Awn Kitchen

This weekend I’ll be taking advantage of days off to do some preserving. Harvesting the red currants in the garden to make red currant jelly is first up! On Wednesday at Southwest Edm Farmers' Market I picked up four flats of raspberries and two cases of peaches from Steve And Dan’s. Some of the berries went into the freezer to make jam through the winter months, and some will be used this weekend for jam to be potted and sealed. The peaches will be blanched, peeled and processed. I’ll head to Bountiful Farmers’ Market - Southside Edmonton this weekend to grab some apricots for jam as well and I think some Re-Claim Sports Insurance carrots are destined to be fermented too! Hill corn as my nephew calls it is in season too, peaches and cream from Taber, it’s worth buying some cobs to blanch, cut off the cob, dry and freeze even if it’s a heap of work!

If you’re keen to learn more about pickling, jam making and fermenting I’ve just opened a few additional spots for All Things Preserving on August 9. We’re headed into the peak of the season for preserving - freezing, pickling, canning and fermenting! If you’ve never done it before it can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be! Head to the website for more info! Have a question about preserving? Let me know!

A wee update and a loaf of white bread (recipe just posted to the blog!). The end of July, can’t quite believe it! There’s a shift in the light and the air feels different but there’s still lots of summer left! Market tables were late to be filled with abundance but we’re getting there and it’s inspiring to see the resilience of farmers as they faced a cool start to the season followed by so much water - a good reminder too, to step back and be grateful for farmers.

July marked 11 years of owning a small business, which is wild! It’s been a busy 2026 and I am looking forward to the next few months as we gear up for the busiest part of the year fall into winter. I know it’s crazy to think about Christmas, but private dates for November and December are filling up fast! If you’re considering a class for a friend / family / office gathering, get in touch!

The next schedule is up on the website with classes through your the end of the year, head to the website for the full list of classes! Lots of favourites (including Sourdough: The Basics) and some new classes as well. The fall Cookbook and Book Club series has a few spots still available too! And, the next few dates for Knitting Circle are finally on the website as well!

Raising a glass in the sun tonight to five years of Awn Kitchen in Lansdowne, and to eleven years of owning a small business. The space has officially been open for as long without the cafe as with - not sure which is harder to believe. I’ve been writing and reflecting a lot today, and will post more sometime soon. But for now - thanks to everyone who continues to support Awn and here’s to the next five years celebrating local food, connecting and cooking together.

March was another busy month and the first bit of April has started off much the same! Been spring cleaning at Awn and at home - always feels so good to go through things and reevaluate what’s worth taking up space and what’s not. Been knitting socks galore - my therapy! Writing lots and one day the writing will make it’s way to the blog, but also writing for reflection and to ease my mind. Checking things off the to do list and refining systems and priorities. Spending time with my family and friends. Beeen cooking and baking lots at home in my downtime. Planning the rest of 2026 and prepping to launch the July, August and September schedule which will be posted Monday. I’ve been reading lots and am excited for the first Cookbook and Book Club to start on Wednesday. Continuing to limit my screen time and can’t quite believe how much good has come from it - a clearer mind, better sleep and here’s the real shocker - more productive! Easter weekend was great, almost four full days off of work with the odd email and a trip to Awn to fold washing and take out the bins, rare for me but grateful. Last Saturday I celebrated striding into my last year of my 30s and on Friday we celebrated my niece turning 14! My limited screen time has been spent obsessing over the Artemis II mission - the wonder and joy of it all, the collective good and how amazing all of those things combined are for our well being in a world that feels messy and loud! Here’s to the rest of April, spring feels like it’s here for real this time and the sunshine popping in and out is so welcomed!

“It must be nice to only work 6-9:30.” “Being your own boss… Nice.” “So, how many days a week do you do this? Once or twice?” “Is this all you do?” “Is this your full-time job?” “Is this place all yours?”
I get these comments a lot. There are, of course lots of positive ones too, that come more often than the negative ones, and those are the ones I focus on. Over time, the negative ones do grind on me a bit. And while I’m calling them negative here, I know even in the moment they aren’t meant to be. When it’s not your job, how would you know?
To answer those questions – an average workday for me is 10+ hours. There is admin - emails, invoicing, bookkeeping, scheduling, social media, planning. There is a lot of shopping each week – multiple stores. I pick up a wine order weekly. Classes require testing, writing, development and reflection. There is laundry, bathroom cleaning, garbage runs, dusting, dishes, table setting, and general cleaning / organizing to do. I have two employees that combined work about 20 hours / week helping with dishes in class and other miscellaneous tasks. I teach an average of six classes / week, and a day “off” still includes work in some capacity.
Being your own boss has its perks, but it also means that the weight of everything is on your shoulders. Yes, it’s all I do! And yes, it’s my more than fulltime job. Yes, it’s my space, but not without the support of family, friends and my small team.
Something I have really been focused on over the last six months is balance in the busyness, truly finding moments of calm and checking out from technology, knowing I don’t have to be available 24/7. Having solid routines and systems helps too.
On the flip – I have a regular client base always encouraging me to continue to find the balance, reminding me to take time away, rallying for me and supporting Awn. When I’m teaching, I feel like I’m hosting a dinner party, meeting so many new people and getting to have wonderful conversations while sharing the values of Awn – it’s the best.
I genuinely love what I do. Small business isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s the most rewarding job out there.

On International Women’s Day – I celebrate all the women who inspire and push me and who are always there for me. I wrote a blog about four extra special women, my grandmothers Molly and Ruby, Mrs. H and my friend . Mary, pictured with my mum and I last spring answered a few questions for me about food and the kitchen - which I shared in the blog. To all the other women - my mum, sister-in-law and niece to my friends new and old, and to my teachers and mentors throughout the years.

There’s someone else I celebrate today too, myself. The little girl I was who loved to bake. The teenager who loved to make a mess in the kitchen. The university student who didn’t quite know what was next. The culinary student who was following passion. The woman who, eleven years ago this month had an idea stirring in her head (while still at culinary school) to start teaching cooking classes with no idea how it would all play out. The woman I was when I expanded during a global pandemic and the woman I am today, the soundest stage of my life both in the kitchen and outside the kitchen.

And, of course today, I celebrate all the women who are yet to come into my life and inspire me, and to the future versions of myself too. Wouldn’t it be fun if we could go back in time and tell a different version of ourselves advice from the current version of ourselves?

It’s somehow the last week of February! Although I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympic hockey (which I must admit is all I watched) I am grateful to be getting back into a normal routine with less screen time – did anyone else find themselves on social media more?

February has been another busy month at Awn, my knee is healing from tearing my MCL, we’ve hosted private classes as well as a solid regular schedule. We’re in the hungriest of months in Alberta – comfort food, but also a change to cravings.

A little update – kids summer classes are finally up, the fall session of our Kitchen Skills Course has launched as well as our fall Cookbook + Book Club, Knitting Circles are up through July, and in July we’re taking the Knitting Circle to the park (with a picnic of course!).

It comes up most nights “wow, your classes are sold out so far in advance,” it’s true, and I am grateful for everyone who supports Awn and shares Awn with friends and family. I am mindful of how the schedules sell and have tried different things over the years, but this seems to be the best. I also wanted to remind everyone – you can always add your name to the waitlist and be sure to scroll down to see classes that do have openings. Although upcoming classes (generally within a few weeks) are sold out, there are classes with availability at most points in the year, and I sometimes add additional classes to an existing schedule. There are spaces available in a few classes in March (March 3 | The Middle Eastern Table, March 23 | The Family Table, March 29 | Easter Brunch), April, May and June classes are up with lots of availability.

Speaking of additional classes – I’ve just added a brand-new class – The Maritime Table – lobster rolls, seafood chowder, baked beans…

As a thanks for a cracking start to 2026 and to celebrate the days getting longer apply WINTER2026 at checkout for 10% off a class booking until February 28 at 11:59pm – some exclusions apply.

One of the first things I learned to make at culinary school was shortcrust pastry - in my memory it feels like we made it most days.
Coming back to Alberta - shortcrust pastry was one of the things I had to relearn to make. The climate is different, as are the ingredients. It’s still one of my favourite pastries to make and quiche just might be one of my favourite things to eat! It’s great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, great on a road trip, can be eaten hot, cold or somewhere in between! I still think of and week one in the kitchens every time I make it - Pat was my first teacher - and one of my most favourites!

As a kid I learned to crochet and knit – but barely, a phase that didn’t last long. In my early 20’s I re-learned how to knit and knit a strawberry tea cosy in England – that’s quite cute, but full of imperfections. A few years ago, I started to knit at night, it would go in spurts, and I’d knit the same thing – very plain, single stitch scarves. In the spring of 2024, I taught myself to purl and read a pattern (ish), then my friend Debbie taught me to knit in the round. I made a few baby hats and then had my first attempt at a very holey and wonky sock. I still have it even though no one will ever wear it – and it’ll never have a partner. After that my socks started to look a little less wonky and even still knitting sock number 44, I see improvements to my sock knitting. I knit my sister-in-law a sweater for her birthday (that she received four months late) – and there were points where I felt like I knew little about knitting – there were some holes in the armpits, but they were easy to fix. As soon as I finished hers, I wanted to knit another one – I have knit myself, a single pair of socks, everything else I knit have been gifts or snagged up by my niece and mum (which I’m happy about!). So, I decided to knit myself a sweater – in 18 days, and I must say, I’m quite chuffed.
Over the last six or so months I’ve been working to rid old habits – it hit me last night at work as I walked back from taking the garbage to the bin… The end of 2019 – I’m not totally sure when, was tough. There were moments I felt like I was coming out of the thick of it, but habits die hard. It might sound silly, but knitting was quiet time, it kept my mind just busy enough, it’s pushed me to learn. I remember someone saying to me once, “I couldn’t learn to knit, making mistakes and having to rip it out would be too hard…” I thought to myself, but isn’t that life? I love seeing the progress… I wrote a blog on why I started knitting, how I started knitting and some random thoughts on small business, work life balance and letting go of the notion that when the pandemic hit, the world changed.