About
Contact: sarah@snixykitchen.com
Howdy! Welcome to Snixy Kitchen. I’m Sarah (aka Snix) – a California girl married to a Texas boy. Snixy Kitchen is a Bay Area food blog, where I share gluten-free recipes and the stories that go along with them. I cook from scratch, make up rules, use seasonal ingredients as much as possible, and reinvent classics to create special occasion sweets and everyday staples.
Shortly after returning to my home state after two years in Philadelphia, I found myself sharing a miniature in-law apartment with my then-boyfriend now-husband down the street from an organic produce market, fishmonger, butcher, and cheese mart in the Bay Area. I began this recipe journal in 2012 to chronicle my culinary stunts in our pint-sized kitchen, as I cooked my way through the multitudes of seasonable vegetables on my back porch. We’ve since tied the knot and upgraded from our 26-square foot kitchen, but I’m still using every inch of counter space to create recipes with fresh local ingredients to tell my life stories.
With no formal kitchen training, I’ve spent the past several years finishing up my PhD in math education. My expertise is education, and accordingly, my hope is that you’ll take on culinary challenges, experiment, burn a few batches of cookies, and keep learning new things right along with me. On Snixy Kitchen, I share with you pages from my life-inspired recipe journal.
My sweet tooth is wicked strong and I tend to prefer non-chocolate desserts (although, I must admit, chocolate is growing on me). My kitchen is usually stocked with: fresh parmesan, pine nuts, lemons, mushrooms (especially enoki mushrooms), and tofu. My husband Lucas joins in the cooking, eating, dishes, and photography; he also loves food so much that he recently designed an innovative children’s lunch box that allows for hot and cold food all in one box. We’ve got two cats named after our favorite California crop and its dipping sauce: Artichoke & Aioli. Their favorite foods are bok choy and kale.
What you won’t find traces of in my cooking: cilantro and blue cheese. As of May 8th 2013, I cut gluten out of my diet in a last-ditch effort to combat chronic migraines. Many earlier recipes have flour in them, but if you’re looking for gluten-free recipes, you can find gluten-free desserts here and gluten-free savory dishes here.
Where it all began…
When I was young, my mom taught me the unparalleled pleasure of homemade baked goods (and of licking the spatula as soon as the cookies hit the oven). At that age, it’s unbelievable that someone can figure out how to put these seemingly unrelated components together into something so delicious (it’s as awe-inspiring as watching your parents drive from one place to the other without even thinking). The idea of a recipe is utterly preposterous when you don’t yet know how to read; my mom was a magician and I wanted to be just like her.
My Nana further fostered my interest in culinary arts by providing all the finest tools and allowing me to select the ingredients of my choice from her cupboards to be mixed into the most delicious pie you ever saw. Humoring me, she baked my (often green) hodgepodge concoctions until they appeared somewhat edible. Although, come to think of it, I have no recollection of what happened after the piping hot pastry emerged from the oven.
This experimental kitchen practice continued into my late elementary school years when I called on a partner in crime to help me whip up some dangerously disgusting “muffins” to feed to any unsuspecting boys in our class, who would soon regret trusting me with their taste buds. I’ve since grown out of these mischievous food preparation antics, but remnants of the trial-and-error method still remain (with perhaps a small dose of well-meaning guile when sneaking mushrooms into Chuy’s food).
As a theatre major in college, I cooked between rehearsals to ensure nourishment, and occasionally dabbled in a few of my mom’s and Big Sarah’s (my namesake and home chef extraordinaire) passed-on and time-tested recipes. When I moved to Philadelphia to teach math after college, my roommate Ashley and I prepared nightly dinners as a way to let off steam from the surely stressful day we had in our classrooms, but fresh seasonable produce was not yet part of my vocabulary. In 2009, I moved back to California, and more specifically, to a neighborhood where not taking advantage of the local shops would have been a crime, and cooking became a more serious endeavor of mine. Seasonal cooking. In walks Snixy Kitchen, a Bay Area food blog.
Love your new blog! Can’t wait to see what is coming next!
Yes! Finally! Now I don’t have to harass you for recipes. :)
I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Nice job Sarah!
Awesome!! Looking forward to to future posts, Snix! (and the opportunity to actually pick up what you’re throwin down…)
=)
Thanks!
Love the look of your blog. Thank you for the Butternut squash soup recipe.
I love your blog! Now, time to cook!
Thank you!
I didn’t know you don’t like Blue Cheese! Mine and my dad’s favorite!!
I love your cute, cheerful kitchen! Looking forward to more of your blog!
Thanks! I’m having a fun time documenting my creations (and sometimes disasters:)
Lovely looking recipes :) LOVE the yellow kitchen too!! Its so bright and fun :) x
Thanks! I can’t actually claim credit for the color of the walls – it came that way, but it was PERFECT for me, and I have an orange chair that matches:)
your blog it a lovely read, snix. love the little yellow kitchen! thanks for dropping by mine :)
Love your blog! I am from Philadelphia but now live on the West Coast as well (PNW). I miss the food back there!!! Love your blog – thanks for stopping by mine.
I just got back from 4 days in Philly and ate way more food than I should have because I missed it so much!
Boy do you look like your mama!!! ;)
LOVE this. Shocked I hadn’t read your story sooner.
THRILLED that you are writing your dissertation on math education (I majored in math and was about to pursue an M.A. in education but made a bizarre leap into biotech instead). This world needs more ladies teaching future generations to love math!
xx Katie
lovely letters
Aw- thank you!
Your recipes sound delicious, your photography is gorgeous, and I’ve still got a serious crush on your awesome spectacles! Great style here. So glad we met and to have this blog to add this to my reading list =)
xo
Jesica
Aw – hehe. I couldn’t remember who it was that asked me about where my glasses went at the blogparty, but now I know it was you! Thank you! :)
I love that you are a PhD student and blogger! I am doing my MA at the moment, so although I am not quite on your level, I feel as if I can empathize somewhat in how challenging it is to maintain a blog with another huge commitment.
Glad I found your blog, and from a fellow Bay Area blogger :)
Aw – thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a note! Oy vey – sometimes I feel like grad school and blogging are at such odds…
I love meeting new bloggers in the Bay, so hopefully we run into each other in person sometime soon! xo.
I just found this blog and I’m already in love! HOW do you stay so skinny while cooking all these delicious looking foods?!
Oh my goodness – you just made my night! We try to keep a balance of healthy meals and indulgent desserts (eaten in moderation and shared with ALL the neighbors – ha!). The real question is how my neighbors stay so skinny while living next door to a food blogger ;)
Reading your blog makes me drool with hunger and my tummy happy that you strive to use the freshest, in season ingredients. Ah, the blessings of living in California. You could be the next Alice Waters!
You’re so sweet Victoria! I can only hope to follow in Alice Waters’s footsteps!
Hey Sarah! Was so excited to discover your blog through my friend Karen (Food Charlatan). It’s beautiful and your food looks fantastic! I lived for a short stint in the Bay Area many years ago and loved it there! My bro now lives out there so I find whatever excuse I can to go and visit! Hope to get to know ya better :)
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for your sweet note, Christina! (Sorry for the um…serious delay in replying). I look forward to getting to know you more too! What part of the Bay did you live in? Any good restaurant recs? :)
You are absolutely darling. I love your story, your recipes and your enthusiasm. I am a Texan, married a Californian. Love spending time hiking in N. California.
*Blush* – Thanks so much, Sueanne! I love that we’re both part of a CA + TX duo! What part of Norcal do you hike in?
I’m so glad that I discovered your blog, Sarah! I love the names of your cats (I’ve got two as well!) and your food philosophy. I also get horrible migraines – have you found that cutting out gluten helps alleviate yours?
Aw – thanks, Julia! I feeeeel for you with the migraines. I’m still experimenting, but cutting gluten has been one of the major things that has immensely helped my migraines. I’d say it’s been about 75% improved by cutting gluten from my diet – both with frequency and with intensity. I’ve done various trials of trying a little bit here and a little bit there and the results are always a migraine the next day. I tend to do okay with trace amounts like soy sauce and such, but if I eat bread or cupcakes, it’s migraine central. Have you ever tried going off gluten for a few weeks just to see if it helps? The other thing that helps me quite a bit is acupuncture (specifically orthopedic acupuncture). What have you found helps your migraines?
Thanks for such a helpful response, Sarah! That’s great to hear that going gluten-free has alleviated your migraines a bit. And that’s so interesting about acupuncture! I might need to try that out. I’ve tried going gluten-free before for stomach pains, but I honestly can’t remember if it helped my migraines too. Oddly enough, I think my migraines are tied to changes in weather and air pressure – I almost always have one on the day of a big thunderstorm! This can make me feel powerless to the migraines, but maybe cutting down on gluten will help me too. Thanks again!
Do the lasagna noodles need to be boiled before hand?
Hi Mary – for the fresh lasagna noodles in my lasagna bolognese recipe, you do not need to boil the fresh pasta sheets ahead of time. If you’re using store-bought lasagna noodles, you’ll want to cook them until al dente (unless you’re using no-boil lasagna noodles!).
I hope the migraines have disappeared or lessened in frequency. I had them for years but typically got them the day after a stressful event. I was a teacher so I’d get one the morning after Open House and the first day of vacation. Over the years they changed to monthly just before my period. Finally I aged and now I don’t have them. I sure hope you don’t have to wait that long! I just found your blog and love the photos, descriptions, and recipes. Thankes bunches!
Thank you so much Mary! Since going gluten-free, my headaches have definitely gotten much less frequent – here’s to hoping that I age out of them too! (You’re the second person in 3 days to tell me that I might age out of them!). Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet words!
Sarah you are too pretty with a nice smile :)
i’m so glad to have found your blog, sarah! stumbled upon it from Gena @ thefullhelping.com . do you happen to have a post with your kids lunch box featured? :)
Hi new healthy-food friend! I have joined lots of different healthy-whole-veggie-vegan-etc. food blogs, and am obsessed with gorgeous food photos and recipes, but something about yours especially caught my eye, and I had to write. Imagine my delight as I read on, to discover that you live in the Bay Area – I lived there and pursued theatre, although I’m now married and living back home in L.A. with a NY boy who wouldn’t live anywhere but by a sunny beach (-; I felt like I know you already, and was compelled to write and say hi! Congratulations on your new bundle of cheesebaby, and I plan to follow your site and learn much about cooking, creating, and sharing life through food. I can’t promise I’ll learn much math, it seems there’s a block there that I’m still working through, but that’s a story for another blog, lol. Enjoy and many thanks for being you, and sharing your you-ness with us!
You have a beautiful space here Sarah – funnily enough, I’m reading your posts whilst watching the Golden State Warriors vs Phoenix, so I’m having a very ‘bay area’ morning, haha ;) I do hope you’re continuing to get past your migraines. I’m also cutting more and more gluten out of my diet, not due to being coeliac but more for secondary health issues. Thanks for being an amazing resource! Can’t wait to read more of your archives.
Laura xx
Nice to read your story. Glad I found you on Instagram :)
Hi, would like to receive your blog.
I’m a Bay Area food blogger too! Would love to meet you one day and stir something up :)) nice finding you
Today I had a cup of turkey chili from Panera Bread that was excellent. I will try your recipe next week (need to get all the ingredients together). I decided to add fresh carrots to the recipe as they were in the chili I had today and went well with the corn in it.
Question: What is considered a serving? A cup? Two cups? Thank you.
I am looking forward to making this turkey chili and getting away from the old standby ground beef chili. Have a great week.
Hi Katherine! Great question. For this chili the servings are pretty generous – about 2 cups per serving. Sometimes it serves 6, but you could easily stretch it to 8 with some cornbread:) Carrots sound like a great addition! Hope you have a great week too!
I wanted to add one more thing. I lived in San Francisco for 4-1/2 years (I am from the Midwest). I lived in SF for 2 weeks when the big 7.1 earthquake hit. Honestly, I am glad to be back on solid ground. You feel earthquakes quite often or at least I did when I lived there. I hope you are enjoy Texas. Take care.
Oh wow! Fortunately I live in the East Bay and we’ve only ever felt some very small earthquakes (and usually I sleep through it!)