Latest holiday ferments (left to right): one quart pickled green, purple and white asparagus spears with crushed garlic, diced chipotle peppers, and red, green and black peppercorns in a sea salt brine; one half gallon shredded Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, kale, arugula, minced garlic and onion in sea salt brine; one quart of West African sweet potato ferment with minced garlic and onions, diced habanero peppers, cracked black pepper, black and yellow mustard seeds and coriander seeds in dry sea salt; and, last, one quart of shredded carrots, red and green cabbage and broccoli stems in a sea salt brine. All should be ready for New Years Eve!!

Been busy the past twenty four hours ofn a variety of fermented pastes, fruits and vegetables. From left to right: sea salted chive paste, key limes and cranberries with raw honey, brined cranberries with chipotle peppers, sea salted minced garlic paste, pickled asparagus spears with habanero and chipotle peppers and garlic, garlic and raw honey ferment, and,last, Roma, Fuji and gala apple juice freshly pressed and chilled. Everything organic and locally sourced, except for the key limes.

Returned from a wonderful, educational workshop hosted by the FermentWorks team, Kirsten and Christopher Shockey, at their picturesque farm near Applegate, Oregon. Lots of hands-on crafting and creating ferments, pastes, and old fashioned apple cider that can be fermented into hard apple cider. 

Here's what I created:  spicy kimchee ferment; basil and cayenne pepper ferment that will be blended and strained to create a basil-pepper paste; eight different pepper ferment that will be blended and strained to create a multi-dimensional pepper paste; green and red tomatoes ferment flavored with coriander seeds and black peppercorns; celery, shallots, fresh sage leaves and rosemary ferment; and, fresh apple cider made from crabapples, Roma and Kop apples. The ferments will take anywhere from two to eight weeks to complete.

Last, my own Napa cabbage, watermelon radish, sunflower choke and grated turmeric sauerkraut after two weeks of fermentation.  Another week or so, and it should be ready.

Also, a photo of the kitchen wall in the Shockey home displaying old, new and mostly forgotten tools used in cooking, canning, preserving and fermenting food.

Recent travels have taken me to Port Angeles, Washington, and, in particular, Olympic National Forest. Here are recent photos:

Hurricane Ridge, elevation 6000 ft with views of the Olympic Mountains. So called since winter winds can reach speeds of 75 mph+ causing havoc across the valleys and forest. During winter, this location is covered in several feet of snow.

Trail to Marymere Falls
A ninety foot falls that cascades to a small pool deep in the forest. From there it gently tumbles down a meandering stream which feeds into the river which leads to the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  Salmon are migrating even now.

Lake Crescent
Formed several millions of years ago, this lake is almost 700 feet deep, and maintains an icy blue color due to the ice crystals suspended in the lake's water. On a clear day, the water can take on an aquamarine to blue malachite color. Beautiful lake for kayaking, paddle boarding or sailing When we there, it was completely empty.

Could not sleep so I made some fermented foods. Left to right: one half gallon shredded Napa cabbage, diced onion, shredded watermelon radish and sunflower choke, grated Tumeric, cracked red, green and black pepper in a sea salt brine; pickled shiitake, chanterelle and morel mushrooms, chipotle peppers, garlic, red, green and black peppercorns, coriander and mustard seeds in a sea salt brine; two containers of cherry tomatoes with garlic, basil, parsley, and a touch of red pepper flakes in a sea salt brine; and, last, habanero chilies, diced red, yellow and green tomatoes, garlic, onion, cumin in a sea salt brine.

This portrays eloquently how I live my live...

Hood Canal, Port Angeles and Victoria, BC

Views from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC on the ferry. Sea lions, dolphins and a whale. Last photo shows a dark wave moving left to right. Two minutes later, the whale briefly emerged, then dove beneath the waves.