I'm Zack, I like toast and (almost) all other vegan food, and taking photos. This is my first post. I don't know what I'm doing but I hope you like it.

Hello! My name is Zack, and this is my first Steem (steemit?) post. I got put on to Steem by my friend @itchykitchen, whose sheer excitement and lobbying for this here site was enough for me. And while I don't have the sheer authentic and unmitigated enthusiasm as he does (for anything, really), I do love the concept of community ownership that Steem embraces, particulary as it compares to so many other social media and online enterprises, who give "free" services in exchange for data, ultimately profiting its executives, shareholders, and vulture capitalists.  I also have been meaning to get around to building my own personal website for a variety of thoughts and ideas that I invariable have running around my head, and Steem is an opportunity to build that right here, and share it to a community directly, building and growing together. 

So, given that, I hope my #introduceyourself post will give you all an idea about the topics I love and hope to discuss, which I'm sure will grow and change through time.

But first, this is me:

That was taken last year sometime while traveling in Nepal (more on that later)...okay, now on with the introduction.

Food 

I really really love food. Cooking it, eating it, thinking about it, fermenting it, and maybe, just maybe, writing about it. Over the past few years I have been documenting a good portion of my food over on Instagram. And while I'm really happy with the community I've become a part of over there, it also has its drawbacks--primarily limitations on image size/format/quality, but also of course advertising, unnecessary changes to the order in which you see (or don't see) photos based on an algorithm that allegedly shows you images it thinks you want to see...

Anyhow, rather than rant about that, how about I just show you some of my favorite dishes?

Most recently I've been obsessed with toasts (duh) slothered with tahini & kimchi on them, usually with some other additions, not always, for instance on this one I added some lentils:

But on this one I added arugula and mushrooms: 

And on this one I added avocado (because toast without avocado is basically not even toast, right? Oh and I also don't want to ever own a house :P):

 

Now, before you go thinking this is a crazy combination, I assure you, it's not. It's SO GOOD. There's something about the earthiness of the tahini contrasting with the sharp & bright flavors of the kimchi that just blends together perfectly. And it works with other nut butters & ferments, like tahini & sauerkraut:

 

Or even peanut butter, sauerkraut, and pickles!:

With that out of the way, it'd probably be a good time to discuss how much I love fermenting and pickling things! In all of those pictures above I had fermented or pickled the kimchi (I use this "recipe" for a vegan version), kraut, and, well, pickles, and let me tell you, I LOVE IT. It tastes so good, and it's good for you! Admittedly, I was a little late to the game perhaps because of some , but after reading Cooked, by Michael Pollan, I finally made a deep-dive, moving beyond vinegar based quick-pickles (or quickles), to full on fermentation, like these here:

And you know what else is fermented, and I love to make (and bake)? BREAD! I've really only just started baking some true sourdough, but I hope to continue learning the art of it all, and hopefully you all can join me as I learn. Here's a recent sesame-sourdough loaf I made:

Now, I'm not a nutritionist, doctor, dietitian, scientist, or what-have-you, but a lot of those types of people seem to think that eating fermented foods is really good for you, and 7,000-8,000 years of civilization (and beer!), would tend to confirm it.  So who am I to disagree?

And it's (relatively) easy. My favorite "recipe" for any fermented food is the one I've remembered from Sandor Katz for sauerkraut, which is: 1) Chop 2) Salt 3) Pack 4) Wait. It doesn't get any easier than that. Now, there are some other tips that might make the process a bit more clear, but that's for another time....back to the food!

While there will be no shortage of toast pictures, it's not ALL I eat (just mostly what I eat). So I thought I'd share some others from just this past month, that ought to give you an idea of what you're in for. Hopefully I'll be able to provide some recipes (though I've only just begun trying to write my own, which is immensely difficult because I'm more of a cook-by-feel kinda person, so tracking measurements is a bit of a challenge).

Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles with pesto, sun dried tomatoes, and shiitake mushrooms)

Broccoli and Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs

Sesame Rice Noodles with Tofu, Cabbage & Green Beans

One thing you may (or may not) have noticed in all of those is that they are all #vegan, just like me. There are many reasons to go vegan, and many types of vegans, but what made me make the decision to go vegan is the environmental impact of animal agriculture as it is practiced in the United States today. I don't doubt that there are ways and methods to sustainably raise animals for agricultural purposes--whether be it the disproportionate use of land & water resources for caloric output; water, air, and other forms of pollution; or other--I don't think the system currently allows for it (not to mention animal rights issues that also come into play). I don't tend to think of myself as a preachy vegan, and I don't think you'll find much of it here, just me sharing how delicious vegan food can be. I've been vegan for roughly 4 years now (and vegetarian for about 4 before that), and I never crave animal products. I realize the diet/lifestyle is not for everyone, but it works for me!

(Non-Food) Photography

As you can probably tell, I'm big on pictures. I like to take them, I like to share them, I want to get better at them. For now, I mostly stick to food and natural landscapes, but I'd love to get more into portraits and other types of photography and can't wait to learn from all of the photo-heads on here. 

Here's a few samples from my aforementioned trip to India & Nepal (parts of which I traveled with @itchykitchen) 

Red Fort, Delhi, India 

A picture of my friend Ready, also at the Red Fort. I'm sure he'll be joining us here soon enough. Just as soon as he levitates on over. 

Overlooking the Himalayas from Poon Hill, Nepal. After traveling from India to Nepal I caught a bad case of food poisoning, campylobacter to be exact, so while @itchykitchen headed off to Manaslu, I didn't quite have the energy for such a long trek, so I had to *settle* for this instead.

Clearly, it turned out pretty well. Plus I met these amazing people, with whom we trekked from tea house to tea house between villages, eating dal bhat and playing cards. Some of the best times of my life! 

Yaks, yakking. Okay, now I'm just making myself want to go back.

California, Generally

I should note that I live in California in a beautiful house with and around beautiful and inspiring people who also happen to be my best friends. They're artists, musicians, evil geniuses, musicians, techno-foxes, and sext-positive.

And sometimes they drive around in this big blue school bus and play music in it, did I mention they're musicians? 

Splendor All Around.

There are plenty more of them, but they either don't have websites to link to or I'm not finding them. 

Anyhow, I live in California (which, really, is amazing) and try and see as much of it as I can (either running, hiking, backpacking, or camping), hopefully I'll be able to show you what I'm up to along the way:

Wildcat Beach, Pt. Reyes, CA.

More Wildcat

Superbloom at Carrizo Plain National Monument, March 2017. More to come on this one hopefully.

Unfortunately, now I'm running out of steem (see what I did there?). Hopefully this gives you all a rough idea of who I am and what I will try to bring to this community. I'm excited to see where it will take us!