Ferment Change party tonight

May 14, 2010 | No comments

Late notice, but the big party for Ferment Change party is going on tonight. Last year it was a great time, so come if you can. If you can’t, there are other events in the coming weeks. Here’s the announcement:

Calling all homebrewers, picklers, sourdough wranglers, and lovers of LBacillus!

Friday, May 14th from 7-10pm we will be at the Humanist Hall in Oakland to share fermented foods and cultures to benefit Urban Ag Heroes City Slicker Farms. There will be a fermented feast, live music, DJs, a workshop series, slideshow and lots of cultures from sourdough to Kombucha Scoby to take home. If you make anything fermented, please bring it to share and be entered in a rally to win great prizes! Imagine a 300+ fermented food potluck! More info and events posted at www.fermentchange.org. Bring your own plate and fork!

FERMENT CHANGE! 2010
7-10pm
390 27th St.
Oakland, Ca. 94612
$10-$30 no one turned away
email info@fermentchange.org to volunteer or arrange a work trade
www.fermentchange.org

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • PDF
  • email

Culture swap, homebrew lesson, and homebrew + moonshine tour

April 13, 2010 | 4 comments

Ferment Change is back in Oakland, California, with even more awesome events than last year. Here’s the gist: A series of events where we eat and drink all manner of delicious fermented foods, plus lessons and exchanges during which awesome picklers help each other become become even more awesome at pickling—all in support of City Slicker Farms, a fantastic urban farming and food and environmental justice group that builds and maintains backyard gardens and runs gardening workshops, a farm stand, and compost collection in West Oakland. Melissa Schilling took the photo above at one of their sites.

Here’s a list of the happenings. They last from April till June, so you’ll probably be hearing about them from me again later on. Coming up this month there will be fermented beverage workshops, tastings, and a culture exchange on April 17th; a lesson in homebrewing on the 18th; a plant sale on the 14th; and a tour of homebreweries and home distilleries (the latter is a rare one!) on the 25th. Later on, there will be a big fermented food potluck and party, a gourmet dinner, another tour, a workshop for kids… scroll down to see it all + contact info.

************************************************************************
Bring yo’ Motha’- A night of fermented beverages to benefit City Slicker Farms

Kombucha, Ginger Beer, Vinegar, and Kefir workshop and mother culture swap

April 17th 8-12pm

Sol
1236 23rd Avenue
Oakland, CA 946

COST- FREE. Donations accepted. Mixed drinks and food for sale to benefit City Slicker Farms

************************************************************************

Extract Beer Brewing with Chris

Hands on brewing. April 18th

10-4pm

Contact Chris at modelcitizen483@gmail.com for the address and to RSVP

COST- FREE. Donations are accepted

************************************************************************

PLANT SALE!- Come on by for some live music and a beyond organic plants sale by the People’s Grocery

April 24th

10-3PM

California Hotel *to raise funds to hire residents from the hotel to work in the greenhouse

35th and Chestnut in West Oakland

More info: max@peoplesgrocery.org or www.peoplesgrocery.org

************************************************************************

Tour De Ferment-A homebrewers and home stills bike tour and tasting through the East Bay

April 25th- Details TBA.

RSVP with Dylan at geodylan@comcast.net or munc at grow.your.own.food@gmail.com for location start point

COST- Sliding Scale $10-$30 to benefit CSF. No one turned away for lack of funds

*********************************************************************************************

Ferment Change 2010 – Fermented Food Feast and Celebration of Urban Agriculture

Including a potluck, live music, demonstrations and fermented product tasting to raise funds for City Slicker Farms

May 14th, 2010

7-10pm

390 27th St, Oakland Ca. 94612

COST- $10-$30 Sliding Scale to raise funds for City Slicker Farms. Let us know what fermented treats you are bringing at info@fermentchange.org.

No one turned away for lack of funds. Email info@fermentchange.org for info work trade

**********************************************************************************************

City Slicker Farms Bike Tour and Potluck

Sunday May 16th 2010 – Take a tour with Logan of City Slicker Farms through City Slicker Farms’ urban gardens and farms in West Oakland. Along the way we will visit Backyard Gardeners from City Slickers “BYG” program. Bring a snack, some fermented treats will be provided

Please RSVP with Logan@cityslickerfarms.org and state what you can afford to contribute

COST:$10-$50 Sliding Scale to benefit City Slicker Farms. Limit 20 people.

************************************************************************************************

Ferment – a sit-down cultured dinner, with talk by Novella Carpenter and City Slicker Farms’ backyard gardeners to raise funds for the Backyard Gardening Program

June 3rd – Details TBA, 75 person limit

email info@peoplesgrocery.org or kent@cityslickerfarms for more info or to RSVP

COST-$60-$100 per plate all to benefit City Slicker Farms. 5 Community tickets are available at reduced rates for work exchange

************************************************************************************************

Ferment for Kidz- Kraut making for kids with Mike

June 12th-Details and location to TBA

email mike at mulchpermaculture@yahoo.com for more info

**************************************************************************************************

Ferment Trouble Shooting- -What went right or wrong

INFO TBA

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • PDF
  • email

Two ways to pickle lemons

March 9, 2010 | 2 comments

We’ve got loads of lemons right now and I don’t care what they say; you can only make so much lemonade. So I’ve been pickling them every which way. One way is a spicy Indian recipe that I’ve mentioned before. That one’s a time-tested favorite. The other (on the left in the picture) is more of a Mediterranean lemon, although I’ve tweaked it by leaving out the olive oil and adding turmeric. Read on for a step-by-step recipe.

Not only do we have a lemon tree in our yard, our neighbors have one that I see every morning. Whenever I see it I think pickles. Luckily the neighbors like to share.

These are the lemons their tree gives us. They’re small and mild. Not like a Meyer though. More like a cross between a lemon and an orange.

The lemons from our tree, on the other hand, are sour and tend to run large.

For pickling it’s best to use the freshest lemons you can get. In fact, it’s ok if they’re somewhat unripe. It’s the rind we’re really pickling here, in a salty goo of fruit and spices, and we want it firm and bitter. However, we also want the insides to readily loosen and ferment, so if your lemons are hard you can soften them up by rolling them a bit under the palm of your hand.

Chop off the top of the lemon if there’s any stem still attached. Then slice them up into pieces small enough to sit easily on a teaspoon. The little lemons are just about the right size as full and half slices.

The large ones are much bigger, and need to be chopped smaller. Take out any seeds you find.

How many lemons will you need? To fill a half-gallon mason jar you’ll need… more than you think. I don’t have an exact count (especially considering size variation), but after chopping, salting, and squishing you can squeeze a lot of lemons into such a jar. I like to wash two dozen small lemons, then toss them into the jar as I chop them. I press them down as I go. Once I’ve come close to filling the jar I pour them back out into a big mixing bowl.

I put all the chopped lemons into a big bowl and add 1 cup of salt.

Then I add a tablespoon of turmeric.

Mix ‘em well to get salt all over everything. And watch out if you use your hands. Grinding them against all that salt can burn.

Start filling the jar and add a few bay leaves and cinnamon sticks as you go along. Three of each is plenty, but add as many as you like. Mash the lemons down to get out air bubbles and make the most of your jar space.

Once the jar is close to packed, add the juice out of two to four lemons.

Then put on a lid and give the jar a good shake. I like to use plastic lids because the metal ones rust when salty pickle gets on them. You can usually plastic ones next to the mason jars at the hardware store.

Leave the lemon out on a counter or in front of a warm, sunny window. Shake the jar every day to mix the lemons around and coat them with the salty brine-mush, limiting the period that any particular lemon spends exposed to the air where molds can grow. It won’t hurt to shake the jar two or three times a day. This is most important at the beginning when you want the good fermenting bacteria to take hold instead of mold, but you should keep doing it every day that the jar sits out. After shaking you can also turn the jar upside down and leave it that way for a day.

After a month or so the lemons will be soft, a little mellower in flavor, and very salty. I use them whole and mashed to flavor soups, sauces, marinades, and dressings. They’re also good under a bit of fresh olive oil as an appetizer along with olives and bread. Yum.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • PDF
  • email

Tags: , , , , , , ,

« Older entries § Newer entries »