Kitchen happenings

In many homes, like ours anyway -- where food is made from scratch, meals are important, the kitchen table is ample -- the kitchen becomes the hub of family life.  It also helps for us that the main door into our house enters into the kitchen.  And that the kitchen has a big East facing window and a big West facing window and a skylight!  I'd like to say that it is sunny and bright but it's not!  All those live oaks above keep it cool and shaded on all but the hottest sunniest day.  And then there are those weeks in Fall and Winter when the sun at a certain angle comes in every afternoon and illuminates every sunbeam speckle (aka speck of dust) and makes me feel like an inadequate homemaker!  I do know, however, that I am not!

On any given day, our kitchen is the scene of a myriad of cooking, fermenting, canning projects.  It is also almost daily the art studio for the Bubbles.  If you look through the old posts you'll see countless pictures of them busily creating at the kitchen table.

So, what is going on in my kitchen today?

Fairies and their accessories are taking a break from flitting around the yard.

Dinner is rising (pizza dough).

Corn relish is fermenting (this picture came out terrible -- see below for details).

Today's harvest is waiting to be put away or to good use!

Neighbor grown grapes are hanging out with herbal iced tea.

Clementines are occupying this vessel I really could have used for mashing my relish!

And Gregorie is enjoying some peaches.

So, about the corn relish.  I had purchased a bunch of fresh corn at the farm stand on Saturday for Gregorie's birthday bash.  But we had SO much food and everybody got to hanging out and talking and drinking Bubble Brew that the corn never got cooked.  I pulled out the Nourishing Traditions book and found a recipe for a lacto fermented corn relish.  I had most of what was called for and reasonable subs for what I didn't have.   I cut the kernels off three ears of corn

while Gregorie munched on a fourth raw ear.

I picked some chives and cilantro from the garden and peeled a fresh picked tomato.

I chopped those up and put them in the bowl with the corn, some sea salt, some red pepper flakes, and 4 tablespoons of whey.

I mashed it to release the juices, put it in a jar, and mashed it a little more (this is another terrible picture -- I'm treating myself to a new camera some day!).

Now we just have to wait about 3 or 4 days to give it try!

What's happening in your kitchen today?