The Surfer’s Kitchen is all about eating real food, exploring the planet and living life to the fullest.
Almost all of the recipes on this site are developed, photographed and written by me. My name is Karla and the kitchen is my happy place. Everything in our house revolves around the kitchen–homework, business meetings, food photography and of course, great food. We are transplants from Hawaii to Sarasota, Florida and own a stand up paddleboard/surf business. We all love being out on the water. This site is a glimpse into our kitchen as we create recipes for all types of eaters (more on that below), travel to great locations to surf and explore, and share our trials and tribulations of running a our businesses.
Welcome to The Surfers Kitchen!
Wanna know a bit more? Read on for my FAQs.
Who are you?
Karla: ali’i, recipe writer and photographer
Aaron: big kahuna, periodic recipe writer, graphic designer, and advice giver
Sawyer: big grom, future pro surfer and recipe tester
Nova: lil keiki,
Do you have any pets?
Do we?! We are a regular old zoo over here. Other members of our family include:
Aloha, the great dane
Sushi, the rescue retriever
Flower, the pit bull sweetie
Bella, rescue kitty brought from Hawaii
Why do you write about food?
I love it. Food doesn’t talk back–and usually sits still for pictures. And, I just love feeding people. I think it may have something do with being Portuguese but I just feel better when I can feed people. I have been working recipe development, recipe testing and writing for the past seven years. I started blogging years ago with my now-retired, site Forty Cakes and recently decided it was time to start fresh, with new recipes and a new focus that corresponds to our lifestyle.
What kind of food do you write about?
Almost anything. We are a very diverse group of eaters and I have grown accustomed to preparing all kinds of different meals. In our small family we have the following food restrictions: gluten free, vegan, Paleo, vegetarian, pescatarian, die-hard carnivore, and sugar monster.
I try to make everyone happy.
We stick with fresh ingredients, local and organic as often as possible and try to avoid the processed stuff. That doesn’t mean you won’t ever see that stuff on this site–we love our junk food just like the next person we just enjoy it in moderation.
What is your other business?
We are the owners and operators of a stand up paddleboard/surf business (read more about that here) and lead groups of people on stand up paddleboard tours worldwide. We also teach surf and paddleboard camps to kids, teens, and even adults. We are going into our 5th year of running our business and we have learned so much. We started the business with NO CAPITAL and have kept it going. (Check back later for that story….it is definitely enough for a few blog posts.)
What do you do for fun?
We are active people and enjoy spending our days at the beach, paddling or surfing. Or the mountains, hiking or snowshoeing. In the woods, picking mushrooms and getting lost. We love being outside–even in the heat of the Florida summers. We love cooking and eating and Aaron has been gardening a bit lately.
The kids and I do CrossFit. Nova is a competitive gymnast and Sawyer is on his way to a career in surfing (hopefully!). We try to have fun as much as possible.