About Janice Feuer Haugen

Predestined to Cook?

Some people put a lot of faith in what stories were on the front page of major newspapers on the day of their birth. Some say it holds a key to their life’s mission or vocation.

On the day I was born, the front page of the New York Times carried a story about Janice Feuer haugenshortages of flour and sugar and included a photo of people waiting in a breadline. Was it a coincidence that I became a pastry chef, working with a lot of both flour and sugar—to help stave off the hunger of the people?

Then I learned much about the health issues surrounding eating too much flour and sugar, and transitioned to fruit sweeteners in place of white sugar, and then completely relegated desserts to the background in favor of focusing on the rest of the meal.

Many years ago when I sought the advice of an astrologer as to new directions for my life, he looked at my chart and excitedly declared “everything is in the kitchen.” “You should write a cookbook”  “You have a cookbook chart.”

And so I did, and so I have. . .and so I seem predestined to play in the kitchen, creating and writing recipes, sharing food with friends and family and assisting everyone to live everyday healthy, everyday delicious.

The Cordon Bleu, Berkeley, and On-the-Job Training

I completed a three-month Certificate Course at London’s Cordon Bleu School upon graduation from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Communications and Public Policy.  With my Cordon Bleu Certificate on my resume, jobs were offered to me, and I found my calling.

For more than three decades I cooked and baked and catered in restaurants, hotels, a university cafeteria, a spiritual community, a natural foods deli and private homes and businesses.

Along the way I taught cooking classes and wrote 5 cookbooks: Chocolate Decadence, Sinful Strawberries, Virtuous Vanilla, Sweets for Saints and Sinners and Fruit-Sweet and Sugar-Free. For the past 8 years I have written a food column (article, recipe and photograph) for Montana’s bi-monthly Natural Life News and Directory.

Living in Montana, enhances my appreciation of each of the seasons and the fruits and veggies particular to each season. There are barely enough adjectives to describe food fresh-from-the garden—either my own or from the farmers at either of our 2 local farmers’ markets. Being mostly vegetarian, such great produce tastes best when prepared simply and cleanly. I have developed many such recipes and continue to do so. As a professional chef and teacher and home cook, I also appreciate the value of clear and precise recipes and make it a point to write them that way.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Please feel free to write me with your questions, comments, requests and likes and dislikes. The teacher in me loves being helpful. The cook in me loves to talk about food. The diner in me loves to eat!

To your health! and Bon Appetit!

Janice