16 Nov Inside the Fridge: Karel Anne Tieszen

Inside the Fridge welcomes Karel Anne Tieszen. Karel is the author of the cookbook, In Your Own Kitchen: Reality Cooking At Home. She owns her own cooking school, where she is a cooking instructor. She lives in Duncanville, Texas – though her heart will always be in Paris.

Below we ask her questions about her grocery shopping and food habits – with actual pictures from her fridge in Paris! Karel Anne provides input on how her eating and shopping habits in Texas are different from her life in France.

Inside the Fridge: Where do you shop for food?
Karel Anne Tieszen:
In Texas: Cox Farms produce in Duncanville, Albertsons & Tom Thumb.
France: Open Market, Monoprix and SuperU

ITF: Do you love food shopping or dread it? Why?
KAT: Love it, love it, love it. The colors and aromas of fresh produce always improve my day. I feed the hearts I love with good food.

ITF: How often do you shop?
KAT:
TX: Produce twice a week (one is always Friday), groceries once, and a milk run to Braums.
France: French open market every other day, grocery store every 5 days. TINY fridge!

ITF: What is your weekly food budget?
KAT:
TX: I spend about $100/week including the non-food items like plastic wrap. $30+ of that is from the produce market.
In France, we ate IN for either lunch or dinner, and OUT the other, so it varied each day.

ITF: How do you plan your weekly meals? Create a spreadsheet or fly by the seat of your pants?
KAT: First, I poll the family if there is something in particular they want this week. Next is determining who is home for lunch/dinner which days. Afterwards, I check the ads for sales. THEN I plan the meals for the week.

ITF: What is the most coveted food in the fridge right now for each member of the household? Why?
KAT:
TX: I love the cottage cheese individual containers as snacks; Son wants the flour tortillas zapped in the microwave; Daughter will peel and eat an entire grapefruit while sitting with a novel
France : the multiple cheeses, with the baguettes on the counter, for ALL of us

ITF: What convenience product can you not live without?
KAT: Broth cubes, in both countries. Actually, I bring home 10-15 boxes of Knorr ones from France because they have more flavor and different flavors than we have here.

ITF: What brands do you swear by? Why?
KAT: The Paul Newman salad dressings have great flavor and I brush the Italian one on salmon for a quick dinner on the grill. Land O Lakes unsalted butter has no other American contender. Daisy Sour cream because I read ingredient labels.

ITF: What cooking utensil/piece of equipment/appliance do you live for?
KAT: Utensils would be the high temp Rubbermaid spatula that I use for almost everything and my Microplane. Piece of equipment would be the large All Clad skillet & a pasta pot. Appliance would be the gas stove & new convection oven. I seldom use a food processor because I prefer my good knives.

ITF: What food/s are important when recalling food memories?
KAT: Throat soothing chicken noodle soup when you’re sick. Butter-rich chocolate desserts that cause a long drawn out “yummmmmm” with friends. Haagen-Daas Vanilla Swiss Almond container with two girlfriend spoons to solve relationship problems.

ITF: How have your cooking/shopping habits changed over the last 10 years?
KAT: I’m no longer buying large junk food bags and portioning it in snack bags. I am buying a smaller overall quantity that is already pre-portioned. Instead, we have more refrigerator healthy snack food. Washed cherry tomatoes are eye-level in a basket at all times of the year. Cooking really hasn’t changed.

ITF: What are your go to food/nutrition/culinary/cooking website, book or cookbook?
KAT: Gourmet Guide is my best online resource. The Food Lovers Companion and Wine Lovers Companion are my well used references, with the Russo/Lukins New Basics cookbook being my starting point for new ways to prepare standard dishes.

ITF: What was the last meal you cooked from scratch? What was the menu?
KAT:
TX: Rock Cornish Hens stuffed with fresh rosemary & lemon wedges, egg noodles, steamed broccoli and cantaloupe from my friend’s garden.
France: Bacon wrapped roasted rabbit, steamed haricot vert (green beans), couscous (made with broth and rabbit drippings, not much fat there), fresh baguettes and white wine.

ITF: If one person could cook for you tonight, who would it be ?
KAT: My kids take turns a couple of times a month with planning and preparing dinner. They have learned a lot about food, and have become quite adventuresome.

ITF: What words of wisdom or advice do you have for other folks who are doing their best every day to fill the fridge?
KAT: Just once, try your weekly grocery shopping before 7am on Saturday. Its quiet, the shelves are full and it’s an amazingly fast trip. Then go home and fix breakfast for the family while THEY unload the groceries! (Note: find out when your favorite store restocks in addition to Friday night.)

Think fresh and plan on a quick run through the produce department twice in a week.

You’ll eat better and overall feel better. It really is easy with good things on hand.

ITF: Any other tips?
KAT: Next to the UPC code, write the date (month/yr) opened on stuff you don’t use very often. (Olives [smile], chile paste, and mayonnaise) It helps when it’s time to clean out the fridge.

When I clean out the pantry cabinets (off-topic from refrigerator) once a year or so, I use a different colored dot to cover the UPC code so I know if it hasn’t budged in a year. And it gets tossed!

Thank you Karel Anne!

If you would like to be featured on Inside the Fridge, please email RobinsBite Intern Laura Bartee – Laura *at* robinplotkin *dot* com