Cookbook Author Renée Kohlman - Canadian Food Focus

Cookbook Author Renée Kohlman’s Canadian Food Story

Renée Kohlman

Meet food writer and cookbook author Renée Kohlman. “Cooking from scratch is one of the best things you can do for yourself and those you love” she says. “And when you start with good, wholesome ingredients, you will make good, wholesome food.” Renée has worked in professional kitchens, developed recipes for numerous organizations, published an award winning cookbook and has written food articles for several Canadian publications. We are happy to welcome her on board as one of our #CDNFoodFocus contributors. Check out the next few posts to learn more about Renée and her #CDNFoodStory. Watch for more posts from Renée in the future. You can also follow her on Instagram @sweetsugarbean.

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Meet food writer and cookbook author Renée Kohlman. “Cooking from scratch is one of the best things you can do for yourself and those you love” she says. “And when you start with good, wholesome ingredients, you will make good, wholesome food.” Renée has worked in professional kitchens, developed recipes for numerous organizations, published an award winning cookbook and has written food articles for several Canadian publications. We are happy to welcome her on board as one of our #CDNFoodFocus contributors. Check out the next few posts to learn more about Renée and her #CDNFoodStory. Watch for more posts from Renée in the future. You can also follow her on Instagram @sweetsugarbean. #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFoodStory

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:30am PDT

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“Hello, fellow lovers of Canadian food! I’m so pleased to be here sharing and connecting with you over the next several posts. I come from a long line of farmers. Both sets of my ancestors broke land in Saskatchewan in the early part of the 20th century. They worked very, very hard to feed their families and to earn a living off of the land. I lived on the farm until I was 7 years old, and I have no doubt that those formative years shaped who I am today. My earliest memories are of running through the rows of tall, tall corn in mom’s massive garden and digging up potatoes, unearthing the treasures from the dirt. We piled into the truck to check the cows and pick crabapples and saskatoon berries, rolling along dusty gravel roads. I had a pet calf named “Susie” whom I loved to pieces, and there were chickens in their coops, providing us with eggs, and cows in the barn providing us with milk. Being a youngster in this setting, I got a sense of where food comes from and because my mom was a very good cook, I learned early on how good food can bring you joy.” 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @sweetsugarbean Follow her profile for more #CdnFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFoodStory

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:39am PDT

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“Food has always been a⁣ big part of my life and I’m so fortunate that I’ve turned my passion for it⁣ into a career I love. After receiving a⁣ Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Concordia University in Montreal in 1996, I realized I needed a skill that would make me employable, and yet this skill had to be something I would enjoy doing. In the spring of 1999, I graduated from NAIT in Edmonton with a Culinary Arts Diploma. Cooking professionally for 20 years has been very rewarding and very hard work. I’ve been a camp cook at a remote fishing lodge in the Yukon, a cook for a hot lunch program for an inner-city school, an assistant to a fancy pastry chef, a bistro and catering cook, and a pastry chef in my own right. I’ve cooked everything from turkey dinner for 1000⁣ people to an intimate dinner party for 2. I’ve peeled thousands of pounds of⁣ potatoes and baked off countless cookies. I began my food blog Sweetsugarbean in 2011, and in 2012 I was named one of the best food bloggers in Canada by The National Post. Over the next several years, I reduced my time spent working in kitchens and began a food writing⁣ career. Today, I’m a columnist for The Saskatoon StarPhoenix, and I write for several other publications. I’ve done⁣ freelance recipe development for commodity groups such as CanolaEatWell.com, HealthyFlax.org,⁣ Lentils.org, SpreadtheMustard.com and I’m also a food stylist. But my biggest career accomplishment to date is my award-winning cookbook. All the Sweet Things was published in 2017 by TouchWood Editions, and in October of 2018 it won Gold at the Taste Canada Awards for Best Single Subject Cookbook. This recognition was definitely a career highlight, in a career that today has become very diverse, and as my accountant likes to remind me, one that has various income streams, lol.”⁣ 📷: #CDNFoodFocus contributor @sweetsugarbean Follow her profile for more #CdnFoodStories⁣ 🌱🌱🌱⁣ #EverythingGrows ⁣ #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

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“I love talking to farmers and producers about what they grow. I’ve stood in lentil fields in Saskatchewan, apple orchards in Washington State, peanut fields in Georgia (even had the pleasure of meeting President Jimmy Carter!), and chatted with ranchers, growers and producers all over Canada. The common denominator, besides their hard-working hands, is the passion in their eyes when they talk about their crop or herd. These people love what they do, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. Feeding people, not only in this country, but all over the world, has become their life’s work, and what good work it is. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to make a living off the land, and I’m in awe of those that do so. One bad storm could wipe out crops, disease could destroy animals, drought can cut back on yields. In agriculture, there are so many things that can go wrong, and still there are farmers, ranchers and growers who get up every morning with the sole purpose of providing food for our plates. Their passion for food mirrors my passion for cooking and writing about it. When I grab a box of pasta off the grocery store shelf, I think about the farmer that grew the wheat. When I pour lentils into a pot, I think about the farmer that planted the seeds in the spring, hoping for rain. When I eat a savoury beef stew or pork roast, I’m thankful for the producers who cared for that cow and pig. When I’m cooking, I think about all of these people who worked so hard so I could have safe, nutritious and delicious Canadian-grown ingredients to work with.” 📷:#CDNFoodFocus contributor @sweetsugarbean Follow her profile for more #CDNFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Mar 14, 2019 at 12:13pm PDT

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“For me, comfort food is king. Whether I’m at home, cooking for my friends and family, or when I’m developing a recipe, I want the food I’m preparing to bring cozy comfort to those that will be eating it. I love a good tomato-glazed meatloaf, served alongside buttery mashed potatoes and roasted carrots, as well as aromatic lentil and chickpea curries. I love eating and preparing a variety of foods, where nothing is too complicated and everything is delicious. On weekends I’m busy roasting vegetables and meat as well as batch cooking lentils, chickpeas, and grains such as quinoa so dinner can be quickly thrown together during the week. If I’m going to roast one chicken, I may as well roast two so there are plenty of leftovers. I try to avoid all manner of food waste in the kitchen, so veg scraps and bones are saved for soup stocks. “Clean out the fridge” meals are one of my favourite things to make because it’s like I’m on my own personal episode of Chopped, except I don’t have to put any nasty bits of candy in the dish!” 📷: #CDNFoodFocus contributor @sweetsugarbean Follow her profile for more #CDNFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFoodStory

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Mar 14, 2019 at 12:21pm PDT

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“The very first recipe I ever made on my own was the one for chocolate chip cookies. Glory be, I ate so many cookies! I was probably 10 years old and I embraced the delicious chemistry of beating together butter, sugar and eggs. I loved watching the beaters go round and round, creating a creamy swath in their wake. The sweet magic of combining ingredients in my mixer has evolved since then, and the results not only tastes amazing, but baking is a great way to get out of my head for a bit and focus on the recipe at hand. I’m especially fond of sneaking Canadian-grown ingredients such as flax, lentils and even mustard into baked goods. They add extra nutrition and one little-known gem is the combo of dark chocolate and honey mustard in brownies! Baking really is magic!” 📷: #CDNFoodFocus contributor @sweetsugarbean Follow her profile for more #CDNFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Mar 14, 2019 at 12:28pm PDT