Wednesday, July 15, 2026
2:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Room 109, Rotary Kitchen
Ages
18 and older
What does abundance look like when we meet it with care?
Early
summer is when farmers markets and CSA boxes start to overflow — more
than any fridge can hold, more than any one meal can use. This workshop
is about learning how to respond to that moment with intention. How to
slow down, pay attention to what’s at peak, and turn a surplus of
beautiful produce into something that lasts.
Using fresh seasonal
vegetables sourced directly from local farms, we’ll spend the afternoon
working through two preservation techniques that belong in every home
kitchen — one ancient and alive, one fast and endlessly versatile.
Hands-on projects
Fermented
Tomato Salsa — We’ll build a lacto-fermented salsa using peak-season
tomatoes, chilies, garlic, and a live starter brine that jump-starts
fermentation. The result is a salsa with more depth, more complexity,
and more life than anything you can make with heat or acid alone. In two
to three days it’s ready to eat. It keeps evolving from there.
Vinegar-Pickled Mixed Vegetables —
We’ll make a crisp, balanced quick pickle using a house brine ratio
you’ll memorize in five minutes and use for the rest of your life. The
brine is made with house-crafted vinegar — rosé and white wine — and
poured over a seasonal mix of cucumbers, summer squash, and green beans
packed with aromatics. These go home ready to eat and keep for weeks.
WHILE WE WORK: We’ll
graze throughout the afternoon on a seasonal vegetable and dip platter
alongside pickles and ferments from previous batches — so you can taste
exactly where your jars are going before they get there. This isn’t a
snack. It’s a tasting of the whole practice.
What you leave with
- Two jars of preserved vegetables, ready to finish at home
- A fermentation and pickling guide with ratios, timelines, and troubleshooting
- The recipes made in class, written to be repeated without looking anything up
- Enough understanding of the why behind each technique to adapt, improvise, and make it your own
- Confidence to look at a pile of summer produce and know exactly what to do with it