Pickled

Do you ever fall in-and-out-of-love with a craft or recipe?   Do your habits and hobbies have a seasonality to them?

When a skill or hobby piques my interest, I tend to research everything on the subject, and fully submerge myself in it.  I get a little obsessed.  And then, sometimes the interest wanes (like making rag rugs).  Or sometimes it becomes cemented in the rhythm of our family life (like baking bread).  I like to knit in the winter, sew in the summer, but bake and garden all year long.

(On a side note, I think this is why project-based homeschooling appeals so much to me.  Being allowed to freely, and thoroughly explore an interest or idea is as important to kids as it is to adults.)

Right now, the obsession is a return to an old interest - fermentation.  The counter is stacked to the back with jars of veggie pickles bubbling, kombucha, kraut, Indian-spiced cauliflower, carrot-ginger slaw, plums steeping in sugar…

When I go out to the garden, my first thought is, “What can I pick to pickle?”  When I need a snack, I straight for a dish of kraut or dilly beans.

The basket of mending, countless unfinished knitting projects, this blog, the novel on the bedside table all sit neglected right now.  I’m up late at night setting up second ferments of kombucha, or shredding some root veggie, or washing out fido jars, or reading books and articles on the science of fermentation.

I suppose there are worse things to be fixated on than making healthy, delicious, vitamin-packed food, right?

WordPress has been wonky, and I’m having trouble uploading photos and editing them.  If WordPress will cooperate, I will be back later in the week!