My twins turn 12 weeks old tomorrow and I’m finally starting to open up enough brain space to start thinking about this website again. One piece of the content puzzle I’d like to pick up again before the year is over is the remainder of the Food in Jars Mastery Challenge.
When I decided to do another Mastery Challenge this year, I assumed my pregnancy would be a neat, orderly thing and that I’d have the time and space to write a bunch of content ahead of time. As we all know, that didn’t happen. Still, I’m a believer in picking up wherever I am and going forward, so that’s what I’m going to do.
I know that there are some of you who have been plugging away at the monthly challenges without my support, but I’d like to breathe a little extra life back into our remaining topics and end the year with a bang.
October’s topic is Wild Card. I remember that when I chose it back in January, my thought was that in some places, October is still the end of summer while in others, it is still firmly fall. I wanted to leave the challenge open-ended so that you all could choose a project that felt seasonally appropriate to your spot in the world.
If you feel like that’s too open-ended, consider picking up last month’s topic of Pickles, Relishes, Chow Chows, and Piccalili. There’s a lot of potential there and many of the end of season and autumn product does nicely transformed into tangy, pickled things.
You could also tackle a skill that you’ve been meaning to explore. It’s a good time of year to try a ferment, or make some jelly with apples, grapes, or pomegranates.
Here are some recipes you might consider trying.
Ferments
Garlicky Sauerkraut
Quick Chopped Cabbage Kimchi
Fermented Hot Sauce
Taco Kraut
Kimchi Kraut
Red Cabbage, Apple, and Ginger Kraut
Pickles and Relishes
Spiralized Golden Beets with Ginger
Small Batch Pickled Okra
Spicy Pickled Green Beans
Quick Pickled Radishes (this approach works well for all manner of autumn root vegetables!)
Quick Pickled Chard Stems
Waste Prevention Pickles
Pickled Cranberries
Welcome back! You have been missed. The boys are adorable and surely occupying every moment of your day. Ease back into this and don’t push yourself. The boys need you.