Fall Kitchen Adventures

As the temperatures have dropped a bit (finally), I have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen. I've made dozens of things that I've been meaning to post, but have been too busy making more to do so!

I have to make a little bit of a timeline, as a lot of this cooking has stemmed from one thing - attending the Heritage Harvest Festival this past September. It was at Monticello (in Charlottesville, Va - not all that close!) and I was just excited about seeing the vegetable garden again, not to mention all the actual festival goings-on. It was not quite the hippy-fest my hubby accused it of being - mostly different organizations and vendors promoting whole foods. I walked around with a goofy grin on my face the whole day. The two main things I took from it (besides a strong-burning desire to move to central Va!) were a renewed interest in cheesemaking and brand new interest in fermented foods.

I bought this cheesemaking book last year with the thought that sometime in the distant future I would be able to use more than just the yogurt recipe - that time became now! I have since made lots more yogurt, fresh chevre, Fromage Frais (a fresh cow's milk cheese), Domiati (brined cow's milk cheese), buttermilk, cultured fresh butter, and there is cream cheese in process right now. The main hurdle to overcome was finding a source of good milk - I have since found a few! Moo Thru, about an hour south of here (pasturized, but unhomogenized, and their ice cream and grilled cheese are to die for...yum!), Trickling Springs Creamery which I've found at the MOM's stores in the area (but it's from PA, but they sell bottled cream - so much easier!!), and I recently found a have yet to try South Mountain Creamery which is from MD and is available at one of the farmers markets here. So there is no limit to the cheese making now! :)

The fermentation adventures are evidenced above - water kefir, kimchi, saurkraut, turnips and beets. A lot of the cooking I'm doing right now is from Wild Fermentation and subsequently Nourishing Traditions. These books are definitely not for everyone - both authors have very strong views on the world (I don't necessarily agree with all of them either) but their books are spectacular. I still have lots to learn from them, so all the better!