Life is centered in the kitchen.

Food brings us together and the kitchen is a gathering place to strengthen your body, mind, and relationships.

The Kitchen is a place to go beyond the “recipes” and look deeper at food, cooking, equipment/tools, the kitchen’s impact on life, and to share some stories. Scroll down for the most recent recipes and articles or use the search bar and Recipe Archive dropdown menu below to find what you are looking for.

There is no need for a “jump to recipe” button. The recipes are always at the top. There are video links to make things crystal clear. There is a button below each video. Click on it to open a pdf of the recipe for easy printing

Welcome to The Strength Kitchen!

Chris Hook 2/4/25 Chris Hook 2/4/25

Basic Pickles

Learn how to make Cucumber Pickles with this easy recipe. Minimal equipment and simple ingredients. The brine in this recipe can be used to pickle beets, carrots, and jalapeños.

Chris Hook 12/13/24 Chris Hook 12/13/24

Fermented Jalapeño Hot Sauce

Jalapeños are not the hottest chiles, but they make an excellent “daily driver” hot sauce. This recipe walks you through the process of how to ferment jalapeños and transform them into the kind of hot sauce that you want to put on everything.

Chris Hook 12/10/24 Chris Hook 12/10/24

Pickled Jalapeños

Use this simple recipe to make your own Pickled Jalapeños. This is a low cost, easy project. The recipe gives you a solid foundation to produce excellent Jalapeño Pickles and leaves you room for interpretation to add any other aromatics to your preference. You can also use the bine to pickle other vegetables e.g. cucumbers, beets, carrots, etc.