About Kathy Berget

About Kathy

I'm Kathy Berget, the recipe developer, photographer, and creator behind Beyond the Chicken Coop. Since starting the site in 2015, I've developed and shared hundreds of recipes designed for everyday home cooks.

I've been cooking for most of my life, long before I ever thought about developing recipes for a living. I believe good homemade food doesn't need to be complicated, but sometimes it's worth taking the extra time to learn a new skill or tackle a recipe with a few more steps.

Every recipe I share is developed and tested in my own kitchen. I make these recipes for my family, and I won't share one that I wouldn't serve at my own table.

My Experience in the Kitchen

My experience with cooking started when I was young. I grew up in a family of eight, and my mom had each of us take a turn planning and cooking dinner for the family. That was the beginning of a lifetime spent in the kitchen.

I started baking yeast bread when I was a teenager and have been making it ever since. Over the years, I've continued learning and challenging myself in the kitchen. I've taken hands-on training in laminated doughs, including croissants, traditional puff pastry, and blitz puff pastry.

I've also been canning and preserving food for more than 25 years. I use tested USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation guidelines for home canning and have experience with water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, and dehydrating.

Cooking for others has always been a big part of my life, too. I've prepared food for gatherings of 30 to 50 people and catered two weddings with about 150 guests each.

These days, most of my cooking happens in my own kitchen, where I'm continually developing, testing, and improving recipes for Beyond the Chicken Coop.

How I Cook

My husband and I live on a small farm in rural Idaho. We grow a large garden, raise chickens, keep bees, hunt, fish, forage, and preserve much of what we harvest.

The way we live has a big influence on the way I cook.

I use homegrown fruits and vegetables whenever they're available. Our freezer often holds fish we've caught, wild game from hunting season, berries we've picked, and produce I've frozen from the garden. I can tomatoes, peaches, jams, stocks, dried beans, and other foods to use throughout the year.

But cooking from scratch doesn't mean I make every single ingredient myself. I'm also a practical cook. If store-bought chicken broth, a jar of spaghetti sauce, or another convenience ingredient makes sense in a recipe, I'll use it.

My goal is to help home cooks make more of their own food, use what they have, and feel confident trying something new.

From School Principal to Full-Time Recipe Developer

I started Beyond the Chicken Coop in 2015 as a hobby while working full time as an elementary school principal and raising three busy teenagers with my husband.

What started as a place to share my recipes gradually became much more.

In 2021, I retired early from my career in education to work full time on Beyond the Chicken Coop. Today, developing, testing, photographing, and sharing recipes is my full-time job.

I've also written two cookbooks, Quick Breads and Quick Meals, each featuring 30 original recipes that aren't available on the website.

And even after all these years of cooking, I'm still learning. That's one of the things I enjoy most about being in the kitchen. There's always another technique to master, another recipe to improve, or something new to make from what we've grown, caught, or brought home.

In the News

Beyond the Chicken Coop and my recipes have been featured in a variety of publications over the years. I've also had the opportunity to share my cooking experience and expertise with other publications and podcasts.

I was featured as a food expert by Simply Recipes in an article about the best way to fry an egg and by Mashed in an article about selecting, preparing, and cooking fresh green beans.

I've also been a guest on Eat Blog Talk, where I've talked about food blogging and recipe photography, and on Recipe of the Day, where I shared more about Beyond the Chicken Coop, my cookbooks, and cooking with foods we grow at home.

Closer to home, Idaho Preferred has featured my Barley Risotto with Roasted Poblano Peppers and Corn, a recipe highlighting Idaho-grown ingredients.

Connect With Me

You can find my latest recipes right here on Beyond the Chicken Coop or join my email list for new recipes, seasonal favorites, and weekly meal-planning ideas.

You can also follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.