This blog is about Canadian food with a German flair and a gluten-free twist.

👋 Hi, my name is Margaret Bose-Johnson.
I'm a first-generation Canadian born to German immigrant parents, learning to cook from my talented and innovative mother, and influenced by all the other good-cooking German aunts and omas in the family, too. Food was, and still is, central to all our family gatherings. We like nothing better than to get together and cook, then sit around the table for hours visiting, eating, and visiting some more (and okay, I admit it, picking at the bowls, too). I have a cookbook addiction that fuels my love for learning to cook new foods from many different cultures.
I am a teacher, writer, and mother to four grown children. I live with my husband on an acreage outside of Stony Plain, in north-central Alberta, Canada (long, cold winters - short, glorious summers). I get to indulge my inner-farm-child in my large gardens and a small chicken coop with a flock of very pampered hens.
Eleven years ago our oldest daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease, along with a dairy and corn allergy. Yikes. That forced a recharge and revamp of my cooking, but it has been a fun and exciting journey. I discovered all kinds of new ingredients. Then a few years later, the other three children were diagnosed with gluten intolerance and either dairy or egg allergies, and my husband was diagnosed with Lyme Disease which triggered multiple food allergies (44 to be exact). Double yikes. Cooking got even more interesting and challenging.
My meals vary according to which allergies I'm cooking for. So the recipes on this blog will often be free of different allergens, but always gluten-free, or have gluten-free adaptations included (except for the bannock recipe - sorry, that was earlier on, but I did finally come up with a pretty tasty substitute).
This site is a chronicle of my own bumpy journey along the road to gluten-free cooking, but more importantly my desire to share my passion for great food made with wonderful ingredients and lots of love.
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I write the food column for our two local papers, the Spruce Grove Examiner and Stony Plain Reporter.
You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and Instagram.
I love to hear from you, and you can always leave comments or questions by clicking on the (very small - look for it, but it's there) comments link at the end of each post or by directly emailing me via the Contact Me page.
Awards and Certification
In 2017 and 2018 this Kitchen Frau blog was shortlisted for a Taste Canada Award. I was thrilled with the honour!
I love learning and am always stretching my brain to improve my knowledge. In 2019, I completed the Culinary Nutrition Expert program at the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. It was fun, rewarding, and I'll admit - a little stressful - to be a student again, but I loved every minute of it.
Thanks for visiting—it makes my day to know I have readers following my kitchen adventures!
Guten Appetit!