A little about us.

Welcome (or welcome back) to Sweetness & Spice! We’re Kate & Chris, and we love cooking, baking, making our own seasonings and sauces, and sharing our cooking and recipes. Chris is “Sweetness,” because baking breads and desserts is his joy; Kate is “Spice,” because of her love of all things flavoury! Yes, that’s a word now.

We originally started this blog in early 2019, but set it aside later that year to focus on writing a cookbook. Mixed: A Cookbook (which you should totally get if you haven’t already) was designed around various seasoning blends, with each chapter devoted to one or two such blends (such as Italian seasoning, herbes de Provence, garam masala, and baharat). It was first published in late 2019 as a fundraiser for middle school kids going to Space Camp (including our own child).

However, COVID-19 kinda threw those plans for a loop – including Space Camp getting canceled. Priorities had to get shifted and we weren’t able to keep up with our plans. Since then, we’ve moved to a new home with an amazing kitchen, and now we’re finally feeling settled enough to share our flavoury (ahem) recipes with all of you.

What can you expect from Sweetness & Spice?

We especially enjoy cooking for dinner parties. We’re not talking restaurant or catering quantities. While  we have fed an entire high school cross country team more than once and Kate has actually catered, we’re thinking more about having a couple of friends over or the family for a holiday. Basically, if you’re having guests and want to wow them with flavor, we can help!

We are particularly interested in flavors from all around the world. Whether it’s Lebanese, Vietnamese, Welsh, Punjabi, or Cuban fare (to name just a few), we love to research the food and culture of anywhere in the world, and show how to get appropriate ingredients even in an American grocery store. Almost more important, however, is the connection to that culture – it’s not just about gathering ingredients but gathering appreciation and friendships. It’s about understanding each other – and we believe connection comes with shared meals.

So, welcome again, and we hope you love your effort, and love your results, just as much as we did making (and eating) them!