About katie sutton

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So far katie sutton has created 10 blog entries.

In the Garden

A little over two months ago I began a quest for a greener, more sustainable kitchen and I have been successful in keeping canned goods out of my cooking, I squeeze my OJ fresh and my garden is thriving. I have not been quite able to stay consistent with the bread baking, but I do make some whenever I get a chance, and my Vitamix decided to quit on me once I was fully addicted to homemade almond butter. I also found a very easy recipe for yogurt and, though it requires some precise temperature control, it is really yummy! I do try to be diligent, as well, with buying as local as possible, which has become a bit easier now that the local [...]

By |2013-07-02T13:37:58-04:00June 27, 2013|Appetizers, Side Dishes, Vegetarian|0 Comments
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“How luscious lies the pea within the pod.” – Emily Dickenson

Ok forget that crazy idiom about dense fog and that really unattractive gray green color of Split Pea Soup. These peas are different. English Garden Peas are here. Another short-lived summer delight, English Garden Peas conjure up sweetness and the simplicity of an old time summer pea shelling session. Ohhh I wish I had a grandma who did that (sigh). Guess what? Peas are a great source of protein, iron and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber helps to reduce cholesterol thus reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. So eat all your peas! OK, how to shell: rinse, pinch the stem off with your fingernails and pull the string down the length of the pod. The pod will pop open and the peas can [...]

By |2013-07-02T12:32:14-04:00June 14, 2013|Side Dishes, Soups|0 Comments
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Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top

The anticipation of their summer arrival and the short lived season of this fruit makes them extra special. According to the California Cherry Advisory Board May 16-June 20th are the “Sweetest Six Weeks of Summer”. It goes really fast so let’s take advantage of them. They taste good, look good (how darn cute is a cherry on top of anything? Um, hello, cupcake with a cherry on top!) and they are good for you. Cherries help to prevent heart disease and cancer and provide pain relief. Apparently 20 cherries are 10 times as potent as aspirin!! To really enjoy them in their natural flavor try something simple and refreshing and EASY like a (Cherry Granita?, Cherry Sorbet?). I know, I know…you needed an excuse [...]

By |2013-06-17T16:07:44-04:00June 14, 2013|Desserts|0 Comments
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The Mighty Carrot

In season during Summer and Fall, the Carrot can be found year round as a staple in markets and on dinner tables across the country and around the world. This usually orange colored root vegetable will occasionally masquerade in disguises of purple, red, yellow and even white. The Carrot is often associated with good eyesight due to it’s beta carotene content, which is metabolized into vitamin A, and contributed to the urban legend that carrots helped with night vision. Apparently, during WW II the British Army spun a tale of high carrot consumption among it’s pilots to cover up the effective use of radar to shoot down German war planes in the dark. This tale had the added benefit of getting Britons to grow [...]

By |2013-06-14T16:17:48-04:00June 14, 2013|Appetizers|0 Comments
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Back to Basics

Over the winter I took part in a discussion group revolving around food, of course, and the impact our personal choices can have on not only our health, but also the health of the Planet.  The articles we read, and the chats which followed, took me back to my college and cooking school days. Learning, first, about the impact of contemporary food systems on world hunger in college and then on to cooking school where I discovered the health implications of some of the choices I had been making and how to make better choices.  In general, my kitchen is pretty healthy, low in processed foods, lots of fruits and veggies, low animal protein intake and I prepare most of our meals at home, [...]

By |2013-06-17T10:40:02-04:00April 9, 2013|General Musings|0 Comments
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What’s for Dinner?

I usually start thinking about this right after breakfast. HA! But, I am a chef, so, I am kind of always thinking about food, meals, lists of ingredients, etc… I thought, hey, I can help answer this age old question of “What’s for dinner?” How? By telling you! No really, I have so many ideas, flavors, and recipes swirling around in my head. I have decided that I could really answer this question over and over again and at the same time offer some assistance to those of you who may be stumped, bored, uninspired, tired of the same old TV Dinner (just kidding, I know you never eat TV dinners). And of course if after you read this and you feel the burning [...]

By |2013-06-14T16:28:39-04:00July 10, 2012|Salads, Seafood|0 Comments
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Eat a Peach

An Allman Brother’s Album and also just a really good sorta summer Carpe Diem. You may have Georgia on your mind as they claim to be the “Peach State” but alas, it is our very own sunny California that is the major peach producer of the U.S. of A. And now is the time to Eat A Peach. The season is noted as June through September but I think they are really the tastiest and juiciest now. They are of course good for you: full of vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and beta-carotene (wai,t doesn’t this give you X-ray vision or something? Maybe eat 2). When choosing a good peach it should have a little give to it when you squeeze it, but still should [...]

By |2013-06-14T16:24:10-04:00June 21, 2011|Desserts|0 Comments
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The Noble Pear

Sweet, juicy pears, once considered as “gift of the gods”, are members of the rose family and are related to the apple. This fabulous fruit was introduced to California and Mexico by Spanish missionaries, though cultivation has been traced 300 years to Western Asia and could date further to the Stone Age. The general growing season for the pear is August-October, but are available year round due to seasonal variations. It’s a good thing too! Pears are full of fiber, a good source of vitamin C, low in calories as well as containing copper and vitamin K. They promote cardiovascular and colon health, help combat premenopausal breast cancer and both vitamin C and Copper are thought to be antioxidents, making the pear a very [...]

By |2013-06-14T16:23:13-04:00January 28, 2011|Desserts|0 Comments
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Winter Squash It

Squash: “ The fruits of various members of the gourd family, which fall into two classifications, winter squash and summer squash” Both summer and winter squash are great “go to” vegetables as there are so many varieties. Every part of the plant can be eaten over the course of the growing season from young leaves, tender shoots and, of course, the squash blossom to the baby squash and mature fruit. The terms “summer” and “winter” are misleading as they really apply to how long you can store, not availability… winter squashes keep longer in storage, thus are more a cold weather food. There are many varieties of winter squash to be found. We all know the pumpkin and the various expressions it can take [...]

By |2013-06-14T16:34:25-04:00December 7, 2010|Side Dishes|0 Comments
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Heirloom Tomatoes

Eva Purple Ball, Green Zebra, Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, HillBilly, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Ping Pong, Early Girl… No, I am not calling you names or listing bizarre obscenities. I am talking about tomatoes. I am particularly fascinated by the heirlooms…their rainbow of colors, unique appearances (wow! there are some delicious ugly tomatoes), and vast range of flavors. There are nearly 10,000 varieties of tomatoes. If you are thinking about growing your own, check out this book: The Great Tomato Book by Gary Ibsen. This guy ran the TomatoFest in Carmel, CA for the last 17 years (bummer, I just checked his website and it looks like he retired last year. So I guess no more TomatoFest but check out his book for some [...]

By |2013-06-14T16:33:00-04:00May 10, 2010|Appetizers, Salads, Side Dishes|0 Comments
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