Published August 11, 2005

Beth Kramer lives in a Boyes Hot Springs home back on one of those curly, one-lane roads that feel like the woodsy resort Boyes used to be. Many of the original cabins are being restored by smart, creative people who have the imagination to see opportunity in older neighborhoods. Beth is definitely one of those wise beings. And does she ever like to cook!

A native of Charlotte, Michigan, Beth spent lots of her early life in Saginaw, went on to the University of Michigan, and graduated in business from Ferris State University. Her mother, Elvira, was second generation Dutch-American, while her father, George, had Hungarian origins. Hence, Elvira cooked Hungarian food for George and the rest of the family. “Oh, you betcha!,” exclaimed Beth, in true northern state brogue.
“Mother cooked wonderful tomato soup with “kanadles,” little dumplings that she also put under sauerbraten, or chicken or beef goulash.” Beth still keeps tomato soup in the house as both one of her favorite cures and security blanket dishes.
“My sister and I used to have a contest yelling out foods, like kraut “feleckel” (little noodles and cabbage sautéed together), “schmutta” (chopped up egg pancakes), and “polichinke” (crepe like things with apples).”

Beth declares “I like food. If you like it you should play with it. I like to cook. It’s how I like to make people happy.”

And that true joy of cooking is evident the minute you walk into Beth Kramer’s modern home. Her small-from-the-front home “was built in 2001 by a 23-year-old Russian kid—a genius,” and she bought it directly from him.

Once visitors pass through the stained glass door given to Beth as a present by Sonoma designer Marty Johnson, you see a giant cursive “Eat” sign that sets the tone, with its best friend “Drink,” spelled out in metal, standing erect on top of her entertainment center. Carrots are everywhere: carrot magnets, carrot paintings, carrot salt and pepper shakers, carrot center pieces, carrot vases, carrot water pitchers, carrot paintings, and maybe even carrot pillow cases—who knows!
Her kitchen, which is half of the living room, or maybe the living room is half the kitchen, is compact but open feeling, and filled with black appliances, allowing Beth to entertain guests while she cooks.

Lucky guests are taken through the house to her “Office and Baking Kitchen,” complete with another full kitchen, computer, bathroom, and laundry, all brilliantly made to feel longer than the room is by mirror-covered sliding closet doors.
As we tour this part of the property, Beth pulls out some of her “cookbooks,” which are collections of her own and her mother’s recipes and memories. These are so good that I asked her if she had considered publishing them for people outside her immediate family, and she really had not.

My favorite is “How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner,” a present to “the kids,” which include her sister’s sons, their friends, a niece, and many close friends. The loose-leaf book was finally called “Aunt Bethy’s Kitchen Academy,” for which good friend Lisa Lavagetto of Ramekins helped Beth teach this “family class” on how to prepare and serve a proper elegant Thanksgiving dinner—to end all Thanksgiving dinners. The “family” split into two teams of six each, split up the recipes, and went for it.

Before she came to Sonoma, Beth had an extremely full career and life in New York, where she had moved in 1969. She worked for the State of New York developing benefits for retired people and developed the funding stream for Medicaid in that state.
In 1976 Beth, who has worked hard and successfully to shed loads of pounds, started the first large woman modeling agency in the United States. At the age of 30, Beth had lost lots of weight and wanted to model. She was told her bust was too small (now it’s nearly required that woman don’t have any), and asked for a referral to an agency for large women, and there weren’t any.

Beth Kramer filled the void with her brand new Big Beauties modeling agency. She found models by placing want ads in small newspapers, and hired a former Elizabeth Arden makeup artist and a retired Ford Modeling Agency model to teach prospective models to walk like one.

Beth and her pals held a modeling academy in her house on Saturdays, and consistently provide models to Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s, with stories on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and an appearance on national radio show “To Tell the Truth.” And she was still working for the State of New York besides.
Eventually a romance that was helping keep Beth in New York City fizzled, and she accepted an offer in Albany, New York’s state capital. So she sold the agency, bailed out of New York, and took the opportunity to start a new life. Before she left, she and “the romance guy” used to choose a country from which to cook a “typical four course dinner,” and he was in charge of getting all the appropriate wines and liquor. The dinners were so popular that guests would say, “I’ll never have you over to my house…!”

hilltopub@aol.com.

—Kathleen Hill is co-author of Sonoma Valley-The Secret Wine Country and Napa Valley-Land of Golden Vines. Kathleen and Gerald Hill host two shows at 5 p.m. on KSVY- 91.3 FM Mondays and Thursdays.