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#104, 5124 122 Street NW, Edmonton | 587 469 4955 | info@awnkitchen.com

Everything we do is based on our philosophy of using the best local, seasonal, and high quality ingredients we have access to. If you’re interested in learning more about this, please come for a visit, sign up for a class or get in touch.

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If you’ve been getting lovely celery in your CSA

If you’ve been getting lovely celery in your CSA bin or at the market full of the big lush leaves, there’s lots you can do with them!

They can add flavour to stocks, soups or salads of course, but my favourite way to use the leaves is to make celery salt!

Wash the leaves and pop them into a dehydrator or low oven until completely dry. Blitz in a food processor or blender until you have a fine powder. For every six tablespoons of celery leaf powder you’ll need to add one to two tablespoons of salt. Taste and adjust the salt if needed.

Store in a dry airtight jar, the celery flavour will dull over time but as you can see from the bright colour it’s far different than store bought!

Tomatoes are starting to ripen in the garden! If y

Tomatoes are starting to ripen in the garden! If you’ve been to a class at Awn, you’ve likely tried this salad.

It’s one of my favourite ways to serve tomatoes. Living in Alberta, having access to local hot house grown tomatoes through the winter add a pop of colour to the table, and are a reality if you want to eat something other than root veg, but nothing beats a field grown tomato… or so I’m told!

Fun fact - I don’t like tomatoes, I grow loads, serve them often and think they look delish, but am like a child when it comes to my dislike for them, they can’t even be on my plate!

This salad looks beautiful with a variety of tomatoes, colours, shapes and sizes, cut in different ways, layered onto a beautiful serving plate. Drizzle with honey, season with salt and pepper. A bit of basil, oregano or marjoram to garnish and for flavour. Sometimes I’ll add some soft cheese, but often I serve it just simply like this photo. It’s always a hit.

This picture is from last years backyard honey harvest - the tomatoes are from @sparrowsnestorganics, they grow a beautiful variety of tomatoes perfect for this salad.

I don’t manage to find the time to bake sourdoug

I don’t manage to find the time to bake sourdough nearly enough these days.

Today I was at home at my desk planning for the rest of the year and early 2023, which meant I was able to work sourdough into the day!

It is still one of my favourite things to do in the kitchen - a slow process, watching the flour transform into something so beautiful and lovely to work with. The smell as it bakes and the sound as it cools. Not to mention the taste of the heel when slightly warm with a good bit of butter!

Corn only ever makes it’s way into my kitchen wh

Corn only ever makes it’s way into my kitchen when it’s in season in Alberta. It’s a short season, and although our summer is short it’s the start of that turn in the season. Which is one of my favourite things about being in the kitchen - how our cravings and inspiration change as the ingredients available come and go. This is the best time of year though, with so much in season!

Last night I made corn chowder. A market feast - not a single ingredient wasn’t from a local farm or my yard. A base of celery, onion, carrot, leek, potato, garden herbs and bacon. Homemade chicken stock, lots of corn - which I added in three ways. The cobs went into the stock, half of the kernels were blitzed with milk to thicken the soup, and the rest were added whole.

I love thinking about how many farms / business I can support in one meal - this one supports some of my favs including @greyarrowfarm, @sundogorganicfarm, @irvings_farm, @greenandgoldgarden, @the_bos_farm.rockridgedairy and @sunworks_farm.

Preserving season! Freezing, canning, fermenting -

Preserving season! Freezing, canning, fermenting - it’s well worth preserving the flavours of summer. It doesn’t have to be a big to do, it’s a fun thing to do with friends and it really is quite simple.

Some tips for preserving - if you’re new to it, start small, it’s easy to get too much on the go and then it feels overwhelming!

If you’re making jam, fruit can be frozen and used through the fall to make jam to save time in the summer. On the note of fruit - nothing beats having berries in the freezer to have in yoghurt bowls and smoothies - and it’ll save you money buying them in season, not to mention the flavour difference!

Remember some veg should be blanched before going into the freezer.

Fermentation is super simple and so good for your gut, it’s a fun process to watch too!

Lastly, use it! It’s easy to feel like you need to hold onto the jars of yummy things - but remember you make it to use it!

We’re hosting preserving and fermenting workshops at the end of the month, head to the website to register!

We are so excited for our second Dinner Club at Aw

We are so excited for our second Dinner Club at Awn - The Late Summer Table. Join us for an evening of seasonal food and experience Awn in the evening. The seasonal menu will feature a number of the local farmers and producers that we work closely with at Awn. A casual evening, sharing stories of the producers and good company. Included in the ticket is a 5-course meal and welcome cocktail. Head to the website to see the full menu and to grab your ticket. We hope to see you there!

We took a little break through July with Doughnut

We took a little break through July with Doughnut Friday as so many people were off adventuring! But we are bring them back tomorrow and every Friday moving forward. Tomorrow we’ll have fresh raspberry, vanilla and plain.They’ll be coming out of the kitchen from 9:30!

It’s brassica season! All vegetables taste bette

It’s brassica season! All vegetables taste better when they’re grown close to home - but I must admit broccolini is one of my favourites. It’s so versatile - as delicious simply steamed with a good bit of butter or jazzed up with more flavour.

I did a bit of a “clean up” with what I had that needed to be used to jazz up this beautiful broccolini from @sundogorganicfarm, including a chilli that had seen better days and a jar of homemade croutons from a couple of nights ago.

The broccolini went into boiling, well salted water until just tender. I sautéed the chilli with some lovely garlic from @greenandgoldgarden, bashed the croutons and threw them into the pan with a drizzle of oil. Once the broccolini was cooked, I pulled it out, drizzled with oil, seasoned with salt before topping with the bread crumb mixture. Delicious, seasonal and simple.

Tip - when you cook green vegetables - add lots of salt and always cook uncovered, you’ll end up with a brighter veg both in colour and flavour. Leaves and stalks / stems on fresh broccolini (and broccoli) are well worth cooking, tender and loaded with flavour!

And just like that it’s August! We are back to n

And just like that it’s August! We are back to normal hours (8-4:30) all week. Pop by and say hi!

I have shared bits of this before, the challenges of not only running a business through a pandemic but expanding one. If you’re new to Awn, I often joke I fell into business 7 years ago when I started the Ruby Apron. When I decided to expand in late 2019 I had a set plan for the first time as an entrepreneur. But the reality is, the pandemic meant any plan I had didn’t matter – we’d pivot and adapt, and just fall into a rhythm and routine and something else would change. Those changes came with a cost (and stress) - credits, marketing, training staff, and figuring out what we were doing all over again.

Although the world has gone back to “normal” – after surviving the last two years, small businesses are still bouncing about in the mess that was their reality. Bouncing back from two years of – whatever the last two years have been, it’s no easy feat.

July felt like a bit of a wash – throwing about lots of ideas, pondering, thinking, reflecting, planning, but not feeling like much progress was being made. Although it didn’t feel like progress was made sometimes it takes many conversations (often the same conversations) to make progress. For me those conversations brought me back to the why.

For the first year, I didn’t get to execute my plan or vision. Although the pandemic changed a lot of things. I am tired of talking about IT being the reason for so many negative things… We’re now here, this is the reality. I sat down last week and asked what is currently stopping us (me) from executing what I imagined for Awn?

August will be about refining the plan to where we currently are, to bring more of Awn to you, the community that has supported us through the last seven years (especially these last two). I can’t wait for what’s ahead, and to introduce a larger food menu (including breakfast sandwiches!) to bring Awn at Home back and to continue to grow and expand the workshop.

The reason I started this business - valuing and sharing good, simple, seasonal, food, connecting and being around a table together. Exciting things to come friends!

Farinita with summer squash, feta, lemon zest, sea

Farinita with summer squash, feta, lemon zest, sea salt, and fresh oregano. Summer on a plate, lovely late lunch on this holiday Monday!

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I spen

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I spent the morning in the workshop at Awn catching up on admin. I must admit, although I love the hustle and bustle when the café is open and the workshop is busy it was so nice to just be in the space alone – and amazing how much I was able to get done! Ha!

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is August 1 – August will be a month of fine tuning and getting ready for September for the team at Awn. I still think of September as a fresh start – and we are excited for some big changes that are coming in August. We will be bringing back Awn at Home as well as tarting a larger breakfast and lunch menu. Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more details over the next few weeks!

We are looking forward to the workshop being busy with classes back in full swing come September after a quiet summer. If you haven’t checked out the September and October workshop schedule – it’s online now, head over to the website and take a look! We still have a handful of dates available for private classes in 2022, get in touch if you’d like to book.

Have you spotted these fun little houses at Awn? Do you know where they are? It’s one of my favourite bits of the space!

Today was such an inspiring, fill your cup kind of

Today was such an inspiring, fill your cup kind of day. Up early and headed out to @strathconamarket to see one of my fav veg growers - @sundogorganicfarm. Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market is still my favourite market. It’s the one I grew up going to - don’t get me wrong, I love having access to multiple great markets in #yeg, but OSFM reminds me of my childhood.

Sundog’s tables were full of colour and it was hard not to think of all the delicious ways their beautiful produce could be used in the kitchen. I left with full bags and a smile on my face! I came home to enjoy a slow morning watering, weeding and hanging washing in the sunshine. Followed by a trip to @greenandgoldgarden to grab fresh garlic and flowers.

I headed back to work to meet Jen from @fika.coffee.camrose. We’ve been trying to connect for too long and I can’t say how wonderful it was to finally connect and chat. Entrepreneurship can feel lonely, which might sound silly. But it’s nice to talk to someone who can relate!

Tonight was spent in the sunshine, popping in and out of the kitchen cooking all of the lovely things from Sundog including this beautiful salad. Roasted beetroot, drizzled with my backyard honey, olive oil, their raspberries (which are ever so delicious!), and fresh mint from the garden. It’s that simple - give it a try!

Feeling grateful for the beautiful weather, farmers markets, connecting with good people, feeling inspired, and having access to such lovely ingredients. Happy long weekend!

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Kaelin Whittaker

Owner / Educator / Culinary Director

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