At first you might be wondering "why on earth would you recycle your eggshells?".  We are here to tell you, there are so many reasons! Our main reason is that we love composting, and adding eggshells to your compost is a great way to incorporate calcium back into your soil. Anytime a plant grows in soil it absorbs the different nutrients it needs (such as calcium) through its roots! For a gardener, it is beneficial to amend your soil in between plantings to reintroduce nutrients the plants need to thrive. 

Much like how humans need calcium to grow strong bones, plants use calcium to help build strong cell walls! Lucky for us, eggshells are almost entirely made out of calcium. That means free fertilizer! Instead of discarding our eggshells, it is just as easy to give them a rinse, dry them out, and give their life another purpose. 

Instructions:

1. Rinse your eggshells underwater, don't worry about removing the membrane.
2. Place your shells in a place where they can dry out for a day or two. We like to put them in our windowsill behind our sink. This allows for them to dry out without being scooted off of the counter by our cats!
3. Once they are dry, the shells will crumble easily. Simply crush them up with your hands or in a blender. The size of the crushed eggshells is completely up to you, smaller eggshells distribute more evenly in soil.
4. Add to your compost or sprinkle around your plants! And there you have it, you were able to provide your plants and soil with the calcium it needs with something that would have otherwise been discarded!

 Yield: 2 1/2 Cups
​Ingredients:

• 1 Lbs. Kosher or Sea Salt
• 2 Tbsp. Black Pepper
• 2 Tbsp. Paprika
• 1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbsp. Onion Powder
• 1 Tbsp. Dried Thyme
• 1/2 Tbsp. Cayenne
• 1/2 Tbsp. Nutmeg

Instructions:

1. ​Just mix it all up. Simple as that! I like to find a Tupperware container or bowl with a lid, add in all of my ingredients, and shake it up.
2. Store in an airtight container. 

Notes from the Author:
I call this "Tis the Season Salt" because each year I like to incorporate homemade gifts into my holiday gift giving. I also love a good pun! I have found really cute mason jars or small metal food grade tins to house the seasoning. Add a ribbon and you are set! Very easy and super delicious. This seasoning works well with all different types of meat, veggies, or even our families favorite... tater tots! Hope you enjoy and happy holidays! 

This is a list of our top 5 favorite places we visited during our 2018 trip to Alaska! This list isn't necessarily in order of our favorites, instead we decided to list them in the order that we visited. 

5. Seward

All of this being said, if you are thinking about visiting Alaska, our only word of advice to you is "just do it and don't wait"! So often we hear people say that Alaska is on their bucket list or that they would love to go one day. So we are here to say, if you feel drawn to the idea of going to Alaska. Go! We promise you wont be disappointed. Alaska has left a huge imprint on our heart and we can't wait for the day that we make it back. 

Equipment Needed:

• Clean Quart Jars (quantity dependent on batch size) 
• Fermenting Lids 
• Fermenting Weights
• Kitchen Scale
• Knife & Cutting Board
• Gloves (trust me on this!)
• Food Processor or Blender
• Fine Mesh Strainer 
• Cheese Cloth (Optional)

Ingredients:

• Hot Peppers (Cayenne, Habanero, Hot Lemon, Scotch Bonnet, etc.) 
• Filtered/ Unchlorinated Water
• Non-Iodized Salt
• Garlic, Shallot, Carrot, Ginger, and/or Sweet Peppers, etc. (Optional)
• Xanthan Gum (Optional)

​Instructions:

1. While wearing gloves, cut peppers and any optional additions into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Layer veggies in clean jars, packing them down as much as possible as you go. Leave two inches of headspace.
3. Make a 5% salt water brine. To do this, weigh your filtered/ unchlorinated water. Then add 5% of that weight in salt. Stir until dissolved.  Example: 1 pint of water (2 cups) is equal to 16 ounces, so you would add 0.8 ounces of salt (about 1 1/2 Tbsp.). 
4. Place your fermenting weight in your jar of veggies and press down. 
5. Pour your salt water brine in the jars until weight is fully submerged, leaving at least 1 inch of headspace. Your veggies will release CO2 during fermentation. If you do not leave enough headspace, your brine will have nowhere to go, except out of your fermenting lid (aka spicy mess).
6. Spoon out any floating veggies to prevent future mold growth.
7. Place your fermenting lids on according to manufacturers guidance. 
8. Place your jars in a location out of direct sunlight. Fermenting veggies do best anywhere from 65 and 72°F. 
9. Leave your jars undisturbed anywhere from 10-30 days. For the first week or two, the jars will be actively bubbling (CO2!) and preserving the contents.  Flavor continues to develop up to the 30 days.​

Making your Hot Sauce: 
When your veggies have finished fermenting, it is time to process and bottle your hot sauce! 

1. Open your jars and use a spoon to remove any Kham yeast that may have developed during fermentation. This is a non-toxic reaction that  sometimes takes place due to wild yeast living on vegetables. Warmer temperatures and opening jars during the fermentation process can increase the likelihood of this yeast developing.
2. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain your veggies and reserve the brine.
3. Add peppers, 1/4 cup of brine and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar to a blender. Blend and add additional liquids as needed.
4. For a sriracha  style sauce, a short spin in the food processor will suffice. For a tabasco style sauce, a high powered blender will work much better. Blend for 1-2 minutes.
5. We don't have a great blender, so at this point I usually strain the blended veggies with cheese cloth and then add them back into the blender. I add 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum and give it a short spin. This will thicken your hot sauce and keep it from separating in the bottle,  without changing the flavor.
6. Pour your hot sauce into bottles or another clean container and refrigerate. Sauce can be kept for up to 18 months in the refrigerator.

Notes from Author:
We have quickly learned how easy and rewarding fermenting can be. At its heart, fermenting food is a preservation process, but the flavor and health benefits you receive is a real treat!
You may have noticed this recipe doesn't contain exact ingredient amounts, that is because we wanted to outline the basic process!  You can develop your own hot sauce blends with your own heat tolerance in mind or with what peppers and veggies  are in season near you. 
We personally love to use cayenne peppers, garlic, shallots, and carrots in our hot sauce.  Cayenne peppers have just the right amount of heat for what we are looking for in a hot sauce. Falling anywhere from 30,000-50,000 SHUs, cayenne peppers are the the perfect medium heat for a hot sauce to enjoy on nearly anything. Anything from eggs, meats, on cream cheese bagels, and in soups, the  possibilities are endless. We hope you enjoy watching this recipe come to life! 

Yield: Approximately 4 Pints 
Ingredients:

• 8 pounds of Tomatoes
• 2 Sweet Onions
• 10 Cloves Garlic
• Fresh or Dried Herbs
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400° F
2. Line a sheet pan(s) with parchment paper.
3. Remove stems and quarter the tomatoes.
4. Peel, quarter, and separate the layers of the onions.
5. Peel and smash the garlic cloves.  
6. Toss the tomatoes, onions, and garlic in olive oil. Spread out on the sheet pan with skin side down.
7. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs. We like to use oregano and thyme from our garden.
8. Roast in the oven for 45 mins or up to an hour. Periodically check the skins of the tomatoes, when the skins are wrinkly, they are ready! 
9. Remove pans from the oven. Puree the ingredients with a food processor or blender until you have your desired consistency.

Notes from the Author:
This tomato sauce recipe is so easy but tastes like you were cooking over the stove all day!  I like to make this when tomatoes are in season in Minnesota because I can go to the farmers market and load up on fresh and local tomatoes. Our backyard garden hasn't been able to keep up with our tomato demand! Because we only cook for two, I like to portion out the sauce into pint size containers and freeze it. 

Yield: Approximately 1 cup
Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Mustard Seeds (Optional)
• 1.2 oz. Dry Mustard Powder
• 0.25 oz. Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 3 oz. Egg (I usually lightly whisk one egg and then weigh it. Add more egg if needed)
• 4 oz. Malt Vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. Tabasco (more if you like a spicier mustard!)
• 0.75 oz. Honey 

Instructions:

1. (Optional) Toast the whole mustard seeds in a dry pan over medium heat. Swirl the pan in a circular motion or use a spoon to keep the seeds moving to avoid burning them. Toast the seeds until they are warm and fragrant. Once toasted, remove the seeds from the pan and use a mortar & pestle or blender to crush the seeds. Set aside for later. 
2. In a bowl, mix the dry mustard, sugar, salt and egg together. Whisk in the malt vinegar, Tabasco, and honey until smooth. Cover and place mixture in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
3. Set up a double boiler. In a small sauce pan, simmer a few inches of water. Place a glass or stainless steel bowl on the pot. Make sure your bowl doesn't touch the water.
4. Place your refrigerated mustard mixture in the bowl of the double boiler. Continuously whisk the mustard until it has thickened. Once the mustard has reached your desired consistency, remove the bowl from the double boiler.
5. If you toasted the whole mustard seeds, fold them in. 
6. Place your freshly made mustard in a clean jar or container and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Notes from the Author:
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! This recipe was apart of my final project for my garde manager class in culinary school. A lot of my recipes from culinary school are from much bigger batches, modified to my taste preference, and usually use weight measurements.  That being said, sometimes you might see funny measurement amounts! I love to use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients because of the accuracy. However, if you do not have a kitchen scale you can use a conversion calculator to help covert the weight to a physical measurement.

This may just seem like a recipe for mustard, but it is so much more! You could add more honey to make a sweet honey mustard sauce or whisk it with some olive oil and other seasonings to make a quick vinaigrette. I personally love to make this mustard and eat it as is on pretzel rods!  However you choose to make or use it, I hope you love it!