Closed Loop Cooking Weekly Newsletter 10.30.20

October 30th, 2020

Hi kids,

I just couldn’t stay out of your inbox, missed y’all too much. As I mentioned two weeks ago, I’ve been ideating on what truly sustained work looks like in 2020. How to create meaning out of your day to day and avoid the incessant scroll of comparison and paralysis. And I came back to this newsletter. I love this space, the intimacy of email, it’s one of the few digi-landscapes we can find meaning and connection in.

SO, welcome to Closed Loop Weekly 2.0! Enough good stuff to keep you sustained through the week. Things are about to get a whole lot heartier (think chunky veg stew y’all, you know it’s soup season.)

Moving forward you can expect more plant-based, low waste resources in your inbox every Friday AM. Lovingly curated reads, eats, and more for an equitable food system, sustainable businesses, and good mood food. Closed Loop Weekly is the plant-based, low waste newsletter for anyone who eats.

My big ask as we continue crafting excellent content, can you share this newsletter with a friend or 5 or 15? Thank you in advance <3 The newsletter and all of our website content has been and will continue to always be free.

(We’ll be starting a referral program for email subscribers soon so stay tuned 👀)

Now, onto a Halloween themed food board I can live vicariously through.

Stay hungry,Hawnuh Lee | Founder, Closed Loop Cooking

Get out the vote ghost by Hawnuh Lee

To-do’sA reminder this is your last week to get out and VOTE before the November 3rd election. Get those ballots dropped off, get to the polls, whatever it takes.

Make these low waste, Halloween haunts. Love this upcycled decoration idea from @eco.emily.pdx crafting ghosts using just cheesecloth and corn starch.

This week’s required readingA thoughtful piece on Seed Rematriation, part of the indigenous seed sovereignty movement. Rematriation; an instance where land, air, water, animals, plants, ideas and ways of doing things and living are purposefully returned to their original natural context–their mother, the great Female Holy Wild.

This technology does not exist. (And recycling is just wishful thinking.) Recycler Loop subpoenaed by SEC, shocked and not shocked at all. Always be questioning where your refuse goes folx.

As the weather turns colder and my baking reflexes kick in and my self sustaining mental health practices kick out, our interview with Jasmine Cho on Bake Therapy reminds me it’s important to get my hands doughy. (Hot tip - Jasmine’s offering a free cookie activism workshop Nov 5th, tickets are still available!)

Cookbook clubI’ve been waiting for the right moment to crack open my beautiful copy of The Noma Guide to Fermentation: Including Koji, Kombuchas, Shoyus, Misos, Vinegars, Garums, Lacto-Ferments, and Black Fruits and Vegetables.  My not so secret fermentation crush on David Zilber is showing. David and René Redzepi craft poetic concoctions we may all hold reverence for. I’m getting into this gorgeous maple kombucha brew on page 149, sounds like a must sip this fall. Who’s joining?

Seasonal eatingCan not wait for @daphne_k_jenkins’ weekly Friday mochi. Drooling over a Halloween themed threat - a maple spiced butternut squash mochi with a black sesame miso caramel swirl and crushed salted hazelnuts, topped with a Kyoho grape, blueberry, and pomegranate eyeball 👁 Portland folx, you might be able to snag one today (plant-based version available!) Boo’tifulGourds just wanna have fun. Save your pumpkin and squash seeds please for the tastiest toasted seeds you can eat by the handful or toss into a soup, salad, or stir-fry. Honestly, these don’t usually make it that far, you’ll be eating em outta the pan.Root friendly soups are on a constant low simmer. Getting comfy with a mug of this use-it-up red lentil with parsnip + sweet potato mix. Perfect for a chilly fall evening. Wool socks not included.

Here’s what’s for dinnerOkara scallion pancakes. They’re in the weekly rotation y’all. We made these with okara flour (repurposed soy bean pulp) from Renewal Mill for an easy, cozy comfort food. Great with a schmear or fried with an egg. (What isn’t?)

We’re cooking withOur beloved Finex cast iron skillet from Made Trade. My heirloom workhorse, I use this pan on a daily basis for just about everything. It’s small and light enough to make cooking and cleaning an easy task. With sweater weather coming in, you’ll be thankful for this sturdy vessel. (Plus it’ll last for-e-ver.)The black Loop Teapot. I can not get enough looseleaf. Thank Julia for an electric kettle and a beautiful ceramic, matte teapot I can keep next to me all day.

Listening inThe Witch of the Wind on How to Save a Planet - this podcast is doing some rad investigation into climate solutions. Seasonally appropriate and a must for breaking America’s coal habit. Give it a play.Will listen to anything Jason Mantzoukas makes time for. He popped into the Home Cooking on-air kitchen with Samin and Hrishi for some novice chef tips.

Can’t stop watchingThe perfectly poetic, brothy thirst trap from SoupTok. A great way to warm up on these cold wintery mornings from our new chef crush @chefjonkung.

Sippin onDrinking literal gallons of You-Need-To-Calm-Down Chamomile Peppermint Hemp-Infused Tea to get through this last stretch of the election. You might want to stock up.

Make changePortland run Feed the Mass is looking for more volunteers to help make meals happen for shelters across the city. Every hour makes a difference. Can’t volunteer? Think about a recurring donation or just spreading the word.

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Have an idea we should feature in the newsletter? Want to work with us? Drop a line at [email protected]. We can’t wait to see what y’all cook up next! #closedloopcooking