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Thursday, September 25 2025

ONE BIG THING

Politics can be all-consuming.

For many people right now, the political arena has become the place where all of our feelings get expressed. The frustration, the anxiety, the sense that something is out of balance all gets poured into politics.

And with constant media and social media at our fingertips, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that politics is the only place where change happens. But the truth is, most things cannot be solved in that space.

Our city ordinances, state laws, and federal statutes can’t heal what is spiritual, emotional, or psychological in nature. They can’t restore meaning or calm or clarity. These are things we have to find for ourselves, through quiet reflection, creative pursuits, and in community with others.

So this week, I want to share something that has nothing to do with the City Council. This week’s Big Thing is about pepperoni.

It’s the end of the growing season, and if you have a garden, you probably have a few tomatoes on the vine that will never ripen. They’re small, firm, and easy to overlook or toss in the compost. Please don’t!

Last year, I fermented some green tomatoes as an experiment, put them in the fridge and then promptly forgot about them. Around about February, I sliced a few onto a pizza because I didn’t have much else on hand and realized, to my surprise, that they taste just like pepperoni. As a vegetarian who is still nostalgic for the salty-sour-spicy flavor of a classic pepperoni slice, this discovery was a revelation. Here’s how to make them:

Fermented Green Tomatoes for Pizza (Vegetarian “Pepperoni”)

Ingredients:

  • Whole Green tomatoes
  • Garlic cloves (2–3)
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 1 quart water

Instructions:

  1. Pack your tomatoes into a clean glass jar with garlic, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes.
  2. Dissolve the salt in water to make your brine.
  3. Pour the brine over the tomatoes until they’re fully submerged. Push them down and wedge them against the jar to keep them under the surface.
  4. Cover loosely and let ferment at room temperature for 5–10 days. Taste every few days.
  5. Once tangy and flavorful, move the jar to the fridge.

Top a pizza with a few slices of these, sprinkle some smoked paprika over the top, and you’ll have something rich, spicy, and satisfying—no meat required.

In fermentation, the flavors develop over time, and so does the bio-availability of the nutrients in the food. The process happens slowly, naturally, when the conditions are right. With the days getting shorter and the nights colder, this is a season for doing the same. Turning inward. Slowing down. Letting things settle and change in their own time.

We’re all carrying a lot. The world feels heavy, fast, and unpredictable. But underneath that, there’s still something steady. Something waiting to change and to take a new shape, if we give it time. Autumn is a season of both creation and ending. The leaves that fall are returning their energy to the soil; the trees are pulling nutrients back into their roots; the bulbs of spring flowers are quietly storing up strength for their big reveal. Fermentation reminds us that these forces are not separate. What is breaking down can also be what is being born.

We don’t have to fix everything right now. We don’t have to be constantly reacting.

We can just be here, alive and present in the world, paying attention to what’s growing, even if we can’t quite see it yet.

Let that be enough for today.

ksykes@portlandmaine.gov 207-558-5764

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