or pans.
4. Roast on high or broil until the edges are browning, probably at least half an hour. Stir/toss/flip or rotate at least once.
5. Add spices to taste and let cool.
6. Use a hand blender or pulse in a food processor to desired consistency.

This batch is mostly for shakshuka which I plan to serve for supper on Wednesday this week during Passover. I will serve it with homemade fermented chili sauce on the side. And maybe some fresh lemonade.

You might also enjoy: Creamy Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup with Cauliflower

What's in my Fridge for Pesach

The laws and stringiness of Pesach may limit our choice of ingredients, but that need not limit our menu. Not only is Pesach a festival, but my kids are home from school. That means more mouths asking for food and less time to prepare meals. Therefore, I like to spend a day or two before the holiday packing my fridge with basics that make throwing a meal or snack together easy.

This year I've already cleaned out a corner of one bedroom and set up a table for some Pesach prep. Last Friday I started basic sauerkraut, sriracha, and pickled kohlerabi, and on Saturday night I plan to get some pickled cucumbers going.

Below is a list of things I prepared last year. I hope it will inspire you!

Thanks for the email

Still making time for simple fermented veggies

A few days ago I received the following email. I was just about to hit "send" when I thought it might make sense to post my response.

Hi Yosefa, 

I recently visited your blog after seeing that I had bookmarked a while back, but I noticed there are no recent posts, are you still updating the blog?

I really enjoyed it as a fellow "healthy DIY mom" in Israel.

All the best,

Elana 

Hi Elana,

Thanks for writing. In the last 5 months I've been busy apartment hunting, moving, interviewing, getting over mononucleosis, and starting a new job, so I've been a little too busy to write and upload pictures. I also put together a four-part post on getting the most out of your freezer, freezing food to save time and money, etc. Then I lost it somewhere between some email and hard drive purging I was working on. That was about two month's ago and I'm still bummed. But just as soon as I get over that and get a hang of juggling work, family, and friends, I will get back to blogging. I'm glad you were enjoying my blog and I hope you'll keep me in your feed or bookmarks. You could also subscribe by email so you'll get any new posts within 24 hours.

My ISK "Infinity Necklace" made for my Mom

So that's the honest truth. I've been busy and bitter. I actually have a couple blog drafts waiting to be polished and posted.  About two months ago I moved into a new apartment, much more appropriate to our family size and situation, with a lovely kitchen. I also started a full time job as a CPA on a fledgling US tax team at a large Tel Aviv tax firm. And I got hooked (no pun intended) on a new hobby, "Invisible Spool Knitting," something like crocheting with wire.

Check out my personal Facebook album to see some of my new and old projects outside the kitchen.

Herbal Salve/ Ointment/ Balm Tutorial PLUS Freebie!

My good friend Allyson has been making natural household products for a couple years and just launched a business selling natural body products - Etz Adin (literally meaning gentle tree). {More info and Freebie coupon code at the end.} I asked Allyson to share her basic technique with us.

Salves are a lot of fun to make.  There are endless combinations of ingredients and you end up with a really great product that heals and nourishes the body.  We love the Natural Healing Salve at our house and use it for just about everything including bug bites, cuts and scrapes, sunburn, eczema, and even diaper rash!

Today, I’m going to share with you the basics of making a salve.  Although it is possible to create a salve from beginning to end in one day, you really want to give it 4-6 weeks to become as rich and effective as possible.

Sourdough Pita - Great Blog Swap PLUS Giveaway

Chef Alison of AliBabka

In honor of the first anniversary of the Kosher Connection I have been randomly assigned a fellow kosher blogger to be inspired by. It my my great pleasure to introduce my muse this week, AliBabka. The author is Chef Alison (Barnett) Gütwaks, is a recent graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in NY. It was important to her to get a well rounded culinary education and not limit herself to kosher culinary colleges. I enjoyed reading about the challenges she faced as a torah-observant Jew cooking in a non-kosher environment.

While reading through AliBabka in search of a recipe I would like to make my own, I enjoyed the creativity, wit, and professional experience that Chef Alison brings to the table. (No pun intended.)

Pita in a pan from AliBabka

In the post "Mo-Rockin In Your Kitchen", guest blogger Elisheva Avital writes about two Moroccan flat breads I have been wanting to try my hand at, pita and moufletta. With the easy access to fresh pita I enjoy in Israel, it's not often I find time to make my own, even if it is healthier and/or tastier. But I thought my blog was in need of both a sourdough entry and a pita recipe. In order to make the recipe my own, I converted her recipe to 90% Whole Wheat Sourdough Pita.

Kosher Cooking... Solemn Gathering

Welcome to the Kosher Cooking Carnival - KCC - for the Hebrew month of Av. As we enter the nine days of heightened morning over the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, we take on many morning rituals. We don't wear new clothes, cut our hair, or eat meat. In this spirit, I would like to share my unusually sparse, and completely pescetarian edition of KCC.

To get us in the spirit, let's start with the annual Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress tradition: Requisite Fast Day Food Post: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars Edition by Mrs. S.

Speaking of shiputzim (renevations), This American Bite is looking good, Yosef! I was just drooling over some vegan Naan Pizza with Zaatar and Eggplant.

Devo K, from In the middle, on the right, had a Spiritual baking experience after reading The Secret of Challah, by Shira Wiener and Ayelet Yifrach.

Raw Fermented Sriracha - Thai Chili Sauce

Did you know that eating capsaicin-containing foods like chili sauce releases endorphins? That means it makes you happy! More specifically, chilli peppers have been implicated as possibly relieving pain, suppressing appetite (thus aiding weight loss), and aiding the prevention of prostate cancer.

I wrote before about making a quick cooked Sriracha-style sauce. It is tasty, but lacks the probiotic benefits and complex flavor of a naturally fermented chili sauce. Though this fermented condiment can ripen for over two weeks, the actual man-hours is less than or equal to that of the "quick" cooked sauce that can be prepared in a day or two.

Bottled sriracha (pickles in background)

I'm a little obsessed with this sauce. I open it up just to smell it and bask in it's beauty. My sriracha is intensely red. It has a deep warm flavor without the eye-watering sharpness of its raw ingredients. The taste is complex, arriving in waves of fruity heat with a sense of savory indulgence.

First I'll tell you how I make it, then I'll tell you how I use it.

Rice paper wraps = Leftover Heaven

wraps with baby greens, roasted bell pepper, sprouted lentils, and fermented cauliflower

How did I not know about these before?? Now that I've become friendly with my local Asian grocer, I can finally ask, "What is this?" And boy have I learned a lot!  When I used to see rice paper wrappers, they looked like too much work for me. I assumed getting these plasticy looking sheets into an edible form must involve soaking, cooking, steaming, or some other processing. Not so!

1. Dip the rice paper sheet in water for about 5 seconds, then brush the sheet over a tea towel to remove excess water.
2. Lay the sheet, still rigid, on a plate or cutting board. The sheet will absorb the water and soften in the time it takes to fill it.
3. Pile your fillings  near one side and roll up like an egg roll, blintz, or burrito.

translucent wrap with wild mushrooms, wakame, and homemade kimchi-kraut

Make Tri-colored Freezer Pops with Disposable Popsicle Sticks

Today I want to teach you how to do two things: 
A. Make striped posicles, which are just more fun for kids and adults.
B. Get craft sticks right in the middle if the homemade pops.

Why would you want to use craft sticks?

• Maybe you lost the sticks that came with your ice pop molds.
• Maybe you don't have ice pop molds.
• Maybe you want to make a lot of popsicles.
• Maybe you want to share your homemade pops without worrying about the sticks being returned.

You will need:
- Juice, or another liquid like flavored yogurt or chocolate milk -preferably 3 colors/flavors
- Ice pop molds or small cups
- Clean, un-died craft sticks or tongue depressors

How to Make Kosher Dill Pickles

I'd like to tell you about the method I use to make naturally fermented cucumber pickles. The same technique can be used for many different fruits and vegetables by varying the spices and the time. If you read no further, this is what you need to know:

 A. Use an appropriate amount of salt. Too little and unwanted molds and bacteria can develop and the cucumbers will become soft. Too much and you will retard the growth of good yeasts and bacteria, the pickling will take an unnecessarily long time, be unpalatably salty, and the cucumbers could get too sour, or too soft before they're ever really tasty.
B. Keep everything submerged. As long as your cucumbers (or other veggies) are safely deep in the brine, you can skim off whatever scum forms on top.