Annie profile picture

Annie

Co-author of Where People Feast, An Indigenous People's Cookbook

About Me

First of all -- All of you are too cute for words. Thanks for making me smile everyday!!I am Gitk'san and Scottish through my mother and Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakiutl, Makah and Scottish through my father. At last count I have 20,000 relatives. My mom is always researching our Scottish heritage. My great, great grandfather was Richard Lowrey and moved to Canada from Scotland in the 1920's, possibly Glasgow. My great, great grandfather (was the father of Watty Watts) move to Canada from Scotland.I received my first cookbook at age 6 and prepared and perfected some of my favorite recipes since then. I have a degree in Culinary Arts and learned to cook many traditional dishes growing up. Going to culinary school opened my eyes to many new techniques and styles of cooking.My mom owned a restaurant in downtown Vancouver (1724 Davie Street) named "Liliget Feast House". It was a beautiful restaurant designed by the internationally renowned Canadian Architect Arthur Erikson. Unfortunately the building has been sold and it is scheduled to be torn down for new condos. I had the opportunity to work with my mother for the past 12 years at Liliget. I planned the menus, cook part of the time and design all of the promotional materials. At Liliget, I got a chance to meet people from all over the world, mostly from the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada. We have recieved many prestigeous awards over the years ( check them out on our website ). We kept the focus of the cookbook on the Native American cuisine of the Pacific Northwest as it is what we served at the restaurant. The cooks of Liliget Feast House cooked over an alder wood-burning grill, preparing such mouth-watering dishes as Alder-Grilled Marinated Elk, Sweet Potato Tarts, with Savory Blueberry Jam, and Sopalali Mousse for dessert for local regulars, out-of-town tourists, and celebrities alike. The foods and culinary traditions from two areas in particular are featured, which make up the main cultural heritage of the authors. The first is the Gitk'san Nation territory (approximately 27,000 acres/110 square kilometers) in central British Columbia, which has two great rivers, the Bulkley and the Skeena, that pass through it. The second area featured in the book is the Nuu-chah-nulth (formerly "Nootka") territory, which expands over 175 miles (300 kilometers) along the west coast of Vancouver Island. There is a great abundance of seafood, wild game and common ingredients including salmon, crab and berries. "Where People Feast, An Indigenous People's Cookbook" is on sale now! Visit www.arsenalpulp.com to buy your copy today.

US DISTRIBUTOR: CONSORTIUM; CDN DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR
ISBN 1-55152-221-7. US $21.95 | CDN $24.95
Available NOW from ARSENAL PULP PRESS My other passion is computer programming and in the late 1980's I went on to pursue a degree in Computer Science. I am presently computer literate in 20+ major computer languages and have a working knowledge of 20+ computer applications. My last project was developing a database driven electronic commerce website for Dakota Design ( www.dakotadesign.net )I also enjoys writing, cooking, and illustrating. I meet up with a few groups in and around Vancouver (see www.meetup.com). I want to write a children's cookbook, a novel, and produce animated shorts to submit to film festivals.My first novel that I am attempting to write is about two couples that live in the castle and are best friends. Romantic stories usually end with "and they lived happily ever after" but this is where I want to start my story. I have been working on the novel for the past 2 years and need to finish it so I can go on to write my second novel. I still need to write 25,000 words. I am getting really great advice from the other authors on myspace - check out my blogs. I don't think I will finish it for awhile. I thought I was on the right path, until I read it out loud to the other writers in the group and realized I need to do a major re-write!Please add me as your friend, subscribe to my blogs and ask your local bookstore to carry "Where People Feast, An Indigenous Cookbook".Consider treating yourself and a good friend to a copy each and tell everyone you know about it!Thank you and have a fantastic day!

My Interests

Programming, illustration, quilting, french, skiing. I belong to a great (www.meetup.com) groups in Vancouver. My favorite being the writer's group.

I'd like to meet:

I would like to meet people who are interested in recipes, animated shorts, quilting, php programming, mySql programming, cgi scripting, action scripting, film festivals, writing, and skiing.

Music:

Radio interview by Peter Anthony Holder host of HOLDER TONIGHT - News Talk Radio CJAD 800 AM in Montreal, Quebec. 15.2 MB

Movies:

Freedom Writers
Apocolypse
Nacho Libre
Mission Impossible: III
Charlie's Angels/Full Throttle
Stranger than fiction
The Da Vinci Code
Scoop
The Devil Wears Prada
RV
The Break-up
The Wedding Date

Television:

Shaw TV, CBC, CityTV and the movie channels. CSI Miami and CSI NY

Books:

Great news! Our cookbook made the BC Adult Best Seller List! (June 2007)
US DISTRIBUTOR: CONSORTIUM; CDN DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR
ISBN 1-55152-221-7. US $21.95 | CDN $24.95
Available NOW from ARSENAL PULP PRESS (www.myspace.com/arsenalpulppress or Arsenal Pulp Press website

RAVE REVIEWS

I am looking at the bannock and OH MY I have to dive into it. Wild rice pancakes - Yum! I like the idea of Indian Tacos. Venison meatball sounds great.
-Fanny Kiefer, Studio 4, Shaw TV It Rocks!
—Shelagh Rogers, CBC, Sounds Like Canada This book is appropriately named, because "feast" is exactly what I wanted to do after reading it.
—Eric Akis, Victoria Times Colonist A fascinating culinary history conveyed through a collection of Pacific Northwest indigenous dishes.
- Judith Lane, The Georgia Straight, Best Eating A chapter on smoking and preserving offers a closer historical look at indigenous culinary traditions. As one of the few titles on the topic, the Watts’ book is recommended.
—Library Journal Long before the idea of a 100-mile diet popped into our heads, the First Nations people who lived here were already walking that walk. They lived in an environment that can best be described as astonishingly bountiful; forests alive with game, berries, flowers, seeds and greens and seas and rivers also teeming with nourishing plant and animal life.
-Renee Blackstone, THE PROVINCE newspaper Food traditions of North America's indigenous peoples are centuries old and endure to this day.
-Necessry Voices & Vancouver Public Library As you read through the recipes, you get a sense of history and the culinnary creativity of aboriginal peoples.
- Monroe Monitor & Valley News Can the ladies cook? For those who forget, in 2004 Dolly Watts was declared the winner on an episode of the Food Network’s BC Iron Chef.
- City Food Magazine Sob! Boo Hoo! Those english words express my sadness and disappointment, in learning that after 12 years the Liliget Feast House, "the only First Nations fine dining restaurant of its kind", located at 1724 Davie Street, in Vancouver, BC - is closed. I myself get stuck on the front page of Where People Feast. It's the lifelike blueberries, and all they represent, especially in these days of diets and our return to traditional fare. Once inside, you again fall under the spell of culture and quality. Although focused on west coast Native cuisine, like its predecessor - the restaurant, this cookbook caters to across-culture cravings - First Nations food tastes from across Turtle Island.
-Bob Kennedy, Oneida, Turtle Island Native Network Pass the oolichans: North America's indigenous peoples eat very well indeed: Smoked salmon mousse, Indian tacos, blackberry-glazed beets, wild rice pancakes.
-Nancy Lanthier, Vancouver Sun Right Up There With John Bishop – Where People Feast. Try It Yourself. Many delicious meals can be made with readily-available materials.
-Florentia Scott, Westcoaster This book is filled with new, different, unusual, and delicious recipes!
-Homemaking Cottage I heard Dolly and Annie on the CBC yesterday on The Early Edition with Rick Cluff - very good interview. Dolly is an interviewer's dream - very well spoken and interesting to listen to.
-Teresa Goff, National Public Radio show The Splendid Table This book MUST be entered into the Cuisine Canada book awards.
-Anita Stewart, Author & Culinary Activist Happily, her (Dolly) and daughter Annie's recipes live on in Arsenal Pulp Press's Where People Feast: An Indigenous People's Cookbook
-Malcolm Parry, Vancouver Sun columnist Traditional dishes with new twist
-Shelley Boettcher, Calgary Herald The flavor of the West Coast is very much alive
-Niomi Pearson, AV Times The mother-daughter team who ran the Liliget Feast House share traditional and modern aboriginal recipes, including methods for smoking and drying wild game, preparing seafood, and preserving berries. The original 100-mile diet!
— Shared Vision (Editor's Pick - Hot Titles)
All the authors in the Weavers of Words group will be circulating the cards in a round robin fashion for more exposure. Here is the card I am featuring this week. Check back every Sunday for the next card.Join the ranks of Word Weavers today! With authors of all genres, message boards and more, you're sure to find your niche. http://www.myspace.com/weaversofwords

Heroes:

Family and Friends.
A special friend, Parthena, who has a great gift to interperate dreams. She has also published (online) an article of mine about following your dreams (click on the image below).

Interested in sharing your experience and expertise as a guest author? Click here for details!

My Blog

Publishing a cookbook - challenges to overcome

How I got published: My mom owned a restaurant - Liliget Feast House - a world renowned and only American Native Fine Dining restaurant of its kind. An agent came down to the restaurant and asked if w...
Posted by Annie on Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:39:00 PST

Any great advise on writing my first novel?

Hi, I belong to a writers group (meetup.com) and am writing my first novel. I have 21,000 words so far. I didn't know how hard it would be. I thought I was on the right path, until I read it out loud...
Posted by Annie on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:03:00 PST

Advise on attending culinary school

I've been getting a lot of questions about how to get ready for culinary school. I have these few words of advise: I attended a culinary art program a while back. You really need to know your measurem...
Posted by Annie on Sun, 10 Jun 2007 12:50:00 PST

Which is your favorite recipe from the WPF AIP cookbook?

Mine is the Stuffed Duck Roll on page 32. Mom would make it every thanksgiving. It takes two days to prepare this recipe, so I really appreciated it. We ate it with Brown Mushroom Gravy (page 123), ma...
Posted by Annie on Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:45:00 PST

Where People Feast, An Indigenous People's Cookbook RAVE reviews

If you have attended one of our cooking demonstrations or cookbook signing events, please leave your comments here. If you have any RAVE reviews of the Where People Feast, An Indigenous People's Cookb...
Posted by Annie on Fri, 25 May 2007 03:18:00 PST

My favorite recipe

I want to share my favorite rice pudding recipe that I have been making since I was 7 years old (not in the Where People Feast, An Indigenous People's Cookbook):Annie's Baked Sweet Rice Pudding3 table...
Posted by Annie on Wed, 23 May 2007 12:58:00 PST