Karen Solomon

Karen Solomon has been a well-published food writer for over a decade. In addition to the Asian Pickles series of ebooks and print book, she's author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It (Ten Speed Press/Random House). Her work has appeared in Saveur.com, Fine Cooking, Prevention, Yoga Journal, Vegetarian Times, Food52, Organic Style, the San Francisco Chronicle, SF Magazine, the SF Bay Guardian, and elsewhere. http://ksolomon.com Karen also works as a culinary tour guide for Edible Excursions, showing off the best food in San Francisco. She's also a frequent instructor of canning, pickles, jams, and other techniques of food preservation. Catch her teaching videos online anytime at Creativebug.com. Television appearances include Bay Area Backroads, Check, Please! Bay Area, and The Big Dish. Karen is also a fan favorite in the Chow!Tips video series on Chow.com. Karen has presented as a guest speaker at Boston University's Gastronomy Program (September, 2011) and at the 2009 Epicurean Classic in Michigan. She's the former organizer and host of the Jam It Salon, a quarterly DIY "show and taste" at 18 Reasons (2009-2011) and a former organizer and host of the Baby Food Swap (2010). She has served as a judge for both the Eat Real Festival and the Good Food Awards. Karen's culinary influences come from a variety of sources. While teaching English in Japanese schools and traveling throughout Asia, she had ample time to learn the satisfaction and simplicity of Japanese home cooking. And from the time she could stand on a stool and stir, Karen always enjoyed cooking alongside her mother to make chicken soup, kugel, stuffed cabbage, and other comfort foods of her Eastern European heritage. Most recently, Karen's cooking has become more project-based and crafty, taking on homemade, improved flavors where mass production tends to dominate. She is dedicated to food preservation, as well as eating locally, sustainably, seasonally, and supporting a judicious and delicious food system. Karen currently resides in San Francisco's Mission district with her partner, her sons, and an equally food-obsessed dachshund, Mabel.