So, with the new year, as you’re reading this issue, just let your jaw unclench and your shoulders relax a bit. Maybe take a deep breath. We still have a whole year ahead of us, but I feel that new year energy extra strong this year.

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In honor of that, I’m sharing a favorite tea I make when I want something in the fridge to sip on when I’m stressed.

And, in honor of repurposing the old into something new, I’m also sharing some ideas for what to do with all those bags of cranberries you bought on sale after the holidays (including freezing them, if anything else feels like too much right now).

Read it, get cozy, maybe take a nap, and let’s get ready for the new year together.

To inspire you, here’s the card meaning for Cranberry Relish from The Fermentation Oracle Deck:

Making cranberry sauce is often a winter holiday ritual, but it doesn’t have to be. Rituals help us mark points in time as special, and adding pleasurable rituals into our lives makes each day special, too. What rituals, big or small, can you incorporate into your life year-round?

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Your monthly recipe round up includes:

• Lemon balm refresher tea

• How to freeze cranberries

• Cranberry, persimmon, and apple refrigerator pickle from Essential Food Preserving, building on last month’s unintentional persimmon theme

• Fermented lemon and cranberry relish (from a new project I can’t tell you about yet…but soon)

P.S. There are still spots available in my Our Fermented Lives place-based fermentation and writing retreat in county Clare, Ireland this September.

This 4-day workshop is about half the price of standard package tours (and in my opinion, infinitely more interesting).

We’ll talk and make everything from sauerkraut to butter (and maybe even bog butter?) while building the foundations of lifelong nourishing writing practices, all rooted in a beautiful landscape.

If you book this month I’ll also give you a free 1-hour writing coaching session (a $200 value) to use after we return, so you can get some extra support to incorporate what you learned, and to continue building your own place-based writing practice into your daily life.

Sign up here

Lemon balm nervine iced tea

This soothing tea is nice to keep in the fridge to sip on throughout the week (I use repurposed swing-top bottles). The pinch of salt helps replenish electrolytes if you’re dehydrated, the lemon is uplifting (and if you use the juice, also gives you a bit of vitamin c), while the lemon balm is soothing and a nice, gentle nervine to help your body relax. When I drink this in the afternoon, it feels like my whole body just sighs and unfurls. I highly recommend it.

2 c packed fresh lemon balm (stems and leaves), or 1 1/2 c dried

1 lemon

5 c simmering, but not boiling, water

1/8 tsp good quality salt for electrolytes

Sugar, 1/2 c or honey to taste

• Zest lemon in strips, add lemon zest strips and lemon balm to a large heat proof pitcher

• Juice lemon and set aside

• Pour water over lemon and lemon balm mixture, stirring gently to dissolve sugar and salt

• Allow to steep for 10-15 minutes or until it’s as strong as you like, then strain and cool

• Add lemon juice to taste and stir to combine

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Serve cold and use within several days.

Keep reading for a few of my favorite ways to use cranberries when I overbuy (which is often…) plus a nice picture of a lady in a cranberry bog!

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Lemon cologne is one of my favorite wear-it-whenever scents. I’m picky about the perfumes I buy, and depending on the day I migrate between this scent and a few favorite purchased ones: But for homemade colognes, this is my standard go-to. I’ve shared the recipe below: Give it a try and let me know what you think!

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Speaking of scents, an exciting announcement:

BibliOddities, one of my favorite scent makers, have crafted a custom, small batch perfume inspired by my books.

If you had told me when I started writing and teaching about fermentation that some day my work would inspire its own perfume, I would not have believed you.

But life has a way of throwing us cool surprises, and working with BibliOddities was one of the more fun ones.

They’ve named the blend Dreamweaver, which is itself such a beautiful interpretation of my work. And I was so honored to both be their first author collaboration of 2026 and seeing my work described in this way:

Working with Julia was such a gift, and seeing her profoundly generous perspective on community and creativity has been eye-opening and exactly what so many of us need going into 2026.

When we started working together, I was really curious how a fermentation-themed perfume might work as it could go in so many directions: Chocolate/wine/vanilla, tangy, sour scents, yeasty bread, earthy scents like shoyu.

They created several sample scents for me to try, and it was incredibly challenging to pick which one I ultimately wanted. But it was also really rewarding to experience my books through a new lens, interpreted by a reader in a new-to-me medium of literary exploration.

We ultimately landed on this blend because it’s versatile, lasts for hours but isn’t overwhelming, and has a good balance of being light enough to work in summer but not so fleeting I can’t wear it in winter. For me, as a person who really doesn’t like most store-bought perfumes, this blend is also cool because it doesn’t smell like run of the mill perfume, which means it’s something I’ll actually wear.

I was admittedly skeptical of the yeasted bread scent note before I tried it, but it actually smells amazing: More like a slight suggestion of bread you get from walking nearby to a bakery. It’s subtle, and works in tandem with the other scent notes to make something comforting, pleasant, and unexpected.

Find Dreamweaver here

Lemon cologne

Lemon cologne is a fresh, zesty unisex scent that can be worn year-round. I first encountered it while traveling in Turkey in 2015, where kolonya (lemon cologne) or rosewater are often given to guests to refresh themselves. Since then, I’ve learned there are versions made with lemon peel (like this one) and with lemon blossoms.

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Having just handed in the final copy on a forthcoming piece about historical feasting practices (particularly in connection to food waste reduction), I’m thinking a lot about how we’ve gathered together over dinner through time in a very practical way.

Not just what we eat, or how we feel while we eat, but the actual labor of preparing the food, growing ingredients, etc. and how we can honor that labor by putting each ingredient to its fullest use, and allow ourselves to see food ‘waste’ as an opportunity for play and experimentation (my class Preserving Abundance is all about this very thing).

Preserving Abundance

As I pulled together this month’s recipes, I thought a lot about how they can be an expression of reuse as well as play, and a way to honor all the hands that bring me the food I eat each day, whether they’re out in the fields or stocking the grocery store shelf.

I love pulling together these recipe round ups because they give you a glimpse into my kitchen in real time: The experiments I’m currently playing around with, the ideas I’m currently noodling.

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As a reminder, I have a few spots left for private, virtual classes for you or a loved one (or for a group) if you’re looking for a unique last-minute gift. Or if you want to book a corporate/friend group wellness retreat in early 2026.

Anything from a 1-hour quick fermentation lesson to a full-day or multi-day immersion (for obvious reasons, I only have a few of those available to book).

Private culinary classes can be booked by emailing me directly (julia@root-kitchens.com)

All other writing/creative coaching sessions can be booked through my calendar (I currently have times available through January: But we can go further out if you need).

Go to my calendar

Your unexpectedly fruit-forward monthly recipe round up includes:

• Wassail (a family recipe)

• Persimmon sauce two ways

• Quick raspberry vinegar for your 1990s fever dream salads (or your cocktails, or whatever)

• Cutting down on food waste when cooking for a group (ask me questions about this one, please!)

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Wassail

Wassail is one of those things I rarely drink as I rarely make spiced, warm drinks for groups. But I love it and it has a decidedly nostalgic tinge for me: Something that plants me firmly in the sensory landscape of the holiday season, even if I were to have it another time of year.

This particular recipe is one my dad’s mom gave my mom, so has crossover between my recipe boxes. It serves 24, says the recipe, so feel free to halve or whatever as you feel called.

Grandma, not a big drinker, doesn’t include alcohol in this recipe, but feel free to add some in (I like whiskey) if you’re feeling fancy.

(I’ve made a few clarifications here to the original recipe card in the image.)

Step 1: Simmer together on low, covered, for 1 hour:

1 c sugar

3-4 c sticks cinnamon

2 c water

3 tbsp whole cloves

Step 2: Strain the syrup and set aside.

Step 3: Make tea, and mix with cider

Pour 1 qt of boiling water over 2 tbsp black tea (or 2-3 tea bags).

Steep 3-5 minutes, then strain.

Add 2 qts of apple cider plus the strained syrup you made in step 1

Step 4: Add remaining ingredients and heat

Add 2 c grapefruit juice

1 c lemon juice

2 c orange juice

And 2 c pineapple juice

Gently heat (without boiling) and add sugar to taste. Keep warm for serving (a crock pot works well for this).

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Keep reading for persimmon and raspberry magic, sustainable holiday cooking ideas, and other cozy winter things!

Persimmon sauce

This sauce can be adapted two ways, a move done purposefully in my recipe testing to speak to shifting climate and the fact that our persimmons also shift drastically over the course of their growing season.

In one version, the persimmons are cooked to heighten their sweetness and soften the fruit if you live in a place where they’ve not yet been touched by frost. If the persimmons have been, and have softened into their full, luscious expression of sweet and jammy fruitiness (I love a soft, ripe persimmon, clearly)…then there’s a second version of this recipe that honors the fruit in its frost-kissed form.

Both are delicious, and I recommend playing with both through the season and playing with the ratios on other ingredients to adapt this sauce to a version that speaks to you and your palate (and the growing conditions where you live).

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Unique online culinary classes make great gifts, and mine cover anything from reducing food waste to preserving family cookbooks to fermenting food with flowers.

I offer bulk discounts if you buy more than 5 (office wellness gifts or thank yous for friends and family) and discounts on bundles with live sessions. Email me at julia@root-kitchens.com to set any of those up!

(The same discount code also works for Roots + Branches creative ecosystems coaching and classes, if you want to work with me in that capacity).

Visit The Culinary Curiosity School

This month we’re cooking from around the end of the Early Modern period (~1500-1800), which means blocks of narrative text and general guidance, rather than our step-by-step modern day recipes (I wrote about shifting recipe format for Mold Magazine here).

I chose to combine 2 versions of the same recipes from two important English-language books from that period: by American Mary Randolph (1762-1828), and Englishwoman Hannah Glasse (1708-1770). I talk a bit about working with two recipes for the same dish from two different books (which are also decades apart): And how I chose to go about comparing and combining them.

Historic recipe modernizing (or even just cooking them at all) is an art as well as a science, so you may have a different approach you’d take. If you think to yourself ‘I would have done that differently,’ I’d love to hear the approach you would have taken in the comments.

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About the books:

Mary Randolph’s The Virginia Housewife was one of the first cookbooks written and published in America (the first American cookbook came out in the 1790s, about 30 years before hers.) Randolph was from a wealthy Virginia family and a distant relative of Thomas Jefferson.

After the Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson booted her husband from his government job, and they opened a boarding house to make ends meet. Boarders praised her cooking, and she published the cookbook, which adds quite an eclectic range of dishes to the repertoire of familiar English-rooted ones (for example, she has recipes for East Indian curry, gumbo, and ropa vieja).

Published a year before her death, Virginia Housewife became popular for its easy to follow recipes and simple preparations, and remained in print up to the Civil War. When Randolph died, she was buried below Arlington House, and her grave is the earliest known in what would later become Arlington National Cemetery.

Hannah Glasse published The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy in 1747, and it is widely considered to be the first modern English language cookbook (she began the use of precise measurements and replicable instructions that was later codified by Fannie Farmer in The Boston Cooking School Book in 1896): though of course there were many other English-language cookbooks before this, she experiments with new ways of formatting.

Glasse’s work was popular during her lifetime but, unlike the well-connected Randolph, her authorship was disputed after her death and until the twentieth century, when it was finally accepted that she had written her own book after all. Glasse had a difficult upbringing, and wrote her book to support herself and her children. It became popular across Britain for its approachable style geared towards beginner and advanced cooks. While Glasse became wealthy for a time, she declared bankruptcy, was sent to debtor’s prison, and passed away in 1770 having sold the copyright to The Art of Cookery decades earlier. She published two other books, but neither was very successful.

While the books are about 80 years, and a continent, apart, you’ll see many similarities in flavoring and technique. By this point, some American dishes had diverged from their British predecessors, but in others (as is the case with beef olives) we can still trace direct ties between the two:

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There is really no comparison.

That said, most of us (including my Irish self) do not have regular access to this exact brand of magic. And the recipes in this newsletter: One savory, one sweet, will work with whatever oranges (or other citrus) you have.

Bonus: The sweet recipe also has the most unappetizing recipe name I’ve ever heard. But I promise, it’s delicious.

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It’s also a sneak peek back into my very first book, all about food in Early Modern England. This particular book represents the beginning of my life of food writing, and while I think I’ve grown considerably as both writer and recipe developer since, I’m still incredibly proud of it and its importance to my journey.

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Citrus is delicious

Citrus is native to South and East Asia, and our current wealth of citrus are all descendents of a few species (citrons, pomelos, and mandarins) that mutated as they moved around the world and were selectively bred. You can see a nice citrus family tree here.

Citrus fruit is, botanically speaking, a modified berry, and was introduced to the Americas by the Spanish in the 1500s. Citrus had already been imported to Europe for centuries, and was popular, albeit sometimes expensive and often available only in urban areas (just like many specialty ingredients in shops today).

These recipes are a reflection of the movement of citrus between continents, and its eventual entrenchment within cuisines far from its birthplace.

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Your monthly recipe round up includes:

• Maple apple butter

• Simmer pots

• How to make apple scrap vinegar from your other projects (like apple butter)

• A simple herbal-ginger cocktail that you can batch out or make one at a time

Simple cat lovers’ cocktail

Last month, I shared early access to the recipe for my Catwings-inspired cocktail, which I created for my Drinks in the Library podcast appearance (thank you again Gigi! Such a fun talk). You can listen to the episode here.

The original cocktail has a few steps, so I also made this simpler version for folks who wanted something herbaceous and warming without the hassle (or if you prefer whiskey cocktails to gin ones).

This is basically a Kentucky mule, with an added herbal garnish and/or herbal syrup (depending on your preference) in place of lime.

Stir together 1 - 1 1/2 c ginger beer to 1 shot bourbon.

Add herbal syrup (below) to taste

Garnish with fresh lemon balm, basil, or mint: lightly crush or roll before adding to the cocktail for maximum flavor

Herbal syrup (makes about 1 quart): Combine 2 c sugar to 2 c water with a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Add 1-2 c packed fresh herbs, depending how strong you’d like it (like basil, mint, lemon balm, or mountain mint). Simmer on M/L for 10-15 minutes or until aromatic and flavorful. Cool and store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Listen to the podcast episode here

Keep reading for homemade apple vinegar, and nice smelling autumn things!

Apple scrap vinegar

This is one of the easiest, most timeless ways to take your apple scraps from making apple butter or other projects. If you do a lot of apple growing or apple picking, then preserve the bounty, you’re well aware of how many scraps tend to be left over. Peels and cores add up quickly, and as someone who hates wasting food, this is my go-to way to use them.

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Years ago, I wrote Afternoon Tea: A History, and as always happens with writing, I learned about A Really Cool Thing (in this case, Burmese pickled tea salad) immediately after the book went to press. A book is never really ‘done,’ we don’t come to a point where everything can be said on a topic or we stop learning about that topic. We just come to a stopping point when the book is ready to be out in the world, perhaps to be revisited yet again in the future.

But back to tea, or specifically to afternoon tea:

Tea’s history in general, as well as the history of that specific meal, are deeply interwoven with violence and colonialism, and it was an interesting challenge to write about that history in relation to a meal that many of my fellow Americans see as a very light-hearted and sometimes-luxurious treat.

I’ve gotten more than a few responses from Americans in particular over the years about how they were surprised about the meal’s colonial legacy (or in a few cases, how I ruined the meal for them by making them think about colonialism at all. Um, sorry?)

The complexity comes from both the overarching reach of colonialism around the world, the layers of relationships we as individuals (and/or specific cultures) have with the meal: Both an opportunity to slow down and enjoy a break and a living tradition that serves as a reminder of colonial rule and the lasting legacy of colonial rule on various regions.

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Recapping the book is outside the scope of this newsletter issue (though please give me your suggestions for tea-related deep dives you’d like to see here). For more on the book, Ken Fornataro recently wrote a very excellent, very thorough synopsis, which you can read here. I also talked a bit about tea and ritual in my post on the Teasmade.

In this issue, I talk about tea specifically in Myanmar, and about the pickled tea salad I mentioned above, plus a couple additional recipes/ideas for cooking with tea (including a fragrant, spiced, tea-poached salmon, a personal favorite).

Read Afternoon Tea: A History

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I think of September as a month where I start to get cozy.

For me, this year, it's the month where I'm wrapping up my 6-month creative expansion group program, which has been a lot of fun (and which I already heave a ton of ideas for for next year), and where I’m leading two other group programs online (Radical Creators and Bloom: you’re welcome to join us!), so I’m really leaning into generative creativity while also relaxing into the cooler weather and possibilities of the season.

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Your monthly recipe round up includes:

• Drying late summer and fall produce, plus some ideas for building in extra flavor to dried pantry staples (think rosewater apples for preserving the bounty after going to an orchard)

• Canning-safe “pumpkin butter” (NOT actual pumpkin butter, which cannot be canned!), a technique I learned from Christina Ward

• An herbaceous, gin-based Catwings book series-inspired cocktail (or mocktail): This one is from my recent podcast interview with Drinks in the Library (coming soon!)

• Another version of elderberry syrup, this one fermented with honey

• A family recipe for glazed apples

Canning-safe “pumpkin butter” from Christina Ward

Christina Ward, a Master Food Preserver and author of Preservation, taught me this technique years ago, and as a pumpkin butter lover and lover of canned things it was like a lightbulb went off for me: Of course adding pumpkin to apple butter would be the perfect way to can a pumpkin butter substitute!

Before I continue, note that you cannot can any squash puree, pumpkin butter included.

Yes, that includes pressure canning. Yes, even in small jars. Squash purees are dense, and dense enough that the heat of the canning process cannot evenly penetrate through to the center of the jars, which introduces the risk for botulism (commercial canneries use equipment that can safely package pumpkin puree, however this isn’t possible on home equipment).

By using this method, you can make a canned “pumpkin butter” safely.

Here’s what to do:

Make a canning-safe apple butter (use a trusted recipe, like this one from NCHFP)

Make dried pumpkin powder: Using the technique for drying squash later in this email, dry your pumpkin then grind it into a powder using a coffee grinder (not the same one you use for your coffee) or a mortar and pestle.

Mix in powder to your apple butter until evenly combined (to taste, you want enough for it to taste like pumpkin), check your pH, then process normally.

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Glazed apples

My grandmother’s recipe box, like many others (perhaps your grandmother’s, too) includes clippings from unknown magazines and newspapers, cut out decades ago and organized behind tiny tabs in tiny boxes.

I think about the ephemeral nature of recipe boxes and handwritten recipes a good bit, and in this case, even the publication itself: Presumably something durable and knowable, is rendered ephemeral and unknown. Even the author, in this case, has been omitted, though it’s unclear if that was done by the newspaper or my grandmother’s clipping skills.

All that remains is the recipe itself.

Here’s the recipe (and if you know what publication it’s from originally, please share!)

Glazed apples

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

⅓ cup brown sugar

½

teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash salt

3 unpared tart apples, thinly sliced Melt butter in skillet. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add apples. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally till apples are tender and glazed. Makes 4 servings.

Keep reading for cocktails, preserves, and nice smelling autumn things!

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Catwings cocktail

You'll be not at all surprised to learn that a book series by Ursula K. Le Guin about flying cats was one of my favorites as a child. When Gigi Howard and I were deciding on a favorite book (or series, in this case) to highlight in my recent interview, I immediately chose this one.

I love the books, of course, but I also chose them because I so rarely get to speak publicly about my other book interests beyond food, and I jumped at the chance to combine my food world with my childhood love of reading. It was really fun and refreshing to speak about reading for pleasure, which I do often, but as a professional author often our discussions of reading and writing in interviews are Serious Business.

If you haven’t read Catwings before, it’s a 4-part series that includes Catwings, Catwings Return, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings, and Jane on her Own (there’s also a paperback boxed set). They’re a short, easy read with lovely illustrations, and are nice for indulging in a bit of cat-themed escapism. I recommend reading them with a beloved pet nearby to snuggle.

This cocktail has a few steps, but I promise they're worth it: And you can batch out the syrup and tea by doubling or tripling the recipe to make these for a group or to keep the ingredients on hand in the fridge (where they'll last a week). The tea can be nice on its own, and any leftover syrup is perfect for adding to coffee or other beverages or drizzling on desserts.

For a non-alcoholic version, swap in your favorite NA gin, or try this sea buckthorn-based NA spirit.

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Smoked sauerkraut has become a staple side dish and topping for my meals, adding lots of depth and a surprise hit of smoke that’s complex without overwhelming.

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The combination of sour and smoke with the gentle crunch of fermented cabbage makes sandwiches sing, particularly when I’m craving savory depth. If you don’t eat meat, or eat little meat, it can add some of the smokiness you might miss from smoky meaty things (but if you do eat meat, it is also good with smoky meaty things).

I really can’t say enough good things about it.

But since sauerkraut requires raw cabbage to ferment properly, how exactly does smoked sauerkraut (which, yes, is made on a smoker, though I do have another way I make it without one) work?

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I may still share recipes in other issues too, especially when I'm talking about the history or preservation uses of a specific food, but look forward to getting monthly round ups rooted in simple techniques for utilizing what's growing right now.

These round ups are meant to be practical, and give you techniques and ideas you can start using right away with your garden bounty and farmers' market hauls, and I love to hear your suggestions for what you want more recipes for.

Do you love this new format (or not love it?) Do you have a kind of recipe or an ingredient you want to see more of?

Let me know in the comments!

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Your August recipe round up is all about using fresh herbs and foraged berries, and includes the following recipes:

Heart soother tea:

A simple herbal + black tea recipe I like to sip in the mornings when I'm feeling tender and need a little extra support.

I use this with dried herbs that I process using the technique I share below, and it gives me a way to enjoy the herbs from my garden and my foraging walks well into the winter (you can also use store-bought herbs, too).

Lemon balm syrup:

A simple herbal syrup that's good for the nerves and delicious in summer drinks. You can add in or swap out other herbs you like, but when my garden has a profusion of lemon balm, this is what I make.

Tips: How to dry herbs without a dehydrator

If your garden is like mine, everything is bursting forth at once, and if you don't have a dehydrator or don't want to run it constantly, processing your herbs can feel like a chore. Here's the simple technique I use to evenly dry them by hanging up without risking mold or discoloration for the herbs at the center.

Tulsi chocolate syrup:

New, improved version of my favorite chocolate syrup. This one is thick, rich, and deep rather than overly sweet, and the depth of the chocolate really compliments the sweet, floral brightness of the tulsi. If you've never made this before I highly recommend it!

Elderberry cough syrup:

Does just what it says on the label. This works more gently with my body than store-bought syrups when I have wintertime colds, and actually tastes good too. It's deeply comforting and easy to make with foraged elderberries.

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Heart soother tea

This tea is gentle and delicious, and great for when you want something floral and soothing that also feels decadent. It also offers some gentle nervous system support for when you're feeling grief or like things are just too much. If you don't do caffeine, you can omit the black tea or swap in another herbal tea you enjoy (peppermint or lemon balm are a nice choice here).

Makes about a quart

2/3 c black tea

1/3 c dried hibiscus flowers

1/2 c dried mullein

3/4 c dried rose petals

-Add all ingredients to a bowl and gently mix to evenly combine.

-Pour into a foodsafe, airtight container and seal the lid. Store out of direct sunlight at room temperature, where it will last for months (but for best flavor and aroma, try to use it in months, not years).

(As with any recipe for herbal preparations I share, this isn't medical advice: listen to your body, common sense, and talk with your healthcare provider when you have health questions).

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I adore frozen yogurt, but despite having an ice cream maker and a constant supply of yogurt, I rarely seem to make it. Frozen yogurt and ice cream feel like things that are so luxurious that it feels somehow taboo to make them just for myself, as though freezing the yogurt fundamentally changes not just the texture of the food but the morality of consuming a quart of it solo.

But nothing shifts your perception of a food (or food in general) so much as having too much or too little of it, and an abundance of an ingredient pushes me to ask how to use it to its best effect. I'm forever informed by earlier moments in my adult life, where 'too much' was rarely a problem I encountered with food, and which has shaped me to continue preserving food and engaging with food stories in ways that continue to ask me to stretch and think in new ways.

Case in point is frozen yogurt, and this particular method was born from a twinned desire to use the gallons of excess yogurt at my disposal (more on that in a moment) and a desire to expend as little energy as possible doing it.

As an added bonus, I have finally found the sweet spot for the ratio of fruit to yogurt to sugar to salt, a process that has taken years and many less-than-palatable (mostly just bland, or runny) batches to achieve.

A case of too much of a good thing

In my normal life I eat about a quart or so of yogurt every week. I have yogurt parfait for breakfast most mornings with homemade granola and whatever fruit is in season and/or on sale. My consumption goes up on weeks where I strain yogurt overnight for labneh, to spread on bread or to dollop on main courses before studding with herbs and fresh pomegranate seeds (p.s. Samin Nosrat recently wrote a list of ideas for using labneh in your cooking).

This past week or so, I've been testing various yogurt makers, and in so doing, have been blessed with an abundance of yogurt, to the tune of about 3 gallons of it.

This coincided with an abundance of peaches (last weekend I canned about 20 jars of jam and made quarts of peaches in syrup, plus peach puree), fresh herbs, and mangoes.

One of my favorite things about cooking is that it asks us to take what we know and stretch it.

Recipes don't (or perhaps, shouldn't) exist to give us exact prescriptions for how and what to cook, and when.

Recipes offer us guidance that we then fold into our lives. A technique, a process, an iterative set of daily acts that build on each other into what becomes our own personal process of cooking.

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Just like I was feeling like frozen yogurt was Too Luxurious, I also realized it was one of the few logical answers. And was reminded that a personal practice, made simply to nourish myself, deserves to be as luxurious, as pleasing, and as over the top as anything I do that involves other people.

Frozen yogurt

I have spent YEARS, and I do mean probably closer to a decade, trying to make frozen yogurt that wasn't too sweet or bland, that had the right balance of fruit, and a texture I liked.

And I’ve finally gotten it.

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As Dr. Sarah Ballantyne notes, when you’re on the severe budget constraints like those proposed in these videos (feeding your family on $20 for 5 meals, for example) the primary concern is to feel satiated and have enough food: That’s it.

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What I like about both of their approaches to eating (Dollar Tree Dinners’ realistic recipes from dollar store food, and Ballantyne’s Nutrivore system), is that they take a lot of the guilt and ‘shoulds’ out of the equation.
They say ‘ok, here’s what you have access to, what can we do with that?’ and ask what marginal improvements can be made so you’re getting the best meals you can out of what’s available. But, blessedly, they do this without the kind of weird lectures I used to get at the food bank about eating nutritious meals (while being handed a box of white bread, ground venison, and sloppy Joe mix. That particular week all I had for every meal was venison sloppy Joes. I do not recommend it!)

Yes, we want macronutrients and micronutrients and balanced diets, but the truth is that’s not accessible for everyone, and/or not necessarily accessible to everyone with every meal.

In my case, I eventually lived in an apartment where I could start a garden, and that drastically improved my access to nutritious food (as well as qualifying for SNAP, rather than just relying on the food bank as I had for years). That’s where I first learned how to preserve.

It has me thinking a lot about food preserving advice, too: and how much of it can feel inaccessible when your budget is really tight. Specialized equipment, or even regular access to electricity (or a kitchen) can be barriers for folks.

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So how do we preserve food on a very limited budget?

In my 20s, I was food insecure and often went to the food bank for the bulk of my food, infilling a bit as I could with other purchased groceries, leftover food from my job at a cafeteria, soup kitchens, and occasional dumpster diving.

This was also when I learned to garden and to preserve my food: Partly for pleasure, and partly out of necessity. I initially started gardening because I thought it would be fun and would make getting some more vegetables in my diet easier, but I quickly found I had more than I could reasonably use, hence my forays into food preserving. I began with sauerkraut, branching out into other fermented foods, canning, and other practices like salting.

I had to contend with a low budget, small space, and depending where I was living, power that cut off and on thanks to faulty old wiring, and/or a lack of hot water, and/or a shared kitchen.

This meant canning wasn’t always practical, but salting or freezing might be. Or fermenting could happen, but not at a large scale because I had to store what I was making in my room so it wouldn’t get thrown out by neighbors or roommates.
It also meant I wasn’t buying specialty equipment (my first ‘canner’ was my only large pot, which I also used to cook most of my meals), and I reused what I could whenever I could (jars, bands and lids, though note that for canning lids can only be used once and when new, pickle brine, etc).

I spent this morning thinking about some of the lessons from that time, and how food preserving is something that, broadly speaking, is something we learned to do to conserve resources, so is a practice that we can play with to the extent we’re able even when on a restricted budget.

Most importantly: Food preserving does not need to happen at scale to have an impact.

Most of my food preserving happens in small batches: 2 pints of sauerkraut from a head of cabbage that’s about to turn, a few salted egg yolks, one jar of pickles or jam, or a handful of asparagus wrapped up in the freezer.

It may not make financial or ecological sense to fire up the canner to process one half-pint of jam, but you could freeze it. Or you could macerate those berries in sugar in the fridge if you don’t have access to a stove.

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Food preserving is a creative process rooted in what you have, what you want, and what you can access. Your preserving practice is based in the possibilities and limitations of your life, and thus isn’t going to look the same as anyone else’s.

Below is an incomplete list of tips for food preserving on a budget (I’ll probably add to it over time). What would you add?

Safety note: Use common sense and trusted sources when preserving food. Learn more about trusted sources here.

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A few ideas for preserving small amounts of food on a budget

These techniques use minimal equipment and energy, and in many cases can work with pantry staples (like salt or sugar) that you already have or that aren’t typically very expensive.

• Reuse pickle brine to pickle other things (for refrigerator pickling, not canning). If you have a pickle you like the flavor of, save that brine and use it to pickle small amounts of other fruits and vegetables as you have them. You can get at least one more batch of pickles out of most pickle brines, sometimes more, depending on acidity and salinity.

• Small amounts of herbs, fruits, or other foods that are about to go bad can be added to vinegar to make shrubs and flavored vinegars. These are delicious, but also very versatile. A search of this newsletter will give you some of my recipes! You can also make infused oils if you use dried herbs and spices.

• Macerating fruit: Fruit + sugar, left in the fridge overnight, helps preserve the fruit for longer (and is a good use for fruit you’ve had to cut bruises, etc. from), and gives you a usable product without a lot of time or energy. You can do this with a lot of fruit, or a little fruit. This can use any kind of sugar (but not artificial sweeteners), or honey or agave work too. See a step-by-step guide here.

• Freezing: Freezing food is probably one of the most familiar preserving methods to modern folks in industrialized areas with consistent electricity. The key to successful freezing is preparing the food (through blanching in some cases, and through proper packaging) in order to prevent freezer burn and preserve flavor and texture. This website has guidelines for freezing, just do a text search by ingredient.

• Kraut-chi: One of my go-to examples for waste makes taste, kraut-chi relies on shredding whatever vegetables you have, massaging with salt, and making them into a sauerkraut or kimchi-like ferment. Here’s how to make it (along with some other low-waste ideas).

• Fermentation: Is cheap, simple equipment, can use any salt (yes ideally not with additives but if that’s what you have, then use what you have). I have tons of posts on fermentation, as well as various classes: Just search this newsletter to find some of my recipes.

• Salt your food: If you buy or receive a big box of salt, preserving food in salt is a simple, time honored tradition. Think salt-packed veggies, misozuke (miso packed pickles) or salt-preserved egg yolks (paywalled, if you can’t afford a paid subscription let me know and I’ll send you a free trial to read it).

• Sun dry your food: While electric dehydrators cost $ and use electricity, sun drying uses, well, the sun, and works great if you’re in a place where you get a lot of it. Here are some best practices for sun drying.

• Ask questions: Preserving what you have, and repurposing possible waste (including repurposing containers) is great, but what really works well if you’re feeling stuck is to ask others for ideas too. The internet is full of ideas, though it’s increasingly challenging to sift through the noise and clutter of search results. So asking other food preservers who have experience with small-scale preserving can help you think up new ideas or decipher a new-to-you technique.
  Have questions? Leave them in the comments!

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P.S. if you want to learn more about reducing food waste and it’s in your budget to learn through a course, Preserving Abundance offers tons of recipes and tips (with more being added throughout the year), along with shifts in mindset and practice that support you in making long-term sustainable changes without feeling overwhelmed (or going broke replacing everything in your kitchen with ‘green’ options).

As part of my multifaceted professional career, I occasionally test cookware and other products for a national magazine.

The latest iteration was testing a cast iron Dutch oven for camping, resulting in standing outside in the Georgia summer heat, wedged between both a campfire and a charcoal grill, testing said oven in various conditions.

I had enough food for a week, and my pores have never been clearer.

I don’t talk a ton about the product-focused work I do here because, frankly, it’s not at the core of my food writing and there are plenty of places to find product reviews. But sometimes doing that work does give me some unexpected gifts: In this case, enough excess heat leftover on my grill and smoker to experiment with some new things.

The greatest success was mangoes: which I turned into one of my new favorite summer beverages.

My favorite part about this recipe is that it’s playful, and messy, and for me was more about the tactile experience of making than about worrying about if I got it “right.” Despite my lack of worry, it did turn out right, in that it’s delicious and incredibly easy.

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I make my ginger beer strong, very strong: So cloudy it’s opaque, which means you’re unlikely to drink it by the gallon (though, you could).

It’s great on its own, or with rum or whiskey.

Making ginger beer, like any ferment, is part intuitive, part technique, and part sensory experience.

We weave together our sensory experience of the ferment, its bubbling, hissing, its changes in flavor, with our ever-growing intuition about how long to ferment or how much of an ingredient to add, which is rooted in continued practice.

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Ginger beer is fermenting the way our ancestors ferment: The way I talk about often in Our Fermented Lives and in the Fermentation Oracle.

Here’s the recipe I’ve been making for almost 20 years, plus some new variations, with everything from flowers to tulsi to masala spices, which I haven’t shared before.

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For years, I kept chickens and quail (longtime subscribers will be familiar with my travails after a predatory developer sued me for the land my chickens were on, hence why I no longer keep birds).

Keeping birds is a lived lesson in the fluctuating value of eggs: In summer, a glut means that more eggs than you probably know what to do with. And that you end up finding ways to preserve them out of necessity. Whereas in winter a fresh egg is a precious thing: Few, if any, make an appearance, particularly with a small flock like mine was, and so you supplement with eggs you either preserved earlier or buy in from elsewhere.

This moment's egg prices reminds me of that fluctuation: Whereas in summer it's easy to take eggs for granted (they're always there!) in winter, each egg is a surprise and delight. Its rarity makes it more likely to be appreciated, and I think this moment in the US is making many of us appreciate eggs perhaps more than usual.

I wonder if it will also make us more aware of, and eager to improve, food systems that focus on profits and just-in-time logistics over the health and well-being of people, animals, and planet, though I also am admittedly a bit skeptical that it will.

Over the years I've preserved eggs in many ways, though I've never tried water glassing (a historic method for preserving whole raw eggs that some modern folks swear by and others swear is unsafe). Since the folks who have urged me to not water glass my eggs are food scientists, I've deferred to them and chosen other methods.

Many of you have emailed or otherwise reached out asking for ways to preserve eggs, whether freezing or pickling or whatever else, so I made this guide with a few of my favorites so you have them all in one place.

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You can find some of my egg preservation guidance in this issue, and this one, both of which are primarily focused on various kinds of pickling beds and brines.

But there are other options, too: I encourage you to try a couple that seem interesting and that maybe expand your relationship to eggs a bit (e.g. eggs made in pickling beds might not be your favorite to eat as-is, but can you slice them and use them as a topping?)

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Here are my favorite ways to preserve eggs:

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Sometimes, a recipe comes to you in a dream.

Recently, I had a vivid dream about respiratory support tea: Maybe because of the cold weather and the constant dryness from my heating system, every part of me has felt dry, respiratory system included.

In my dream, I was taking a hot bath, drinking a cup of this tea, but only after blending it together in my cozy kitchen, surrounded by my cats. It was during a week of especially vivid, beautiful dreams, and one I’ve been reaping the benefits of since.

Here’s how to make my lung love tea:

Blend together 1 c dried mullein leaf, 1/2 c dried rose petals, and 1/2 c dried marshmallow leaf and store in an airtight container.

Make tea with 1 tbsp leaves in 6-8 oz hot water, sweetening with honey if desired.

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Beyond the kitchen:

The Culinary Curiosity School has new classes, including Food Writing Playground, which starts in June but is more affordable if you get it early (and, you’ll get it before it fills up).

Use the code CURIOUS for 30% off any Culinary Curiosity School class.

Join the Culinary Curiosity School

I’ve also been spinning up a bunch of new classes, including group programs in my writing space, like the Mycelia Writers’ Coven and Symbiosis: A 6-month program for expanding your creative practice in community.

My themes this year for supporting creatives are expansion, abundance, and community.

Use the code INTUITION for 20% off any of them!

I’m also running a 21-day writing challenge in March: More details coming soon!

See my classes for writers + creatives

I’m getting ready for the next round of travels, too: to WNC and to Nashville for conferences, then back to Ireland. If you’re in Cork, let’s go on a hike or an adventure together!

I’d love to hear what you’re cooking up this month: Let me know in the comments!

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Harissa-Pickled Pomegranate Seeds

Harissa-pickled pomegranate seeds are such a luxurious food. I’ve canned them before (the trick is small jars and a short processing time to keep their texture intact), but I much prefer them as refrigerator pickles.

Try them on labneh or yogurt, with feta and mint, with roasted chickpeas or on salad. They’re truly perfect on just about anything.

I developed this recipe over a year ago for my next book, The Essential Preserving Handbook, but we could all really use a luxurious boost right now: So I’m sharing with you early.

Scroll to the bottom for the recipe, plus a bonus recipe for smoky lime grenadine!

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Beyond the Kitchen

Outside of my kitchen, I’ve been preparing for a couple months of whirlwind presenting on fermentation, writing, and more, while traveling to conferences and giving talks online.

You can find me online at Kojicon later this month: where I'll be talking about building a sustainable creative practice, specifically tailored towards culinary pros who want to make consistent time for their culinary creativity.

I’ll also be presenting with Ashley English at Organic Growers School in WNC next month: We’ll be talking about Preserving Food, Nourishing Self, and Building Community during a half-day workshop.

I’ve also been giving talks on The Fermentation Oracle and Our Fermented Lives here and there: You can buy them online or, get signed copies shipped to you from Charis Books and More (just be sure to ask for a signed copy from them when you purchase).

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You can also buy ebooks from Bookshop.org now, which is great news, so if you’ve been looking for Our Fermented Lives as an ebook: You can get it here and support an indie bookstore at the same time.

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Recipe: Harissa-Pickled Pomegranate Seeds from the Essential Preserving Handbook

I find the texture of delicate pomegranate seeds can break down when canning, but they do make a truly delicious refrigerator pickle. By balancing pomegranate’s sweet and sour flavor with a sweet and sour brine and a flavor burst of harissa, I have a flavor-packed meal staple to serve alongside rice, roasted vegetables, seafood, and meat (give it a try with roasted brussels sprouts!) The brine is also delicious whisked with olive oil for a simple vinaigrette.

Makes 1 pint

Ingredients

Seeds and juice of 1 pomegranate

1 ½ - 2 tsp harissa (or 1-1 ½ tsp if using fine powder)

Brine:

½ tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

½ cup ACV

½ cup water

-Place seeds and spices in a pint jar.

-Whisk brine ingredients together until sugar and salt are dissolved.

-Pour brine into jar to the bottom of the band.

-Screw on lid, allow to pickle overnight in the fridge.

-Lasts 3 weeks or more.

Smoky lime and classic Grenadines

Here’s how I make regular ol’ Grenadine, plus a smoky lime version which is absolutely luscious with mescal or rum. The latter has become a staple: In a home with many, many fruit syrups and other flavorings always within reach, this one has been one of my consistent favorites over the past year.

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Like sauerkraut, which I talk about in terms of making pomegranate sauerkraut (one of my favorites!) and color-changing flowerkraut (another favorite!) BUT which I don’t just have a foundational, no-frills-added version for, at least not in the newsletter.

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So if that’s what you’re seeking, this is the post for you:

This is the recipe I share in my fermentation books and in classes like Preserving Abundance, and utilizes jars rather than a large crock in order to work in small spaces. Add any spices, fruit/veg/etc you wish: You’re only limited by your imagination.

I also have a handout with fermentation tips and this recipe available for free on my website.

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Sauerkraut: Foundational Recipe

Makes ~2 pints

1 head cabbage, outer leaves removed and reserved

1-2 tbsp salt (I use fine sea salt)

Any herbs, spices, etc. you might want.

-Shred your cabbage, and combine with salt and with seasonings, if using, in a mixing bowl. Toss together until combined.

-Massage the salt into the cabbage until liquid streams from the cabbage when squeezed: about 5-10 minutes. You can also toss the cabbage with the salt and let it sit for about half an hour before massaging to reduce this time a bit.

-Pack your mixture into pint jars, leaving about an inch of headspace between the cabbage and the rim, pressing to ensure cabbage is completely covered by brine.

-Fold your outer leaves up like little envelopes, and tuck them on the top of each jar to keep the cabbage in place.

-Seal lids and set out of direct sunlight (tip: set these on a plate or tray you don't mind staining, in case the vibrant red liquid leaks out).

-The following day, check and see if your jars need any more brine now that the cabbage is just starting to soften: Top off with room temperature brine, if so.

-Check daily to ensure cabbage stays under the brine, tasting after 7-10 days, and let it ferment until it has a flavor you enjoy.

-Store in the fridge (or on the counter, where it will continue fermenting).

During my doctoral program, I was introduced to one of my favorite foods, ever.

Tkemali, a Georgian sour plum sauce made from red plums or green plums, is divine, and possibly my favorite topping for eggs. When I received a jar from the wonderful Lela Gibradze while studying for my PhD, I was hooked. But I also struggled to find the green plums to remake it.

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The recipes I’ve looked at over the years tend to include fresh herbs like cilantro and/or dill plus garlic, but there’s a lot of variation within the theme of savory and sour plum sauce.

Today, I had a strong craving (and no plums): Nor did I have most of the rest of the ingredients. I wanted a sour, fruity sauce, but without braving the pre-holiday grocery store. So I improvised: Using tkemali as a (very) loose template, then adding a few dashes of the khmeli suneli sent to me by forager and friend Mallory O’Donnell.

Khmeli Suneli is a Georgian spice blend, and while normally an ingredient in the plum sauce, I decided to combine these two gifts from friends to make something new.

The result? I now have another favorite sauce for my eggs, all using ingredients I had easy access to.

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Updates from Kitchen and Life

This week, the newsletter is brief as I’m doing the photo shoot for The Essential Preserving Handbook: a week of being in the spotlight and showcasing my love for food preserving, as well as many of the recipes I made for the book. I’m very excited to work with such a talented team of creatives (it’s my first book with a photoshoot, so also a learning process), and excited to share the results with you.

Some of my favorite preserves are in the spotlight along with me, and while at the time of this writing I’m still pulling everything together, I wanted to share some of my recipes that we’re featuring in the book, to keep you company in the kitchen this week:

Mushroom-based meals for the center of the plate.

Fire cider: My go to for winter sniffles and as a gift to share with my community.

Vegan “feta” made with the magic of Koji.

Pastrami-spiced beets (one of my very favorite pickles, ever, and perfect in sandwiches).

Speaking of beets, raspberry beet jam has an unbeatable color and a flavor I adore.

Cherry bounce, a historically-inspired cherry shrub (plus an alcoholic version)

Green papaya salad + pickle brine martini (and, see my primer for making pickle brine martinis here).

And finally, a few of my favorite ways to preserve and add some flavor to hard boiled eggs.

As always, you can take a peek at the recipes section of this newsletter to see everything (I’m always adding to it, and slowly adding the archive in to this list, so keep checking back!)

Take me to the recipes

I’m so excited about this cookbook, and the photos, and well, the year of food writing ahead in general.

If you’ve been following along with the paid subscriber book club, you’ll get your next installment next week. And I hope you’ll join me for our live author Q&A next month!

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How about you? What are you cooking/writing this week?

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