About Me

Hi, I am Chef Keem, sentenced to Squidoo-for-life.
Born and raised in Munich, Germany. First career in pop music as A&R Director, record arranger and producer for CBS and Jupiter Records.
Came to the States in 1981 and settled in Austin, Texas. Graduated from chef school, worked as chef and pastry chef in restaurants and hotels. Started my own company, Sweet Venus Delights, in 2001. Developed recipes using agave nectar as sweetener. In 2004, created a line of flavored agave nectars and called it Agasweet. Currently sold at Whole Foods Market in TX, LA, OK, CO; Central Markets, TX, and many other fine stores.
I am also the executive chef for the Driftwood Lodge in SE Alaska, operated by the
Alaska Expedition Company

Squidoo has been good to me - and vice versa. Check out what I've done so far, in my lensography.

For "secret recipe" revelations and other food-related bits visit my blog "Chef Keem's Squid Kitchen".

I'm very proud of my 2 Lens-of-the-Day honors, for my "Agasweet" and "Anonymous Alcoholic" Lenses.

I'm equally proud to be a Squidoo Champion Activist. We do a lot of good here on Squidoo and - for some reason - it seems to come back very nicely. I'd like to invite you to join our great efforts. Just ask me how.

My Parents - My Superheroes!

My parents - Josef Thiemermann and Johanna Nowak - lived through some of the most difficult years in European history. They've succeeded against seemingly insurmountable odds - from the Russian front line in WWII, to famine and despair in the Austria...

The Anonymous Alcoholic - A Superhero

We are told that most alcoholics never make it into recovery. They die prematurely - in car accidents, from liver and heart diseases, or a variety of other related causes. Of those who find the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous or similar institutions of...

The Funniest Squidoo Lensmasters

Squidoo lensmasters work hard to provide remarkable, original content in beautifully designed lenses. This lens features the lighter side of it all - the funny stuff! Funny videos, funny stories, jokes, and pictures. Funny quotes, funny animals, game...

Chef Keem :: My Lensography

My world looks different through my squid eyes: clearer, more thought-out, better researched, better understood. Make no bones about it - I love squidoo, and it was love at first sight. On January 29th, 2008 I discovered a completely new opportunity...

Organic Flavored Agave Nectar and Diabetic Sweetener - Low Glycemic Agasweet

Recipes and information about Agasweet, the original healthfully flavored agave nectar, currently causing a nation-wide buzz of excitement due to its wonderful taste and incredible versatility. Please note! When I state that agave sweeteners are "su...

Best Tres Leches Coconut Macaroons

Macaroons are good. Coconut Macaroons are better. Tres Leches Coconut Macaroons are the best! I will demonstrate in this lens, step-by-step, how to make one of the most delicious pastries in the world - and my all-time bestseller at the farmers mark...

The Best Peach Cobbler Recipe

God asked all angels first: "What shall be our primary divine dessert?" And the angels answered in unison: "Fresh peach cobbler made with Texas Hill Country peaches!" Only one scrawny little low-carb angel in the corner raised his right wing tip in...

Lensmasters Helping Lensmasters

Can we do it? That's the big question. Can we as a community of friendly lensmasters, known for their generous attitude toward help and support, handle a project of helping each other financially - without getting into fights about "Who's next?" and...

How To Squidoo With A Lotta Help From My Friends

This lens presents my archive of Squidoo resources: tips for beginners, how-to lenses, articles about Squidoo.com, Squidoo books, Squidoo tricks, insights, trials and errors to learn from, Squidoo tools, Squidoo help, outstanding lenses by top Squido...

Top Chef's Best Cook Books

Are you looking for the best cook books by the top chefs in America and Europe? Are you searching for a wonderful gift for a chef? Are you interested in cooking yourself and you would like to learn from a master chef? Are you open-minded enough to e...

New York Times Most Searched Words And Phrases - Explored By Squidoo Lensmasters

I thought this was an interesting idea: Let's take the 50 most-searched words and phrases on the New York Times web site for the month of May 2008, and place them into the search box on a Squidoo lens. What will we find? The results were astounding...

Black Forest Foods

Black Forest cakes, nutcrackers and other wonderful things comprise some of my earliest memories.  I learned to read on Grimm's Fairytales, and gingerbread made always for inspired thoughts of being in the black forest; Hansel and  Gretel,...

Margaret Schaut - Superhero!

Stan Lee, the legendary creator of Spider Man, describes the genuine qualities of a superhero - integrity, courage, self-sacrifice, and honesty. Using this expert list of human virtues and additional observations about my mentor and friend as my guid...

Superhero Squidoo

Imagine you meet someone new. He/she is very kind and helpful, right from the beginning of your budding relationship. He gives you a number of free tools, free advice, and free personal tutors that enable you to express yourself creatively in ways yo...

Chef Keem's Best Recipes To Die From - Ever.

They're rich, they're yummy, they're proven to take you to Heaven...on Earth, or otherwise. You live only once per reincarnation. Eat good while you can! What could be better than my best recipes to die from? I'm as serious as too much pan grease in...

The Thinking Man's Guide To The Benefits Of Driving Like A Complete Idiot

You're looking at a long-overdue intellectual master piece - a work for the ages, crafted by sages. If you are not a thinking man, you might miss the great benefits outlined here in this handy yet easy-on-the-eye guide to the previously unheard-of be...

Recipes and Cooking with Lavender

This lens is dedicated to the exploration of lavender as a culinary ingredient. You will find many different kinds of recipes using fresh or dried lavender, lavender oil, lavender agave nectar, lavender sugar, and other fine lavender-flavored product...

Open Letters

Don't we all think, occasionally: "I'll write a public letter!" or, "I'll write to the New York Times!"? Sometimes we feel so hurt that all we want to do is write down our anger and issue an open letter. Write to the top. Let the world know what's wr...

Natural Sweetener Agave Nectar

On this companion page to my Agasweet lens, the focus is on agave nectar, or agave syrup - in its original form, the sweet juice of the blue or wild agave plants. An increasing number of health-conscious people consider agave nectar to be the overall...

Molded Chocolates, Chocolate Candy and Truffles

Molded chocolates are the most popular chocolate candies in the world. If you follow a few basic steps, you can make these wonderful confections yourself. Fancy decorations for wedding cakes, handmade chocolate truffles, elegant candy confections in...

Doodlebug

Info and facts about the doodlebug, also called pillbug, or roly poly. As English is my second language (I'm German), certain words strike me as especially cute or funny sounding. "Doodlebug" is such a word. My wife and I call each other "Doodlebug"...

Chip Taylor

Photo by Patrick Dentler "Wild Thing", "Angel of the Morning", "He Sits at My Table", "Papa Come Quick", "Country Girl, City Man", "Sweet Dream Woman", "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face" - the list of Chip Taylor's songs goes on and on. "Wild...

Yodelers

Female country singers, male country singers, Swiss yodeling, a Korean yodeler star; Germany, Bavaria, Austria, America - international vocalists with stellar talent can be found on this Squidoo.com lens. I'm not a yodeler. I can't even sing without...

My Wife - My Superhero!

We met online, in January of 2006. In May, we moved together into a new Austin, Texas apartment. In August, I married my wife and my superhero at a remote fishing lodge in Alaska. Soon, we'll celebrate our second anniversary. In this lens I will tel...

Diary of a Small Business Owner

This lens shall provide small business resources and an overview of business ownerships and what it takes to run a small gourmet food company. Furthermore, I intend to chronicle past and current business events: pratfalls, successes, trials and error...

Krackers

I love crackers, and I know a good cracker when I see one. Whole grain crackers are healthy foods! The fabulous Doctor Kracker krackers are organic crackers made from whole grain. They're also called Dr Kracker flatbread. We will discuss this great k...

General Chuck Yeager

I feel very fortunate that I've been able to spend some time with General Chuck Yeager. He was my guest at the Driftwood Lodge in SE Alaska, during the first week of September 2007. We chatted a bit, he ate my food, but mainly I listened to his stori...

The Most Important Squidoo Lenses For America Today - Part 1.

Many Squidoo lensmasters have a keen sense of what is happening in America and in the world of today. Their pages are powerful documents of our reality as a nation and its citizens. These lenses might never gain the same popularity as a Britney Spear...

Coho - Silver Salmon

Facts and info about the Silver Salmon, also called Coho. Read about fly fishing this great fighter in Alaska, how to cook salmon, how to make sashimi, wild vs. farm raised, gourmet condiments, recipes for wild duck, and more... Hi. I'm Chef Keem. M...

Maria Corbalan

This is the story of Maria Corbalan from birth in Buenos Aires to Austin legend - her wild journey from homelessness to economic independence, from drug-induced disasters to recovery and healing - from dysfunction to success. Her courage inspires hun...

I'm Dead. Now what? - Life After Death...

The most important questions in life: What happens when I die? What's it like in the life after death? Is there any life after death? Why do we talk about life - I thought I'm dead? You're kidding, right? Questions as old as mankind, answered and ig...

Culinary Arts Alaska - Fishing, Cooking, Salmon, Bear!

Alaska jobs - dream jobs! I'm cooking, but I'm also fly fishing, bear chasing, adventure hunting, beach combing, and wild strawberry picking. I entertain my guests with comedy routines, and I develop recipes for wild salmon and wild duck. I see clos...

I Won The Lottery! Now What?

I've hit the jackpot! I'm a millionaire - I won the lottery! What shall I do first? What will be next? So many things to think about! Shopping, traveling, starting a new business, moving back home to Germany?... Maybe I should invite ALL SQUIDOO LEN...

Laugh A Laughing Laughter Video Showcase

Does anybody remember the 1962 outbreak of contagious laughter in Tanganyika? It began with a group of teenage schoolgirls and it rose quickly to epidemic proportions. We all have been there: somebody starts laughing, and the sound and the energy of...

No more sugar, baby!

Several existing lenses demonstrate the harmfulness of refined sugars and artificial sugar substitutes. Here are some examples of nature's own pantry with healthful alternatives for everyone's sweet tooth, even diabetic sweeteners. Find info on agav...

Bavarian Chef Keem

Chef Entrepreneur Composer Comedian Gourmand Guru The nickname seemed to be easier for the American public to grasp than my full German name resembling a Middle-Eastern heritage, phonetically. Then, the frequent question "Chef Kim?" ruined it all ag...

Squidoo House Band - The Music Of Squidoo Lensmasters!

This is a collection of music-related Squidoo lenses, featuring masterful lensmasters sharing their expertise in a variety of musical topics. Find original music videos, tutorials on playing drums and guitar, free music download sites, great sheet m...

Singing Dogs Video Showcase

Hi, my name is Bugsy and I just love to watch "Americanine Idol". Especially, when ole pal Simon bullies around some wet poodles. That always makes me wanna pee on the carpet. But my Mommy would not like that one bit, and my Bavarian Chef Daddy says...

Agasweet Flavored Agave Nectar Showcase

Hi, my name is Chef Keem. I was born and raised in Munich, Germany. Since 1981, I live and work in Austin, Texas. My specialty food company, Sweet Venus Delights, manufactures and distributes my original brand, Agasweet flavored agave nectar. This h...

Austin Wedding Invitations and Favors Showcase

Austin, Texas is a beautiful city with many faces. The local slogan "Keep Austin Weird" refers mainly to the good old hippy town South Austin, where the laid-back atmosphere is much more important than the hustle of an exploding economy. However, man...

Taste Umami - Meet Your Taste Buds!

You say: "Mmmmh! This tastes good!" Your face lightens up: "Ah, so sweet!" You frown - it's too bitter, it needs more sugar! Why do you crunch up all your facial muscles after biting into a pickle? Let's take a closer look at the reasons for our re...

Tangerine Ginger Dream Recipes

Two distinct flavors - tangerine and ginger - together they form a dream combination. Create your most delicious gourmet dishes with tangerine ginger dream recipes! A fusion of exotic flavors - familiar enough to tease you with comfortable excitemen...

Selling At The Farmers Market

I've had a booth at the local farmers market since 2001, when I was laid-off from my restaurant chef job. I had decided at that point that I wanted to be my own boss. It was a bold and energizing decision and I've never looked back. It's a new life,...

Agave Nectar Recipes - Agasweet FAN Site

FAN stands for Flavored Agave Nectar. But it also means Fantastic, Alternative, Natural agave sweetener. As a companion to my other Agasweet pages on Squidoo.com, this lens shall provide a showcase of agave nectar recipes, customer feedback, and info...

I know my Weenie!

Who proclaimed with all his might: "Weeni - Widi - Wici!"? Caesar - upon conquering the Frankfurters! Ouch...! Really good ones are hard to find - jokes as well as wiener dogs. It's very important to know your weenie! Here are some recommendations f...

The Berlin Wall Falls

Some people may give Ronald Reagan all the credit for the fall of the Berlin wall, others point at Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost - allowing public criticism of the communist party - for being the cause of the events surrounding...

Whistleblowers

This lens tells the stories of usually ordinary people, often experts in their field, whose desire to "do the right thing" is stronger than their fear of potential threats to their own safety in the face of their actions. Whistleblowers often expose...

Foods Without Refined Sugar - Sugar Ain't Good, Sweetie!

A sweet taste in my mouth is good for my soul. It's a comforting and satisfying experience. When I use refined sugar for this feeling I'll have a "sugar rush" followed by a down in energy and mood. Trying to recapture my good mood with more refined s...

Cool Gift Ideas - Fancy Food Gifts

Everybody loves unique gift ideas, organic gift baskets, gifts for your valentine, personalized gifts, gift boxes for boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend - the list goes on and on. The convenience of online shopping makes it possible for anyone with...

Agave Nectar Is Better Than Honey

Agave Nectar Is Better Than Honey Due to its purity, agave nectar never crystallizes and has a shelf life of over three years. It has a lower glycemic index rating (32) and a higher fructose level, so it won't cause a "sugar rush". It dissolves easil...

Jim Hightower

Nearly every Saturday morning, down at the farmer's market in South Austin, a man walks by my booth, always shouting a friendly greeting. Sometimes he stops for a quick chuckle about this or that, maybe picks up one of my Tres Leches Coconut Macaroon...

The Sixties: Growing up with 60s Music in Munich

Music was everything back then when I grew up in Munich in the 60s - at least in my life and in the lives of my friends. This lens shall showcase some scenes from those years. I got to play in several different amateur bands and I had the chance to...

Scratch Baking For A Bavarian Breakfast

We Bavarians have two breakfasts. The first one happens when we get up, around 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning: coffee and pastry. The second breakfast is much more important - and much more "Bavarian", too: a pint of "Weissbier" (wheat beer), 2 or mor...

Fart-ist, Art-ist, Showman Extraordinaire: Joseph Pujol - Le Petomane.

His stage name "Le Petomane" translates into "The Fart Maniac". For 2 years (1892-1894) he was the star attraction at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, France. We're talking about Joseph Pujol: "Le Fartiste" - the man whose talent to make a fart at will mad...

Bowfire Video Showcase

On May 12th, 2008 I attended Bowfire's show at the Majestic Theater, in San Antonio, Texas. I can easily declare this event as one of the 3 best concert experiences of my life. ("The Beatles" and "Yes" are the other two.) In terms of sheer virtuosit...

Wolpertinger - Bavarian Jackalope?

Fun facts about a Bavarian "hero": The famed and fabled horned rabbit/squirrel or whatever animal. In Germany, especially in the Southern Free State of Bavaria, they're called "Wolpertingers". Just like their American counterparts - the Jackalopes -...

Illegal and Legal Immigrants in America's Kitchens

I've worked in many hotels and restaurants for over 10 years before I started my own specialty food company, in 2001. During those years, I came to appreciate deeply what Latin American kitchen workers contribute to our industry: a reliable work forc...