Home Artisan

I have this goal to be a creative, 100% artisan when it comes to food. At one (recent) point in my life, I had a freezer full of homemade jam, a yard of fresh vegetables, a deck covered in herbs, and a refrigerator with homemade cheese and bacon. I even made my own bread.
I’m really excited that the spring growing season is here. I have tomato seeds and basil plants in the greenhouse; it’s far too cold for them to be outside now. We’ve begun our little garden; the onion sets are in the ground, our chard is flourishing, we’ve planted our peas- I can just taste the first harvest salad. I want to expand the garden this year, so that I can actually create whole meals from my yard.

Once I get back to making cheese, and bread, and the pork belly in the bottom of my refrigerator is done curing, I’ll have quite the feast. I am looking forward to it!

I'm also looking forward to this weekend.
I'd like to get better at is the art of charcuterie. I had my first taste of sausage making as part of the charcuterie club at school. It’s a really interesting process, with so many variations: aromatics, meats, fats, curing time, style, size and shape. On Sunday, April 13, Randall Cronwell, a teacher at OCI, will be teaching a class on Artisan Sausage Making. He’ll give tips on using spices, grinding the meat and stuffing the sausages. After the class, we can feast on our creations, like fresh sausage and white bean salad. I’m ready to beef up my skills.
-Josie