Awn Kitchen – The Story

There have been so many new followers on social media, new newsletter sign ups and new enquiries so I thought I would share a little background and introduction.

A lot has changed in the last six years from when I (Kaelin) left Edmonton to live on an organic farm in Ireland to attend cooking school. That’s where it all started, people often ask why I would pick Ireland, you can read more about that here. I came home from Ireland in March of 2015 and quickly realized I was itching to share, with a background in education, but no desire to teach and a culinary background with no intention to work in food – it’s kind of funny to be here – running a cooking school! When I decided to go to culinary school – it was really to learn more, I didn’t have any real intention of working in food. It’s funny how life can just happen though. In July of 2015 I started to teach the odd class and by that fall I realized if I was going to do this – start a business – I had to give it my all. I started the business as The Ruby Apron and have been running cooking classes out of my home for nearly six years! I did have a goal in some ways to get here, but I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here – expanding to a brick-and-mortar!

Early in 2019 I made the announcement that I was expanding and rebranding from The Ruby Apron to Awn Kitchen – we had to go through as second rebrand in late 2020 (as if I didn’t have enough on my plate!) due to a potential liability with the logo that had been created for me. You can read more about the name and why I rebranded here.

The new brand has a bit more of “me” in it and I must admit suits this next step for my business much more, a huge thanks to Arlow Lacey Design for building this new brand.  

A little bit about my philosophy…

I believe in real, simple, honest food. Food cooked from scratch with ingredients that tell a story. I believe in sharing good food with others. I believe that food starts long before it makes its way into our kitchen and that farmers deserve the utmost respect. I know that without healthy soil we don’t have healthy food. I believe that food is an experience and that the people we share food with, the way food is served, these small things can make even the simplest of meals more enjoyable. I am perhaps too honest, too pure in the way I cook, share and run my business, but I make no apologies for that.

Over the last five or so years my philosophy has stayed the same – my goal is to inspire others to slow down, see value in cooking from scratch and eating together. I believe in simple, honest food that can be cooked every day without too much fuss. My teaching style has changed over the years, with more appreciation and understanding, and I truly believe – it starts small, a change in the kitchen, a change in the way we source ingredients. It has to be attainable for it to be a sustainable. I believe in local food. I believe in supporting the farmers that do right by the land and the soil. But most of all, I believe in doing the best we can in our given circumstances – and that starts with a simple thing, educating ourselves and thinking outside of the box, to being our own advocates, knowing that our voice matters and to asking the tough questions. I appreciate so much that it can be overwhelming to dig into the broken food system and know from experience through teaching and learning that if we make small choices, we can make a difference, we can continue to learn more and do better. I believe there is no reason to turn a blind eye to our broken food system, but I also believe that it’s not worth going down the rabbit hole that can make it so overwhelming it leads to unsustainable change or turning a blind eye. Trigger words in our food system have us pegged against one another and make it hard to know where the true value lies in our food, the goal in all of my classes is to help people understand the importance of being their own advocate and asking questions, giving you tools and resources to do so all while learning to cook and bake delicious things. The food I teach is good food, I teach and share recipes that are doable with what we have in our kitchens, I teach recipes that encourage the support of local ingredients, I teach recipes that work in our climate, and my hope is that these things combined plant a seed, encourage and inspire my students to slow down and enjoy the process of food – from how it’s grown to the meal at the end of it.

One of my favourite pieces of what I do is being able to share the story of the ingredient – the farmer’s story. The spring and summer months are filled with farm inspired classes as well as farm tours. I feel grateful every day to do what I love, to share what I love and to do something I am passionate about. If there is something you’d like to learn or know in the kitchen or about my business, feel free to reach out!

To date the business has been run just by myself with loads of support from family and friends, but that’s all about to change as I step into this next phase of entrepreneurship. After running my small business out of my home for the last five years, I am so excited to be taking this next step into having a space for the community of Lansdowne and beyond. I truly can’t wait. This space that I have been dreaming of is full of potential – it’s a space for the community, for people to be together and enjoy good food, to learn more about food. The foundation of everything Awn Kitchen stands for will run through every component of what we do – from the workshop to café, to the speaker series to "Awn at Home" and everything in between. I am ever so grateful for the support my business has seen since day one, and am so excited for this next phase, thanks for coming along on this wild ride.