Renée Kohlman describes her second cookbook as “a love story about food and a food story about love.” It is appropriate, therefore, that “Asparagus and Eggs” is the first recipe in its pages, honouring the asparagus her partner Dixon Simpkins, a farmer, presented to her on their first date.
“The recipes in Vegetables: A Love Story are pulled from notebooks of long ago and yesterday, from my mom’s memory, from my popular food blog Sweetsugarbean, and, most importantly, from my heart. I’ve loved creating every single vegetable-focused recipe, and I hope this book will inspire you in your own gardens, kitchens, and love stories,” she writes in the book’s introduction.
- Vegetables: A Love Story
- Renée Kohlman
- Touchwood Editions
- $45.00 Hardcover, 304 pages
- ISBN: 978-17-71513-40-1
From asparagus to zucchini, from cabbage rolls to chickpea salad, from romesco sauce to Roasted Root Vegetable Pot Pie with Gruyère Biscuit Topping, these recipes are sure to appeal to cooks and readers.
“I tried very hard to make the recipes as simple and straightforward as possible,” Saskatoon-based Kohlman says. “The ingredient lists don’t have anything too hard to find, and most of the stuff is likely in your pantry or refrigerator already.”
Kohlman says that her love for books began in Grade 4, and in high school she took all the art classes she could get into, as well as home economics. She later obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art from Concordia University and a diploma in culinary arts from NAIT in Edmonton.
“After I graduated from art school, I had difficulty finding a job and knew that I needed a skill that would make me employable,” she explains. “Cooking school seemed like a great choice as I loved to cook and feed people, and I was passionate about learning and creating a life in the culinary world.”
Her editor, Lesley Cameron, who also worked with her on her first book, All the Sweet Things, came up with the idea of “Dixon Says” – passages at the end of sections throughout the book, written by Simpkins. “She said it would be lovely if my vegetable farmer boyfriend Dixon would offer up some growing tips or other bits of useful information about each particular vegetable. Of course she was right!” says Kohlman.
“I really love what he has written, and I’m sure the readers will enjoy hearing his voice in the book, too. I think our compatibility really shines through when you read what he says along with what I have to say.”
As in her first cookbook, Kohlman has designed and shot all the photos herself.
“I really love writing cookbooks,” she says. “The whole process is super enjoyable. Everything from recipe testing, to styling the shot and editing the photos, to writing the headnotes and essays is a lot of fun and makes good use of my creative talents. I love how I’ve been able to combine both areas of my post-secondary education in fine and culinary arts together in these two cookbooks.
“If there is to be a third, it will be down the road a little bit. Right now my focus is getting as many copies of Vegetables: A Love Story into readers’ hands, and to get them excited about cooking vegetables!”
