Hi there. My name is Katie but you can call me Tater.
I’m a Kentucky-borne, Illinois-bred, Carolina transplant currently living, working and schooling in Charlotte, NC. When I’m not busy trying to figure out when to use “y’all” or “you guys,” you’ll find me on my yoga mat, in the kitchen or completely out of my mind. I am wrapping up my Masters in Nutrition at Winthrop University (August 2012), completing 200-hour RYT training at Y2 Yoga (June 2012) and finalizing plans to launch Plate Share, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending hunger in the US.
I don’t really sleep.
Food
The food I eat is always vegetarian, often vegan, at times raw and after a few drinks… deep-fried. I believe food is something to be celebrated and don’t follow or endorse diets that induce food-related fear, guilt or restriction. Like most, my eating habits have evolved over the years–with age, education and exposure to different cultures. What remains constant is an understanding of and respect for the power of food to heal and to harm, to bring families together and divide nations, to spark memories and numb emotions. Academically, I’m into food at all levels: agriculture, nutrition, allergies, government assistance, hunger, obesity, eating disorders, food marketing, etc. Personally, I focus on eating well on the cheap, creative ways to cut time in the kitchen and lots of baking.
Fitness
Photo courtesy: Wanda Koch
After years of exercising compulsively to punish my body, I turned to yoga to rehabilitate after an overuse injury. What started as a quick fix to get me back to running has evolved into a total mind-body transformation that has completely shifted my perception of and and relationship with my body. It is the single best thing I do every day.
Blog
Sweet Tater started in 2009 as a creative escape from my mundane 9-to-5 desk job. These days I use it as an outlet for sharing the sometimes erratic but (I hope) always entertaining goings on in my life. You’ll find yoga, recipes, reviews, rants and two of the most ridiculous cats on the planet.
Ralphie
Weasel
Looking for more? You’ll also find me here…
Twitter: @sweettaterblog
Tumblr: so damn good.
Pinterest: sweettaterblog
Foodbuzz: sweettater
Why Tater?
When I was born my brother Ben couldn’t say my name. Katherine Ruth became “Tafferin Roof” in two-year-old-ese. He used to go around telling people his new sister’s name was “Tafferine Roof tallin’ her Tatie”. As in… her name is Katherine Ruth but we’re calling her Katie. Aw. My simple two-syllable nickname was no better. “Tatie” quickly evolved into “Tater” and 26 years later I still answer to it.
Questions?
You can find answers to frequently asked questions here and answers to frequently asked yoga questions here.
If you feel so inclined, I’d love for you to contact me at sweettaterblog@gmail.com. Prefer a little anonymity? Ask me on Formspring.
I, too, have found some peaches that actually taste like peaches. A real feat sometimes this far north. I think the good ones up here come from Michigan. You know these “Michigan peaches” are the best. I recently saw a tv blurb showing fried chicken outlets in Japan (I think). They had the usuals Ky Fried Chicken, Maryland Fried Chicken and who knew, Montana Fried Chicken. Nothing says fried chicken to me like Montana!
SC and GA peaches are the best, as well………A ripe peach is always good. It’s just more fun eating them down South.
Tater… the story is great about your brother. When I was first learning to write, my “J” and “G” looked the same. I was knowen for the longest time as “GOEY”. I agree with the SC & GA peaches, but when it comes to cooking, southern peaches really stand out! We do a peach cobbler that have very little added brown sugar, but you will think it has 25 lbs of sugar in it. The little bit of acid in the southern peaches really brings out the flavor when cooking. Just my 2 cents worth. “GOEY”
thanks joe! i’m coming to your restaurant soon! it’s been on my must-eat list for weeks now. so as soon as i can get a second to breathe (and eat away from the office) i’ll be there.
i just found your blog and i’m in love! can’t wait to read more
xo
hey ashley! thank you so much for stopping by. i look forward to keeping up with you!
greetings! i’m very new to the whole blogging thing, but found your deepfried article very enjoyable. Really lightened my mood after an all nighter of studying! So thanks for that. How can I subscribe to your blog??
hi greg! thanks for stopping by… you can subscribe to sweet tater by clicking RSS Feed in the top right of the navigation bar. once there you’ll be able to select if you’d like to subscribe via feed, iGoogle or Google Reader. thanks again!
Hi, and thanks for your comment!
I really liked reading your blog – I love working out and everything that has to do with food, so I found it very inspirational
Maybe I should write more in English – sadly, Norwegian isn’t exactly a world language…
Oh my goodness, you are cute as a button.
I think my favorite part of this blog is when everyone says, “these look amazing!” because I get to say, “these are amazing!”
I win!
Hey, thanks for your comment on my blog!
That’s a cute story about your nickname
Just found your blog, read around a little bit and decided I love it
. I need more blogs to read like I need more years in school (no), but ohhh well! Fun fact: my little brother also called me “Tatie” back in the day.
I don’t know where else to put this, so I figure here is a great place…I love your blog and just wanted to let you know. I stumbled across it looking for elephant bookends (the picture of the drunk elephant graffiti caught my eye) and I have been so over blogs the past few months; feel like everything I read is either major self-promotion, cross-marketing to twitter or facebook or just general regurgitation. I know there are some great blogs out there but ehhh, anyway, just wanted to let you know yours was refreshing to read and had so much good stuff I’ll be checking out new content and back-reading as much as I can.
thanks so much, christine! you just made my night.
Hi Katie! Thanks for heading over to my blog. I love your nickname. My grandmother called me her “sweet potootie” when she was still alive and your nickname totally reminds me of that. It would be really great if we can meet up sometime soon. Feel free to email me at foodiefresh@gmail anytime.
Hi Katie! It was really nice meeting you last night! Your blog is great! Hopefully we’ll get together again soon, and definitely let me know if you want to hang out since we live close to one another
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Well hello sweet tater! I love your passion and was happy to found your blog! CHeers!
LC
Hi Katie! I’m just checking out your blog for the first time — LOVE it and love your perspective, you’re a great writer too! Where do you live in SC? I’m from Myrtle and live in California now, and yes, the food here IS amazing. I’m also dabbling in the thought of changing careers to became a nutritionist…we have so much in common
Looking forward to following along with you!
-Cara
Excited to start following your blog!
Thank you!
thanks so much for stopping by, sarah!
Can I just tell you what amazing hair you have?
Ms. Tater,
Just wanted to pass by for one second to let you know that your blog audience reaches as far back as the ‘salad’ days of Baker Terrace. As one who could pride himself on being among the first to propogate the name ‘Tater’ around the world, I have been an avid fan of your blog for….two weeks now? And I’m pleased and delighted with the culinary truths that you’ve managed to conjure up. I promise I’ll keep reading, and I’ll report to you when I try one of your recipes. Until then, I vow to continue espousing your morals of heavy alcohol consumption, cynicism, personal health, and reminding myself that I am indeed happy and lucky.
Best of luck to you! Say hi to the family!
Mark Rausch!!!
Mr. Mark,
This just made my entire life. Seriously. Thank you for reading my ramblings and for approving of my heavy drinking as of late. But please don’t make any of my “recipes” because aren’t you like a real chef or something?? Exactly.
Sometimes I think people don’t believe me that people truly call me Tater in real life and have since the beginning of (my) time. Thanks for clearing that up.
Please tell me you still go home for the holidays because I would loooove to drunkenly rehash our childhoods…
Love,
Tater
i know where you blog… muhahahaha
You’re the one who should be scared… welcome to the thunderdome.
Hello there! I just discovered your blog when I was reading Aubrey’s post today (Italktofood). Super cute and inspirational! I will definitely be stopping by more often..if not for the great writing…for the cat pictures.
Just stopping by to say as a new follower, I am completely addicted! And for the record, my daughter’s nickname is tater also (René became Na Na, to nater, to tater….!)Can’t wait to read more!