Cathleen Colbert

about me

Strangely enough, I've become a better cook to lose weight. I joined eDiets and lost 100 pounds. Now I'm on the look out for tasty recipes that are easy to fix (I teach and often don't get home until after 5PM).

In addition to my kitchen, my favorite place is my garden. I have a combination flower/herb/veggie garden and love to grow a variety of vintage or unusual plants.

Because I teach I actually DO get a month off. I get up early to garden, sleep the hot afternoons away, then cook, read and watch movies.

My favorite cookbooks are Crazy Plates and Looneyspoons. They are full of delicious, lowfat recipes with tons of trivia and humor.

I teach science in a converted home ec kitchen. I love to use food as a teaching tool - making cheese to teach enzyme action, pickles to teach osmosis and diffusion, fudge to demonstrate igneous rock formation.

I love kitchen gadgets, KitchenAid, Le Creuset cookware and my cats.

Favorite Foods:

I've been a gardener since I was a child. One year when the cucumbers were especially productive, I made my first batch of bread and butter pickles. Now they are a family favorite. Last year I dealt with an overabundance of basil by making basil oil. I passed it out as Christmas gifts and it too has become a favorite.

I love Italian food. I could eat at Bucco di Beppo's every night of the week if there was one in Bakersfield.

Chocolate and cheese are gifts from God. You could eat the bumper of a Buick if you covered it in a good milk chocolate (I've made pilgrimages to Hershey and San Francisco) or Stilton cheese.

People think I'm strange because I have five kinds of onions (white, red, yellow, pearl, and shallots), five vinegars (white, red, cider, balsamic and rice), four oils (olive, canola, basil, and walnut), 4 types of flour (whole wheat, bread, all purpose, and semolina) and 5 cheeses (cheddar, Stilton, parmesan, mozzarella, and swiss) in the house as staples.

http://home.lightspeed.net/~ccolbert5/