Review
“Whenever I think of Kirsten Dixon and her beautiful Tutka Bay Lodge, I can't help but smile. It is a place infused with a sense of joy, discovery, and adventure―but after the bear viewing and whale watching, there is no greater treat than sitting down at her table and enjoying the deep simple deliciousness of Kirsten’s cooking and her daughter Mandy’s glorious baking. The recipes in this lovely book bring it all home, and we are the luckier for it.” -- Dani Shapiro
“Tutka Bay is magic. The natural beauty of the place is (almost) enough to fulfill every sense. But then there’s Kirsten Dixon’s food. Every meal―from the morning muffins, breads and egg dishes to the salads and sandwiches to the wild salmon and halibut and crab at dinner― struck the perfect note. This is a collection of recipes that will appeal to every cook― those that have shared her home in Alaska and those who just dream of being there. The Tutka Bay Summer Paella―chock-full of Alaska’s best seafood― is a dish I will never forget. So happy to have this collection of recipes from such a talented chef and writer.” -- Kathy Gunst
“As a writer, as soon as I read Kirsten Dixon’s tender instructions for the crab omelette, to fold the omelette over like a letter, I read the recipe twice and knew that letter was for me! And I wanted to read the whole book and eat the covers. “Tutka Bay is a magical place and its vivid spirit touches every dish in this delicious volume.” -- Ron Carlson
“This is a beautiful book full of photographs and recipes from an enchanted land that few will have the chance to visit . . . how lucky for us that Kirsten and Mandy have taken the time to share their story. Reading this book is like having a seat at the Chef's Table . . . prepare to be inspired!” ―Stephen Durfee, Pastry chef, Chef Instructor at the CIA Greystone, Chocolatier -- Stephen Durfee
About the Author
Kirsten Dixon has been cooking in the backcountry of Alaska for more than twenty years. She owns Within the Wild Adventure Company along with her husband, Carl, and daughters, Mandy and Carly. Together they operate Winterlake Lodge, Tutka Bay Lodge, the Cooking School at Tutka Bay, a home goods boutique, and a café, all located in Southcentral Alaska. Kirsten has written two cookbooks, including The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook for which she won the Best Female Chef USA award at the Gourmand International Cookbook Awards in 2004.
Mandy Dixon serves as Within the Wild Adventure Company’s pastry chef and the chef of La Baleine Café, a seaside cafe in Homer, Alaska. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California, and later enrolled in the intensive pastry program at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. Mandy worked as a pastry chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in Yountville, California, before returning to the family business in Alaska in 2010. She was the food stylist for the second edition of The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook.
Pam Houston, the award-winning author of such titles as Contents May Have Shifted and Cowboys Are My Weakness, is Professor of English at UC Davis. She also directs the literary nonprofit Writing By Writers and teaches at writer’s conferences around the country and the world.
