Feature: Portland's Own "Community Supported Kitchen"

Salt, Fire and Time 1902 NW 24th Ave. Portland

Somewhere throughout my days, amid milking the cows, making sure my kids are fed and clothed, and running a farm corporation, I am aware of my well-worn copy of Nourishing Traditions beckoning, encouraging, and even pleading to me - pleading me to be an even “better” mom and keeper of these Nourishing Traditions. It’s as if Sally Fallon herself is looking into my windows and wondering why I haven’t rendered that tub of pastured pork fat into tasty lard, or perhaps she’s noticing that although there is some kefir fermenting on the counter top, there’s no ginger ale or sauerkraut or beet kvass culturing, nor are there wild yeasts being captured for homemade bread for my brood. Just as I was feeling hopelessly unsuccessful as a complete nurturer of my family, I discovered help!

Salt, Fire and Time is a wonderful gem of a store in northwest Portland. “Portland’s Traditional Healing Foods Grocery,” is exceptional in its vision by owner Tressa Yellig, in that she fills in the gaps for us busy Weston Price fans - in many cases, parents seeking to raise our families on a traditional foods diet, which by nature, is not convenient. A “Community Supported Kitchen,” (CSK) SFT is only the fourth of its kind in the country.

Kidney stew and a variety of kombucha flavors - plus much more!

An incredibly valuable resource in our community, SFT sells those items that all of us should be making at home but with spouses, children, jobs, and blogs to research, we may find we aren’t able to quite fit everything in. At Salt, Fire and Time you can walk in and purchase bone broths, organ meat stews, cultured vegetables, granola from soaked grains and nuts, pork lard, cultured mayonnaise, beet kvass, kombucha, and many more items to fill your larder with the delicious, nutrient dense foods traditionally prepared within a family.

Another of Tressa’s goals in opening SFT is to restore the food culture heritage “that understood the synergy between our food communities and our world.” The public can also take a variety of cooking classes teaching you traditional cooking techniques, including various cheesemaking classes I am offering monthly on Saturdays.

A volunteer baking the "hand pies."

What is a “Community Supported Kitchen?”

“It is a sustainable model for community-scale food preparation and processing that honors culinary traditions and provides nutrient-dense foods. It is a place for community and community empowerment and nourishment. Through seasonal feasts, classes and volunteer opportunities, a CSK seeks to improve the transparency of food from farm to table. Our mission is to restore food integrity and traditional preparations to our regional food economy. We are committed to sourcing locally, planning seasonally, minimizing waste and working respectfully in direct relationship with our community of farmers, customers and fellow artisans.”
 

Weston Price babies grow up to shop at SFT!

So next time you want to learn to preserve your own raw milk through cheesemaking, or perhaps you’ve run out of lard or need a boost with some freshly brewed kombucha, consider visiting Salt, Fire and Time. Or better yet, get involved – in the kitchen as a volunteer, at a community feast, or attend one of the various classes.





Check out details on Charlotte's next class:
Feta Cheese + Wine Tasting, Saturday, February 18th

Charlotte Smith
@champoegcreamry
www.champoegcreamery.com
Charlotte passionately believes in the health benefits of a traditional foods diet, especially dairy products from grass-fed cows. She loves sharing time honored traditions of transforming milk into delicious and nutritious cheeses through her classes which are also teeming with nutrition facts and wisdom. Charlotte owns Champoeg Creamery, a pasture based raw milk dairy in St. Paul, Oregon, and is the mother of 3 and a certified Nutrition Wellness Educator.