Welcome to Blissful Kitchen’s Blog

Welcome to Blissful Kitchen’s Blog!

After much encouragement and badgering from clients and friends, the Blissful Kitchen blog is finally here! It will focus on my global cooking style, recipes, travel, catered events, and lifestyle issues such as reducing consumption of processed foods. Since I’m also a mother and so are many of my clients, you’ll learn ways of encouraging your children to understand that real food really tastes good. Savor the best delicious recipes (some my own, some from others) that simplify your life. A bounty of Bay Area shopping tips will help you save time and money even if you live in another part of the country. Cooking techniques do matter. Use mine and you’ll save time and improve the quality of the meals you prepare.

I’m a working chef but I’ll share some of my planning secrets and recipes that are easy and delicious enough to use every day. I don’t believe in collecting volumes of information and gadgets that I’ll never use. Simple is better. As a working mom with little time to spare, I’m sharing tips and recipes that really work. How many buttermilk biscuit recipes do you really need? One, and I’ll share it with you later.

My mother was an exceptional cook and she entertained my stepfather’s television and entertainment colleagues with great flair and pizzazz. But, my global culinary interests and style expanded when as a teenager, I went to live in Guyana, South America with my Indian grandmother for two years. This fueled my love for international travel so I globetrotted the world, always curious about different cultures, food, markets and the interesting people I met along the way. I recently found a misplaced box of photographs from those travels so I’ll share some of them with you along with a memorable food experience or recipe.

Guest contributors and experts will give you quality insights to use daily. I’m excited to introduce you to nutritionist Khristine Holterman. Khristine is a super-mom, mother of five (yes, I said five) children ranging in age from 19 months to 16 years. She has degrees from Boston and Stanford Universities and is an expert on women and children’s nutritional issues.

I’ll help you with one of the biggest issues facing my clients: reducing consumption of processed foods. Whether the client is an entertainer, professional athlete, or working professional, they’re all focused on improving their health and managing their weight. Professional athletes are particularly interested in improving their performance by changing their eating habits.

I’ve got a super easy and quick way to jump start your summer shape up and help you begin the transition from processed foods to healthier choices. With only five days, easy to find ingredients, and minimal shopping and cooking, you can start this plan. Stay tuned for my next post when I’ll introduce Blissful Kitchen’s 5 Day Detox Menu.

Several weeks ago, I received a catering request from a client interested in an African themed menu. This was pretty unusual. Over the past eight years, I’ve catered only one other African themed event. So, my culinary senses perked up and I responded quickly. The couple were in the process of adopting a girl from North Africa. They had also spent time in Tanzania, a country they loved. The wife is involved with a charity that works in Africa–this is all good! They also wanted to celebrate the wife’s birthday, so they rolled all these details into one exciting party. I was on-board for this one!

Then, I asked about the venue in Calistoga, another plus. Although there were space constraints in the meeting room, I created a menu that fit their budget and the venue, mixing North & East African flavors with a dash of Mediterranean and California flair. My client’s mother-in-law selected the decor and a terrific African dance and musicial team performed after dinner. It was a fantastic affair and I was excited to be a part of such a meaningful experience!