About the Author:

Name: Marika Blossfeldt

What county do you live in?: Dutchess

Brief Biography: Marika Blossfeldt is an award-winning cookbook author. Her first book, Essential Nourishment: Recipes from My Estonian Farm, was self-published in both Estonian and English. The Estonian edition, released in 2009, became a bestseller and is now in its third printing. The first English edition, released in 2011, won third prize at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris and a gold medal at the Living Now Book Award in the United States. It was also a finalist for the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Award in 2012.

Marika’s second book, Cooking with Marika: Clean Cuisine from an Estonian Farm, was self-published in 2020 and has won four first prizes to date: The Living Now Gold Medal in the category “Cookbooks – Ethnic, Holiday, Specialty”, Winner of the 2020 Best Book Awards in the "Cookbooks - International" category sponsored by American Book Fest and Winner of the 2020 Best Indie Book Award in the “Non-fiction: Cookbook” category, and the 2020 Kops-Fetherling Gold Award in the “Cookbook” category. 

Marika was born in Tallinn, Estonia, immigrated to West Germany before the age of two and grew up near Düsseldorf. She earned an MFA in painting from the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin and was a featured soloist in the New York downtown dance scene in the 1980s and 1990s. She created many multimedia dance works and toured internationally in the Americas, Asia, Europe and Australia.

In 1995, she purchased a farm in her native Estonia and transformed it into an international arts and wellness center (pollitalu.wordpress.com). Marika now spends summers there, conducting yoga, wellness and cooking retreats. As a passionate whole foods cook, she grows her own vegetables and herbs and makes sure all meals served to her guests are top quality and taste divine. She has appeared on several Estonian TV cooking shows and was invited to do a cooking demo as VIP chef at the Paris Cookbook Fair in 2012.

Reviews of her artistic and culinary skills have appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living and The Village Voice as well as in European editions of health, lifestyle and cooking magazines. She regularly writes articles for Estonian publications and gives talks in both Europe and the U.S. on healthful eating and leading a vibrant, mindful and harmonious life. 

Marika is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is qualified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners as a Certified Holistic Health Coach. She helps women in midlife turn back the clock and renew their youthfulness, vibrancy and passion. She loves to teach her clients how to choose food with confidence, knowledge and intuition and to prepare healthful, delicious meals. Marika also offers transformational online programs, such as Spring Cleanses, Eat Clean Summer Challenges and Autumn Detoxes

How long have you been living/working in the Hudson Valley?: Since 2006

Where or what are your favorite things to do in the Hudson Valley?: Taking walks along the Hudson, Visiting towns on both sides of the Hudson, Hiking at Minnewaska

Are you an artist or maker living in the Hudson Valley? Apply to the HVNY Marketplace – it’s free to list your work!