Meet Me!

Enthusiastic cook
Budding vegetable gardener
Food tourist
Mother

My name is Kim Meier. I grew up in a house with a vegetable garden in Vancouver, studied in Ottawa, then lived and worked in Switzerland. Now I live in a house with a vegetable patch in Ottawa. Along the way, I discovered and relished the foods of various European and Asian cities and countries.

I became a mother in August 2011. This new title will certainly lead me down new paths in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond. I hope that Baby becomes an avid and healthy eater. I look forward to sharing my passion for cooking, gardening and traveling with her.

A brief culinary biography

Growing up in a home with Swiss parents, we always ate well. My mom prepared satisfying, home-cooked food. Nothing fancy, just good. My dad spent his hours after work taking care of the vegetable garden, which supplied us with fresh greens and roots for a good part of the year.

My first personal culinary experience was a dinner cooked with a friend for our parents. By accident we used salt instead of sugar to make the chocolate cake. Despite this unpromising start, I stayed active in the kitchen throughout my childhood and teenage years.

In high school, I volunteered to do the early morning shift in the school cafeteria and took a double period of cooking class. When it was time to visit the career counselor and complete one of those forms that would help me figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I answered the questions so that “Executive Chef” would be one of the options.

David and me at Beau's Oktoberfest, doing one of the things we do best: enjoying good food and drink!

My husband, David, is my partner in cooking and eating. We spend equal amounts of time in the kitchen and alternate regularly between the role of executive chef and that of commis de cuisine. We met at university where the first gifts we exchanged were gifts of food. He gave me a homemade lentil chili while I gave him some homemade Toblerone mousse. It was several years before we shared a kitchen though.

While he continued his studies in Canada and then Great Britain, I went to the École hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland. At that time, the hotel school curriculum was heavy on the practical training and included a six-month internship in an actual restaurant kitchen. It was a moody place, with moments reminiscent of Hell’s Kitchen, but I loved the experience.

In the end my path led me away from a professional kitchen and even the hospitality industry, but my passion for food has only grown. Today, I get my hands dirty in the backyard, cook in a well-equipped kitchen and share food with family and friends. David chases the squirrels and other pests out of the garden, keeps the knives sharp in the kitchen while doing his fair share of cooking (most often with meat) and is great conversation at the dinner table. We share the very important responsibility of making sure Baby is growing up healthy and happy. I’m sure a lot of our family time will be spent in the kitchen and around the dining table.

Contact

I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment on this blog or contact me via Twitter @GrowChew.