Fermentation Fest

Although writing about it gives me feelings of regret* because I won't be able to go, I should share with all of you that this weekend marks the beginning of the Reedsburg Fermentation Fest. That's right, an entire week-long festival devoted to fermented food and drink!

The website gives this enticing list: "From sourdough bread to home-crafted beer, pickles to soy sauce, chocolate to cheese, compost to silage, the Live Culture Convergence has it all." How I wish I could learn to make them all!

You can see the whole schedule here.

If I were going, I'd totally hit up at least the following events:

• The Secret Life of Chocolate 
• Saturday, Oct. 8 , 1 - 3 pm
• Believe it or not, chocolate is a fermented food. Learn all about the chocolate fermentation process and taste samples during this especially tasty class led by Gail Ambrosius.
• Whole Wheat Baking 
• Saturday, Oct. 8 , 2 - 4 pm 
• Learn to bake whole wheat baked goods using locally grown wheat. Plus: information about growing wheat. 
• Elm Duo 
• Sunday, Oct. 9 , 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00pm
• Pasture Performance featuring 13-year old singer and fiddle champion Eleanor Mayerfeld and her father, mandolinist, guitarist and UW-Madison professor of Community & Environmental Sociology, Mike Bell. The duo will entertain with an eclectic mix of acoustic music, from bluegrass to Celtic to jazz and more.
•  Fizzeology 
• Saturday, Oct. 15, 12 - 2 pm 
• Learn the techniques and the considerable health benefits of fermenting vegetables. Mike Bieser of Fizzeology will demonstrate, share recipes and provide a home fermenting starter kit.
• and more!

So those of you in Wisconsin or the nearby area should definitely go in my stead, and report back. Sounds awesome, eh?


---
*and tomorrow is Yom Kippur, when we're supposed to be atoning for our sins and wiping away our regrets in preparation for the new year!