Hello, I’m Betty! Welcome to Betty Eatz. Here you will find recipes for California cuisine.
California Cuisine
What is California Cuisine? It's food with fresh ingredients, in-season produce, simple preparation, and bright flavors.
Sunny Southern California has a climate much like the Mediterranean. There is a long growing season for fresh fruits and vegetables like avocados, citrus, dates, eggplant, figs, grapes, herbs, olives, peppers, strawberries, and tomatoes. Farmers markets run year-round.
California Cuisine has many international influences. With a population hailing from all over the world but especially Asia, Central and South America, and the Mediterranean, Californian food reflects all these food cultures. It's a beautiful mash-up!
The focus on this website is food that is simple, fresh, in-season, and international.
- Simple: Meals that have simple ingredients, are easy to prepare, budget-conscious, and relatively quick to make.
- Fresh: Dishes made from scratch. No canned soups, packet mixes, or items with a lot of preservatives. Healthy-ish.
- In-Season: Fruits and vegetables that are in-season and available at local markets.
- International: Food influences from other cultures, other countries, and maybe even other planets. Okay, not that last one. Dishes pull from Asian, Latino, and Mediterranean cuisines.
About Me
Having worked in the food world for several decades, I've journeyed from a downhome Southern cuisine restaurant in Texas to an international advertising agency in Hungary to a family-owned winery in California. Along the way, I’ve run my own menu subscription business, written a newspaper food column for a decade, and ghostwritten cookbooks and blog posts for other people.
Now, you'll find me as the writer, photographer, cook, and washer-upper behind this website, the weekly Betty Eatz Newsletter on Substack, and @betty_eatz on Instagram. My husband and I live in Southern California and we have three adult children.
The Recipes
Looking for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever? Many other blogs can provide that to you. Want a great preserved lemon tea loaf recipe? You’re in the right place.
- Some of the recipes shared on this blog are not my original creations. I am a recipe try-er. Whenever possible, the original recipe inspiration is linked in the post.
- It is culinary roulette to find a recipe online that is going to work out well. Here you will find the recipes that have turned out great for me plus any adaptations that were made.
- It would be great to see your food pictures! Show me the recipes you make from this blog by tagging @betty_eatz and #betty_eatz in your Instagram posts and stories.
So glad you’re here!