Welcome to another episode of "Dishing with Stephanie's Dish." Today, we're thrilled to talk with Rebecca Blackwell, a recipe developer, Substack writer, and published cookbook author of the “Lets Get Lost Cookbook”. Rebecca shares her fascinating journey of selling her possessions to live and travel full-time in an RV with her husband.

Join us as we dive into Rebecca's upcoming cookbook, "Let's Get Lost," her inspirational journey of writing and recipe development, and the launch of the “Lost Supper Club.”

We'll explore how she balances creativity and connection while on the road, finding community through food, and the power of diverse culinary experiences that make the world feel a little bit smaller and certainly more delicious. Get ready for a heartwarming discussion about food, community, and life's unexpected adventures!

Here is a recipe from the book

This is an upside down cake, with a sticky caramel date mixture that’s baked on the bottom of the cake but is then flipped over to become the top. The batter is flavored with pureed dates, an entire orange, a bit of miso, and a lot of vanilla.

Wait. Miso? I fell in love with miso in baking after making the Miso Maple Loaf in Baking With Dori and I haven’t looked back. Just as it does in savory dishes, miso adds layers of complex flavor, including a hint of umami - and a little umami is always a good thing, even in sweet treats.

Candied pistachios add some crunch, and I would like to mention that if you want any leftover for the actual cake it’s wise to make extra because you and everyone around you will find them irresistible.

It’s also worth mentioning that one of our Lost Supper Club guests (you know who you are, Narissa) actually squealed with delight after tasting this cake. Like an actual, alarmingly loud, squeal. It was really more of a scream, and I can’t imagine a higher endorsement.

Orange and date cake with candied pistachios

Ingredients

For the caramel and date glaze:

* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

* 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark

* 1 tablespoon corn syrup

* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

* 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, OR 1/2 teaspoon table salt

* 8 ounces dates (about 1 cup), pits removed, cut into bite-size pieces

For the cake:

* 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

* 1 3/4 tsp baking powder

* 1/4 tsp baking soda

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 1 medium to large size orange

* 1/2 cup brown sugar, light or dark

* 1 stick (4 ounces/ 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

* 1/4 cup white miso

* 2 large eggs, at room temperature

* 8 ounces (about 1 cup) dates, pits removed

* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

* 1/3 cup plain, unsweetened greek yogurt, whole milk or 2%

* 1/2 cup orange marmalade

Instructions:

Get Instructions for the recipe here

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:15]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish. I'm Stephanie Hansen. You are here at the podcast that talks to foodies, cookbook writers. And today, we have, I would say, all 3 plus more. We have Rebecca Blackwell. She is a recipe developer. She is on the verge of releasing her “Let's Get Lost”, the cookbook. She is a Substack writer who has a Substack newsletter called “Let's Get Lost. She also is starting and launching the “Lost Supper Club” and has been out in the space. One of the things about Rebecca that intrigues me, not the most because you're just a nice person, but beyond that, you live in an RV. You kinda upended your life, sold your worldly possessions, and bought a pull behind, and you and your husband travel all over the United States in your RV. We are talking right now in your RV, which I know you've got a good cookbook shelf. I see it behind you. Welcome to the show, Rebecca.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:01:11]:

Thank you so much for having me, Stephanie. I'm so happy to be here.

Stephanie Hansen [00:01:14]:

Me too. So for people that maybe aren't familiar with your story, can you talk about how you decided to just chuck it all and get into the RV?

Rebecca Blackwell [00:01:24]:

Yeah. Absolutely. So, we had 3 children, and, when our youngest was about 7, we decided that we wanted to work towards getting to the place where we could work from anywhere in the world by the time all of our kids were graduated. And so our youngest was getting off or getting ready to go off to college in in 2019, and and we had done it. We were both working virtually, and and we could work anywhere where there was an Internet connection. And and so we were our initial plan was that we were gonna just rent Airbnb's in various places for, you know, 3 months or 6 months or whatever at a time. So some friends of ours in Southern California were heading off to Europe for a couple of months and asked us to come house sit, and we were like, great. This will be a great test run for how this works.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:02:11]:

And we loved living and working in a new place, but we hated living in somebody else's home. And so we weren't sure what we were gonna do about that, and, we met up with some old high school friends while we were there that lived in an RV, and it was like the answer to all of our problems. We had never considered living in an RV. We had never in our entire lives spent one night in any kind of a camper of any kind. We're just not the camping kind of people. But we went home from that trip, and, within 5 months, we had sold our house and bought a 5th wheel RV and moved ourselves into it. So the first night we ever spent in a camper, we had already sold the house and bought our RV. So and that it's been a long time 5 years.

Stephanie Hansen [00:03:00]:

Did you feel brave doing it at the time?

Rebecca Blackwell [00:03:04]:

You know, we just felt very exciting until the night we closed on our house, and then I got a little freaked out. Understandably. What have I done? But, you know, the first night, we, we lived in Colorado, and we drove, we closed on our house on a Monday, and we drove to, Katy, Texas to pick up the RV on a Tuesday and, picked it up on Wednesday. And that first night in the camper, I wasn't worried at all. It it instantly felt like the right decision. We felt at home in it almost immediately. And, you know, we really haven't looked back. We we say that we'll keep doing it until we get tired of doing it, but so far, you know, it's been almost 5 years, and we're not anywhere close to being ready to stop.

Stephanie Hansen [00:03:53]:

What I think is kinda hilarious about you in particular is you have this sort of idea of who might be in an RV park, and I've been in a lot of RV parks.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:04:02]:

Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen [00:04:02]:

And you're I don't know about your husband, but for sure, you are like this type a organized, hyper productive person who's doing all this work from an RV park. I mean, your substack newsletter alone with Let's Get Lost kind of focuses on the RV living aspects and the travel aspects, but also recipes. And then as if that wasn't enough, you've launched the Lost Supper Club that just launched. What made you decide you needed yet another outlet? Because you just seem super prolific.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:04:34]:

Yeah. Well, you know, ask me at the end of the year if I regret adding another thing, and I'll I'll let you know. But but, really, at the end of last year, I I was just looking for more ways to connect with people on a more meaningful way as we travel around. It you know, we love being in a new place and kind of immersing ourselves in the culture of the place as much as we can. And we have met people without even trying all over the country, and that's been really fun. But this year or this last year, I I was just thinking a lot about how, when we're in a new place, when I have the opportunity to spend a few hours with somebody that lives there, it it just enriches both of our lives, in a in a really meaningful way. And so I thought, well, with the lost supper club, if I can do that and then write about it, then maybe I could also inspire other people to get together with friends over dinner on a more regular basis. I feel like it's kind of a a lost art that, and we're we're we're just craving that in person connection.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:05:42]:

Everywhere I go, I talk to people about this, and everybody seems to be craving that in person connection, but they're not really sure how to go about starting it. So that's kinda what I'm hoping to do is by doing it myself and writing about it, inspire more people to do the same thing.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:56]:

I think food too is so common in that everyone speaks the same language when it comes to food. You know, no no matter what you eat, whether what you prepare, it has a way of bringing people together. And one of the things that you and I have talked about offline is how challenging you know, when you're a a nomad, we'll call it, it's challenging to keep up those, relationships with friends and family because they don't know where you are, and you can't just, you know, have your weekly tennis date.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:06:27]:

That's right. That's right. Yeah. That's been a big challenge with our friends back home in Colorado is maintaining those relationships with some of our closest friends. Thankfully, we tend to attract the kind of friends that are also similar in that they, they're very independent. They have they travel all over the place. And so it's pretty easy to just pick up where we left off. But, but I I'm just I'm starting to become a little more conscious of, trying to do things like phone calls and just just text messages and and just reaching out in any way I can to some of these relationships while we're on the road because because they are important.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:07:05]:

They're, those those connections that we form with people that become lifelong friends, you know, it's it's one of the most valuable things, in my life. The older I get, the more I realize how how deeply important they are.

Stephanie Hansen [00:07:22]:

Also, like, I'm curious what your thoughts are because I don't know your husband at all. But, my husband has a small group of friends, and they're the same friends he's had since, like, 6th grade. Oh, wow. I am, like, someone that craves a lot of friends, lot of different types of people. Everyone I meet becomes my friend. Like, we just have different needs. I'm an extrovert. He's an introvert.

Stephanie Hansen [00:07:46]:

Like, how to fill our buckets. Would you say you're more introverted? Or how do you is your husband, like, on the same page with you? Or do you spend a lot of time forging connections?

Rebecca Blackwell [00:07:56]:

Yeah. So, both of us have a strong tendency to just keep to ourselves and hold ourselves away. And that's part of the the more concentrated effort on my part of reaching out to more people and making those connections. Because if it's not deliberate, we won't do it. We're very happy parking ourselves in the middle of nowhere for months at a time and not really talking to anybody except each other.

Stephanie Hansen [00:08:23]:

My god. That's horrifying to me.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:08:27]:

We love it. We love it. We love it. But the like, no matter how introverted you tend to be, those those connections with other people are are just important. And, and so, you know, my my husband's a little worried about how many social activities I have planned for us this year because he, he gets really worn out by it. But, but, also, when he's there, he has a good time, and he knows that it's good for him as well. So, so we'll see. At the end of the year, we'll we'll take stock and see if it was too much for us or or not.

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:07]:

So let's get lost details. It's your newsletter on Substack that details all the places that you are and what you're cooking along the way. The Last Supper Club is the new paid version of substack that you will belong to this club. You'll talk about ways to entertain. You'll share recipes in your January edition. You did a really nice overview of homemade pasta. Because I just filmed a TV show about pasta, and I made pasta myself at home for the first time.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:09:37]:

Oh, fun.

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:38]:

Yeah. So it was really fun to read your recipe and your techniques. And then the let's get lost, the cookbook is on the verge of coming. So tell me where you're at with that and when we'll be able to get our hands on it.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:09:50]:

Yeah. So that should be out the last week of this month, January, the last week of January. And, there'll be links on, rebecca Blackwell.com and on both of my blogs. So, yeah, I'm I'm very excited about that. It's a 140 something recipes, 135 page cookbook, full color photos of every of every recipe. And, it wasn't a book I had intended to write last year. I just I was publishing so many recipes on substack that I thought, you know, I'm just gonna throw these together into, like, a quick little downloadable book, and then it turned into a full blown a full blown cookbook. So

Stephanie Hansen [00:10:35]:

So how do you do it? Are you printing on demand? Because you're obviously not warehousing things in your RV.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:10:41]:

Exactly. Yeah. No. Yeah. We're printing on demand. So it'll be available on print and, downloadable PDF and Kindle. So 3 different options for that. And then I'm already started on volume 2.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:10:55]:

So this year's volume 2 will be focused more on, supper club, and it'll be organized by the areas, that we've traveled to. So Southern California, Louisiana, the Midwest. There's a there's a pool. Yeah. And it'll include other people's recipes as well. So as we travel around and and cook and have dinner with other people, they will contribute recipes to the book. So it'll be more of a a collaborate collaborative effort.

Stephanie Hansen [00:11:23]:

Oh, gosh. I just love it. You're so prolific. You were a marketer in your other life before getting into the RV and kind of branching off and doing your own freelance. What did you market?

Rebecca Blackwell [00:11:34]:

Yeah. So I mostly worked with, businesses who wanted to improve their online strategies. So, strategies. So, I put together very comprehensive strategies for them that included, you know, a lot of different factors, and I did a lot of writings, wrote a lot of websites, a lot of emails, a lot of blog posts. I was the ghostwriter for quite a few companies' blog posts over the years. So back in 2013, I thought, maybe I'd like to do this for myself, and that's when I started my first blog. And and then gradually, I started as the blog grew, I was able to let go of some clients on a very gradual basis and was finally full time with food blogging by 2020.

Stephanie Hansen [00:12:18]:

That's so exciting. When you're in your RV and you're, like, making a recipe, you know, do you find space as a limitation, or how do you get, like, the perfect photograph? And have you had to adapt?

Rebecca Blackwell [00:12:30]:

Yeah. Yeah. That has been a a big adaption in in our house before we sold it and moved into the RV. I had a whole room just for photography, and that was that was amazing. But I have discovered that there's really nothing that you can't do in a small space. If you have it's like money. If however much you have, you seem to need it all. And that's how space is.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:12:53]:

I think however much you have, you figure out a way to need it all, but you don't actually need it all. So, for an RV kitchen, mine is much nicer and much bigger than a lot of RVs. As we were looking towards buying an RV, we looked at, I don't know, a 100 different models and found one where the kitchen would work for me. And it hasn't limited what I've been able to do really at all, which has been really nice. And then photography, I just use these, like, 24 inch photography boards. And Yeah. You know, some of them, you would never know that it's a board even though it's a small little board. You know, the cover of the cookbook has a window in the background, the the cover photo.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:13:40]:

And people are shocked to know that that's not a window, that it's just a a board that I set up on on my kitchen table.

Stephanie Hansen [00:13:48]:

And create, like, a little good light, and there you go.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:13:51]:

Exactly. Exactly. Artificial lighting for photography has been a a game changer for me because, relying on how the light comes in and what time of day it is and where we are in the world and what the weather is doing and, you know, all of those things affect it. And so that's been that's been really important to use artificial lighting in in the RV.

Stephanie Hansen [00:14:14]:

One thing I'm curious about, I feel like travel and being in new spaces and meeting new people, I feel like that so, like, inspires creativity and gets you sort of out of your day to day existence. Does that persist when you're, like, your day to day existence is all those things? So I'm just curious. Like, I'm wondering how it is that you, like, ground yourself when everything around you is changing, or is that just a constant source of inspiration? Like food, like the ingredients. Everything is different everywhere you go.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:14:52]:

That's true. Yeah. That's very true. You know, it's interesting. I I just started listening to a book that's talking about the difference between, it's it's mostly focused on anxiety and the difference between right brain and left brain functionality. And our right brain is really where our creativity lies. And, the more stressed out and anxious we are, the the more it shuts down creativity. It, like, just closes that part off of us. And I feel like as we travel around, I can identify how when we get into a new place, the more I'm able to just be present in that place and appreciate the experience of being there, the more I can feel that creativity opening up and, just relaxing relaxing my mind enough to to, like, really see where are we and and and what is this place like. And and that just brings forth a whole bunch of new ideas. And then also What's the book?

Stephanie Hansen [00:15:55]:

Do you know?

Rebecca Blackwell [00:15:56]:

Oh, yeah. It's, Martha Beck.

Stephanie Hansen [00:15:59]:

Okay.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:15:59]:

And, I don't remember the title, but it's her it's her newest one, and there's the word anxiety in the title.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:04]:

It's highly recommended. And just put it in the show notes in case anyone

Rebecca Blackwell [00:16:08]:

Very good. Yeah. Because she has this idea that we can use our creative mind to calm stress and anxiety in our lives, and I I love that idea. So and, you know, before we moved into the RV, I I could have, you know, shopped at the same places, and I could have very distinct ideas and just go to the grocery store and get them. And now I have to show up with a very loose idea of what I want because you never know. You never know what's gonna be there. Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:33]:

And that just

Rebecca Blackwell [00:16:35]:

also been a creative, I think a creative boost to not be so rigid in that thinking.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:41]:

Yeah. I love that idea. Also, I think for we're in this kind of weird political place where everybody is very polarized in their silos, and you're either all this or you're all that, and there's very little nuance. One thing I found about traveling that really helped me a lot is this idea that wherever you are in an RV park, like Yep. Whether you're alone or you're with others, everybody's kind of there for the same things.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:17:11]:

That's right.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:12]:

You might approach them differently. Like, your political flag might fly differently. But at the end of the day, they're sitting out there at their campfire. You're sitting out at your campfire. It doesn't hurt you to kinda go over and introduce yourself and share a beer or a glass of wine. And I just felt so appreciative that I had that experience because when I'm in a dark place and I'm feeling like I'm alone in my own silo, I remember that, oh, no. There's all these other people out there, and we kinda get to it a different way, but we want security for our family. We wanna have jobs that are meaningful.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:47]:

We wanna love and be able to be, you know, in a place that's beautiful. That really helped me have a lot of empathy for people that weren't like me.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:17:57]:

Yeah. I agree completely. We had this one experience a couple of years ago where we were talking to a couple in our campground, and, he got on a a tangent of all sorts of political ideas. And and we just stood there listening, and and I didn't agree with pretty much anything he was saying. And at the end of it, I I just said, you know, I didn't actually agree with anything that you just said, but one thing that I've learned is that there are good people everywhere even if they think differently from me. And so then we ended up talking about that. And that, I I have strong opinions about a lot of things. And so the more I meet people that don't share that same perspective, the the better it is for me, the better it is for my my state of mind.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:18:50]:

I can get very pigeonholed into thinking that the world is a dark place. And then when I'm out in it and actually meeting the people that live in all of these places, it's a it's a solid reminder that it's not it's not a dark place. Most people are very generous and very kind and very friendly. And in every state, that's true.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:12]:

We Yeah.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:19:13]:

We have states that we enjoy more than others, but we have found good people and beautiful places pretty pretty much everywhere.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:23]:

That is, like, the moral of the story, isn't it? Like, right what you just said. And it's why I I love sailing. I love RV ing. I love going to Europe. I love traveling. And Yeah. You know, I'm fortunate in that I have some reserves to do that, but you can just travel to your state park down the road and just really explore it in your car and sleep in your car and meet so many different people. And I didn't sleep in a tent for well, honestly, I've only slept in a tent, like, probably twice because I've either had an RV or a cabin or but it is a very eye opening experience to just put yourself out there and the people that you meet.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:03]:

So I'm really excited about your lost, the let's, not the let's get lost. I'm excited about the lost supper club. Because in the Midwest, as you know, supper clubs are such a big deal here.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:20:15]:

Yes. I know. So that I did I didn't know anything about supper clubs until we visited the Midwest. And then I was like, well, this is cool.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:24]:

Yeah. And some of them are they're sort of older, folks here, but then there's others that are more modern now, and we're kinda getting back to seeing fancy relish trays and fancy high end restaurants. And just the idea of the supper club being, like, a place where you gather on a Friday or Saturday night, and it can be with friends. And it doesn't have to be at a restaurant all the time, and it certainly does not have to always be steak.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:20:49]:

That's right. Well, and in the south, if you say supper club, people don't even realize that you're talking about an establishment. They supper clubs are a group of friends that get together on a regular basis. They're very organized, and, we we met some friends in Louisiana a few years ago. We're we're gonna do a supper club, at her place this year. But but she invited us to her home for dinner, and that's what it was. It was a supper club, and the table was tablescaped, and the China was out, and everybody was in their Sunday best. And, I mean, like, it was a it was an amazing dinner, an amazing event, and they they just she just does that all the time.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:21:29]:

It's just a a normal part of life to have these

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:32]:

Oh, fun.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:21:33]:

Amazing dinner parties with groups of people gathered around her table. And and so that's more what it is in the south. So, there's there's a lot of options and a lot of variety, for people to kind of create more community over food. And and, honestly, there's something about humans where we want if we're gonna get together with people, we want there to be food.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:56]:

Yeah. Yes. Hot tea does not do it. You gotta have a stone or a biscuit or something else.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:22:03]:

Yes. That's right. That's right.

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:24]:

You can preorder the book now. We will provide a link in the show notes. Rebecca Blackwell, thank you for being our guest today. It was super fun to just chat with you. I think it's funny too the cookbooks behind you that made it on the RV list. You have probably, like, 30, way more than I would have thought.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:23:09]:

I have another 30 in our bedroom.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:12]:

Okay. So do you read cookbooks like you read novels? Yes. Same. Like, at night when I'm in bed, I'm, like, reading a cookbook, not necessarily a book as it were.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:23:23]:

Yes. Well and I'm starting to order more on Kindle because, you know, I only have so much space. And Yeah. And I don't love the the Kindle cookbooks as much. It's ugh. I love having a book in my hands, but I can't stop buying them. So Yeah. Something has

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:40]:

Yeah. You gotta make make do where you can. Well, it was great to chat with you. Like I said, I'll have all the links for everything in the show notes here, and good luck. And I can't wait to connect with you next year after you've had this whole year of creativity behind you to see where it goes.

Rebecca Blackwell [00:23:56]:

Thank you so much for having me.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:58]:

Thanks, Rebecca. We'll talk soon.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Born and raised in the Midwest to parents originally from Egypt, sisters Alia and Radwa Elkaffas created their Food Dolls platform to share exciting, fast, healthy meals. Born and raised in the Twin Cities to parents originally from Egypt, their recipes from “Pretty Delicious” are flavor-packed, Mediterranean-inspired, and plated with their signature style.

Recently, we had a chance to catch up with the Food Dolls sisters on the eve of their cookbook launch for “Pretty Delicious” (pre-order the book here now) when we recorded a “Taste Buds With Stephanie” (episode drops on Fox 9 2/22/2025 at 8:30 am. ) at Radwa’s gorgeous home. The sisters were as delightful and warm as ever, and we loved the recipes. “10 out of 10.”

We made 3 recipes from the book, “Pretty Delicious”.

I also riffed on their Marinated Tomatoes and Feta Dip and made it my own with all the same ingredients but as a baked pasta dish in homage to their talents.

Cheesy Tomato and Feta Baked with Pasta and Herbs

By Stephanie Hansen

Ingredients

* 2 cups cherry tomatoes about 1 pint

* 1/4 cup olive oil

* 2 teaspoons salt

* 1 teaspoon pepper

* 8 oz. full-fat cream cheese at room temperature

* 8 oz. feta cheese at room temperature

* juice of half a lemon

* 1 Tablespoon honey

* 1/4 cup fresh parsley

* 1/4 cup fresh basil

* 1/4 cup fresh mint

* 8 oz penne pasta

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Add the tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon and honey to a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Nestle the cream cheese and feta cheese in the center of the baking dish amongst the tomatoes

Bake for 22-25 minutes

Meanwhile, boil the pasta until el dente

Remove from the oven and add the sour cream and stir the mixture, breaking it up combining the cheese and the tomatoes with the pasta making a sauce

top with the fresh basil, parsley and mint, and serve hot

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Stephanie:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to people equally obsessed in the food spaces as we are. And today, I'm with the Food Dolls. I'm with Radwa and Alia Elkaffas, and we had an opportunity to record a taste buds episode with them that will air at the end of February. I think it's gonna be February 22nd right on the eve of your book being available at stores.

Alia Elkaffas:

It well, we go live on the 25th.

Stephanie:

Okay. So you can preorder, though, your book Pretty Delicious right now. And if we talk about cookbooks in particular, the preorder is like it's crazy because what people don't know is all those preorders that you say you want this book, they count towards day 1 sales. And for people like Food Dolls who have such a massive following, it could be the day that launches them potentially to the top of the New York Times, cookbook list. So preorders for cookbook authors are super important. So we want you to get your books when they come out live, but we also want you to preorder because all of that stacked up on that first day counts to get them we're trying to get them on the New York Times bestseller list with their book. Would you like that, girls?

Radwa Elkaffas:

That would be just a dream.

Stephanie:

I know. It would. When when we spent time together in your home and watching you guys make your magic, When I left, one of the things that I asked, I'm like, so, you know, what are your intentions? And you were like, we wanna get our book on the New York Times bestseller list. And I think I really think you can do it because you guys have such a huge following. The book is so great. It's pretty delicious. Can we just back up? Like, you guys said you've been doing this pretty much since pre pandemic, but I feel like, you know, you've amassed such a huge following. Like, how did it get started?

Radwa Elkaffas:

Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me on, and it was so fun cooking with you last week. I well, we definitely started around 9 years ago now, which is so crazy to think that it's been that long. I think when we first started, we didn't really have, like, the best direction of what exactly Sure.

Stephanie:

No one did.

Radwa Elkaffas:

And we were trying to figure out social media. Both of our backgrounds were not chefs. We have no we have no photography background, no videography background. We had nothing, but we just knew that we love to cook, and we wanted to share with the world how easy and delicious you can make recipes. And I think that's been it since day 1. Our shift kind of changed a few years later on really kind of honing in on, like, our culture and our background and what we grew up eating, and people loved it. People loved it, and they love our, like, sister vibe.

Stephanie:

Yeah. You 2 are real life sisters, and are you 4 years apart?

Alia Elkaffas:

Yes. That's right.

Stephanie:

And, your background is your parents are from Egypt. Right. So you're you're leaning into that sort of cultural vibe. And what maybe a lot of people don't know, and I know a tiny, tiny bit, but, that Egypt is a very modern place all told. Like, can you just give us a little bit of, why it's a touchstone for you to still be speaking about this food that you guys have lived here most of your lives, but you still feel like this is such an influence for you?

Alia Elkaffas:

So our parents were they immigrated here in the early eighties. And so we were both born and raised here, but they really tried very hard to keep our Egyptian background alive. So whether it was with food, with, cultures, traditions. So, basically, we're very we're very Egyptian and Midwestern at the same time. So you even see a lot of our recipes. We do fusions between Egyptian and Mediterranean, Middle Eastern food with our Minnesota side.

Stephanie:

It's funny that you mentioned that today because, prior to talking with you, the way that taste buds works usually is we go out and we have an adventure somewhere. And in this episode, that adventure was with you guys in your home. And then we take what we learned from that adventure, and we come back into my kitchen. And so one of the things that I made was your, what was it? It was the Egyptian orzo with ground beef, and it had cinnamon in it. It was super delicious. The recipe worked beautifully, and everybody loved it. But what was funny was when we were making it, my cameraman said, oh, it's just like a casserole or a hot dish. And so I laughed.

Stephanie:

I was like, yes. This is like the Egyptian hot dish. That's exactly the mashup.

Alia Elkaffas:

Exactly. Yep. And that's what we we always say. It's like an Egyptian, hamburger helper, you know, casserole. So it's it's yeah. It's really good.

Stephanie:

Even down to, like I don't know if you guys ever have had rice aaroni, but it was like a combination between rice and pasta, and you sauteed it just like you did with the orzo to get the color on the pasta. So it was just really it it was a delicious recipe. The other thing that we did that will surprise you maybe is I was trying to think about how to take what I learned from you and your book and the way you cook and make that kinda my own too because I think that's so much of what you inspire people to do. So I took the marinated tomato, and creamy whipped feta dip that we made on the show with you, and I took all those same ingredients literally to the letter, but we made a pasta bake with it.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Oh, that sounds delicious.

Stephanie:

Yeah. So you'll see that on the episode. We made it and we made it into, like, a pasta bake because when I was looking at the recipe that you guys made when we were in your kitchen, I was like, oh, this is kinda like that feta where the roasted tomatoes. And so that's the surprise for you that you'll see that we just took your dish and all the ingredients. It was very fun to and it was interesting too because, Michelle, my producer, she was like because she loved your dip so much. And then she was like, and it's so weird that this is the exact same ingredients, but the flavor profile is so different.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Changes everything.

Stephanie:

Yeah. And maybe just the roasting of the tomatoes too and the heat and the pasta because that was the one thing we did add. But it was really fun to think about how to take a recipe from your book, but kinda, like, just twist it with all the same stuff. It was fun.

Alia Elkaffas:

Yep. Awesome. Yeah. And that's what we love to do. We love taking these just these simple ingredients and just turning them into something amazing. You know? You don't need like, you don't need anything crazy and any crazy ingredients, and you could just make something that's really good and with simple ingredients.

Stephanie:

Yeah. I think that's why we really liked your recipes that also, we made a beautiful chicken dish. Do you wanna describe the chicken dish that we made?

Radwa Elkaffas:

Oh, that's sassy chicken and potatoes? Yes. And that's the thing. Like, we are busy moms who don't really have a lot of time, so we're always thinking, okay. What can we do that's just easy, delicious, and you could just throw it together. Literally throw everything into the baking dish, make your, marinade, and throw it together and pop it in the oven. So you could do it the night before, so it's a great make ahead, or you can make it the same day, but really just getting those flavors to infuse overnight is awesome. And who doesn't love having dinner the day before? So all you have to do is throw it in the oven when you're ready to eat it is exactly what we love to do.

Stephanie:

How many days a week do you okay. Let's just back up a second. You guys have I think we determined it was 8,000,000 followers over all the platforms. How many days a week do you actually spend together creating content versus the marketing and the managing of the content?

Radwa Elkaffas:

I think this that's the beauty of having 2 of us is we do a lot of divide and conquer, which really helps us a lot, and it alleviates a lot of pressure off of each other. There's things that we obviously have to do together, like our end shots. Or if we're filming, like, a recipe clip that we're actually in, then we have to be together. I think we just kinda take it week by week because maybe we have, like, a high sponsored week that we have to do our sponsors, or if we have a lighter week, or we, you know, are going on vacation and we need to film as many as we can so we can have a little bit extra, content. I think we just kind of take it week by week.

Stephanie:

When you look at your content calendar, how far in advance do you go, or do you just do it week by week?

Radwa Elkaffas:

I mean, I would love to say that we're the most organized, sisters ever, but we're not. We really just kind of sometimes we wing it. Sometimes even we don't recipe test the recipe. We're like, okay. Let's just try this, And sometimes it is a 100% fail and it does not work. And other times, we're like, we nailed that. Like, it is absolutely amazing, and then we get super excited. Sometimes those are our best recipes when it's just spur of the moment.

Alia Elkaffas:

I I was gonna say sometimes we have this, like, master plan. Oh, we're gonna make x y z today. It's gonna be great. And all of a sudden, we're in the middle of making it, and it turns into something a 100% different, and and we just we just go

Stephanie:

with it.

Alia Elkaffas:

You know?

Stephanie:

Yeah. It's so fun. And the styling of the book, what I noticed when I was at your home is you both have a similar style, but your homes are very curated and full of beautiful art and beautiful flowers, and you have a a real, statement color palette. And that kinda translates to your work online and the book. Have you always been like that since you were little kids? Oh, you're both matching. You have all the perfect lips, the perfect hair, all the stuff.

Radwa Elkaffas:

You know, it's so funny. Like, our favorite color is really black and white. Like, it's not just something that we created for our brand. It is it's legit what we love. We love black and white. When we went through our brand and what we wanted it to look like, it was okay. How are we gonna incorporate this into our brand? Because what we like at home, this is what we do at home, and we also love it in our clothes. So it's not just we like black and white, and I I this might sound a little crazy that we love black and white and everything, but we do.

Radwa Elkaffas:

So it ended up being that we love it at home. We love it in the book. We love it in online. Like, it's just so it's it's just part of our, Food Dolls identity at this point.

Stephanie:

Can you remember the first thing you guys ever made, like, by yourselves just, like, as a kid? Or, like, did you have a first cookbook? Or do you remember just, like, that first thing you really made?

Alia Elkaffas:

I would I'm pretty sure the first thing we probably ever made together was probably baked cookies. You know? Like, just straight up cookies or a box of brownie mix or something.

Stephanie:

Totally. That is and, it was always like cookies or brownies because it was kind of a one bowl situation. Right? I didn't wanna make a mess with your mom. Is there a recipe that you feel like, a, gets a lot of attraction, but, b, like, really represents you? It's like, this is the one that we feel like is our statement.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Wow. That's a really good question. Okay. I will say this. Our most popular recipes are the most shocking that we would have never guessed that these are, like, the most popular recipes. We did, a a baked spaghetti that went absolutely crazy. Would we have thought that that was gonna be our number one recipe on the website? No. We love it, but people went crazy over

Alia Elkaffas:

it. Yeah.

Radwa Elkaffas:

So crazy. And it was it's just really shocking to us. But I think we kinda came to the conclusion is our top recipes are, like, the simplest, easiest. Like, you've got these recipe you've got these ingredients in your pantry. So all you have to do is throw it together, and I think that's what always wins.

Stephanie:

Yeah. And it's always surprising, like, the ones that get the most traction, and you just think like, wow. That's weird. Like, one of mine is this chao chao relish that they bake usually in the south, and I always have green tomatoes that I garden with. So I ended up just having to kind of make this thing, and it's, like, always in the top three. I don't know who's clicking on that recipe that much, but people are. It's weird.

Alia Elkaffas:

Yeah. It's funny how that works. It's just what what you think is gonna like, people are like, oh my god. This is so good. It's the opposite, and it's like something that, you know, is the most, like, and simple and basic. And you know?

Stephanie:

When we talk about your Egyptian heritage, and I asked you guys about this when we met, What is it specifically, like for instance, when we were doing the Orzo bake, they the the producer asked, she was like, what do you think about this makes it Egyptian? And I was, like, saying the flavor profiles and the types of ingredients that we use. But is there something that you feel like is uniquely Egyptian that you bring to the party?

Alia Elkaffas:

That's a really good question. So I'd say a lot of the dishes in the book are not necessarily, like, true Egyptian. It's got, like, some fusion to it with, like, Mediterranean flavors. And a lot of the, like, the real traditional Egyptian recipes might be a little bit more intricate, so we were trying to simplify it by using some of those those same flavor profiles, but not necessarily doing it step by step like our mom would do our aunts or grandma. You know?

Stephanie:

One of the ingredients in the casserole that we made was tomato paste, and you cooked down the tomato paste. But that like, when you think about tomatoes in warm climates, you know, the flavor is so intense and so concentrated, and you do kinda get that from a tomato paste. I hadn't really thought about that before.

Alia Elkaffas:

Yeah. That's very true. And we do have a lot of dishes that are very tomato based as well.

Stephanie:

Yeah. I love it. Okay. So when you guys are, like, absolutely exhausted and the kids are driving you crazy and it's 6 o'clock and you have to put something is there, like, a go to meal for each of you?

Radwa Elkaffas:

I'm, like, thinking about it because I'm like, okay. There's a lot. I feel like our like, the chicken and potatoes, I think, for sure, to just kind of throw together. But I really do love that to sit overnight. But if I'm, like, in a pinch, I will say the kids maybe sometimes eat something different than I do, because they're so picky. Like, I have a 4 year old, a 9 year old, and one wants, you know, quesadillas, and the other one's, like, fighting me on the chicken and potatoes and rice. Like so I would say that what it's always 2 different things. I'm not even gonna lie about it because they they drive me absolutely crazy about getting them to eat everything all at the same time and and the same thing.

Radwa Elkaffas:

So I would say for me, it would be the chicken potatoes. For them, it would definitely be some sort of pasta. And we love 1 pot pastas because you can have it ready in 15 minutes, and we have so many 1 pot pastas in our book.

Stephanie:

Yeah. You do have a lot. I tried to make the dish as a 1 pot with the pasta already in the baking dish and make the sauce right in the pan, but I couldn't get the right ratio of water to pasta. I made it twice, and the pasta kept coming out a little crunchy. So I'm done, and I just make I just made it I just boiled the pasta and did it that way and added it later. But I did try twice to get it, like because I kept thinking it would be so great if you could just do this all in the oven in the one pan. And maybe a different pan or a flatter pan, I could have

Alia Elkaffas:

That could be. And it could be also the kind of pasta that sometimes makes a difference as well.

Stephanie:

Yeah. I should have tried an orzo, but I had a penne. So yep. Do you when your kids are, like, picky like that, do you feel like, okay. No, kids. This is what I made. This is what we're eating. I'm not a short order cook.

Stephanie:

Or are you more lax and you're like, just whatever we're eating, go ahead. Eat it as long as you eat.

Radwa Elkaffas:

I would have to say I kind of started, especially with my kids, learning how they are, and I don't care if I make the same thing every single week if I know they're gonna eat it. Why am I gonna sit here and fight every single week to try to get them to try new things? Because I I see I see Alia as, like, the perfect examples because my kids are younger. Hers are older. So now they're starting to eat anything. So I know hopefully, eventually, they'll get there, but we're in this, like, little phase right now where I'm trying to just get them to eat. I just want them to eat. I don't care what they eat. I just want them to eat the dinner.

Radwa Elkaffas:

So I will make the same things over and over and over again because I know they like it, and I know they'll eat it. So

Alia Elkaffas:

I was gonna say a lot of times, like, even, like, for example, we do have, like, a southwest salad in the cookbook. So what I'll do instead of assembling it altogether as a salad, I kind of keep it some of the components separate so all the kids could kind of grab what they do like and what they don't like. So that way, it's like it feels custom to them versus, you know, making it putting everything together and forcing them to eat it as is.

Stephanie:

That's smart. It's like the Chipotle method. Right? Giving them choices. Yep. I I do think too, like, we spend a lot of time worrying about stuff that's probably not super consequential in the grand scheme of life. Kids are gonna eat, you know. Sooner or later, they're gonna eat. Sooner or later, they're gonna develop their palate whether, you know, they were part of the clean plate club or not.

Stephanie:

It feels like kind of a weird thing to worry about looking back on my childhood and how much time and struggle there was about, like, what you ate and you couldn't leave the table till you ate it and just kinda dumb. When you think about social media with your kids, I noticed that we don't really see your kids. Is that intentional, or how do you feel like you want your kids to show up as, teenagers and young adults in this profile of their moms being so famous?

Alia Elkaffas:

Yes. That is a great question. So we purposely, we do not put our kids on social media, and we have very, very little images of images of them anywhere just to protect their privacy as well. You know? And it's like once stuff is out in social media, once it's out in the world, it's out there forever. So, yeah, we choose to keep them up.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Sure that they have that decision later. You know? Like, it will not come back at us. Like, why did you put me on there? You know? Have that choice later. And so now we're gonna be mama bears and just protect them.

Stephanie:

I think too we're seeing, the social media I guess Facebook just turned 20 recently, which is hard to believe. But when it first came about, you know, like, we were just on it, and it was new, and it was exciting, and we didn't really think about the big picture. And I think now if I had my daughter's 25. So if I had it I made her wait till 13. And if I had to do it all over again and I was in this day and age, I definitely would I might get my kid, like, a flip phone or something terrible that they can only call me on, but I would have waited because I do think social media adds an element to young, kids' lives that maybe they don't need or aren't ready for it until later.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Absolutely. A 100% agree with you on that.

Stephanie:

How do your parents feel about your business?

Radwa Elkaffas:

I think it took them such a long time to fully understand it.

Stephanie:

It's probably so

Radwa Elkaffas:

weird. Grasp what we what it is exactly we are doing. But I we know that they're so proud of us and super excited to see us do this and, you know, especially mom, you know, she was a really big influence for us growing up and in in the cooking world. So we love making them proud.

Stephanie:

Do you have anxiety about, like, keeping up or, like, always being on the churn? And what do you do for, like, self care?

Alia Elkaffas:

Oh, that's a great one. Yes. I'd say we do have definitely have the anxiety, but we try to we always talk each other down, calm each other down, and just know that, you know, just talk things through together. But and I'd say probably self care. We like to work out just to kind of, you know, really get the release those endorphins. You know?

Radwa Elkaffas:

And we we actually do yell at each other, like, stop working. You need to stop working. Stop looking at your screen. Put your computer down. Stop doing this. We do that all all the time to each other.

Alia Elkaffas:

Yep.

Stephanie:

What are your favorite types of workouts?

Radwa Elkaffas:

I would say lifting and walking.

Stephanie:

What was lifting and walking?

Alia Elkaffas:

Yep. Same lifting, walking, and, you know, doing some sort of cardio.

Stephanie:

Yeah. And you have kids too. So you're probably trying to fit it in when you can. And it's hard to, like, go to a structured gym and do all that when you've got a lot of family at home and, a structured gym and do all that when you've got a lot of family at home. And how do you feel about working from home? And does that work for your schedules? Or do you ever visualize, like, someday having an office where you have all your production stuff? And

Radwa Elkaffas:

I I love working from home because of the flexibility and having everything at home where you could quickly just, but it it's definitely a challenge to disconnect sometimes because work is home, home is work. So it's hard to, like, break the 2 apart. But it's nice that we have 2 houses. So if we need a break from 1 house, we go to the other one.

Stephanie:

Yeah. That is nice. Like, just it because it can just feel so much like, oh, you're just in your house all the time doing all this stuff.

Alia Elkaffas:

And it's it really is hard to disconnect. So it's not like we try to have work hours, but it's like it's almost impossible. So, like, we'll work, and then we'll take a break, even run kids' activities, come back, finish working. So it's like it feels like sometimes it's like a nonstop cycle. But, yeah, that's when we have to put each other in check, say, get off and go take a break.

Stephanie:

Yeah. Okay. Switching gears, what is your and each of you can have a separate answer, of course, but what is your, like, most used kitchen utensil or gadget or thing that, like, you could not live without?

Radwa Elkaffas:

Air fryer.

Stephanie:

That was so fast.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Absolutely. I have to suck at her on.

Stephanie:

Yeah. Yep. Really? I I use my air fryer so rarely. It's in the garage. Like, do you use it every day? What are you doing with it?

Radwa Elkaffas:

Every single day. Like, there is not a day that goes by that I don't use that.

Alia Elkaffas:

Really? For reheating things, for making things. We actually do have some instructions in the cookbook. Like, if if you wanna make this recipe in an air fryer, how to do that. But it just makes things so much easier even if, like, the kids wanna make chicken and fries or something. You know? It crisps it up perfectly, and it feels like you're eating it, you know, freshly, like, deep fried. You know?

Stephanie:

Alright. I'm gonna have to get my air fryer out of the garage and give it another try. I just I don't know. It's like, and I have a convection oven too. So I think the convection oven does the same thing, but I don't have kids, so maybe that's different, you know, just the speed and convenience of it being right on the counter like that.

Radwa Elkaffas:

And you mentioned what we do on there. And, honestly, like, even we do, like, French toast. Like, if you wanna make French toast, you can throw your French toast in there. Or if you make a marinated chicken, just throw it in there, shut it, and it's done in no time. And you don't have to worry about a mess.

Stephanie:

Yeah. And it goes faster too. You guys will be on a book tour, I'm imagining. Is that all coming together, and how is that feeling?

Radwa Elkaffas:

It's exciting. Super excited to do that. That's gonna be end of February, beginning of March. We have we're stopping at 5 different cities. So we're really excited about that.

Alia Elkaffas:

And our last office is gonna be here in Minneapolis.

Stephanie:

So we're gonna so great. Do you know where you're gonna be or what you're doing yet?

Alia Elkaffas:

We're gonna be at the Barnes and Noble in Edina. So that'll be where I don't think we have a confirmed time yet, but that'll be on March. It's a Sunday, March 2nd, I believe.

Stephanie:

Alright. Well, when you know, just let me know, and I'll make sure and share it. It's been super fun just chatting with you guys. I knew just from kinda following you that I like, oh, I'm gonna like these girls. But really, honestly, it was, like, one of my best days. And I just so proud of you, and I feel like you know, how you you meet people and you want them to be successful or you're so proud of their success? That's how I feel about you guys. You really work hard, and you've really earned, everything that's coming your way. And I think the book's gonna be amazing, and it was just it's been fun to just be a little tiny, tiny part of the journey for a second.

Stephanie:

It's been a blast.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Thank you so much. And, honestly, your energy that you brought to that table last week was everything. You made us feel so good, and we we we felt like a $1,000,000 after you left. So thank

Alia Elkaffas:

you for having me. So honored to have gotten to work with you, and now we get to be friends and Yes.

Stephanie:

I'm I'm actually I just I'm planning, I I I booked a do you know, a Khmeran feast at Vinay? And I've had one for a while, and so I was like, oh, I wonder. Maybe I'll do a gathering of, like, food ladies just to do something fun and different.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Yeah.

Stephanie:

Alright, you guys. Your book's gonna be great. Keep me in the loop. I'll keep you in the loop if anything fun's happening. And just thanks for being taste buds.

Radwa Elkaffas:

Awesome. Thank you so much.

Stephanie:

Alright. We'll see you soon. Bye. Bye bye.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

I am thrilled to bring you the latest episode of "Dishing with Stephanie's Dish," where we welcome the incredibly talented Hayden Haas, the creative mind behind "Simply Delishaas: Favorite Recipes from the Midwestern Kitchen." Discover Hayden’s unique path from being a dishwasher on the Food Network to becoming an assistant to Molly Yeh and, eventually, a renowned cookbook author and now Minneapolis resident! Follow Hayden on Instagram @haydendelishaas

Featured Recipes

This pickle soup recipe is from Hayden’s Food Blog where he has other delicious recipes including the Cranberry Tortellini recipe we talked about from the book.

Pickle Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients:

* 3 russet potatoes or 3c (2-3pounds) diced (this also works with frozen potatoes) (300- 420g)

* 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil (13g)

* 2 carrots roughly chopped (130g)

* 2 stalks of celery roughly chopped (120g)

* 1 yellow onion, diced (150g)

* 6 cloves of garlic, minced (60g)

* 2 tbsp butter (14g)

* 4 tbsp ap flour (30g)

* Salt and pepper to preference 

* 4- 6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth (940-1410g)

* 1 heaping cup of dill pickles chopped (about 5-6 pickles)

* 1/2c pickle brine (127g)

* 1 bunch of fresh dill, divided (100g)

* 2 bay leaves (less than a gram) 

* 1 tsp fresh thyme (10g)

* 1c freshly grated havarti cheese (83-100g)

* 1/2c heavy cream (119g)

* For garnish

* Heavy cream for drizzling, sriracha for drizzling and remaining fresh dill  

If you’d like an addition I grew up eating  this with garlic bread! 

* In a large pot over high heat begin boiling about 6cups of salted water. Once boiling add in potatoes, boil and drain.  ( you can make this all in one pot or two separate ones!

* cook for 20 minutes and drain. If using a second, over medium heat add olive oil, onion, celery, carrot and garlic. 

* Cook until translucent about 8-10 minutes . Season with salt and pepper to preference (I use about 1tsp of each) 

* Once translucent, add in butter and melt then flour and mix until coated. Slowly start to incorporate the broth (you’ll see it change to a light creamy color) add in the potatoes, pickles, pickle brine, fresh herbs and simmer for 20-30 minutes over medium heat. Add in the cheese and heavy cream and mix until combined! 

You can enjoy from here or dress a bowl! To a bowl add your soup, a drizzle of heavy cream, sriracha and fresh dill! Enjoy!

Pickle Popcorn

This Pickle Popcorn recipe is from Hayden’s Food Blog He calls is Netflix and (Chi)Dill

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Oil of choice (see tips)

1/2c  Popcorn kernels (a heaping 1/2c)

5 tbsp (or more) Good quality butter (I like to use Kerrygold) 

½ bunch Dill fresh or dried, chopped

½ tsp Italian seasoning 

½ tsp Garlic powder 

½ tsp Onion powder 

1 tsp cheese powder (optional) 

3 tsp Pickle juice (brine) from a jar of pickles

Salt ( i would recommend fine salt for this)

-optional hot sauce for serving if youre Selena Gomez

Tips: you can use avocado oil, refined coconut oil, vegetable oil, or even olive oil! I would recommend using a dutch oven or your favorite soup pot for this recipe (something with a lid)

Instructions

To a large pot over medium to high heat, add the oil, when the oil is hot add 2 or 3 kernels to test to see if its ready, then add the rest of the kernels and cover, leave a little crack to let some steam escape if needed. Another helpful tip when making popcorn over the stove, is to gently wiggle the pot while holding the lid and handles to jiggle the kernels around. Listen to the kernels, when it has mostly stopped popping, removed from the heat then add to a large bowl.

In the meantime begin melting the butter on the stove or microwave in 15 second intervals. Add the seasonings to the butter along with the pickle juice, stir to combine, slowly incorporate over the popcorn and give it a light shake to distribute the pickley butter. Serve immediately! Store in an air tight container, Enjoy!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:16]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space, cookbook authors, people generally obsessed with food. I am holding in my hot little hands favorite recipes from the Midwestern Kitchen. Book is called simply Delicious by Hayden Haas. Delicious. I love the title. It's so funny.

Hayden Haas [00:00:39]:

Thank you so much, and thank you for having me on.

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:41]:

Oh, it's a blast. So let us talk about your cookbook and, like, use you somehow have not been on my radar. And then I, like, found your Instagram, and I was like, oh my gosh. This guy's from the Midwest. He has almost 500,000 followers. He's friends with Molly Yeh. I mean, how would how tell us about how you got started in the cookbook world because you must have been a food stylist. Your book is incredible.

Hayden Haas [00:01:06]:

Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Yes. I did have a little bit experience, with, food styling. I got my start on Food Network surprisingly as a dishwasher and sort of led me, on an unexpected path into the food world where I was then met with Molly and then, you know, the pandemic happened one thing or another. And then I was her personal assistant and then got to see all everything that's involved with that whole world. And Molly was such a joy and kinda taught me how to write my own recipes. And I'm so thankful for all the time that I did spend with her, learning behind the scenes.

Hayden Haas [00:01:51]:

The most important part was obviously the recipe development but also kind of, when I was working behind the scenes I kind of learned how to film and direct my own videos as well as, edit them at the same time too. So it was kind of just a full package deal. I still to this day don't even really realize that I'm doing so many people's jobs, and I'm so thankful that I had that opportunity.

Stephanie Hansen [00:02:18]:

Yeah. Your your book is well, it's beautifully shot, and you can tell, there's a lot of lifestyle to it and, yes, we're looking at recipes, but many times we're looking at, not completed recipes, like the ingredients of making it. There's a lot of color in the book. Whoever did the design, it has a real rainbow flare, which I think is really cute. Yes. I just loved it. I really got the book, and it feels really like, if I knew you, I feel like this is really a reflection of you.

Hayden Haas [00:02:54]:

Thank you so much. I that was something that was really important to me. I kind of think of this as, like, my debut album. And I it's so so special to me because one of my best friends actually took all of the photography for me, and there's so much, family and friends and everything tied into it. And my designer's name was Lindsey Dobbs from Penguin Random House. So I I really wanted to include a lot of color. That was something that was really important to me and kind of all seasons. Even though,You know, it is based mostly in the Midwest, and we have winter here maybe, like, 6 to 9 months of the year. So, trying to cover all of those bases and get pictures was probably the hardest part.

Stephanie Hansen [00:03:42]:

Yeah. And people I mean, just the shooting of a book and having the seasonality to it, it is hard. Like, I'm working on a book that's a sort of cozy winter cooking book, but we haven't had snow for over a year. So I'm trying to find snowy pictures.

Hayden Haas [00:04:01]:

Yes. Yes. You're also a published author, and I was just checking out your books as well.

Stephanie Hansen [00:04:07]:

I am a published author, but I think I'm in a different vein than you. Because while I do like developing recipes, my point of view is usually typically from, like, someone's inspired from a grandma or a friend or and then I kinda take it and make it my own. I am getting a little more confident in just being like, oh, I'm just gonna make this and kinda knowing how things come together.

Hayden Haas [00:04:33]:

Yeah. And that's, something that's super important in my cookbook too because that was inspired by all the important women in my life, like my mom and my grandmas and, you know, of course, like Molly, there's so many people who have contributed to me at this point that I couldn't not also include them and all these people who have motivated me and supported me, including all of my followers and stuff. Like, this wasn't originally my intended career path, but I am so thankful that it is.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:04]:

What was your intended career path?

Hayden Haas [00:05:06]:

I went to school for architecture and drafting. I had dreams of becoming an architect, and then I decided that that wasn't really where my heart was, but it was a very good paying job.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:18]:

And you live in North Dakota. Is that correct?

Hayden Haas [00:05:21]:

No. I actually recently just relocated to Minneapolis.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:25]:

Oh, so you're probably like a neighbor somewhere.

Hayden Haas [00:05:28]:

Yeah. I'm freshly here for a couple of months, so I'm still kind of catching my bearings and, making my little space home, but Minneapolis has been so welcoming, and I have literally no complaints. It's a really great place to be.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:45]:

Yeah. So now are you here for a short time? Or

Hayden Haas [00:05:49]:

No. I'm here to stay until further notice.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:53]:

Okay. So I need to I'm gonna connect with you, and we'll have a cup of coffee, and maybe I could help because do you need do you need this sounds so weird. Do you need friends?

Hayden Haas [00:06:05]:

I do need friends. Yes. Been so actively looking for friends. I need more foodie friends. You know, I'm kind of like I don't wanna say I'm a shut in, but since I work from home, I just cook all this food, and I get to share it with all my friends and neighbors. So it's just a great little opportunity and kind of like a howdy neighbor to Minneapolis.

Stephanie Hansen [00:06:29]:

Yeah. I love it. And same. So I'm always cooking tons of food. I'm also, like, because of the radio show, we go out a lot, but I'm always looking for people to eat with. I know that seems weird, but, like, not everyone loves to go out.

Hayden Haas [00:06:46]:

I'm also in that category. I also love having people over because, you know, you make a ton of cozy recipes. So it's like when you provide that environment of home and, just being able to host somebody in your home is just so wonderful, and that really fills my cup.

Stephanie Hansen [00:07:04]:

Yeah. Alright. Well, we've got a mission to get you introduced because we're getting into what I think could be the long winter months. I don't know. It's 80 degrees out, and it's practically Halloween, so it's very weird.

Hayden Haas [00:07:17]:

Wow. So strange how that's happening. I always knew Minneapolis was slightly warmer than where I'm from in North Dakota by at least 20 degrees. So I'm like, oh, if this is really what it's like, I'm all on board.

Stephanie Hansen [00:07:29]:

No. It's not at all. It's usually cold as hell. Alright. So I first found out about you from my friend Paul Folger from channel 5.

Hayden Haas [00:07:41]:

Oh.

Stephanie Hansen [00:07:41]:

And he was telling me about when you were on Twin Cities Live with him and Elizabeth and that you brought this pickle popcorn.

Hayden Haas [00:07:52]:

Yes.

Stephanie Hansen [00:07:53]:

Okay. And I'm obsessed with popcorn so much so that I really am not supposed to eat it because I used to eat so much of it. I had, like, stomach problems.

Hayden Haas [00:08:03]:

Oh, no.

Stephanie Hansen [00:08:05]:

But he brings me in this ziplock bag full of this pickle popcorn, and pickles are like, I'm obsessed with pickles, and I love popcorn. How did you think of the pickle popcorn recipe? Because it's a great recipe.

Hayden Haas [00:08:19]:

Thank you. I am in the same category as you as popcorn was literally my favorite snack when I was growing up. I just made a video talking about this slightly. Like, I was such a little weirdo with my popcorn. I mean, after school, we lived pretty close to a movie theater, so you could, like, pop in and grab some movie theater popcorn as a great little snack. So popcorn's always been one of my favorite things, along with pickles. So combining the 2 just kind of felt great. I love using pickle brine as an ingredient, and any opportunity to use fresh dill.

Hayden Haas [00:08:55]:

And we all know and love butter, so I kinda just fell hand in hand.

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:00]:

This is funny because I really am obsessed with dill too just because I grow it and it's like it volunteers in your garden where you don't want it, and then you're like, oh, I have dill, and you just have so much of it. You just end up using it all over.

Hayden Haas [00:09:14]:

And I think that's such a great problem to have too. I I don't know. It's either dill either because I'm also a little bit of a gardener myself. You can either grow it, and then it'll have, like, a bunch of abundance, or you're just done for it and you're not gonna have dill that year.

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:28]:

Yeah. I've had those years too. And then, like, the years you have it, you're like, wow. What I thought was so fascinating about the popcorn recipe was that you used the brine with the butter and it it didn't completely sog out the popcorn. Like, it did have kind of a, day after taste a little bit, but I love that about popcorn.

Hayden Haas [00:09:50]:

Me too. I, not to go back to movie theater popcorn, but I always loved it more the second day.

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:58]:

Yeah.

Hayden Haas [00:09:58]:

So when when you kind of combine those together and you coat them kind of gradually, it, you know, you don't want it to be, like, soggy from all of the butter and whatnot. So kind of figuring out how that works is, you know, you kind of figure it out the more often you make popcorn.

Stephanie Hansen [00:10:14]:

Well, Paul said that you were considering putting it in your next book.

Hayden Haas [00:10:19]:

Yes. I haven't announced that I'm doing the next book or anything like that, but I am so happy to share it. And so that is one of the next, recipes that I do plan on sharing. But it is already available to share on my blog, and I would happily make a video for everyone to follow along with.

Stephanie Hansen [00:10:38]:

Yeah. I really loved, he brought it in. I am not supposed to eat popcorn. I ate a handful. I loved it. And he was like, oh, no. You can just keep the bag. I was like, Paul, I can't because I have no self control, and I will end up eating this entire bag either by the time the show's over or on the way home

Hayden Haas [00:10:58]:

in the car. Totally delightful.

Stephanie Hansen [00:10:59]:

We laughed about that. When you your book has everything. Like, you have desserts, you have cozy casseroles and hot dishes, you have drinks, which I also really enjoy. I have a lot of drinks in my book too. You've got a lot of soups. We're in the Midwest. Right? Soups are great. How did you decide? You have a lot of recipes in here too.

Stephanie Hansen [00:11:22]:

Like, they must have been cutting you off.

Hayden Haas [00:11:24]:

I we had kind of a tricky time deciding on we did originally have more recipes that we wanted to do, but we kind of decided on, you know, the photography that was really important to include and any, like, follow along steps. But there's over a 125 recipes. I tried to make it, kind of accessible, for everybody to be able to shop because I came from a really small town where, you know, some of the largest stores you had were probably like a Walmart or something along those lines, Target, Walmart. So you should be able to shop most of these ingredients from places like those wherever you are in the world. So I took a lot of thought into that. So you based on things that you have in your pantry and or fridge that are just like staples to always keep on hand. I it was really important to me to, share with the reader that you can make all these delicious things with things that you probably already have. A lot of my personal favorites, I'm a big breakfast and brunch kinda guy.

Hayden Haas [00:12:28]:

I also love, like, the meat and potatoes of things. I think that's kind of very Midwest. If you know my dad, he's, like, always more protein, always more protein. Just can't get enough of that meat. And soups are kind of like my favorite thing in the entire I think it should have its own food group because it's just the best, and I love just always

Stephanie Hansen [00:12:52]:

You and I are gonna be fast friends, dude. I can just tell.

Hayden Haas [00:12:55]:

No. We need to have you over for a fine bowl of soup. And then, of course, I'm not much of a sweet tooth, but I love making them for other people. And then same with, the adult beverages, there's mocktail options in there too. So I really wanted to cover all of the bases, things that I regularly enjoy or that were from my childhood and nostalgic, but slightly modernized and from foods of all kinds of cultures that I really wanted to share and also put my own little fusion or twist on.

Stephanie Hansen [00:13:24]:

You seem very excited about your food life. Do you ever feel, like, taxed by it? I mean, with so many followers, you gotta be spending a lot of time on social media. Does it ever feel like you're giving up too much or just like you're burned out?

Hayden Haas [00:13:39]:

I I that's a great question. Thank you so much for asking. I definitely experience burnout, on those days. I would say that I film maybe like 3 or 4 days of the week, and sometimes it can be 2 recipes, sometimes it can be 3. So it kind of just depends, weighing on my schedule and then other projects that I have going on, trying to make that all work. It's so much fun and stressful at the same time. I love it so much that it doesn't always feel like work, but that doesn't mean that I don't get emotionally or physically taxed from it. So sometimes where I'm like, today is not a filming day or, like, let's say I get, like, a zit or something like that.

Hayden Haas [00:14:20]:

You know? Because we all have everyday problems and stuff like that too. I, that's also really important where it's like, I don't, like, edit any of my videos where it's, like, lighting them different or even when I'm food styling, it's not like I'm doing anything crazy. So I want people to when they see a video or recipe of mine where it's like, how you see it is probably how it's gonna show up. That's, you know, how I intended it. And I tested that recipe 10 times or a 100 times. So it's like, I want you to have that result because I know the person at home, whether they're living on a budget or, you know, just trying to get more experience in the kitchen, that they have that confidence and they can pretty much jump into any recipe in the book that you know, it's anybody from any walk of life would be able to. So that was super important. And but sorry to get back to your original question, being taxed by the or tax or burnout.

Hayden Haas [00:15:19]:

I definitely experienced burnout, but those are the days where I'm like, it's more of a work on my computer type of day and Right. Let's order some takeout.

Stephanie Hansen [00:15:28]:

Yeah. I, when I looked at your book too, because I'm in the final like, I'm just in the final edits of my book. Yeah. That's due December 31st for my second one. We have a couple of, like, similar recipes. They're different, but they're similar. So it'll be fun to see when we when mine's out, we can kinda compare notes on some of the recipes.

Hayden Haas [00:15:53]:

I would love that. And that's something that I also value so much about the community and followers that I've built is a lot of these people do try the recipes, whether they post it or share it or whatever. People are making it for their families, and it's bringing so many people together, which is what makes me so happy. Or I love when somebody makes, like, a soup or a dessert recipe for, like, their friends and stuff because that's what I love to do. Yeah. It just feels full circle and it really makes my day.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:24]:

So what is the first dish that you remember, like, making yourself? Can you remember? Did you cook as a kid?

Hayden Haas [00:16:32]:

There's so many things. My mom always had us in the kitchen. So we were always doing, like, baking and fun stuff like that. A recipe I guess this the one I can remember the most is not actually, like, an eating type recipe, but my mom and I used to make our own Play Doh.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:49]:

Yes.

Hayden Haas [00:16:50]:

Yes. And, I mean, occasionally, I'm sure I you know, kids eat Play Doh, so I would taste it and be like, oh, that's salty. And so, like, not quite a recipe that's supposed to be edible, but that's the one that I think about and I wanna share all the time, but I don't have any kids to play Play Doh with.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:05]:

That's funny. No. I think, yeah, we made that a lot as kids. And, also, I don't even know why we ever made this, but we used to make our own, like, homemade tootsie rolls.

Hayden Haas [00:17:15]:

Oh my gosh. I bet that was so special.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:17]:

Yeah. And I don't know where we got the recipe or why we would make those, but I had sisters and so that's what we would do.

Hayden Haas [00:17:24]:

You have a mother's sweet little treat like that.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:26]:

Yeah. Are you a freezer hoarder because you're cooking so much?

Hayden Haas [00:17:30]:

Oh, yeah. There's a lot of, disorganization that happens in but at the same time, I'm pretty good about, not having food waste. I kind of like auction things off to my neighbors and, you know, people that I meet that are kind of like within the vicinity where I'll say like, hey. For example, I just made, my breakfast pizza recipe and so I can kinda just auction it off to my friends who are all super busy and whatnot. And, oh, it's just great because I kinda get to feed my own little community and get their feedback at the same time where it's like, yeah. Don't add onions to this or that was too salty or something like that. So it's so helpful to get that here.

Stephanie Hansen [00:18:12]:

I'm creeping my neighbors out actually because I'm always like I just this morning, I did a TV segment. I had all these rice crispy bars. I didn't want them in the house because I'll eat them. So I just loaded up paper plates and kinda went door to door. And people are just like my neigh my next door neighbor, I know. She's just like because I this in this week alone, I've brought them a chicken pasta dish. I brought them apple muffins, and then I brought them rice crispy bars. And that's, like, within the last 3 days.

Hayden Haas [00:18:46]:

Yeah. I don't hear the problem in any of this. I think you're probably the favorite neighbor.

Stephanie Hansen [00:18:51]:

I hope.

Hayden Haas [00:18:52]:

I'm sure of it because I do the same thing. I was dropping off tiramisu, cheesecake, and some pizza and brownie. So we're in the same category. And if they don't want those leftovers, I'll take them.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:05]:

That's so funny. Yeah. I need to I just I feel like, oh my gosh. These people probably think I'm so crazy because I'm always just

Hayden Haas [00:19:12]:

Oh.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:13]:

Walking door to door with piles of food. And I have a brand new neighbor that's literally right next to me that I haven't met yet. And they looked like they moved in over the weekend and then maybe were are doing some painting. So I left some of the muffins on their, like, door. And I my friend said, she goes, do you real do these people realize who you are and, like, what a gift it's gonna be living next to you? I'm like, I don't know.

Hayden Haas [00:19:42]:

No. I, 100% support all of that. Spread the love. I always say it's like, Nesquik, don't come for me, like, legally, but I always say share the wealth. And if your wealth is baked goods, share them. People are gonna love it. Exactly.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:55]:

And then

Hayden Haas [00:19:55]:

it's not like you're gonna give them anything terrible or anything. Yeah. We only weigh our best creations. Right?

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:01]:

Yes. Exactly. So when you were at Food Network, you did you directly work on Molly's show or did you work on some other shows too?

Hayden Haas [00:20:10]:

I worked on Molly did a couple of things with HGTV, so that was fun to see what that was like. But I did, I started off as a dishwasher and then moved up to a food stylist. And then, at the same time, I was also Molly's assistant. And I've also had my own little touch of reality television because I was on Food Network's Chopped.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:35]:

Oh, you were.

Hayden Haas [00:20:37]:

It was love.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:37]:

Hear about that.

Hayden Haas [00:20:39]:

It was really fun. I did a blind date episode where yeah. It was so much fun. I was matched with somebody that I had never met before. And so you kinda go on a blind date. And then, you know, you get the basket with all of the mystery ingredients. And I think my ingredients were, like, like a cranberry kiss cocktail and, like, a red tail snapper and some heart shaped ravioli. And we I my partner and I, when we went into it, we initially kind of had, like, a situation where I was like, do you wanna take the lead, or do you want me to be sous chef or whatever? And he decided he wanted to be the lead, then I was like, I'll support you whatever you wanna do through the way.

Hayden Haas [00:21:25]:

So I was happy to do that. I wouldn't have, necessarily made the dish that we ended up making. Spoiler alert, I didn't end up winning, but it is still a really great episode, and I'm still friends with all the women on that show. So

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:38]:

So what did you end up making? Because I was listening to your ingredients and thinking, oh, well, the cranberry's gotta be a sauce.

Hayden Haas [00:21:45]:

Sure. If you're familiar with, like, kind of like a pate situation, it was kinda like that but with fish. So not not always a big winner. If I could have made what I wanted to, you since you have the cookbook right there, I won I would have made or leaned in towards my cranberry tortellini recipe.

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:04]:

Yeah.

Hayden Haas [00:22:05]:

And I think that would have, like, surprising people. But it also might have been, like, kinda boring because it's, like, pasta and Alfredo cranberry sauce or whatever. You know?

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:15]:

No. Alfredo sauce is never boring. I don't care. I feel like I eat noodles 62 times a week.

Hayden Haas [00:22:22]:

Yeah. I'm always a huge advocate of pasta myself.

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:26]:

Yeah. That's I'm gonna just go to that recipe right now, and we're gonna talk about it. Because, I love pasta. I eat pasta all the time. And I made spaghetti for a friend this weekend, and she came over and she goes, no offense, but can we just order takeout? I really hate noodles. What? I was like, who are you?

Hayden Haas [00:22:48]:

Interesting.

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:49]:

Yeah. I thought it was. Okay. So for cranberry sauce, let's see what we have in there. Here we are. Yep. Oh, I went on the wrong page.

Hayden Haas [00:23:03]:

Puerto Rican Alfredo sauce that we make from scratch, and then I do have my grandma's cranberry recipe. It it is like a I like I guess I like my cranberry sauce a touch sweeter, but, you know, you can make it as bitter as you want to.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:21]:

Okay. This looks really good. It's got it's the sauce is kinda pink. It's got a sun dried tomato, mushrooms, artichoke hearts. Looks delicious.

Hayden Haas [00:23:29]:

Yeah. Big fan. When I was in college, there was this little restaurant, not not Olive Garden. But when when I was waiting when I was waiting tables in college, that was one of the more popular dishes from that restaurant.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:46]:

Let's talk about all the, like, plates and the dishes in your book. Are these all things you own, or did you guys rent things?

Hayden Haas [00:23:53]:

No. I did not rent things. All of those were things that I do own because I am kind of a mix match person. So none of my plates match. None of my cups match. I, maybe a bit of a maximalist, if you will. So I love selection. I also kind of display them in my dining room.

Hayden Haas [00:24:14]:

So then whenever I have somebody over, I'm, like, grab any glass. So then that person kind of gets to pick whatever fun glass or fork or plate, whatever they

Stephanie Hansen [00:24:23]:

Phew. I love that idea.

Hayden Haas [00:24:25]:

So much fun. And then, you know, you always get really fun pictures at the same time.

Stephanie Hansen [00:24:30]:

Yeah. For sure. And I am feeling a little bit like and and I'm getting to the end of this book, so I'm feeling a little horny at this point. And, like, oh, I need to, like, maybe get rid of some of this stuff or repurpose it to the next house. Goodwill is my friend, but sometimes the things go back to the Goodwill too. Right?

Hayden Haas [00:24:48]:

Hey. You just don't have to tell me. I'm a avid thrifter myself, so I love, finding, like, a plate or 2 every time you visit or something where you're like, I have a vision for this particular plate, and it's gonna have some delicious pasta on it. And or here's this old pillowcase that I could sew into a napkin or something. So it's like, repurpose those things, make them beautiful, and share them with everyone.

Stephanie Hansen [00:25:14]:

Okay. I love that you would actually repurpose a pillowcase into a napkin.

Hayden Haas [00:25:17]:

Oh, and I've turned an old tablecloth into something els Shoot. It's all mix-and-match. I tell you, I love it. I have a whole cabinet ’ whole cabinet just for my linens.

Stephanie Hansen [00:25:29]:

Can you think of something, like, where you got a real score at a thrift store? Like, do you have a favorite thing you thrifted?

Hayden Haas [00:25:37]:

Good question. I do, but I don't have, I really would love to provide, like, a image for you. But I since I am such an avid thrifter, I have a whole collection on my living room wall of mirrors. Cool. So it's kind of like you know how people have those, like, picture collages and stuff in

Stephanie Hansen [00:25:59]:

the house?

Hayden Haas [00:26:00]:

It's kinda like that, but for mirrors. So it's like the whole and they're all different kinds. Like, some are new and nice. Like, I'm sure some are from, like, a Target or whatever. Sure. Got a cute one. But they're all different kinds and, some have little stands on them. I've my favorite one is, like, this vintage cover girl mirror.

Hayden Haas [00:26:21]:

Oh, it's so it's, like, tiny and cute. I everybody loves it when they come and check it out.

Stephanie Hansen [00:26:26]:

Oh, that's fun.

Hayden Haas [00:26:27]:

Yeah. And I don't know if a mirror is probably the greatest example because I really don't even look at myself in the mirror that much, but it's just such a fun little, addition to home and calling it cozy, and it's always a conversation starter when somebody walks in the door. And I Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen [00:26:46]:

It sure sounds like it.

Hayden Haas [00:26:48]:

Say that they wanna copy it. I'm like, it's all yours. Please enjoy.

Stephanie Hansen [00:26:52]:

So when you think about, a cookbook that you wish you had written, can you think of 1?

Hayden Haas [00:27:02]:

A cookbook I wish I would have written.

Stephanie Hansen [00:27:04]:

Yeah. Like, you just find it so inspiring.

Hayden Haas [00:27:07]:

I there's so many people that I'm inspired by. That's so tough. I would say somebody who I am always inspired by what is Molly Ye, of course.

Stephanie Hansen [00:27:19]:

Yeah.

Hayden Haas [00:27:20]:

I learned so much from my time with her. There's a couple of other people who are kind of influential. So going back a little bit when I was kind of burnt out in between architecture and whatnot, also very Minnesota of me, I went to go work for Target, like, part time, but then they ended up wanting me as a manager, which is great. I loved my time with them. In that time shift, that's when I started cooking for myself, and I really didn't have, like, social media before that. So it, like, started out fresh at, like, the age of 27 and started posting, like, food, blogs, pictures, like, kind of starting out, my own little food photography or food journey. And I started my mom had gifted me Chrissy Teigen's cookbook. And I was, so thankful for that, and I cooked my way through it.

Hayden Haas [00:28:10]:

And I started sharing some recipes, and she started commenting and liking on some of my things. And that inspired me to do more, which kinda led me on my way to meet Molly Ye. But there's so many other people like Anthony Bourdain and, you know, most of the people on Food Network. So that was, like, so funny that in my small little town that I was given, like, an opportunity for something I didn't think I would ever have.

Stephanie Hansen [00:28:34]:

Yeah. So And Chrissy Teigen's cravings book, I thought that that was a good cookbook. She's got

Hayden Haas [00:28:41]:

about 3 or 4 in her series. I've haven't done as much investigating into the newer books, but the first couple were so great and, like, everything, you know, you can pretty much make from home.

Stephanie Hansen [00:28:55]:

Yeah. I really liked Pepper's book too, her mom.

Hayden Haas [00:28:58]:

Oh, yeah. I also have that one. She's so cute.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:00]:

Cute. Do you have, like, a white Pyrenees? Or what's your dog?

Hayden Haas [00:29:03]:

This is Max. You'll see a ton of him in the cookbook also.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:07]:

Cute.

Hayden Haas [00:29:08]:

He's an English cream retriever, and so Max makes a couple of, cameos in there as well.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:14]:

Well, Stanley, my dog, I was

Hayden Haas [00:29:16]:

Listen.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:17]:

Yeah. I was gonna say you you may have heard him. He was in a squeaky toy earlier, and I was like, shut the door.

Hayden Haas [00:29:23]:

I I wasn't sure if you heard Max earlier, but that was him.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:27]:

That's funny. Well, this has been a real delight. Hayden Haas, Simply Delish Haas. I it is, recipes from the Midwestern Kitchen. It's a beautiful book. I am excited to connect with you. We will eat or do something fun. I feel like we're gonna be fast friends.

Hayden Haas [00:29:46]:

We're gonna warm up at some point.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:48]:

I think so. Yes. But it was great to talk to you. Congratulations on the book. People can follow you at I'm sorry. I didn't write your Instagram down.

Hayden Haas [00:29:58]:

It's the same thing. I wanna tell you congratulations on your book, and I can't wait to get together sometime.

Stephanie Hansen [00:30:04]:

Thank you.

Hayden Haas [00:30:04]:

You can find me if you usually type in Hayden, h a y d e n, and then Delish Haws, d e l I s h a a s, because or if you just type in Hayden Haws Cook or something or other, it'll come up. I'm on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, all of the stuff.

Stephanie Hansen [00:30:26]:

Alright. I'm just I'm amazed and impressed with all the work that you're putting out, and your book is great. Thanks for being a guest today. I'm sure we'll get together soon.

Hayden Haas [00:30:35]:

Yes. Thank you again so much for having me.

Stephanie Hansen [00:30:36]:

Alright. Good to see you. Bye. Alright. Bye bye.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to another episode of "Dishing with Stephanie's Dish," where we dive into the world of food with our guests from all corners of the culinary landscape. This time, we're delighted to have Nicole Aufderhar with us, known for her Instagram page @TenThousandBakes, where she showcases her incredible baking creations. Our conversation traces her baking journey from family traditions to competing on the Great American Baking Show, where she reached the final three and participated in the finale. Nicole shares her love for Minnesota State Fair Baking and her insights into balancing a creative passion with an artistic career. Join us as we explore her baking adventures, inspirations, and the sweet success she's found along the way.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:16]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. And today, my guest is Nicole Ofterhauer, and she is at 10000 Bakes on Instagram. And we became friends, kind of funny, through the Jason show's hottest day on record at the state fair.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:00:36]:

Yes. Where we were all dying and couldn't think straight.

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:40]:

Yeah. We were just, like, sweating ourselves off, and you had made these super beautiful blueberry macarons. And you were there to talk about your experience that you'd had as a state fair baker, but also on the Great American Baking Show, which if people don't know because I still think people don't know that that show exists.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:01:01]:

They don't know. Even, like, my friends and family sometimes don't know that it exists. It's yeah. Everyone knows the British version, but surprise, there's an American one.

Stephanie Hansen [00:01:10]:

Yes. So The Great British Bake Off, spun off a great American baking show, and Nicole was a guest on it and did very well. Weren't you, like, in the final 3?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:01:20]:

Yeah. Yeah. I made it all the way to the finals.

Stephanie Hansen [00:01:22]:

Okay. So that's exciting. And I just wanna point out, I don't know when people are gonna listen to this because I'm probably gonna release it maybe this Friday or the next Friday. I haven't decided yet. But

Nicole Aufderhar [00:01:34]:

Mhmm.

Stephanie Hansen [00:01:35]:

If you haven't gotten a chance, please go right now to Nicole's Instagram page and look at 10,000 Bakes. Because, honestly, she has some of the most amazing spooky treats on there. Girl, I mean, those the skull truffles with the raspberry filling, are you kidding me?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:01:51]:

Oh, yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I I've always been kind of a Halloween nut. Like, always been my thing. The spookier, the better. And so for me, Halloween baking is kinda all about embracing kind of the quirky and weird. So I just go all in with it.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:02:07]:

It's always fun every year.

Stephanie Hansen [00:02:09]:

I mean, your stuff is real cool looking. Very beautiful. There was also a black was it what kind of a, cake was it?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:02:18]:

Yeah. So I made it was a peri breast, actually. So, like, a patichou base pastry.

Stephanie Hansen [00:02:26]:

Yeah. It looked like chew pastries stuffed or filled with, like, a cream of some sort.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:02:31]:

Yep. Yeah. So I used, black cocoa creme pat, and then there was also you couldn't see the picture, but there was, like, a raspberry gel as well. So kind of that dark chocolate raspberry thing kinda fitting with Halloween.

Stephanie Hansen [00:02:44]:

I mean, it was unbelievably fantastic looking.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:02:47]:

Oh, thanks. Yeah. Like I said, it's I get to be my weird artistic self this time of year, so it's kind of fun.

Stephanie Hansen [00:02:53]:

I like your weird artistic self. Take that and the listener kind of on the journey of how this whole thing started for you.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:03:01]:

So I have kind of been baking my entire life. You know, like, most people grew up mom in the kitchen, Nestle Toll House, Christmas cutout. You know, nothing, like, crazy, but just, you know, family baking. And as I grew up, I just kinda started to dive more and more into it. I'm kind of a shy person. So when I would go to parties, like, talking to people is stressful, but if I bring a bank, that gives me something to talk about. Sure. So, you know, I kind of started doing that more.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:03:30]:

And in college, I actually studied photography with, like, emphasis on food photography. And because I don't wanna take pictures of babies. So I decided to do the food route, and then I kinda decided that, well, if I wanna take pictures of beautiful things, I might have to learn how to bake some of these things. And so it's just kind of continued to grow and grow, and it's always been kind of my creative endeavor that's just for me and just for fun and really lets me express myself without the pressure. You know, I'm an artist full time, so I have that pressure there. So this is just just for fun, just for me. And when I saw that there was a great American baking show, which I didn't even know. You know, I've watched the British version for years, and then I saw online that they were casting for the American version.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:04:19]:

I thought, oh, well, let's let's see. Why not? You know? And I put my hat in the ring, and I made it all the way to the final round of 1st year, which I wasn't expecting. It's a very long process, and I just what I thought would maybe just be something that I'd enter and never hear from again ended up being this multiyear journey of traveling with baked goods and auditions. And after a couple 2 years of auditioning, I was cast on the show.

Stephanie Hansen [00:04:51]:

So yeah. So exciting.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:04:53]:

Yeah.

Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Stephanie Hansen [00:04:54]:

So how long from the beginning of you arriving to start the taping to when you go home is that length of time?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:05:04]:

So you are there basically for an entire month. For us, it was the entire month of August. You do a lot of prep work stateside before you go, you know, coming up with your own recipes and stuff. But once you are there, you are there the whole time. Even if you're eliminated, then you just kinda get a London vacation, but you're there for the entire month.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:24]:

So they do it in the Great British Bake Off same space?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:05:28]:

Yeah. So for the Great British Bake Off, there's 2 tents. There is a tent where they film the version everybody knows, and then there's a tent where they film, like, celebrity versions, and I believe it's coming from Janae Baycock is still there as well, but, yeah, there are 2 tents. We're in the the other tent, like so it's not the tent, but it's one of theirs.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:51]:

Yeah. And Paul and Pru are still judges.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:05:55]:

Yeah. Yeah. It's the same judges. It's Paul and Pru. We have American hosts. You know, that's the difference. People always kind of, I don't wanna say, hate on the American version, but they always say, oh, we don't like it because they're hypercompetitive, and they don't have the accents and all this. And I'm like, well, yeah, we don't have the accents.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:06:12]:

Sure. And that's the baddest. Yeah. Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen [00:06:16]:

So there's that.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:06:18]:

Yeah. So, you know, I mean, if you wanna nitpick, but it's still, like, a heartwarming, friendly show. Like, once people sit down and watch it, they're like, oh, that's actually enjoyable. I'm like, yes. That's what I've been telling you.

Stephanie Hansen [00:06:32]:

It is funny that the perception of Bake Off and what people love and what attracted me to it too was just how kind and supportive everybody is. And we've gotten used to watching these, you know, chopped and these sort of aggressive male dominated, like, shows of competition. And it is funny because I do think America in general this is a very gross generalization, but I do think we're more competitive. We're very aggressively business focused, like, success focused. And I think what is nice about The Bake Off is there's a lot of people from all these different walks of life, and they just happen to make pastry too or they're bakers.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:07:20]:

Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly what it is. And that's when I auditioned because I talked a lot about my state fair, you know, competing background. And they purposely were, like, asking me, well, are you hypercompetitive? Are you how do you feel if you don't win? You know? And so I had to make sure that I expressed that I'm not competitive despite all that. Like, I love the community behind these competitions and the friends that I've made, and they are trying to seek out people for that show that are there to just be with other bakers and have fun and get this experience and aren't there because I wanna win. And, I mean, the prize is a cake plate. You know? Like, you're not getting $20,000 or a book deal.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:08:01]:

You know? You get a cake plate. So if you're not there to just have a good time, you know, they're not gonna put you in the tent.

Stephanie Hansen [00:08:09]:

You happen to mention the state fair. Can you talk a little bit about your state fair baking experience? Because you're pretty well known and traveled in the state fair scene too. Minnesota State Fair.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:08:23]:

Yeah. Yeah. Especially the last year, people have kind of, I don't know, found my like, I've always shared about my journey with it. That's kinda why I started my Instagram page was because I wanted to share this community and show how accessible it is. Like, you don't have to be an incredible baker to enter. You just start. You just start entering stuff, and you get to meet people on entry day. And sometimes you get feedback from the judges.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:08:48]:

Sometimes you get head scratching feedback from the judges, but, like, it's just a super fun thing. And so I grew up with a step grandma who competed and kinda taught me the ropes from a young age and was kinda harsh about it, but it served me in the long run. And, so then about gosh. It's been 10 years now, I believe, I started. I did my first contest. I just entered three things, you know, just to kinda feel it out, and all 3 of them ribbon. I got 2 seconds and a 5th, and I was like, oh,

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:20]:

okay. You know? That's either this is

Nicole Aufderhar [00:09:24]:

you know, I wasn't sure what to think. I'm like, oh, this is easier than I thought, or I might actually be kinda good at baking because your friends and family are always like, oh, everything's fantastic, but is

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:33]:

it really? You know?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:09:35]:

So it's kinda given me this avenue to try new things and meet new people. And over the years, you know, I've I've done pretty well, and I've made some really amazing friends, and I just it's something I look forward to all year round.

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:48]:

What do you remember what the three things you were that you made in the first?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:09:53]:

Yeah. They weren't even I'd call them baking light. Honestly, it was like a granola bar and then some granola, and then they used to do this thing called the recipe challenge Yep. Where everyone would get the same recipe. You know? So it's kinda like the technical on the makeup, honestly, which is what appealed to me is you all get the same recipe. You kinda have to interpret it. And so I got a second place on that. I got a second place on the bars, and then I got a 5th place on the granola.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:10:23]:

And the the funny thing with the cookies was I was always under this belief that you had to enter things freshly baked that morning, you know. So I woke up early to do my final round, and they didn't they failed. The dough, I don't know what I did wrong or if it was the heat, it failed. And so I'm crying in the kitchen. I'm like, what do I do? Well, I had ones that I had stored in the freezer, like, 3 weeks ago. I mean Yeah. I was like, I wanna save them just in case, and I'm so glad I did because that's what I ended up entering were 3 week old transfer cookies, and they still placed.

Stephanie Hansen [00:10:55]:

Yeah. And a lot of people do that. Like, I know another woman, and she enters, like, 82 contests. And some of her stuff comes

Nicole Aufderhar [00:11:03]:

in

Stephanie Hansen [00:11:03]:

the freezer, and she pulls it out the night before, and that's what they enter.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:11:07]:

That's what I and that's what I've been telling people this year, especially, people are surprised to learn that I did that. And I'm like, yeah. And they're like, well, but don't they taste them? Like, yeah. You know, you can kinda tell freezer goods from the fresh, but that's what everybody else is doing. So if you're the best of the freezer bunch Yeah. You know, and it works.

Stephanie Hansen [00:11:25]:

How many categories did you enter this year?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:11:28]:

This year, I ended up doing 12, I believe it was, which I'm not I mean, there's people that show up with laundry baskets full of stuff, you know, and max out at 20. I doing 12 was a lot for me. I usually, like, keep them in the single digits. But, yeah, it went really well. Half of them ribboned. I got a smoked steaks for the first time, so it was a lot of fun this year.

Stephanie Hansen [00:11:52]:

Yeah. And what people maybe don't know I mean, you said mentioned that you're an artist. You make, leather bound journals and leather goods. And, what's your website for that? Because I wanna make sure we tell people because your work's really

Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:12:07]:

So my website is wayfaringgoods.com, and it's not wayfair like that big furniture supply place or whatever. It's spelled wayfaringgoods.com.

Stephanie Hansen [00:12:21]:

I love it. Yeah. Because you're not doing this in a professional scope.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:12:28]:

No. Baking is right now, you know, probably, you know, I don't know, forever. It's just for fun. I I love what I do with my leather business. That has been something I've been doing full time for 15 years. Like, that's really where my I don't know. I'm as passionate about baking as I am about leather, but I like keeping my leather as my business and my baking as my creative passion, which I think is important for professional creatives to have that thing without the pressure of selling.

Stephanie Hansen [00:13:03]:

And let's talk about that for a second because that's sort of uniquely American too. I think that this idea is like, oh, well, she's making all this stuff. She's in competitive realm. She's doing really well, so she must be planning a bakery because we, like, don't really just allow ourselves to have these creative outlets without making them into something. We feel the pressure from ourselves.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:13:28]:

Yeah. Oh, exactly. And I think I mean, it's so important to have that creative passion that you don't have that pressure behind. And I I think so I started my business right out of college. I could have either gone the professional photography router than what I did. And so I think because I started young, I learned how important it is to have that creative passion just for fun. I see a lot of my friends that have since pursued kinda similar art businesses, and I see them now struggling with this. Like, oh, well, I'm also good at this, so I should sell this and I should do that.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:14:05]:

And it's like, no. You don't have to sell everything you make. Like, if you're a creative person, you might be good at a lot of different creative things.

Stephanie Hansen [00:14:13]:

Yes.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:14:14]:

You know? And it stops being fun when you know, like, if I have a failure in the kitchen, I'm disappointed. You know? I get frustrated, but it's okay because it's not going anywhere. I don't have to worry about someone a customer coming. I don't have to, you know, it's a different kind of failure versus the feeling when you're struggling with the business. And so I I like having those two things very separate.

Stephanie Hansen [00:14:41]:

Yeah. I can see that too. And, also, like, this idea that because you're good at something or because you make something, then it's becomes less a hobby and then a job. And sometimes I struggle with that because I'm just cooking now between the cookbook and the show and the adjacent appearances and, my blog.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:15:02]:

I feel

Stephanie Hansen [00:15:02]:

like I'm just cooking all the time. And sometimes, like, I feel another like, I have to, like, videotape everything I'm doing. And, like, the other day, I was like, I'm not pulling out the video camera. I'm going to cook something that could I? Sure. But, I'm just going to make these apple muffins because I have apples and I feel like an apple muffin and I'm not going to videotape it and you know what? I'm not even going to write down the recipe. And I just was like I just sat in the moment. I enjoyed the bake. I loved the smell it made my house.

Stephanie Hansen [00:15:33]:

The muffins came out. I ate 1. I gave one to the dog and then I went and distributed them the neighborhood and got rid of them and came home and was like, oh, that was fun.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:15:43]:

Yeah. Isn't that's the best. That is those are that's the best feelings. And I know exactly even though, like, I don't do my baking on a professional level, just in the world of social media. Like you said, you have this pressure to film everything you do and turn everything that you do into some form of content. And that just sucks sucks the fun out of it. You know? Like, you know, sometimes it's fun, you know, but if you're not feeling it, like, don't do it. If Yeah.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:16:11]:

I don't know. You know, it's important to, like obviously, for you, it is part of your work.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:17]:

But But is it I mean, also and I'm sort of like I don't know. I'm just sort of working through this too. Like, we give a lot away of ourselves as creators, as people in a social media space, and it's just demanding. And I don't wanna, like, sound not grateful because I am because you build a platform and people really dig your stuff and that's fun, but also, like, trying to recognize what's real and what's not real sometimes.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:16:50]:

Yes. Yep. Yeah. Because people see a version of you and and a version of what you do, and they expect that over and over and over again.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:00]:

Yeah.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:17:00]:

And it can be exhausting. Yeah. And some days

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:04]:

you don't feel like delivering that.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:17:06]:

Yeah. I don't. You know? And and then sometimes I feel like, oh, I have to put it out there because I put everything out there, and then I do it and it doesn't do well or whatever. And then I stress out about that. It's like, why? Why?

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:17]:

Yeah.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:17:18]:

You know?

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:20]:

Well, you and I had coffee, and I think you well, we met at the hottest day of the year, and then you followed up. And you're like, would you ever wanna have coffee? I was like, yes. Of course. And I I also loved that you reached out to me because I do like bringing this creative online life sometimes into the real life of you and I just sitting and having a cup of coffee and talking about what we're into and what's fun. And I just I was I was appreciative that you reached out. And I I wish more people would do that kind of in a real space because I think that's how you grow and how you can help mentor others and help others find their path because so many people have helped me along the way. My goodness.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:18:04]:

Yeah. No. Yeah. And I I'm still so grateful you said yes because Sure. It is super important. And I think that people are kinda surprised when others are willing to do stuff in person and meet in person. And even for my tiny little thing that I do at the state fair, I met people online and they were worried about bugging me or asking me questions. And I'm like, why? Like, oh, I Yeah.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:18:27]:

I I and maybe not I love talking about that kind of stuff. If I can help somebody else, like, I go to competition. I'm like, so, like Yeah. Like, it's better for all of us in the long run, you know, if we're encouraging others to do it and get better and help the people where we can with stuff that we've learned along the way. And, like, I personally enjoy doing that. So that's why it was so exciting to Yeah. Get to sit and talk with you and, you know, meet someone else of the food, you know, yeah, and just learn from each other.

Stephanie Hansen [00:18:59]:

So what's next for you, Nicole? Have you thought about that?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:19:05]:

All the time. No. Again, after having done the show and now I've I've been very fortunate since the show came out with opportunities that have come my way. You know, you never know if anyone's gonna notice or pay attention or anything, and I've honestly been quite overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I have done. And so people, you know, they expect the bakery. They expect us to expect that. That is not that's not on my realm. That's not what I'm thinking at all.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:19:36]:

I long term dream, short term dream. I don't know. I always tell people I would like to do a cookbook. That is something I thought of wanting to do years. I mean, that's kinda always been in the back of my head because Yeah. I enjoy the recipe development portion of baking. So that's kinda where my strong suit is. That's where I that's what I enjoy the most.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:19:59]:

So, you know, obviously, I'm gonna be continuing on with my leather business as always Yep. Gearing up for holiday season right now. So that's, you know, the main part of my life, but I'm just gonna continue to create recipes, share that, share the state fair knowledge, and just be willing to embrace and be open to whatever might come from it.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:26]:

Alright. Let's do something fun. Are you ready for fun? Maybe. Always. I have, like, 5 to 10 questions. We'll see how it goes. Just random kinda rapid fire questions.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:20:40]:

Oh gosh.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:42]:

They're not hard. They're they're all about you. They're not hard.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:20:46]:

Okay.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:46]:

Oh, okay. Here's number 1. What is the first bake you remember making yourself?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:20:54]:

Cupcakes. Cute. Yeah. Like, as a kid? It's so basic, but that's yeah. Strawberry cupcakes with Swiss meringue buttercream. Yum. That was my first, quote, unquote, real bake that I did.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:08]:

I love it. Okay. When you go to a potluck, what do you typically bring?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:21:16]:

Macarons.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:18]:

Oh, fancy. Yes.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:21:20]:

They're easy to share. They look impressive, but they're pretty easy to whip up.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:25]:

Okay. What is the first thing you eat from a Halloween candy bucket?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:21:32]:

That's funny. Snickers popped into my head first, but Reese's are my favorite, but I guess Snickers would be my first.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:37]:

Okay. I love that. Reese's is the number one popular candy. You probably know that.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:21:41]:

Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:41]:

Yeah. What, is the restaurant that you've been to more than any other?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:21:51]:

Well, green scene since moving up to Walker. That would be yeah. Okay. I love the green scene here in town.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:57]:

And you live in Walker. I should mention that. Yes. What's your most used pan?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:22:05]:

I my little I have a little saucepan, and I will shove anything I can into it even if it's not supposed to fit. I love it.

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:12]:

I have one of those too, and it's funny. Yeah.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:22:15]:

Yeah. Yeah. Doesn't fit. Okay. I just did that last meal with some jam. It was poor decision but I think it worked.

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:21]:

But you still loved your pan. Okay. This is your last question in the in the final round of the rapid fire questioning. What's an existing cookbook you wish you had written?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:22:36]:

Oh. Oh. I'm looking at all my cookbooks. I know. It's a

Stephanie Hansen [00:22:41]:

hard one.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:22:42]:

That is a hard one. I can't I well, it's funny because I feel like picking any of them. I'm not worthy of any of them, but I have they're all old vintage ones. Like, I have this rose what's her last name?

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:03]:

Birnbaum Levy Birnbaum.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:23:05]:

I use a lot of her books. I wish I had the skill and the abilities to write something like that.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:11]:

Do you know that that cake bible book that she wrote is having its 35th anniversary this year?

Nicole Aufderhar [00:23:17]:

I don't see that. I know. I can't believe it because except I have all, like, the real old vintage ones of it, and it's it's so cool that it still has stood the test of time.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:27]:

Yeah. No. I love that you have those. That's amazing. Well, Nicole, I hope people will follow you on Instagram at 10000 Bakes. We're gonna for sure have you on, Jason's show next summer so we get a chance to connect with her there again. Wonderful. Also been doing reviews of Great British Bake Off with Bradley and Dawn on my talk 107.1.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:50]:

Yeah. Yep. People should follow you, and you're making really cool Halloween stuff right now.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:23:56]:

Yeah. Thanks. Yes. We're having fun over here.

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:59]:

Yeah. It's amazing. Alright. Well, when you're gonna be coming down to town next or not downtown, down to town, next, give me a shout, and we'll have coffee again. It was fun.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:24:09]:

Oh, definitely. Totally.

Stephanie Hansen [00:24:10]:

Alright. Thanks, Nicole. I appreciate you spending time with us today. Yeah.

Nicole Aufderhar [00:24:14]:

Thank you.

Stephanie Hansen [00:24:14]:

We'll talk soon. Bye bye. Bye.

Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we're excited to bring you a thought-provoking conversation with the wonderful Stephanie O'Dea, bestselling author and advocate for slow living.

In this episode, Stephanie O'Dea dives deep into her journey from being known as the "crock pot queen," where I first connected with her (see her Slow cooker Brussels sprouts and Apricot Brie recipes below) , to embracing a more deliberate and slow-paced lifestyle. While we are in the month of Crocktober and Stephanie’s book, “Make It Fast, Cook It Slow,” is never leaving my shelf, I also was really interested in her new “Slow Living: Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Hustle-Driven World” pivot.

Here's a quick look at what we talked about and… a recipe!

🌅 Morning Rituals & Solitude: Stephanie shares her love for early mornings, awakening as early as 4 AM to have personal time for journaling, yoga, and creativity. Her dedication to solitude helps her find mental space and clarity.

📚 Lifelong Learning: For Stephanie, being a lifelong learner is key to avoiding burnout. She emphasizes the importance of evolving and staying curious, contrasting repetitive tasks with the joy of discovery.

🌿 Redefining FOMO: Stephanie offers a new take on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) by instead focusing on "Figure Only Myself Out." This mantra encourages self-awareness and individual happiness, away from societal pressures.

✨ Shift from Hustle Culture: In this hustle-driven world, Stephanie advocates for slowing down, unplugging from technology, and embracing authenticity in a world that often overvalues constant productivity.

📖 Slow Living: Now with her own podcast and new book "Slow Living: Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Hustle Driven World," Stephanie inspires others to live intentionally and with purpose, championing quality over quantity.

We also touch upon the benefits of using a crockpot, societal expectations, and the importance of setting boundaries in both personal and professional lives.

If you're looking to slow down and cultivate a life filled with purpose and joy, this episode is just what you need. Make sure to tune in!.

Tune in to "Dishing with Stephanie's Dish" for more insights, and visit our website for past episodes. Whether you're sipping morning coffee or winding down for the day, we hope our conversations bring you inspiration and a fresh perspective.

P.S. We'd love to hear your thoughts on embracing a slower lifestyle. Reply to this email with your ideas or stories or favorite cookbook authors you would like us to connect with

Slow Cooker Very Best Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1 pound brussels sprouts

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (ooh la la, fancy)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup water

Instructions

Use a 2-quart slow cooker.

Wash and trim the ends off of each Brussels sprout, and cut in half.

Toss into the cooker. Add butter, mustard, salt, pepper, and water.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, or on high for 2 to 3.

Stir well to distribute the sauce before serving. 

Slow Cooker Brie with Apricot Topping

Ingredients

1 large round or wedge of brie (the round I used was 13.2 oz)1/2 cup chopped dried apricots2 tablespoons brown sugar2 tablespoons water-1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary1/2 cup chopped walnuts (if you don't eat nuts, simply omit)

Instructions

You have two choices here: you can use a 2-quart slow cooker or you can use a 6-quart slow cooker with an inserted oven-safe dish.If your brie has a really hard rind, cut the top part off. Put the brie into the crockpot (or the oven safe dish).In a bowl, mix the chopped apricots, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, water and rosemary together.Spoon on top of the brie.Sprinkle on the chopped walnuts.If you are using an inserted dish with the brie in a large crockpot, you do not need to add water around the base of the dish.Cover and cook on high for 1-2 hours, or on low for about 3. Check after an hour  just in case.When the brie is warm and as melty as you'd like, take it out. You aren't really cooking anything here, just melting it nicely.Serve with your favorite crackers or apple slices.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:11]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to people that are cookbook writers, people that love food. And today, we have kind of a special podcast. It is, my pleasure to talk with Stephanie O'Day. And Stephanie and I first crossed paths, boy, probably maybe 12 years ago when I ran across your book. You were the crock pot queen at that time. You had 365 days of slow cooking, and you had a crock pot book that is still in my kitchen. And I've recycled a lot of cookbooks, but not yours. Make it slow, cook it fast.

Stephanie Hansen [00:00:49]:

And you became sort of this crock pot personality. And I'm was checking in with you on a couple of crockpot things for Croctober, which is my favorite month of the year. And you were like, yeah. I can do crockpot things, but really, I've evolved into this other whole being of slow living. And welcome to the program. I'm so excited to talk to you.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:01:12]:

Absolutely. Thanks for having me. The the crock pot lady was super fun. I I liked being the crock pot lady, and it worked really, really well until all of a sudden, it just didn't. And I started to feel a little fake and phony in my brain and my body. Because as you know, in order to write for the Internet, you have to consistently, like, pump out content.

Stephanie Hansen [00:01:40]:

Yeah.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:01:40]:

And and after a while, I kinda thought, well, gosh, Steph, how how, how many pot roast recipes does the world really need? And, and it was tricky because it because that first cookbook, the Make It Fast, Cook It Slow cookbook, it spent 6 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and did really, really well. So my literary agent, my book publishers, they wanted me to consistently create recipes and and tweak them. And as you know, in order to write a quote, unquote, new recipe for the Internet or for a cookbook, you really just have to change the name and change an ingredient or 2 and and write, like, some some beginning and head notes and end notes and and call it a day. But it it really started to to not kind of align with my ethics and morals, and I felt really uncomfortable. And then it legit came to a head in 2016 with the the invention of the Instant Pot. Yep. And and all of a sudden, everyone's like, you've gotta translate your recipes from the crock pot to the Instant Pot to the pressure cooker. And so I bought 1, and I goofed around with it, and I get it.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:02:51]:

The the tech part is fun. It's it's really exciting for some people to cook a frozen chicken in 45 minutes at 5 o'clock at night. For me, it it it I didn't like it. Yeah. I I just my brain, my body wants to put the food on in the morning, 6 AM, 7 AM. I'm fully awake. I'm highly caffeinated. I can push a button and walk away.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:03:15]:

The idea of having to cook at 5 o'clock when I'm already hungry, the kids are already, like, hangry and frustrated, just it didn't work for me. So, so I got fired.

Stephanie Hansen [00:03:28]:

You fired yourself, though, in effect.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:03:31]:

Well, sort of. It's so sort of, except for the publishers legit did fire me.

Stephanie Hansen [00:03:35]:

Yeah. Well, you know, publishers fire people all the time. That's not a big deal. Yeah. So you're not feeling consistent with your brand, this thing you've built, this thing you've created and put all this energy into. And how did you know that what you liked was the slow living aspects of it and make that transition because I imagine that was pretty hard.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:04:03]:

Yeah. So I I took some time off from the Internet, and and I actually got a real job, which is great. Because once you're not worried about making money, you can be creative again. And and that's what ended up happening. And I sort of had this, like, voice of God say, hey, just because you can do something fast, it doesn't mean you should. And I live in Silicon Valley and so everything is fast. Yeah. The the people drive too fast.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:04:29]:

I joke with friends that, like, Tesla's are pigeons here. They're they're everywhere, and they do not stop. And I don't think it's good for humans. And I certainly can see it firsthand with children that doing things in a rushed way or feeling like you're behind or you have to catch up. And it feeds this feeling of inadequacy and franticness in your body that's not healthy. And so I started to to really think about it. And, I did a lot of research, took up yoga, took up meditation, did a lot of research on, therapy practices, trauma informed practices, and and started the Slow Living podcast in 2021. And, and from there, my new book is Slow Living Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a Huzzle Driven World.

Stephanie Hansen [00:05:25]:

When you so you've got this whole brand now and all of these things. I imagine you had to, like, essentially start over and rebrand and become this new person that you always were this person, but leaning into that. And I'm it's funny that I'm talking to you today because I literally just had a con or a meeting this week about, like, oh, for SEO, you need to do this and you need to do that. And maybe we don't make so many recipes. Maybe we just do this. Maybe we like, exactly where the joy of what I do started, it has become a business. And I'm feeling that for you and myself. Like, this thing you love, this thing you start, this thing that feels so fun, and then you're just like, is this, like, am I just a bot here to just create all this stuff and have it literally just be like, okay.

Stephanie Hansen [00:06:23]:

I'm just a robot?

Stephanie O'Dea [00:06:25]:

Yeah. It's it's really something else, and and the Internet is not normal. And when you live and work on the Internet, you start to think that's real. And, and it it takes maybe some unplugging and some stepping aside. I really like nature. We're lucky in that our family has a cabin. And so just sitting on the porch and listening to the birds and watching the squirrels, I'm like, so that's actual real life. Yeah.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:06:53]:

This fake stuff is phony. And and so leaning into that, and then I have 3 children, and then I I'm just watching them and watching their wonderment, and and I want them to have hope and optimism for the future. And and sometimes, if you get sucked up in this kind of fast paced hustle culture, people think, oh, your kids will never be able to afford this or, oh, it like like, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Like, I don't wanna raise my children with that thought process. So so deciding on purpose what it is you really want out of life, not the things you need to do, not feeding the Internet beast, but what is it you really want? What lights you up? Well, for me, it's, juicy afternoons where I can take a nap, plenty of time to garden, do yoga, being present when my children are talking to me and not feeling like, oh, I better answer this Instagram message. No. Probably the Instagram message is what you can put on pause and then paying attention to the babies in the room is what's important.

Stephanie Hansen [00:08:03]:

So let's talk specifically, about a couple of, I guess, we'll call them tips. I don't mean to simplify it to that level, but of how someone who wants to be more present can start moving into a slower living lifestyle. And then I wanna ask you because what's striking to me is we're talking about this slow living in a purpose driven life as it were, and yet you are recreating, like, this content again around this slow living practice with a podcast, with a number of books, with decluttering ideas, and ways to simplify your life. So it's sort of like this oxymoron too.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:08:46]:

Yeah. It's interesting. So I, the the the first tip and and my first suggestion would be to allow yourself to daydream and and to be to wander. Let your brain wander. Many people say

Stephanie Hansen [00:09:01]:

like, a deep breath when you said that because Yeah. It drives me crazy when, like, my husband does that because I'm like, we need to know where we're going. Like, what are you doing? What are you thinking? But for him, and he's a creative person. He's a writer. That's how he gets his energy.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:09:19]:

Yeah. Definitely for me too. Definitely. So so I am an introvert. And so I I love being alone in my brain. It's super fun in there. When I was little, I used to get in trouble for daydreaming, especially in class, and and doodling and all of that kind of stuff. But in order for me to have that brain space, I get up really early, and that's me time.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:09:44]:

So we're recording this 6:6 AM California time. I've been up since 4. And to many people, that sounds horrible, like like the definition of hustle culture, and and I get that. So how I marry the 2 is nobody wants anything from me at this time. It's me alone with my brain, my journal, my pot of coffee. I lay out my yoga mat. I stretch when I wanna stretch. I listen to my body.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:10:14]:

I write down ideas. Coming up with content for the podcast is a joy. There's so much I want to talk about and and and do it in in 20 to 30 minute segments that I don't see how that could get turned off, or I would feel burnt out because I'm a lifelong learner. I enjoy researching. I enjoy learning. I enjoy talking to you. Like, this is fun for me. This does not feel like work

Stephanie Hansen [00:10:44]:

Right.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:10:45]:

In in any way. Coming up with another way to make a a smoked jalapeno pot roast to does start to feel like work because I've already done that. Yeah. And and and I do believe in for lucky life is long, and and we continue to evolve and grow and change. My oldest is 23 today. And so this morning when I was journaling, I'm like, okay, well, where was I 23 years ago? What was I doing? What did I look like? What were my thoughts? What were my fears? And I'm so thrilled that I'm better, stronger, more confident than I was then. And that's what I would want for you and for your listeners is the idea that you have to cram it all in now. That's hustle culture.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:11:37]:

That's feeling as if you're behind or if what you're doing isn't good enough. If we're lucky, life is long. So where I am in 23 more years, I'll be in my seventies. Okay. Well, what does that look like? Well, I wanna continue to do yoga. I wanna garden. I wanna crawl around on the floor with my grandchildren. Well, in order to get there, probably, I don't need to work more.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:12:02]:

Probably, what I need to do is relax and make sure that I'm taking my supplements, and I'm drinking enough water, and I'm paying attention to my joint health and all of that kind of thing.

Stephanie Hansen [00:12:14]:

It is, it is a shift because I think, like, people unwind in different ways, but we're in this space where we don't really prioritize relaxation. You know? Like, there's always, like, places to go, things to do, closets to organize, meals to cook. Even, like, exercise has become, like, a hustle. Right? You know? Like, eve everything we do is framed in that I'll I'll call it the hustle culture like you did because I think people can really resonate with that. And it is hard to get off of that. And I find that the more I'm in it and the more I'm doing it, the less I even can observe what that would feel like. Like, I don't know how to relax. I used to.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:13:06]:

Yeah. And and it's tricky because not knowing how to relax first off, know what is it? Knowing is the first step. So good for you. Pay attention to that. Yeah. Because now you know what to work on. Unfortunately, what people do to turn off their brain is they turn to numbing techniques such as alcohol, drugs, endless mindless scrolling, and overconsumption. That isn't going to help your long term trajectory of a life well lived, of of life filled with kind of tranquility and peace, which in general, most people are actually chasing.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:13:47]:

They think they have to delay their happiness, their feeling of contentment because there's too much to do. So, so FOMO, fear of missing out, is what drives lots and lots of that. So this new book, is filled with acronyms, and that's because that's how my brain works.

Stephanie Hansen [00:14:05]:

Sure.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:14:06]:

And and my brain is super into acronyms because when I was about 7 or 8, my grandpa, who was in the military, told me that the word snafu had a bad word in it. So it's situation normal all effed up, but he actually said the word. So for me, like, my mind was blown that grown ups were hiding a bad word in another word. So, like, I've always rewritten acronyms. So FOMO for me and and for my readers is figure only myself out. Because when you know deep down inside who you are, what you stand for, what is important to you, and what makes you different is completely different than anyone else. So I'm glad that you brought up, like, exercise hustle. There are people at the gym hurting themselves because the the plan they're on says they have to do 25 reps, but their body needs to stop at 12.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:15:05]:

But they're they're pushing themselves, and they're actually creating damage in their joints because they're not listening to their own body. And and that's that's a problem that that you you have to decide what works for you when you're in a good mood and then consistently do that thing.

Stephanie Hansen [00:15:25]:

Yeah. It it's it's just interesting. You know, I think about this a lot that we've had the phone. I think we've had the phone for, what, like, I wanna say 15 years now, maybe 16. And it has changed so much in life, and I think about Steve Jobs sometimes. And just like, he put this amazing technology in our hands and in our pockets, And I wonder if he was still alive today, in some respects, how he would be ruing that day or how maybe he would be living intentionally differently. Because the phone is such a gift and the computer is such a gift. But at the same time, it can also be kind of a curse.

Stephanie Hansen [00:16:08]:

Are you good about, like there's different strategies for, like, time blocks. And, you know, like, you're gonna do this to this time and that to that time, and then you're gonna turn off your phone for this time. Like, in practice, do you do some of that to just give yourself space other than the early morning time?

Stephanie O'Dea [00:16:25]:

Yes. I so I do. I teach time blocking, and and I sort of liken it to a, like, a a classroom. Whereas this is circle time. This is recess time. This is that time. So, yes, I I can pay attention to that. And then I also wanna point out that, you're right.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:16:46]:

I don't think Steve Jobs would like this because he is a creative guy, and he would put on his calendar lots of brain breaks for himself to unplug and be alone with his thoughts, and he would go on long meandering walks. Again, I live in Silicon Valley, so I see this firsthand. And because of this, I am not an early adopter to any sort of technology.

Stephanie Hansen [00:17:13]:

Mhmm.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:17:13]:

I am hesitant and I am skeptical, and I wanna see how it works for other people and whether or not it's actually helping them or hindering them before I decide to go in. A great book that you might really like is, Harris Swisher's burn book, where it talks about the the early days of Silicon Valley and all of those kind of things. The the apps and the different sites are designed to addict you. And, you know this because I'm certain you have gone to to food blogging and and different conferences where they teach you how to keep the people on your site and and trick them into clicking this and doing this and and and wait. There's just wait. There's more. Yeah. And and that is is neat maybe, for the first little bit when you're learning how the tech works, but then later, it can really make you feel, uncomfortable.

Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:18:18]:

And and I want people to gravitate towards me, not feel like they were duped into something.

Stephanie Hansen [00:18:25]:

Yeah. It's so funny to hear you talk about what we're all chasing in a way that is almost harmful and damaging, really. And, yeah, I just I was on a trip recently, for 2 weeks on a boat and going to Croatia and seeing all these beautiful things. And I still had to work a little bit. And every morning, you know, I would sit and I would do a couple hours worth of work. And my husband looked at me one day, and he's like, well, you know you're a workaholic. Right? And I was like, really? He's like and he was like, oh, yeah. Totally.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:01]:

Like, you get all of your value as a human from your work. And you're framing your whole life in this context of the workout put you've and he was like, at this point in your life, Stephanie, you've worked more than most people. So, like, your quality and quantity of work, you've already reached it. What's next? It was so surprising and shocking to me, and he was just laughing. He was like, wait. Am I the first person that's ever put this into your brain? And and we work from home, and we have creative lives. He's an like I said, an author, and I'm doing this food thing. I'm a broadcaster.

Stephanie Hansen [00:19:39]:

You just it catches up where all of a sudden, like, everything is just this one big ball of thing.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:19:47]:

Yeah. Yeah. And and especially if you are an entrepreneur and you have no choice, because you have that that sort of intrinsic belief system of the harder I work, the luckier I'll get, which is, I guess, contributed back to Eleanor Roosevelt, who's a lovely lady, and she's great. But I want you and I would want your readers and listeners to know that you're worthy no matter what. And I think, I think what happens and and sometimes it happens in school and sometimes it happens with our parents is we believe not doing anything means that you're lazy.

Stephanie Hansen [00:20:29]:

Yeah.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:20:30]:

And you can be a lump on a log, especially if you work on the Internet. You can be a lump on a log and still get paid, because you don't actually really know where the people are coming from, how they found you. So so I like to, to kind of, if I'm coaching someone, I give them a a triangle or I have them draw a triangle on a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. And on the left, you're listing all of the things that you're doing. So you're sending out your newsletter. You're you're updating some images. You're doing this. You're doing that.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:21:06]:

And then when your day is done, your day is done. And then the other side is the is the belief system that that God or the universe or whatever you feels good in your brain and your body will meet you halfway. You've done your part, but you can't be a control freak about the other part because because it's legit out of your hands. Yeah. And and maybe maybe for you, that would be helpful or uncomfortable. Probably putting some parameters on yourself that my day is done no matter what at insert time here, whatever feels good. Be because there's always something more to do. There's always more tweaking.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:21:52]:

You can always find a dead link. God almighty, there are so many dead links.

Stephanie Hansen [00:21:56]:

I do think too, like, some of this is changing because of society. You know? When we left work at, you know, 5:30 or 5 or whatever it was and you drove home, you know, for people that was I think an average commute was 22 minutes, which is why podcasts are 22 to 30 minutes. You you would have that time to unwind, and then you enter into your family life. With all of us, you know, many of us, creative people for sure, working from home and this culture shifting of working at home, and also that you should be available 247 to your employer, to your listeners, to your readers, whatever your situation is. There's been so much scope creep into our personal lives.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:22:42]:

Yeah. So if someone writes to you if you send an email and you don't get a response or a day and someone says, I was out of town just seeing this now. Are you mad at that person, or is your thought, good for you?

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:04]:

Good for them.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:23:05]:

Yeah. So what if you shifted that and decided to be proud of yourself for taking time off?

Stephanie Hansen [00:23:12]:

Yeah. And, also, like, why do we have to preface it with an excuse? 24 hours is an incredibly normal time to be responding to someone. We don't I do think about people's lives. You know? Like, what is happening in your life, in your real life? You just don't know what people are going through. You don't know what people's challenges are. You don't know what's happening with their kids. You don't know where their mental health is at. There's just so much that's unknowable.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:23:39]:

Yeah. No. It's absolutely true. So when you get to know yourself and you feel confident that you're doing the right thing, then it it however someone else wants to perceive you is on them. So, so with this new book, the the acronym for slow, because, again, super huge acronym junkie, is to simply look only within. And so if you know you're making the right choice for you, who cares what other people think? That that that's a them thing.

Stephanie Hansen [00:24:13]:

I am so glad that I talked to you today. And I know you've been super generous about allowing me to share a couple of crock pot recipes, and I'll do that because people come to me for recipes probably first and foremost. But along the way, we get to discover cool things about ourselves, about others, about the group of society that we live in. Right? And food is just a way of nourishing and creating community anyway. So I feel like, you know, this is an extension of that. When you, when you're a mom, I think time becomes so fraught with challenges too because you're supposed to give all to your kids, and you maybe even want to give all to your kids. Like, I feel like that's pretty natural. Do you feel like moms have a harder time slowing down?

Stephanie O'Dea [00:25:03]:

Yes and no. It's interesting. It it it depends on probably how they frame their mind. So for me, I am a okay to sit on the floor and play Candy Land and read a story and do a puzzle. I have a background in early childhood education and development. I I used to run preschool centers for homeless children, so I actually know how helpful that slowing down and 1 on 1 attention is for children. So I know that it's actually helping them in the long run. And so me putting my, like, desire to check email or something on pause in order to give that to them feels completely natural.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:25:49]:

So it doesn't bother me at all. I can see for some people might think that it's a quote, unquote waste of time and sort of an iPad. Give me 5 more minutes. Give me 5 more minutes. Shoving your child off consistently, has detrimental effects. It makes them feel as if their wants and needs aren't important. They start to mask and start to think that the grown up in the room, their parent or something, is more important. And that creates long term feelings of inadequacy, feelings of unworthiness, and feeling less than, which in a sense is why then people turn to the Internet, turn to Internet strangers, look for validation outside of them because they don't feel strong and stable within.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:26:38]:

So pay attention to that. As far as too much to do and not enough time to do it, I I do think when you're taking care of other humans, that's tricky. And so, again, that's why I personally like to set myself up for success in the day. I fill my own cup first. Even when I had babies in the bed and and nursing around the clock, I would try and roll away very carefully to then go spend some time, usually in the bathroom all by myself.

Stephanie Hansen [00:27:09]:

Your 5 minutes.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:27:11]:

My 5 minutes. Yeah. And I think that's really why I was so into the Crock Pot is, I could front load my day because I never knew who I was gonna pick up from school. Are they in a good mood? Are they in a bad mood? Is soccer practice gonna run late? Did someone twist their ankle and now all of a sudden we're going to the emergency room? Knowing that dinner was hot and ready and waiting was such a stress reliever. It also helped us stick to our budget, and and and kept us out of the drive through

Stephanie Hansen [00:27:45]:

Yeah.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:27:45]:

Lane and and ordering out and all of that kind of stuff. So it was very, very helpful and useful practical tool at the time when I had little babies in the house.

Stephanie Hansen [00:27:57]:

It's really you know, we start out thinking about you as the crock pot lady, but where we are with you today is really satisfying and and not unrelated. Right? Because you have different moons and phases of your life that all of the things you did before kinda prepare you and lead you to that road. It this has really been super fun to talk to you. I'm gonna get your book, Slow Living.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:28:22]:

Okay.

Stephanie Hansen [00:28:24]:

You have your podcast. And where do you want people to find you? Do you want them to follow you? Do you want them to not follow you?

Stephanie O'Dea [00:28:33]:

So yeah. So I I have really good boundaries for myself. So anyone can email me at any time. I am a real person. The website is stephanieoday.com, and the book is Slow Living Cultivating a Life of Purpose in a hustle driven world. Thank you for having me.

Stephanie Hansen [00:28:50]:

Oh, for sure. And do you ever get to Minneapolis?

Stephanie O'Dea [00:28:54]:

Oh, so I am really trying to create a book tour. So I would like to go to all of the places. That's one nice thing about my children getting older is is it opens up a lot more room to travel and not feeling guilty.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:11]:

Yeah. Well, if you get to Minneapolis, let me know. I'd be happy to help, promote the word that you're here. And if you need anybody to spend time with or interview you, there's a lot of good purpose driven folks in the Twin Cities that are thinking about some of the same ideas that you're thinking about. So

Stephanie O'Dea [00:29:27]:

That sounds great. And then I can hug you in real life.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:30]:

Yes. And it's always just good. You know, I feel like I have been following you for a long time, so it's really fun to catch up and see this transition for you. I'm excited about it, and I'm excited to help share the story. Just simply only look within. Slow down. I feel like you were divinely in my day specifically right on time. So thank you for being here, Stephanie.

Stephanie O'Dea [00:29:54]:

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Stephanie Hansen [00:29:55]:

Alright. We'll talk soon. Bye bye.

Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

We had a lovely chat with Erin Clarke, from @Wellplated on Instagram and author of “Well Plated” and her new book, “Well Plated Every Day.” Scroll down for Erin’s pumpkin gingerbread squares with spiced cream cheese frosting recipe.

Cookbook Signing Event Details

Join Erin at ModernWell in Minneapolis on 10/30, 7:00pm-8:30pm, for her book signing event!  The Well Plated Cookbook, Erin Clarke, and Lee Funke of Fit Foodie Finds!

Erin discusses her journey, from the influential blog Well Plated by Erin, to the creation of her popular cookbooks. You will sample one of Erin’s delicious recipes – and leave with a signed copy of Well Plated Everyday (Books provided by Valley Bookseller)

Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter! This post is public so feel free to share it

Erin shared her Pumpkin gingerbread squares recipe from her new book, “Well Plated Everyday,” to give you a taste of the deliciousness in its pages.

Pumpkin gingerbread squares with spiced cream cheese frosting

Ingredients for the Cake

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup canola oil, or melted and cooled coconut oil

1/4 cup unsulfured molasses (not blackstrap)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

11/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 small orange

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions For the Cake

Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350°F. Coat an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Line the pan with parchment paper so that two strips overhang opposite sides like handles.

In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until pale and foamy, about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin puree, oil, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cocoa powder, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Zest half of the orange directly into the bowl (about 1 teaspoon). Reserve the remaining orange to zest for the frosting. Whisk until smoothly combined.

Sprinkle the all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, and baking soda over the top. Whisk until combined and smooth, stirring only as long as needed to incorporate all the ingredients.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake the cake for 20 to 24 minutes, until it is puffed, the edges are starting to pull away from the pan, and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Use the parchment overhang to lift the cake onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.

While the cake cools, make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted recipe and ingredients continue

Ingredients For the Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, or Neufchâtel cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar plus a few additional tablespoons as needed

1/2 teaspoon orange zest (use the same orange from the cake)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie

Instructions for the frosting

With the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter at medium speed for 2 minutes or until very smooth and well combined. Add the powdered sugar, orange zest (zest from the reserved orange directly into the bowl), vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, until the powdered sugar is pretty incorporated. Increase the speed to high and pro tips beat until smooth, creamy, and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes more. If you’d like a stiffer, sweeter frosting, add two tablespoons of powdered sugar until your desired consistency is reached. Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. For easier cutting, transfer to the refrigerator for 20 minutes to allow the frosting to set up (or go for it). Slice into squares of desired size and enjoy.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Stephanie [00:00:16]:

Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to cookbook authors and people obsessed with food generally. I am here today with Erin Clark. Erin is well plated on Instagram. She's also a best selling author of the well plated cookbook and the soon to be well plated everyday cookbook. You are gonna be having an event in the Twin Cities in Stillwater. I'm so excited for you.

Erin Clarke [00:00:42]:

I am thrilled as well. Can't wait. I worked to live, Yeah. Yes. So I lived in the Twin Cities at the very beginning of my career. I worked for Target, their corporate headquarters, so I just have a really big soft spot for the area, and I'm really looking forward to being back there again.

Stephanie [00:01:00]:

And do you live in Milwaukee now?

Erin Clarke [00:01:02]:

I live in Milwaukee now. Yes.

Stephanie [00:01:04]:

Okay. Because my family is all from Milwaukee, and I was looking on your Instagram. You make Milwaukee look more fun than I recall because we've been all over, like, the third ward, and you found some hidden gems that I was like, oh, she knows her way around here.

Erin Clarke [00:01:20]:

Yeah. I moved there about 10 years ago kicking and screaming because I married a Wisconsin boy and he's from Milwaukee, so we ended up back there. And I, like, I loved the city so much. I was like, I don't understand why I'm moving to still be cold and still be in the Midwest to this, like, random city. Minneapolis is great. And then I just fell in love with it. Like, it just has there it there's so much to do. The city has grown so much even just since I have been there.

Erin Clarke [00:01:46]:

We've got a great food scene. People are friendly. You're right on, like, Michigan. Like, it really has a lot going for it.

Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Stephanie [00:01:52]:

Yeah. I really my family is in Delafield, but we go into Milwaukee and spend a couple days during the holidays and during the summer. I really like it. So, okay. Well, you're on the verge. Is has your new cookbook come out yet? I imagine it's already out.

Erin Clarke [00:02:08]:

No. It is t minus 11 days. Not that I'm counting. I am absolutely counting every single day. Okay. I just cannot I'm just so giddy. I, like, cannot wait for people to have it in their hands. You are gonna have a 100 recipes in the book, but will you,

Stephanie [00:02:20]:

like, get people that maybe aren't familiar with your profile kinda what your point of view is?

Erin Clarke [00:02:29]:

Absolutely. So I grew up cooking and baking with my grandmothers in Kansas, like pure Midwest comfort food. And then after I graduated college and started living on my own, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to live on grandma's cinnamon rolls and cakes that she taught me to make. So I needed to learn how to cook, and that was where I really started going to farmers markets, like, really just kinda discovering the beauty of eating seasonally, which I feel like we talk about very, you know, it's just so, like, a part of the conversation now. But for me back then, it really wasn't. Like, in my family, like, corn and potatoes are the primary vegetables. So, you know, so I was trying to explore markets, learn how to cook, but I found myself to do this, like, really missing my grandmother's cooking. So I would call my grammy and be like, hey.

Erin Clarke [00:03:18]:

Like, can you tell me about, like, your recipe for enchiladas? And she would, like, in detail, tell me on the phone while I was taking notes. And then I started to think like, okay. Well, you know, I'm learning to cook. I'm trying to feed myself well. Maybe I can make grammy's enchiladas, but let's just do a couple of little swaps, like, that could make it healthier. Let's try it with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Let's try a whole wheat tortilla. And then around that time, a friend had encouraged me to start a food blog, and I was like, what is a food blog? Like, I this is very, like, OG days, and I ended up posting the recipe, and I had a few friends from high school make it and love it.

Erin Clarke [00:03:57]:

And they're like, hey. Do you have any other recipes? And I was like, yeah. Like, I do. And so that it that just, you know, kinda sharing the lightened up versions of my grandmother's dishes just sort of started me off, and I still, like, very much keep the midwestern sensibility and unfussiness with my recipes. So if I could describe them briefly, it would be their easy, healthy with, heavy emphasis on lightened up everyday comfort food.

Stephanie [00:04:27]:

Which is perfect. I mean, honestly, that's what I love. I'm kinda more on the comfort food side, but I feel equally as comfortable cooking with kale, you know, as I would, I don't know, corn and potatoes. Right? And just

Erin Clarke [00:04:42]:

Yeah. And I think it's wonderful that people have gotten you know, those ingredients have gotten more main stream. And I really like the idea of finding ways to make healthy eating more accessible. So for example, in my cookbook, on my blog, I will not put an ingredient in there if it's gonna require you to go to a food store. I try to keep the spices, like, very streamlined. I get it. Like, we're all busy and sometimes you're not in the mood to cook. So how can we get to a result that's good for you faster, but it's still delicious? Because life is also just way too short for boring chicken breasts and rice, like, every single night of our lives.

Erin Clarke [00:05:23]:

So how can we have a little fun with it without, you know, making it a ton of work for ourselves either?

Stephanie [00:05:30]:

So how long have you had your blog then?

Erin Clarke [00:05:34]:

Going on 13 years.

Stephanie [00:05:35]:

I was gonna say it has to be about we've had a radio show about food for 15 years, and we kinda started right at the very beginning of, you know, food culture. And that was one of the lot of the bloggers were getting started. And do you still blog a lot, or are you kinda to the stage where you're repurposing recipes and relooking at some of your old content?

Erin Clarke [00:05:57]:

We are doing both. So I still publish about 3 new recipes a week to my blog, and then we're constantly going back especially to some of those older recipes and seeing, you know, if there are tweaks that we can do to make them better. At the beginning, I was the photographer with my, like, flip phone under the our, you know, awful, like, orange light in our kitchen. So some of those recipes, it's been fun to go back and spruce them up. And then as, you know, video has taken over social media and with me being the face of the brand, a lot of the we've been shooting videos with me in them, and that has actually been a ton of fun in the sense of just, like, rediscovering, you know, favorite recipes that I haven't made in years.

Stephanie [00:06:37]:

Yeah. And looking back on, what would you say are, like are there some that are you're known for or that are, like, your specialties?

Erin Clarke [00:06:47]:

I would say I definitely am known overall for 1 pot meals. Like, if I can one pot or one pan something, I will absolutely do it. Recent one that we did, and this is just top of mind because we did the video a couple of weeks ago, is a homemade version of Hamburger Helper. So I grew up, like, Hamburger Helper House all the way, and there's still something, like, very nostalgic and comforting about it. Except, I mean, this will sound hysterical to describe it this way, but it is a gourmet Hamburger Helper. There's just I always like to find, like, just a couple of little things that you can tweak. You know, first of all, it's from scratch. It's easy.

Erin Clarke [00:07:24]:

You don't need the box. And I add a little bit of hot sauce and a little bit of Dijon mustard. You cook everything together in the same pot so that as the pasta cooking liquid reduces and the pasta releases those starches, it makes this really, like, luscious silky sauce without the need for any cream, and everyone loves this recipe. My husband loves it. My nieces love it from Yeah. My nieces that are the age from, like, 4 to 6. They all love this hamburger helper. Like, it's something that the whole family can really sit down and enjoy.

Stephanie [00:07:55]:

I love it. And you really do have a very distinct point of view in how you're thinking about your individual recipes. So I'm guessing you don't have za'atar in any of your ingredients.

Erin Clarke [00:08:07]:

I don't. Even though I personally love za'atar I do too. You know, I love it. I cook with it at home, but I recognize that, like, every single person doesn't have the spice cabinet that I have. So while I'll do, you know, Middle Eastern inspired dishes, and I love to travel so a lot of my dishes are inspired by my travels, I try to do it in a way that brings it home to the Midwest and makes it just as attainable for people as possible.

Stephanie [00:08:34]:

Right. Where is the last place that you traveled to, just out of curiosity?

Erin Clarke [00:08:39]:

We spent a month in France this spring, which was just wonderful. I never I speak pretty good French, and I you know, you just have to go back to practice. Yeah. Really purely academic.

Stephanie [00:08:53]:

Where did you go? What region?

Erin Clarke [00:08:55]:

So each time we go, we try to visit a different region. This time we did Alsace, which is right on the German border, and it is just right out of a fairy tale. It's the some of the little villages around there are what inspired Walt Disney to design Belle's hometown in Beauty and the Beast. And it really was it was like stepping into a storybook. It was just so charming.

Stephanie [00:09:19]:

Are you able to as a content creator, are you able to take, like, a month off and fully unplug, or are you just working remotely? How does that work for you? Because I imagine you've got a team at this point.

Erin Clarke [00:09:32]:

I do. I have a wonderful team. They're just fantastic. Like, well plated would not be able to offer the content that we do without them. And I think that they would probably be more okay with me unplugging than I am okay with myself being totally off. You know, and this is just the reality of being a small business owner. Like, for us, even getting a full day off on the weekend is really, really challenging. And you kind of it kind of bites you the next day, you know, or Monday wouldn't get back.

Erin Clarke [00:10:02]:

I'm trying to be a little better about finding at least one day where we don't do any work. So even when we travel, we are always checking in. We put in a few hours here and there. We're often creating content while we're out there. But I also just view it as, like, wow. How cool is it that I get to yes. You could view it as, like, I'm in France and I'm working.

Stephanie [00:10:22]:

Yeah.

Erin Clarke [00:10:22]:

I view it as, like, how cool I can go to France while I work.

Stephanie [00:10:26]:

Yeah. And it is really like a change in lifestyle. Like, the creative culture has created so much flexibility for so many people. Do you get caught up and worried about, like, the algorithms and when things change and traffic goes down, and are you always kinda chasing that?

Erin Clarke [00:10:43]:

I mean, we are chasing it in the sense that, you know, it is our livelihood. Like, my site depends on traffic, and that traffic primarily for us comes from Google search. So I'm constantly, like, reading articles, trying to stay up to date. At the same time, ranking a friend of mine described it as, like, checking your rankings is, like, standing on the scale every single day. Don't do it. Just overall, you know, we're always looking for healthy growth, and the truth is, like, you are constantly you win some, you lose some. This is a particularly challenging time for online content creators just with AI. You know, no one is really certain of what what that's gonna lead to.

Erin Clarke [00:11:29]:

You're seeing AI appear in search results where independent content creators like myself and my peers used to have our recipes appear. Now it's AI. And just over really, especially the last 5 years, I feel like it's gotten supersaturated. And so Google is sorting through what's quality content and what's not. And so there's less there's just overall there's just less space to go around, and there's less content than ever. Or excuse me, less space to go around and more content than ever.

Stephanie [00:12:01]:

And this idea of low quality is sort of a you know, to get to these advertising tiers, people need to have high quality content. Google's just like, oh, we spotted some low quality content. And you're just like, what? Like, help me figure this out. I so many people have been caught in that kind of trap of trying to grow and not really getting direction very much from Google. And it is just changing the game, I think. And then I wonder, like, okay. As creatives, we're gonna find the next thing. Right? So is it like, I'm seeing a lot of people you mentioned video.

Stephanie [00:12:39]:

I'm seeing a lot of people on YouTube creating their own TV shows. I'm seeing substacks. Is that something that you're exploring? Any of those other alternative avenues?

Erin Clarke [00:12:50]:

It's one of those things where, like, if I could clone myself, I would try to do them all. Substack, I think, is really fun and intriguing to me because it gives people a way to directly support at a very affordable rate their favorite authors, creators. For us, I've but I feel like a key to making that work is to offer content that you can't get anywhere else without paying. Currently, Well Plated is free for readers to access, and we don't really have the capacity to create additional free content on top of that. So kind of the way that we have structured our strategy is to give away as much as possible. Not only are the recipes free, we do free meal plans. And my hope is that we'll make Well Plate as a resource for you and make it the place that you wanna go. And then, you know, for now, if by cultivating that loyal reader base, that can kind of be a foundation of our business that's not subject to algorithms.

Stephanie [00:13:51]:

Yeah. Like maybe creating modules or workbooks or, PDF content that can be about, you know, the top 30 things you need to have in your pantry and blah blah blah.

Erin Clarke [00:14:03]:

Mhmm. Yeah. We're always looking to offer resources right now. We're working on putting together updated super comprehensive Thanksgiving guide that gives you the realistic week of Thanksgiving prep list, not the like I mean, yes. It would be great. I know I can pre freeze pie crust 3 months in advance. I am not freezing my Thanksgiving pie crust 3 months in advance. I'm just not that person.

Erin Clarke [00:14:26]:

I admire that person. I'm not that person. So what say we start on Sunday. Like, how can we really get this done? Yeah. How are we gonna streamline our shopping list? Like, I'm always looking for ways to provide value. So we're really excited about that PDF that'll be coming out here at the end of the month.

Stephanie [00:14:41]:

How many people do you cook for at Thanksgiving?

Erin Clarke [00:14:45]:

I'm very spoiled on Thanksgiving day, and then I get to go to my mom's house. And she and my stepdad are fabulous cooks and take off, like, 2 days of work. And the turkey is like a masterpiece. But for about the last now going on almost oh my gosh. How many years has it been? Now going on almost 15 years, I've been hosting Friendsgiving. Oh, yeah. At its smallest, it was probably about 7 people. At 1 year, we got up to 35 people.

Erin Clarke [00:15:12]:

Now we're kind of somewhere in the sweet spot with around 20. So that every year is just really just it's like chaos, but in the most fun way. Now that, you know, when it started out, it was all adults. We set nice tables. Now my friends have families, so you have kids, like, running around all over the place.

Stephanie [00:15:29]:

Right. Do you do it at a certain time a year, or do you do it in the month of November? Some people I know do, like, it in February and call it febsgiving.

Erin Clarke [00:15:38]:

That's well, with how crazy busy holidays are, I completely understand. And, like, let's be honest, there's not that much to look forward to for most of February March holiday wise. We do we do November. So I guess I'm just lucky because I get I love Thanksgiving food. I'm like, this is great that I get to eat this more than once. I'm gonna eat it for Thanksgiving, and then I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna eat it on the actual holiday.

Stephanie [00:16:01]:

Yes. Super delicious. Okay. So let's talk a little bit more about your book. Like, do you have it organized in any certain way?

Erin Clarke [00:16:09]:

Yes. So I like to and I know cookbooks all take different approaches, and it's kind of fun to see how different cookbook authors differentiate things. For me, I think it's just like, I'm a very traditional cookbook girl in the sense of the organization. So, you know, we start out with breakfast, have appetizers and drinks, salads, and then the main dishes are really the meat and potatoes of the book, pun intended. Just because that is where I know that people need the most help. Like, everyone has to cook dinner. So having a robust assortment of recipes and then organizing those well is really important to me. So we actually ended up breaking the main dishes down into 3 different categories.

Erin Clarke [00:16:55]:

So there's an entire chapter that's just pure one pot meals. One pot, one pan. Boom. We have a chapter, that's mostly focused on lightened up comfort food. And then we have this 3rd chapter that I did not intentionally set out to make it a vegetarian chapter just because I never want vegetarian food to feel lesser than or like it needs to get singled out. But we just ended up with this really wonderful collection of vegetarian dishes. They're also pretty heavily globally inspired that ended up being their own chapter as well. So we call those the veggie mains with all the flavor.

Erin Clarke [00:17:31]:

And then you've got your, you know, your soups, your sides, and, of course, your sweets.

Stephanie [00:17:36]:

How do you find, like so you have a team of people. How do you find them? Do you just advertise for them and interview just like a normal company would?

Erin Clarke [00:17:46]:

It's really hard. It's really hard to find good people. Like, I feel incredibly lucky. I've worked with most of my team for 5 years or longer. Some of it has been word-of-mouth. You know, like, other bloggers will work with someone and say, hey. You know, my social media person you know, I might reach out to a friend and say, hey. I'm really looking for someone to help me with my Facebook.

Erin Clarke [00:18:08]:

And, you know, friends will generously say, like, hey. My social media manager is great. Why don't you reach out to her? You know, some of it has been we went through our when we hired our first full time employee, we did the whole post on Indeed, like, a really rigorous application interview process. And I actually ended up finding Brenna, our first employee, because I posted on my Instagram. And so she reached out, applied through Indeed, you know, and we'd really went through that formal process. But it is truly time consuming and exhausting. Yeah. It's hard.

Erin Clarke [00:18:38]:

And I think every business I don't exhausting. Yeah. It's hard. And I think every business, I don't find myself unique in that way. And I think the first hire or the first couple are also really

Stephanie [00:18:46]:

hard because you're probably getting to the point where you can monetize some things, but it, like, takes money to make money, and it takes more hands to make money. So

Erin Clarke [00:19:01]:

Mhmm.

Stephanie [00:19:02]:

How did you feel like you knew when that time was right?

Erin Clarke [00:19:07]:

When I just could not it just got to a point where I either had to be we either needed to hire someone or we needed to be okay with doing a lot less.

Stephanie [00:19:18]:

Yeah.

Erin Clarke [00:19:18]:

And I just could not you know, at that point, I had managed to outsource, you know, the recipe photography, the social media, But I really was so burned out, and I was like, I can't you know, I love what I do, but I can't do it at the right capacity. And I'm not enjoying my life. So how do I find someone that I really want to invest in? And invest is the word to use because as you said, it is not cheap to hire someone. Not only to pay, you know, if you wanna hire someone good, they deserve a great wage.

Stephanie [00:19:51]:

Yep.

Erin Clarke [00:19:51]:

And then also even expenses like setting up a 401 k, kind of thinking through some of those pieces. Like, that is administratively very time consuming, and it is costly. But it's worth it. Like, I that was, you know, one of the best decisions I've ever made for my business.

Stephanie [00:20:08]:

And things like health care. I mean, if you are employing people full time, they want benefits.

Erin Clarke [00:20:14]:

Yeah. Exactly. And you can choose not to offer benefits, but then you're not gonna get the quality of candidates that you're looking for. And also just personally, for me, like, building a company where I can provide benefits for people, like, that's something that I'm proud of and that we wanna be able to offer.

Stephanie [00:20:31]:

Yeah. It's funny that you mentioned that because I had a business before getting I'm mostly a broadcaster who happens to write some cookbooks that are regionally based. But before being a broadcaster, I did have a small business, and I was really proud of the fact that we always offered health care. Like, it just felt like, businesses. I didn't it's not the business's job, but it is the way our society is set up. So if that's the way it's gonna be, then let's participate. Let's do it. Let's take care of our employees.

Stephanie [00:21:00]:

At some point, I wish that everyone could have a single payer health care system and just pay into it, but that's my utopian fantasy as a freelancer out here still, you know, paying for health care on the open market. It's not cheap.

Erin Clarke [00:21:13]:

No. It's not. It's really challenging.

Stephanie [00:21:15]:

I know. And that someday we're all gonna get together. Like, there's a 150,000 creatives just in the state of Minnesota all buying independent health care. It'd be cool if we could find some way to all band together and bring everyone else's cost down too. Right?

Erin Clarke [00:21:29]:

Yeah. I love it. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:21:32]:

Can you tell me some of your favorite cookbooks? Like, do you, like, even look at cookbooks anymore, or are you just so focused on your own?

Erin Clarke [00:21:41]:

No. I just love cookbooks. I read cookbooks like people read novels, which is why, you know, if you read my first cookbook and my second one when it comes out, like, the writing is incredibly personal to me. I pour, like, so much of myself into that because food you know, the recipes need to work. They need to be rock solid. That's the number one thing with a cookbook. And we work incredibly, incredibly diligently on that. My whole team does.

Erin Clarke [00:22:06]:

But from there, like, I just want a cookbook with some personality.

Stephanie [00:22:10]:

Yeah.

Erin Clarke [00:22:10]:

And so, like, I just find it so inspiring to hear both the food, hear the stories. And then I can say, like, anyone can post a recipe online, and I absolutely stand behind the quality of the well plated recipes that we do online. But there is something special and a higher standard about a cookbook that, there it's just, like, sacred to me. Like, I feel like you're, like, getting a a piece of someone. And I have a lot a lot of cookbooks. I joke, but it's not it's actually quite true that Ina Garten taught me how to cook when I started. When I started my blog, my husband was in law school. We were on a budget.

Erin Clarke [00:22:49]:

Like, we were not going out to eat, And he had a voracious appetite. So I was like, okay. I gotta figure out how to cook food that tastes good because we enjoy you know, that we'll enjoy eating that, you know, makes a decent enough quantity to feed him, like, start hosting friends. And so I just checked out Ina's cookbooks from the library and would read them and, you know, work my way through them. So from there so the foundation of my grandmother's and then, like, moving on to Ina Garten.

Stephanie [00:23:19]:

Yeah.

Erin Clarke [00:23:19]:

Some of the and then I also, you know, now that I am a professional recipe developer, I also have taken lessons from the way that some of the best of the best write their recipes. So one person that always comes in mind to me is Dori Greenspan. I just think she has this beautiful way of writing recipes, and she's kind of who I learned. Like, don't you can't just don't just tell me the time on the stove. I need you to tell me what it smells like. I need you to tell me, you know, if the color's golden. Like, how do we appeal to all of these different senses to make people feel really confident? And that confidence aspect is really important to me too. So I want you to feel good the entire time you're making my recipe, not just be, like, pleased at the end that it turned out.

Erin Clarke [00:24:04]:

So, you know, if you're making a cake batter and it looks curdled, I'm gonna tell you it will it looks curdled. It'll be fine. And I feel like I picked some of that up from Dory Greenspan as well.

Stephanie [00:24:17]:

Oh, wow. Those are some of my heroes too. So it's fun to hear you say that. Have you I just started reading the Ina Garten memoir.

Erin Clarke [00:24:24]:

Oh, I'm listening to it. I'm about a third of the way through. It's just delightful.

Stephanie [00:24:28]:

I know. She's so great. I does she read it? I probably should have listened because I just find her so she's so funny.

Erin Clarke [00:24:36]:

She really is. Yeah. She it's just it's delightful.

Stephanie [00:24:39]:

Yeah. Okay. So people can come to your you can do a reading. You're gonna be at Valley Booksellers in Stillwater on October 13th.

Erin Clarke [00:24:48]:

We are doing the event at Modern Well. So it's in partnership with Valley. So it's in Minneapolis, and I will have a partner in conversation, Leigh Funke, from Fit Foodie Finds, who is a friend and just, like, a rock star food blogger who is also based in the Twin Cities. So she graciously agreed to do a q and a with me. We'll be having some snacks passed out from the book. It's just gonna be a really funny thing of conversation. Of course, everyone will leave with a signed copy of the book, and I'm just so looking forward to having that in person connection.

Stephanie [00:25:23]:

Yes. I'll go ahead and put a link for tickets in the show notes. I'm gonna bump up when I, release this podcast so that people have time to get tickets. It was super nice to talk with you and to meet you. I'm excited about your book. I have followed you on Instagram, so it's fun to get a chance to talk with you. And I loved hearing how thoughtful you are about your point of view on the recipes. It really shows in the work that you do.

Stephanie [00:25:49]:

You're doing a really good

Erin Clarke [00:25:51]:

job. Thank you so so much. That really just means a lot. I can't overstate how much that means because sometimes you just feel I mean it's hard.

Stephanie [00:25:59]:

You're in the void.

Erin Clarke [00:25:59]:

It's hard. It's a lot of work. Yeah. Mhmm.

Stephanie [00:26:01]:

Absolutely. Alright, Erin. It's great. Good luck with the book and I maybe we'll see you at Modern Well. Who knows?

Erin Clarke [00:26:08]:

Yeah. I hope so. It was great meeting you.

Stephanie [00:26:10]:

Okay. Thanks, Sarah.

Erin Clarke [00:26:11]:

Thanks again.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

@Lauren_McDuffie, is the author of the beautiful and inspiring cookbook "Homemade-ish: Recipes and Cooking Tips That Keep It Real" Known for her knack of blending home-cooked charm with modern-day convenience, Lauren's work has been making waves in the culinary world. We'll dive into her creative process, chat about her beloved blog "My Kitchen Little," and get a glimpse into the life of someone who beautifully marries food, photography, and writing.

So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and get ready to be inspired by the delightful Lauren McDuffie.

TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:

Stephanie [00:00:15]:

Hi. Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, and I am here with the author Lauren McDuffie, Talking With My Mouth Full , and she is someone that I'm just getting familiar with. So Lauren, welcome to the program.

Lauren McDuffie [00:00:26]:

Thank you so much for having me.

Stephanie [00:00:28]:

Yeah. Your book, Homemade-ish, I think I saw it, like, on maybe a publisher's weekly list, and then I started paging through it. And you're I I hope this, like, hits you in the right way. You're kind of, like, sort of semi homemade ish, but not exactly.

Lauren McDuffie [00:00:48]:

Yes. No. That's you really hit the nail on the head with that. Okay. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:00:52]:

I used to watch semi homemade with Sandra Lee you. In the beginning of the Food Network days, and she's kinda gotten a bad rap. What I loved about her and what I loved when I was going through your book too is just this idea that we don't have to, like, make every single thing from scratch in order to put a decent meal on the table for our family.

Lauren McDuffie [00:01:16]:

Right. It's just that's just true.

Stephanie [00:01:19]:

And it prevents people sometimes from cooking at all. This idea that cooking is so complicated and so hard. And as someone who I mean, I'm just a home cook, and I feel like that's a great space where you can sometimes take shortcuts and also knowing the shortcuts to take.

Lauren McDuffie [00:01:38]:

Yes. Exactly.

Stephanie [00:01:40]:

So your book, Homemade-ish

Lauren McDuffie [00:01:42]:

Mhmm.

Stephanie [00:01:43]:

Is really lovely. And I felt like was the modern day version of sort of that idea because your food looks incredible. Your you must be a are you a a photo stylist? Because your food in your book is, like, amazing.

Lauren McDuffie [00:01:58]:

Thank you. Yes. I did the photography and the styling for all my books, and it's I just love that part of the process so much. So thank you for saying that.

Stephanie [00:02:07]:

I did laugh because you have a piece in there you, talk about, like, I just love this. This is my joy. And I'm in the middle of finishing a second book, and I'm not feeling that it's my joy.

Lauren McDuffie [00:02:23]:

I get that too. Yeah. That's fair. I was like, I'm all the time. So I under Yeah.

Stephanie [00:02:30]:

I have 35 pictures left, and I don't even wanna eat the food anymore because I'm so sick of it.

Lauren McDuffie [00:02:35]:

Yep. You've spent enough time with it probably. Yes. I get that. I do.

Stephanie [00:02:40]:

So catch my listeners up a little bit about you and who you are and your blog.

Lauren McDuffie [00:02:46]:

Okay. So I yes. I run a, a recipe website called my kitchen little, which I think it just turned 5, like, within the past week. So I I don't know. In blog years, that's not a baby anymore. So and and I run it as a business, which I really, I really enjoy. But prior to this website, I had a blog, which was very much a writing space. I love to write, and I started that, I don't know, maybe 12, 13 years ago, a long time ago back when food blogs were still sort of a novel thing.

Lauren McDuffie [00:03:19]:

Not everyone had one at the time. So I started I started that when my daughter was was a baby, and I just needed an outlet. And for me, cooking has always been my favorite sort of creative outlet. I love food. I love to talk about food, and a blog just seemed like a really nice way to gather together my creative interest with writing and cooking. And and, eventually, I fell in love with photography just by necessity because I learned that people want to see what you're talking about. Yes. So I grew a new love for that whole side of it too.

Lauren McDuffie [00:03:50]:

So so I had a food blog for a really long time purely as a hobby, but I I I met a lot of other people along the way who were in in food land just like me but in different ways. And, I had the opportunity to do my my first cookbook several years ago, which was kind of an homage to my Appalachian roots. And then I did another book a few years later, which is called Southern Lights. I lived in Charleston, South Carolina at the time. And

Stephanie [00:04:15]:

You did? My brother lives there. I love Charleston so much.

Lauren McDuffie [00:04:18]:

I love you. We moved to Portland a year ago from Charleston, and I was very sad to leave. But I love Portland too. So so it's it's been fine. But, yeah, I have a special spot in my heart for Charleston, and that book sort of was inspired by just my time living in, the low country and in the south, and I wanted to show off the healthier side of the southern table, which was a really fun book project. But, this book, Homemade ish, I just really enjoyed doing because I've found that a lot of my actual friends, like in my neighborhood and in my real life, are really drawn to things that are genuinely easy, truly low maintenance, and unintimidating. You know, I love a long cooking project with the best of them, something that takes all day and then I have to go out into the world to find really obscure ingredients. I like that because I'm a food nerd, and that's the kind of stuff that makes me happy.

Lauren McDuffie [00:05:11]:

But a lot of people, in fact, most people that I know, they're not like that. They they do, however, want to make food themselves in their home because there's a lot to be said for that, but they wanna do it with the least amount of fuss, you know, possible. And so that's really where the idea for this book came. And I also did use to watch semi homemade, and I appreciated kind of the heart of the show. The point of it made so much sense to me. So, yeah, I kind of wanted to breathe some modern new life into that concept. And because ready made foods and store bought foods have really come a long way since the nineties, and there's so much out there, that's that's really great fodder for jumping off and being creative and doctoring up into something new. And that was that's kind of the point of the book.

Stephanie [00:05:57]:

Yeah. So you take something that's maybe giving you a a a helping hand as it were, like pesto or deli meats or even, rotisserie chicken

Lauren McDuffie [00:06:08]:

Yes.

Stephanie [00:06:08]:

And then you kinda take it the rest of the way.

Lauren McDuffie [00:06:11]:

Absolutely. Yeah. I think that cookbooks really serve a wonderful purpose in just giving ideas also. I think sometimes just coming up with what to make for dinner can be, you know, a deterrent in and of itself. And so I'm I'm hoping that these recipes are also fodder for people's own just riffing and and their own interpretation. So, hopefully, it'll help people see their grocery stores kind of in a new light. Like, what do you mean for me? Yeah. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:06:38]:

You mentioned in the book, I think it's 5, like, of your favorite products that everyone should have in their pantry at all times that you always have a meal available. And maybe it wasn't exactly 5, but I think it was pesto was 1. Yep. Curry. I think prepared curry was the

Lauren McDuffie [00:06:58]:

paste. I love I love a curry paste.

Stephanie [00:07:01]:

And can you share a few more?

Lauren McDuffie [00:07:03]:

Sure. And I think that this list probably changes, a little bit, but for me, a rotisserie chicken is always a go to. I I tend to never get sick of finding ways to wield a rotisserie chicken because you can just do so much with them. But I think this is gonna you know, people scoff at at bagged salads sometimes, which is silly to me, but I do a lot in this book with bagged salads. I usually have one in my fridge to play on and and riff on. I think they're really valuable because it saves you time with chopping and Yeah. Procuring all of the individual things. I just there's something to be said for that.

Lauren McDuffie [00:07:41]:

So

Stephanie [00:07:41]:

Do you have bagged salad? Like, are you an Aldi person? Are you a Trader Joe's person? Are you whatever your grocery store is where you are? Because they apparently someone told me once that the bagged salads at Aldi that are $3 are really quite good, and I've never had

Lauren McDuffie [00:07:57]:

I haven't either. Although, I'm people I see people talking about Aldi more and more singing its praises. So I will have to check that out. That's really good intel.

Stephanie [00:08:07]:

I can't get past the quarter to get the cart.

Lauren McDuffie [00:08:10]:

Oh. Oh, yeah. I can't do that.

Stephanie [00:08:12]:

I'm like, come on. Like, it's a quarter, but people say it ensures that the people bring the carts back into the store.

Lauren McDuffie [00:08:21]:

I see. Okay. Okay. I'm just like, charge

Stephanie [00:08:24]:

me a dollar. I don't care. I just want I don't wanna have to fish around in my bag for a quarter.

Lauren McDuffie [00:08:29]:

Right. I know. That's true. I didn't know about that whole thing. Okay. That is interesting. But it's funny you mentioned Trader Joe's because I just went there last week for the first time in, like, 6 years for no reason other than that. I've moved a few times and COVID happened, and I just hadn't been in a while, and I forgot how much I love that store.

Lauren McDuffie [00:08:49]:

Yeah. And it it's perfect for this book because they have so many wonderful things that are already kind of made and started for you. But, yeah, I almost panic bought so many things when I went in there because I was like, oh gosh. It all looks so good.

Stephanie [00:09:03]:

You are my person because I'm a panic shopper. Yeah. Like, where I just and and during COVID, I mean, I have still nightmares about trying to go to the grocery store during COVID and just literally throwing things in your cart and running out. But I'm also a panic orderer at a restaurant because I want everything.

Lauren McDuffie [00:09:23]:

Oh, I know. I I feel you on that. I'm a little bit like that. I close my eyes and just play roulette and

Stephanie [00:09:29]:

Yes.

Lauren McDuffie [00:09:30]:

That's like your dog. No. I get that. But I did I got some salads there last week to your point that were very good. So but, yeah, normally, I I grocery shop so much just for my work that it's almost a daily thing. And, I do get delivered groceries, which people think is funny because I don't always pick out my own individual this and that. But for pure efficiency sake, again, which is sort of the heart of this book, I just shop at, like, my big local supermarket and and get all my bagged salads and sundries there and, you know, use them in a pinch. They're always helpful.

Stephanie [00:10:04]:

Every day, what does your day look like? Like, are you already working on the next book, and is that what you're doing every day?

Lauren McDuffie [00:10:11]:

Yeah. You know, I, I did this book right before we moved from Charleston to Portland, and I did it really fast. For me, it was it was fast. And it didn't burn me out, but it definitely gave me a nice kind of pause in in the the cookbook making because I had a book come out a year ago as well. So I had 2 come out pretty close together, which has been really fun. But I'm just kind of enjoying sitting back a little and looking at the stuff I've made, and and I'm actually working on a non food related book, right now just to see, if that can go anywhere. So but I've been focusing a lot on my my website and growing that. I just you know, as I said before, it's past the 5 year mark, and it's really nice to see that, coming more to fruition and and doing doing pretty well.

Lauren McDuffie [00:11:02]:

So I've just kind of thrown myself into the to that side of things, but I'm sure another book idea will will will surface because I love making them. But, like, you you were just saying, it's a lot when you're in it. It's like, woah. I'm I why am I doing this? But it's it's great when all is said and done, but, yeah, I took a little break.

Stephanie [00:11:19]:

There's been a kinda trend that I've been seeing with cookbook authors and recipe developers. I'm curious if you're thinking about this at all. We have a lot of people that have launched substacks, and Instagram and TikTok are just full of recipes. And we're in some respects, I feel like have reached this, like, everything is just like this free recipe, and people just comment like recipe, recipe, recipe. Yes. And Yes. With that, which is great because you build an audience and you build a community, there are some creators that are like, wow. I'm just putting all this time, energy, and money into this thing that the books aren't making money like they used to.

Stephanie [00:12:06]:

Podcasts have never really made money unless you're, like, the top 20. And so we have all these creators spending all this energy, and we're all chasing, you know, the few scents that you get when someone watches something on a YouTube. So I'm wondering if, like, we're almost at, like, some of the creators, Carolyn Chambers has talked about this, about taking all of her recipes off of her website and really funneling people only into recipe ways that she can monetize. Have you thought about that at all, or do you think about that when you're working on your blog?

Lauren McDuffie [00:12:41]:

Yeah. I do. Because sometimes it does start to feel almost futile when you really sit back and you think of I mean, and you just summarized it really well. I go back and forth. I mean, I actually started a substack, as well, and I've enjoyed that as a separate space for me to write more creatively because no one comes to food blogs anymore, as you know, to hear hear what anyone has to say about their life. I mean, that's a that's a big joke now. You know, get to the recipe already. And so my self stack became sort of that.

Lauren McDuffie [00:13:09]:

I think for me, it's been motivating because my own traffic on my website has grown exponentially over the last year, really, year, maybe year and a half, and that keeps me in the game. But I do sometimes wonder and I had someone ask me just last week about, another factor, which is AI is now a part of things as well too, which is so intimidating and it makes me wonder, is that where people are just going to stop, you know, for all of their their recipes? And are we gonna become obsolete? I don't know. It's scary actually to think about it. But but I have some very, very dear friends who are full time food bloggers and are very helpful resources for me and have taught me a lot about SEO, so I which is search engine optimization, and it's sort of how to play the game with Google so that you get your content in front of all the people out there who are googling things all the time. And it keeps me inspired and motivated when I talk to other people who have found real success in this. But I don't know. To your question, it is a little bit nerve wracking and and scary to think about what's gonna happen 5 years from now. I don't really know, but I just know that I enjoy doing it and I I'm enjoying the little wins and little successes that I'm seeing month to month right now, and that's keeping me going.

Lauren McDuffie [00:14:27]:

And and the books, like you said, you know, I don't know many people who write cookbooks to get rich, but, it's a wonderfully legitimizing thing to have. I love having a tangible representation of of my work, and it's it's just I I love them. I love that I've that I've done them, and it's it's valuable in other ways that aren't necessarily monetary. And and it all kind of works together as this little food machine and who knows exactly where it's going, but I I'm confident and optimistic that it'll still be, there's still a place for our blogs and recipe websites.

Stephanie [00:15:01]:

Well and to your point, I think what is also happening, which is sort of in your wheelhouse, I don't consider myself a writer. My husband actually is a writer, So I'm pretty careful about what that looks like in that space. I am a 300 words or less person. I am a bullet pointed list. I just that's how I think, and that's what works for me. But to your point, if you have, like, talent in the writing space and having your own personal points of view, I do think that there's always gonna be room for that where people align with your vision or your values or your lifestyle choices, and they get to know you and they wanna be more in your world?

Lauren McDuffie [00:15:44]:

Hope so. Yeah. I think so too. I really do. That that human element of the equation is special, and I think people like it. It's it's a really nice thing. And so I'm hoping in fact, you know, I've actually made a commitment to invest more into the writing in my website even though I'm not telling you a story about my life anymore.

Stephanie [00:16:05]:

Right. But you

Lauren McDuffie [00:16:06]:

can still weave your voice into how you explain food. You know, most of my my blog posts, I don't even really call it a blog anymore. It really is more of a recipe website, but there's still tons of words in there. And you could pick and choose which words you use, and I try to make mine as useful, but also entertaining and worth people's time to read, and that's one way you can separate yourself from the bazillions of other people who are doing the same thing. So

Stephanie [00:16:32]:

Yeah. So I'm talking with Lauren McDuffie, and her book is Homadish. Couple of other things in your book specifically that I really loved. I I don't know. I I was, was thinking about this today. I was, doing a TV segment with a friend and there was a laundry guy on and he was talking about, know, the 5 things you need to have in your laundry room. And I thought, wow. You know, there's blogs and I've got, like, kitchen essentials and you really broke it down this in in your book, some things worth noting about what you should the 13 things you literally need to have in your kitchen.

Stephanie [00:17:10]:

I've never seen a list so small and so spot on. So good for you.

Lauren McDuffie [00:17:15]:

Thank you. Yeah. I, I that list came to be because I was photographing the book, and, I realized I have I have rooms filled with props and things that I've used for years because I work as a food photographer and a stylist. But in, you know, in the name of keeping things real and, authentic, I just used the stuff that I genuinely cook with in my real life. So, yeah, it made it it made it very clear that you don't need a lot. I love minimalism. It makes me feel good, and so I wanted to kinda capture that.

Stephanie [00:17:47]:

Yeah. So it was a cutting board, a chef's knife, a large deep lidded pot, a large skillet, a medium lidded pot, large baking sheets, a muffin pan, which I might argue with you on the muffin pan.

Lauren McDuffie [00:17:58]:

Yeah. Yeah. I know. I had to sneak that in because there's 2 recipes in my book that require it.

Stephanie [00:18:03]:

Okay. Alright. A Dutch oven, a grater, a can opener, a large spatula or spoon, a blender, or and a strainer. And and, like, I guess because the one thing that the muffin pan is is you can't replicate a muffin pan, really.

Lauren McDuffie [00:18:17]:

Well, that's true. Well and I think, specifically, I was just trying to say that you can literally make every single thing in this book with just these 13 things, but I'd be willing to stretch that and say you could probably get by with cooking a lot more for a lot longer with just these things. You really don't need I mean and you're right. The muffin pan is very unique to the to the book. But, yeah, I I think in general, less is more. I'm not a big, single use kitchen tool person. I used to be, but we have moved so much. Like, my family, we've moved a lot, and that'll make a minimalist out of you.

Lauren McDuffie [00:18:52]:

Yeah. It had it had me. So, yeah, I wanted to weave that notion into this book because I think it's kind of

Stephanie [00:18:58]:

refreshing. So do you have an instant pot or a slow cooker?

Lauren McDuffie [00:19:01]:

I do have a slow cooker because I love them. They're so helpful, and I love a slow cooked thing. Like, we're getting into that season now, so mine's like, I've just dusted it off and it's ready to go. But, yeah, I I don't have an instant pot, and I'm sure I would like it. I mean, I'm sure I would like an air fryer. I don't have that either, and I I know people love them. But that's just me probably being resistant to one change. And then also, you know, if we move again, that's another thing I'm gonna have to pack and unpack.

Lauren McDuffie [00:19:31]:

So

Stephanie [00:19:32]:

Yeah. You don't need a air fryer. And the only thing I would say about the Instant Pot is the pressure cooking aspect is really nice, and it's a slow cooker too. Oh, yes. But there's something kinda homey about your ceramic slow cooker. You know?

Lauren McDuffie [00:19:49]:

Yes. And I love just I love a Dutch oven, like, old school just but I also work from home, and so I'm here to to do that. But for I used to not work in my house, and I loved a slow cooker because it just it made everything so easy.

Stephanie [00:20:04]:

Yes.

Lauren McDuffie [00:20:04]:

Yeah.

Stephanie [00:20:06]:

So as you're thinking about food trends and kind of new products, like, one of the, you have a recipe that's kinda like this. You know, we went through a shakshuka phase.

Lauren McDuffie [00:20:18]:

Yes.

Stephanie [00:20:19]:

Mhmm. Are there any, like, trends that you're seeing on the horizon that you're like, oh, I need to simplify that?

Lauren McDuffie [00:20:28]:

That's that's a great question. I well, one trend that I've literally been working on just this morning is I'm really obsessed with chili crisp, which is something I see all over the place. I like spice. And so I've been trying to think of ways in fact, I just shared in my, I think I shared in my news letter, or I'm getting ready to, ways to kind of make your own but using a store bought one as your just like with homemade ish, using it as a launch pad. So I took a chili crisp that I bought, from maybe Trader Joe's, and I turned it into a southern style chili crisp by adding something like candied pecans and a little apple cider vinegar and, like Yum. Like, so it it and brown sugar, I think, or or molasses is what it was. But, anyways, I southernized, an already store bought product, which is very much what this book is sort of all about. But I keep seeing chili crisp everywhere, and it makes me so happy because I love it.

Stephanie [00:21:23]:

I really wanna put that on a white bean or cauliflower or puree. I'm just hearing you talk about it.

Lauren McDuffie [00:21:30]:

That's the perfect idea. Yeah. That would be fun.

Stephanie [00:21:33]:

Do you like, some of the as I look at cookbooks Mhmm. Sometimes I see, like, that and this is why I'm probably not a very prolific person when I do this. I kind of plot along. Like, oh, I'm gonna make, you know, this, double stuffed something. And then they find 12 other ways to make the same thing, but just with different twists on it. Do you think like that?

Lauren McDuffie [00:22:01]:

I think I do now, but that's because I have to think strategically about how I publish recipes on and on my website, at least, because that's very that's very useful just for getting views and getting people. It's funny how how my brain splits into when I'm writing recipes for a book. It's a very different it's much freer, actually, creatively. But then, to your question, when I'm working on coming up with recipes for my, for my website, yeah, if I can split something off and offer variations, that serves me really well. So, yeah, I think my brain does work that way. Yeah. The more the merrier.

Stephanie [00:22:39]:

Yeah. And and I know I I'm always like, there's a reason people are doing it like this. And

Lauren McDuffie [00:22:44]:

Yeah.

Stephanie [00:22:44]:

I'm not doing it like that, but I know there's a reason why people are. And it never occurred to me that it was due to SEO, but that makes total sense.

Lauren McDuffie [00:22:52]:

Yeah. That's why I would do it at least. Yeah. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:22:56]:

Are there other cookbook authors that inspire you or that like, books that you just will never take off your shelf considering that you've moved, so you've probably pared down?

Lauren McDuffie [00:23:05]:

Yes. I really have. I donated some books that I'd worn pretty well. But, yes. I, I love Alison Roman's books. I I just I think the well, her food is a lot like the food that I just cook for myself, on any given day because it's very simple. It's nothing more than it needs to be, and I like that. But I really respect and appreciate anybody that truly innovates and carves out their own style.

Lauren McDuffie [00:23:32]:

That's really hard to do. I mean, I live in this very saturated world of, you know, recipe development and food. And so anytime someone comes along and has a very distinct and sort of fresh feeling, point of view, I just think that's great. I admire that. At it. Yeah. She's good at that. She's she's done that for herself.

Lauren McDuffie [00:23:50]:

So she's the first person that came to mind. And and I have her books. They're sitting out, and they have been for a long time. So yeah. Yeah. I love her.

Stephanie [00:23:59]:

When you is there, like, a classic recipe that you just find yourself coming back to that's maybe from your blog that you just love and

Lauren McDuffie [00:24:09]:

Yeah. I always say my, my most, I guess, well loved and well worn recipe, it's, I love Cajun and Creole, Cuisine, and I've got just this etouffee recipe that I have been making for a really, really long time, that's got shrimp and and chicken and andouille, and it's just so good. I've made it for, I think, everyone that has ever come to my house. It's just so tasty, and it tastes better the longer that it sits. Anything that can check that box, I'm gonna automatically be a fan of. But but I think that's my all time favorite, and I love, like, a Cocoa Van, as well. In fact, I'm sitting here today working on chicken stew collection, for my website, and that's just my favorite, I think, category of of food just in general. But my all time favorite would be the this like an etouffee, like a spicy one.

Lauren McDuffie [00:24:59]:

Yeah. I love them, and I make them all the time. So

Stephanie [00:25:02]:

Yeah. And that is super southern too. Like Yep. Something that you know, sometimes I think, like, oh, do I even need to, like, tell someone a recipe for this? Like, some of it seems so obvious.

Lauren McDuffie [00:25:15]:

Oh, sure.

Stephanie [00:25:15]:

That is something and and I guess you get accustomed. Like, I can make gravy like nobody's business. Yeah. Sure. But I you know, in the Midwest, we had grew up with gravy on everything, so it's Yeah. Sort of unique.

Lauren McDuffie [00:25:28]:

And appreciate that. I know. I I forget sometimes how, I I assume things are just, so easy and you don't need recipes for things, but then I'll have friends who just are like, Lauren, no. That's why I wrote this book. They're just like, you know, I don't know what I'm doing. My brain doesn't work that way. And so I always equate it to the way that I am with gardening. I don't know how to do anything with plants at all.

Lauren McDuffie [00:25:51]:

I'm so ignorant, and so I always just try to remember, like, how I am with plants is how some people are with cooking. It's just not your you wanna do it, but you just aren't super well versed in. So

Stephanie [00:26:01]:

yeah. Alright. Well, I'm gonna put a link to the book, obviously, homemade ish, in the notes here. I will also, remind me of the name of your blog again.

Lauren McDuffie [00:26:12]:

It's called my kitchen little, and so it's just my kitchen little dot com.

Stephanie [00:26:15]:

It's cute. And then, I'll find your substack, and I'll link to it too. Great. And we'll go from there. But it was really lovely to spend time with you. I Right. Really think the book is clever. I felt like I knew right away people in my life that would really get a lot out of this.

Lauren McDuffie [00:26:33]:

Good to hear.

Stephanie [00:26:34]:

And, it's beautifully shot, which is also I really admire that because I'm over here with my stupid iPhone, but it's, it's beautifully shot. It looks great, and I would recommend that people buy it. I when I really sat down with it and went through the recipes, I liked it very much. It's homemade ish. Recipes and cooking tips that keep it real. And I liked your 13 things you need in the kitchen probably minus the muffin pan.

Lauren McDuffie [00:27:01]:

That's fair. That's fair. I get it. Alright. Thanks, Lauren. Thank you so much.

Stephanie [00:27:06]:

Okay. We'll talk soon. Bye bye.

Lauren McDuffie [00:27:13]:

Bye bye.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Jason DeRusha Substack Newsletter here The DeRusha Download: official newsletter of Jason DeRusha

TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:

Stephanie [00:00:15]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to people that are obsessed with food. And, Jason Derusha, I don't know how you feel about being introduced as being obsessed with food. I probably should start with that you're a very professional broadcaster first.

Jason Derusha [00:00:32]:

I'm pretty obsessed, though, so I think it works. I think it works.

Stephanie [00:00:36]:

Jason is the host of Drive Time with Derusha from 3 to 6 on WCCO Radio. And you may have known him from making the leap from being a TV news anchor to a broadcaster over in the audio space. You and I are are friendly. We, see each other at things and we chat and you've been super helpful for me in my freelance journey. But I just really wanted to chat with you about, like, how's it going? Most people, I think, see the idea of being on, like, the evening news and then going to AM radio as a step back. But I thought it was super fascinating for you, and I'd just love to see how it's going.

Jason Derusha [00:01:18]:

Well, thank you, and I appreciate you asking me. It is, I I had to get over my own sort of mental block as to whether or not this was a step back. And, also, like, is that even a relevant question? Like, who cares if it's a step back? Right? But, all of these things are sort of wrapped up in, oh, gosh. It just goes back to, like, when you're a kid. Right? Like, what was your vision of yourself? Is it okay to stop and say, like, I think I've achieved what I need to achieve? And that that sort of I don't know. It was an emotional decision for me because very much my identity was wrapped up in being the TV news guy.

Stephanie [00:02:03]:

Yeah.

Jason Derusha [00:02:04]:

And probably for my 1st year at WCCO Radio, when I would do events, I would I would, still, like, sort of struggle with how do I introduce myself. And even stuff like talking to my my, kids about you know, as an alum of Marquette University, when I was the morning news anchor, like, there was some prestige with that. When you are the afternoon radio talk show host on AM radio, It's just a little different for a younger generation. I will say this. Releasing yourself from sort of the burden of your own self expectations is incredibly liberating. And doing something because you wanna grow and you wanna challenge yourself and you want to be sort of okay at something and then get better, oh my gosh. Like, it has been so invigorating for me. I'm so glad I did it.

Stephanie [00:03:07]:

It's such a weird thing too because I came from radio and did then go to TV.

Jason Derusha [00:03:14]:

Yeah.

Stephanie [00:03:14]:

And and people act like TV is like the holy grail, but yet you've been doing something for 15 years over here. And the mediums are both broadcast, but the way you interact with people is super different.

Jason Derusha [00:03:28]:

Yes. Yeah. I've found you know, morning news and talk radio have a little more in common than when I was on the nighttime news. I remember when I was the Good Question reporter in the 10 o'clock news at WCCO TV. When I went to the morning show, all of a sudden, there was this much more personal intimate connection with the audience. And doing talk radio is like next level of that. Where on television, like, people got little glimpses into my life. And on radio, you know, all last week, and we're recording this in early September, but when when I was at the Minnesota State Fair, people were coming up to me wishing me good luck at dropping off my oldest at NYU because they knew this weekend I was going to New York to drop off my oldest.

Jason Derusha [00:04:17]:

Like, they just have that relationship with you, which is really fun. I mean, I think I've always had, maybe more of a personal relationship with the audience and, like, the traditional, you know, stand on mount anchor desk and deliver the sermon sort of TV news anchor that's never really been me. But it's just different when you have 3 hours to talk to people. You know?

Stephanie [00:04:39]:

One thing that's really struck me as a talk radio fan, and I have been for, I don't know, my whole life really from the time that my dad made me listen to WCCO in the 5th grade on the drive to school. I'm very impressed with how you handle this time that we're in where politics is so polarizing and people are just so feeling their feels all the time and really need to share those feelings with you. I just was noticing on, posts that you did that someone was mad that you weren't at the state fair on Labor Day and it's like, wow. People. But, also, I love the way that you you let people have their opinions, but you also don't let them abuse you, and I think there's a difference.

Jason Derusha [00:05:26]:

Yeah. Yeah. It's tricky. I mean, in TV news, I spent 25 years trying to get the audience to trust me. And part of that is, especially in morning news, you wanna be liked. Not that you shy away from asking tough questions, but you wanna do it in a likable way. That's what the audience wants. And here in in the talk space, it's it's hard.

Jason Derusha [00:05:56]:

It would be very easy if I were a left wing talk show host or a right wing talk show host, and then you just play the hits. You are essentially KDWB of political ideas. You play the top 40. You people know what you're gonna do, and you do it. And they like it. And people see in me what they want to see. So if they want to be mad at me and they are, Republicans and you're like you can make a line between Trump supporter I try to with Republican listeners. Like, look.

Jason Derusha [00:06:37]:

I am open to many Republican ideas. I'm not open to Donald Trump. Like, sorry. He's disqualified himself for me. That is not something I talk about a lot on the show because what's the point Other than making yourself feel, you know, good, I guess. I I I always think of my show as, like, the Thanksgiving table growing up where my uncle was, my uncle was a lawyer. He went to Madison. My grandfather was a hardcore Ronald Reagan Republican.

Jason Derusha [00:07:14]:

And everyone would duke it out, and everyone was welcome to join in. You're sort of expected to join in. And it was fine. Today, we've taken and I get it. Some of the issues we're talking about are very fundamental issues to different people. Right? It's it's a very white male sort of, privileged position to say, like, most of these issues for me are not life and death. But I also think it's not good for political discourse that we've turned everything into life or or death. And I don't I don't know that that what does that get us? Do we have better discussions? Do we have better participation? Do we have better policy because we've turned everything into a fundamental life and death, good or evil question? I I don't see a benefit to it.

Jason Derusha [00:08:06]:

So I try not to do that on my show.

Stephanie [00:08:09]:

I have noticed a change in you from when you first started broadcasting on the station, and I thought this was interesting because as a TV newsperson, you weren't supposed to have a lot of personality. You were supposed to be fairly impartial and just like a blank slate of

Jason Derusha [00:08:27]:

Yeah. The news for you. Star. Right? The news is the star, not me.

Stephanie [00:08:32]:

And I think it took you a little while to find your rhythm of how what to push, what buttons to push, how hard to push. And I'm really, pleasantly surprised and encouraged of the progress that you've made. I think you're just doing great.

Jason Derusha [00:08:48]:

It it's so nice, it's so nice of you to say that. I have had a tremendous coach at the radio station, and the thing I miss most about TV is the team. And I was more I don't know. I coworkers called me the CFO of our morning show. Mhmm. And that stood for chief feelings officer. My job was to sort of keep the trains on the track and make sure everyone felt heard and validated. And I didn't always tell people they were right, but they always were heard.

Jason Derusha [00:09:24]:

And so my job was to lift everybody else up. Well, in radio, it's just it's me and a producer. That's it. And we have a a brand manager who's, like, a program director of WCCO Radio, Brad Lane. And he's been tremendous, you know, and you can talk to any of my managers over the year. I've always have good relationship with managers, but I generally don't like to be told, what to do. Typical, media Broadcaster. Broadcaster.

Jason Derusha [00:09:55]:

Right? But in this case, like, I needed guidance. I needed coaching. I didn't really know how to do this. I I knew how to host, and I knew how to interview, but I didn't really know how to navigate talk radio today, which is different from talk radio 10 years ago. 10 years ago, if you could frame the issue well, people would call in. Today, people react to talk radio sort of like they do a a Facebook status update. They wanna know your take, and then they'll react.

Stephanie [00:10:24]:

Yeah.

Jason Derusha [00:10:25]:

Well, that took me a lot of work because, you know, do people really wanna hear my take? Is my take valid? Do I you know, it's all of those issues. And even as someone who's always had sort of an outsized personality in town, I still had that doubt of, like, do I really do I know what I'm talking about? Why are people really and he the the way Brad phrases it is he's like, what is your show about? What is your show about? And a lot of people ask me that. What is your show about? Which is such a funny question because you and I both, like, grew up listening to talk radio. So, like, I grew up in Chicago. WGN talk radio was part of my life. And then there was an FM talk radio, the loop in Chicago. That was more comedians, a little more edgy, a little younger. And you're like, talk radio is about well, fundamentally, it's about whatever the host wants to talk about.

Jason Derusha [00:11:25]:

So, like, you know, your show that you do, what is your show about? Well, like, the subject matter is food, but, like, it's really about your lens, what you care about. And that seems so egotistical. You're like, oh, it's all about me? Yeah. But it kind of is. Right? That's kinda what it is. So I it took a while for me to learn that. It took honestly, I would say it took a year of doing it 5 days a week until I really got comfortable with it. And I still feel like I'm good, not great.

Jason Derusha [00:12:01]:

Whereas after 25 years of TV, not being arrogant, but I think I was great. Yeah. And so it's kind of fun to not be great at something and learn it. I've enjoyed that.

Stephanie [00:12:14]:

Yeah. And I think it's revealed a lot about you as a person, that is hard to tap into and to be vulnerable and to let people see that side. Particularly, you know, we're performing these shows in a really polarizing time and in a time where people just they go after you. I mean, the amount of personal attack that hosts receive on something as benign as a food show, it's real.

Jason Derusha [00:12:46]:

I'm surprised by it, to be honest. And I'm a very online person, so I shouldn't be surprised by it. But, what's happened, and certainly you get it from people listening to you, but the people who actually listen, get it for the most part. Like, there's some attack, but mostly the listeners I don't know. All during the fair, I have people coming up telling me that, like, they disagree with me politically, but they really like how I do my show, which that's the best. Yeah. But part of the challenge with the digital world and the social media world is, you know, like, I I said this to someone this morning. How much of my energy am I supposed to spend on someone who doesn't listen and never will listen? So all day, every day, both the Republicans and the Democrats run against the media right now.

Jason Derusha [00:13:41]:

The media is the media where's the media? Why doesn't the media say this? Why is this the headline? Why are you framing it this way? Media, media, media, media, which is sort of interesting considering, supposedly, no one cares about the media anymore, and no one lets no one reads, no one subscribes, no one so you're like, but but it's a great boogie, man. Right? Like, if you run against the media, you don't have to confront the fact that your candidate maybe sucks. Right? Like, it's my fault. And that's been a bit of a challenge for me to figure out, like, obviously, I want to convince people to give my show a chance, but I think most of the people who are engaging in sort of a negative way, are not convincible. Right? Like, they're not so how much of my energy am I supposed to spend on that? I don't know. It's a bit of a challenge.

Stephanie [00:14:34]:

Well and I do think they listen. I think that people love to have feelings and emotions. And if they're not sure where to have them or they are in a place in their life where they're lonely or they're othered or whatever the case may be, I think sometimes people tune in just to feel something because they feel empty inside.

Jason Derusha [00:14:59]:

Yeah. Yeah. And you get I don't know. Like, I always try to remember that there are and the same is true of callers or texters on radio. There are a lot more people who are listening, who are lurkers. Right? Like, that's what we would call them on Facebook or Twitter, the lurkers. So by modeling sort of reasonable, friendly, but passionate discussion, I think there's some benefit to that for the people who are observing and don't wanna jump into the mess.

Stephanie [00:15:34]:

Do you ever think about getting off Twitter? I know a lot of media personalities have.

Jason Derusha [00:15:39]:

I do. I do. But, mostly, I enjoy it. Like, mostly, I get positive interaction out of it. I've started to curate it a little more. Like, I mute a lot of people that you know, if I feel someone getting my blood pressure rising, I'll just mute them. It's okay. Like, they don't need, like, block.

Jason Derusha [00:15:58]:

I don't need to do that. But, like, I and people who I have a policy, if you call me or my family a name, you just get blocked. Like, there's no I don't need that. So I I do think about it. It is one of those things where you're like, the upside of something like Twitter acts. The upside is you get a lot of audience. I have, I don't know, 80,000 followers there. Certainly, most people don't see all of that stuff, and who knows how many are are relevant.

Jason Derusha [00:16:33]:

But, you know, a a normal tweet of mine might get seen might get, you know, 10, 20, 30000. Like, that's pretty good.

Stephanie [00:16:42]:

It's also so immediate when you're on the air. Like Yeah.

Jason Derusha [00:16:45]:

You need. For show, it's amazing. Like, what I I never think about leaving. I think about and I have adjusted what I will post about, just because it's not really fruitful for the most part. And you think, like, is my voice needed on this topic? Not really. Like, so do I need to weigh in on a lot of political type things? Not really. So I I've sort of, cut down on that. But you're right.

Jason Derusha [00:17:15]:

Like, from a listening standpoint, from a breaking news standpoint, it's amazing. It's unparalleled, frankly.

Stephanie [00:17:22]:

Yeah. I would agree with that. You took a weight loss journey, and I think you lost £40 last I checked.

Jason Derusha [00:17:29]:

Yeah.

Stephanie [00:17:30]:

And you've always been someone in the food space. Did that feel conflicting for you to do the weight loss route and at the same time be championing and talking about all the food?

Jason Derusha [00:17:44]:

Yeah. I mean, people ask me all the time. They're like, how do you eat this much? I'm like, well, I'm, you know, I'm sharing. I'm taking bites or whatever. I do think about it. Right? I think the reason that I lost weight was so I could live, not so I could hide. And so I don't really feel conflicted about that. The truth is, though, could I have lost that weight by eating out 4 nights a week? Probably not.

Jason Derusha [00:18:13]:

Yeah. So it is a challenge of eating out. I certainly am a little more careful now in how I order. And the way we used to, you know, some of this, like, COVID has changed it, but a normal night for us back in the pre COVID days would be you go somewhere for drinks, go somewhere else for appetizers, go somewhere else for a main course, and go somewhere else for dessert and drinks. And thinking about that while I was on the weight loss journey, like, I was probably eating 4000 3 or 4000 calories a night just in that. Like, not lunch, not breakfast. And so that's not sustainable. But can I do that occasionally? Sure.

Jason Derusha [00:18:53]:

Yeah. Why not? So I I the biggest thing I was conflicted about is the weight loss journey that I took. You know, I've always been, like, sort of an organic whole foods farm to table type eater. But to lose weight, quickly and sustainably, it's difficult to do it on whole food. It just takes a lot longer. Now I was eating whole foods. It wasn't like a liquid diet or anything. But, like, it is success breeds success.

Jason Derusha [00:19:21]:

And when you start when you lose that £10 in 2 weeks, you're like, oh, I can do this and then do it. Like, for me, I needed that. Other people, you know, maybe you can lose £40 in 2 years and do it by eating more salads and be more careful. But, like, getting the protein you need and the nutrients and all of that, it's it's just difficult if you go on a severe calorie restriction diet. It's difficult.

Stephanie [00:19:45]:

It's interesting too. I think for what we're seeing in the media now, like, everyone not everyone, but a lot of people are on the weight loss drugs and taking the shots. Many people are talking about it, many people aren't. Some are talking privately. And as someone who's a bigger person, like I'm not obese, but I'm a size 12 or 14 usually. I think about like, can I manage my weight with a magic, like, pill and No? Do that? Like, that feels like it could be amazing. And then they're also finding that with the reduced inflammation, people are happier or less depressed Yeah. Or sex.

Stephanie [00:20:27]:

It's like, oh my gosh. Is this the miracle drug? But then at the same time, as people who champion the food space, can you make food the the devil in that situation and still talk about it? It's it's something I both my radio partner and I have talked about a lot.

Jason Derusha [00:20:46]:

It's tricky. Right? Like, I am cheering for small business. I'm cheering for creativity, for innovation. So I'm cheering for that. Food is and I love food. We love, eating out. We love the experience of it. But food is really I mean, food is the vessel for all this other stuff.

Jason Derusha [00:21:13]:

Right? So is it do I love, love, love the particular dish, or do I love the experience? So I think, like, you know, you and your radio partner, Stephanie and I, I think the 3 of us have sort of a similar approach as to what makes restaurants, fun and what makes eating out fun. And it's really it's more the social experience, the room, the way you feel, the people you're with. Like, yes, good food, technique, all of that matters, but the other stuff matters more. And so when I was losing weight, my wife and I, you know, we had to sort of radically reenvision what we're gonna do for fun. So because we knew, like, you know, what would we do on a Saturday if we had a day free? Like, go to a maybe go to a a tap room or maybe go to a bar. It's like we can't do that. So we're like, alright. Let's go for a hike or, you know, you're trying some different stuff.

Jason Derusha [00:22:17]:

It's interesting as you age too. Right? Like, it's I can't eat the way I did 10 years ago.

Stephanie [00:22:23]:

And, also, like, I became recently aware, which why it took so long, I don't know, of, like, that what I view as fun is always food related. It's always my go to thing, and I

Jason Derusha [00:22:36]:

don't Yeah.

Stephanie [00:22:37]:

I don't think about, like, oh, let's go have a bike ride. I think about let's go have a bike ride to this brewery or this orchard or it's like the destination, not the journey.

Jason Derusha [00:22:47]:

We're trying to, like you know, we went to a a show at the Guthrie a couple weeks ago. It's like, oh, and we loved it. And it's like, okay. Let's, like, let's remember to kind of, you know, Yeah. Sprinkle the other stuff into.

Stephanie [00:23:03]:

I want to, just thank you for some of the folks you've had on Derusha Eats. I was, thinking about Manny from Manny's,

Jason Derusha [00:23:11]:

Tortoise. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:23:13]:

25 years, Manny Gonzalez has been over there doing the work, and I was just really taken aback when he said he'd never been on the radio in 25 years. And I thought, well, good for you for having him on, and, wow, why did it take us so long? You just there's so many great voices out there and so much more to our food scene than the typical, you know, James Beard award winning chef. Right?

Jason Derusha [00:23:38]:

Yeah. Yeah. It that was a lesson I learned in my TV years of doing stories on restaurants. The audience resonated with, like, the neighborhood pizza place a lot more than the James Beard award type place. And, like, I don't know. I think about that often. Right? Like, people get more jazzed about mama's pizza in Saint Paul or Latah Latifs in

Stephanie [00:24:06]:

Plymouth. Yeah.

Jason Derusha [00:24:07]:

Where they've got, like, the diamond it's sort of the diamond shaped cut. You know, people resonate with that more, and that makes sense. Right? Like, it's the reason The Cheesecake Factory back in the day was, like, the biggest restaurant opening of that year. Yeah. Because, people don't like feeling dumb. They don't like looking at menus where they don't know what the ingredients are, or they don't know how to say it. And neighborhood pizza places are awesome. Right? Like, they support the softball teams, and they support the youth, soccer teams.

Jason Derusha [00:24:44]:

And so I've always tried to give those guys a voice. It is it is a balance of, like, how do you keep it? So what really helps me is my producer, Dan Cook, does not care about restaurants at all. He doesn't care. He is mister meat and potatoes. He doesn't know anything that I'm talking about. And so when I do an interview where he's like, oh, that was really interesting. Like, he loved the Manny Gonzalez in the interview. And you're like, okay.

Jason Derusha [00:25:13]:

That's really what I'm trying to do. So I I do think about that a lot. Like, I definitely light up with the classics more. So, like, the Bilkoslag from Jack's

Stephanie [00:25:26]:

Game Fair. That was a great interview too.

Jason Derusha [00:25:28]:

Like, the though those ones, always sorta get me going. So it's something that I think about. Like, this month, we're gonna have, Murray's, Tim Murray, and we're gonna have JD Hoyt's. But we're also gonna have a case, Johnson who just, has this, you know, chicken tenders type Yep. Restaurant. So, like, I try to think, you know, can we have more women on? Can we have more people of color on? Do we have the classics who don't get the love on? Like, I'm always trying to think of that stuff.

Stephanie [00:26:08]:

You do

Jason Derusha [00:26:08]:

have the new new the new new new, I always get nervous about on broadcast. Because if you're reading my stuff in Minnesota Monthly, you opt in. If you're going to a new place, you know. Like, Jason may love it, and you may go on another day, and it might be a train wreck. And that's sort of buyer beware. If you go to a place in the 1st 2 or 3 months, that's gonna happen.

Stephanie [00:26:32]:

Do you feel like a food reviewer? I mean, that's your title technically in Minnesota Monthly, but I feel like you carved out this other seat for yourself.

Jason Derusha [00:26:41]:

Yeah. I always feel a little awkward considering myself a critic. I mean, it it's the easiest way for people to understand it, but I'm not doing as much reviewing anymore. And part of the problem with reviewing versus recommending is that to really critically review a place, you need to go 3 times.

Stephanie [00:27:05]:

Absolutely.

Jason Derusha [00:27:06]:

You just do. It's not fair to roast somebody. And I can write a review and do the old, you know, crap sandwich with, like, this was good. This was good. Oh, this needs a little work. This was good. And I feel okay doing that on one visit, But, you know, mostly people wanna know where to go and what to order. And so, because I don't have the budget to really adequately review, you gotta do what you can do.

Jason Derusha [00:27:38]:

So,

Stephanie [00:27:38]:

like, I company is gonna send you 10 times like they used to send Ruth Reichl at the New York Times.

Jason Derusha [00:27:44]:

So I just try to carve out my area. I think people know that I'm honest. I'm not gonna deceive them. I'm not gonna puff up a place that's not good. But if I never talk about a place, you probably know why.

Stephanie [00:27:58]:

Yeah.

Jason Derusha [00:27:58]:

Like, I don't like it.

Stephanie [00:28:00]:

Yeah. And it doesn't help sometimes, I think, either to pounce on a place once everyone's identified that it's not great.

Jason Derusha [00:28:07]:

No. And there is I I think there is a space for, like, informed recommendation. Right? We have, like, the TikTok, Instagram world of, like, this is open. Whoo. Like, you have that. And that has its usefulness too. Like, people like to chase that. That's fun.

Jason Derusha [00:28:23]:

But I try to be like, alright. I'm gonna I'm gonna give you an informed recommendation. It's not quite a review. I don't know. I I I try I try. It's a it's a tricky thing. Right? Like, what does the audience want? Do people people always say they want critical reviews, but, like, just not about their favorite place. Yeah.

Jason Derusha [00:28:46]:

Exactly. People really want critical reviews. I I don't know.

Stephanie [00:28:51]:

I don't know. What's next for you? You've launched your substack. I've got 10 minutes left. And in that 10 minutes, I wanna know what's next and also the most embarrassing thing in your refrigerator.

Jason Derusha [00:29:07]:

So what's next? For for me, I am hoping to launch, like, a more unified brand. I have, like, all of these different things under my umbrella, and none of it looks the same. None of it has the same logo. Not you're like, what are we doing here? So I I like to unify things a little bit. You know, the Substack, you sort of inspired me to switch over to Substack from doing, like, a Mailchimp email I was doing. I've loved that outlet. So that's been really fun. You know, trying to figure out, like, Minnesota Monthly pays me to write.

Jason Derusha [00:29:47]:

Like, I gotta write for them. Like, I'm not saving it all for the newsletter. Like Yep. How do you make that work is something that I'm sort of working on. But I would like the other thing that I would like to launch, and I do release my restaurant interviews in podcast form. And over the next year, I I sort of wanna figure out, like, what is the right way to do that. Should I be you know, I experimented. I did an interview with Sameh Wadi where we taped it ahead of time instead of doing it live on the radio.

Jason Derusha [00:30:18]:

And so I spent 45 minutes with him asking questions, and so it was a longer podcast, and I think people like that. So trying to figure out, like, how do I do the radio? You know, I'm doing 3 hours of radio a day, so it doesn't leave as much free time as, you know, my family jokes that I work 3 hours, but you're like, well

Stephanie [00:30:38]:

An hour and a half of prep for every hour on the radio.

Jason Derusha [00:30:41]:

It takes a little bit of reading and planning and all of that. So that's you know, I I the the concrete plan is relaunch jason to russia.com. There's that website was built, like, 8 years ago. I'd like to freshen that up. So brand refresh, website refresh, those are the big plans for the next year. Try not to get fired during this political stretch. Don't get canceled. All of

Stephanie [00:31:10]:

those things. What's embarrassing that's in your fridge?

Jason Derusha [00:31:13]:

Oh, what is embarrassing that's in my fridge? There's currently a bottle of Kirkland, sparkling rose in my fridge.

Stephanie [00:31:23]:

But it is kinda good.

Jason Derusha [00:31:25]:

It's kinda good. I, you know, I mean, that's a little embarrassing.

Stephanie [00:31:30]:

That's funny.

Jason Derusha [00:31:31]:

Yeah. Yeah. That's probably that's probably the most embarrassing thing in there right now.

Stephanie [00:31:37]:

You know what else is kinda interesting about you? And I work for freelance myself. Mhmm. So I'm 1099 everywhere I work. And I see myself as my own company, my own brand. I also see you as seeing yourself like that, and that's interesting to me and a shift for you.

Jason Derusha [00:31:56]:

Yeah. At some point, that might be where it goes. I will say, like, as someone sort of new to the side hustle world, it's exhausting.

Stephanie [00:32:07]:

Yeah. It's really hard.

Jason Derusha [00:32:08]:

Like, you're pitching yourself all the time.

Stephanie [00:32:11]:

It's very hard.

Jason Derusha [00:32:13]:

And, you know, trying there's something to be said for, like, every 2 weeks. Like, the check comes. Yeah. The regular job. It's kinda nice. So when you're, you know, when you're pitching yourself a lot for a $1,000 here or for a trade out, like, oh,

Stephanie [00:32:36]:

okay. Free meal.

Jason Derusha [00:32:39]:

Yeah. You you know, I don't do a ton of that, but, like, it it does get exhausting. And then you have different you have different clients who have different needs. So, like, you know, one of the things I'm struggling with right now is there's a there's a restaurant owner who owns, I don't know, 5 or 6 different local restaurants. I love these restaurants. So he asked me about, like, doing influencing for him, doing a little digital campaign. And the trick is, like, at what point, like, if I'm getting if I'm getting paid, like, how many restaurants is that okay for? Like, do people start doubting my reviews? Does that or my recommendations? Like, how do you keep integrity in what you're doing, but also, like, keep the lights on so you can

Stephanie [00:33:30]:

do it? It's a it's a line, and I don't have the answer because I've struggled with it myself. All I can say is if you are approaching it with integrity, but I don't know. When someone sells an endorsement for you on the radio station, they're making $80 and, you know, you're making $5,000. Right. So

Jason Derusha [00:33:52]:

Right.

Stephanie [00:33:52]:

I I did an endorsement for Certix, which I know you've done. And people still I mean, people will associate me with Certix till the end of time.

Jason Derusha [00:34:01]:

Yeah. Yeah. And it's

Stephanie [00:34:03]:

great because I love the family and I that's why I did the project that I did because I really enjoy them as people and stewards of northeast. But, yeah, it does close doors, and, you know, was it worth it? I don't know.

Jason Derusha [00:34:16]:

Right. Yeah. It's a little tricky just trying to figure that out. And, like, if I were not writing for Minnesota Monthly, then I wouldn't even worry about it.

Stephanie [00:34:27]:

Yeah. It would be different for sure.

Jason Derusha [00:34:28]:

But, like, in the Minnesota Monthly thing is, opens a lot of doors for me. Right? When you say you're the food writer, I mean, how many food writers are there for regional magazines across the country? 15? 10? I know. There are not that many. So, like, so that's sort of a job where it's like it pays for itself. Like, who cares that I don't get paid that much for it? It opens so many doors. So but then if you're not gonna cash in on those doors opening, what are you doing? So, like, trying to figure it all of that stuff is I spend a lot of time thinking about that.

Stephanie [00:35:06]:

Me too.

Jason Derusha [00:35:07]:

Yeah. Just trying to keep integrity and also, like, make things worth your time.

Stephanie [00:35:14]:

And with that, as my free Zoom subscription is winding down

Jason Derusha [00:35:19]:

That's right. That's all that's all we're doing. How many free like, I edit my video on a free video editing? Yes, sir. We

Stephanie [00:35:28]:

have 3 minutes left to wrap it up.

Jason Derusha [00:35:32]:

That's right. I invoice using Google Sheets.

Stephanie [00:35:35]:

Yep. No. I I know.

Jason Derusha [00:35:36]:

My accounting is like my emails and try you know, it's all a train wreck.

Stephanie [00:35:41]:

Yes. It is. But it's been super fun to spend time with you and just to I wanted to just tell you you're doing a good job and Thank you. Tell you I've noticed that there's growth happening and that I think what you did took a lot of courage, and I've been a a fan. And I it's

Jason Derusha [00:35:58]:

fun listening. That means a lot, especially coming from you because I just respect kind of the way you have conducted your business and figured all of this out. And, I think both of us sort of follow what we think is fun and then hope the business type things sort of follow. Yeah. It's worked out okay, I think, for both of us.

Stephanie [00:36:19]:

So far so good.

Jason Derusha [00:36:20]:

We'll knock

Stephanie [00:36:21]:

on some wood that we're not both fired in

Jason Derusha [00:36:23]:

the middle of the day. That's right.

Stephanie [00:36:25]:

Alright. Thanks, Caitlin.

Jason Derusha [00:36:27]:

Thanks, Stephanie.

Stephanie [00:36:28]:

Okay. Where do you want people to follow you?

Jason Derusha [00:36:32]:

Instagram is good. Instagram or Facebook is probably the best way. Right? Like, they can get my my radio show podcast is everywhere, so we upload every segment and all of that. So those are probably the best.

Stephanie [00:36:46]:

Alright. Well, thanks for being on, and I really appreciate your time.

Jason Derusha [00:36:49]:

Thanks, Steph.

Stephanie [00:36:50]:

Okay. Bye bye.

Jason Derusha [00:36:51]:

See you.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of "Dishing with Stephanie's Dish," we had a delightful conversation with the talented cookbook author Kelly Jaggers. She shared her insights about her latest creation, "The Ultimate Meal Planning for One Cookbook," and her journey as a cookbook writer.

Kelly's passion for creating recipes perfectly scaled for one person's enjoyment shines through her work, making her books a treasure trove for solo diners. She has 4 books currently in the “Cooking For One” series including:

Join us as we delve into Kelly's culinary background, her inspirations for writing cookbooks, and her love for food, hockey, and dogs. So, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us in this engaging conversation with Kelly Jaggers.

COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY

I have two copies of this cookbook to give away. To be included in the giveaway, send me any comment here, and I will contact the winner via email and mail the book to your home.

FINAL TRANSCRIPT:

Stephanie [00:00:15]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to dishing with Stephanie's dish, the podcast where we talk to cookbook authors and people generally obsessed with food. Today, we have a cookbook author, and it is Kelly Jaggers. Welcome to the program, Kelly.

Kelly Jaggers [00:00:27]:

Thank you so much for having me.

Stephanie [00:00:29]:

Yes. So you wrote something that I find really fascinating. It's called the ultimate meal planning for 1 cookbook, and you previously wrote the ultimate Mediterranean diet cookbook for 1. Mhmm. What got you into, like, cooking for 1 person? Because I did notice that you're now married.

Kelly Jaggers [00:00:49]:

I am married. So just because I'm married doesn't mean I don't understand the, ins and outs of what people who are solo might need. Yes. I do spend a few days a week at home by myself. My husband works. Sometimes he travels. And on those dates, I'm just cooking for me. I don't have kiddos, just me and the dogs.

Kelly Jaggers [00:01:06]:

So it was important for me to learn how to scale down recipes so that I could enjoy them just for myself without having excessive leftovers. And that just really parlays well into the book series that I've been working on, because it's kind of a I wouldn't say so niche, but kind of overlooked audience for cookbooks.

Stephanie [00:01:23]:

For sure.

Kelly Jaggers [00:01:23]:

Thinking right. They're thinking about families, married couples, people with loads of kids or planning for parties. But what about those people who are, for whatever reason, cooking for themselves because maybe they're single or they have a spouse or an SO or a partner who works multiple days away from home or maybe they're on a special diet from an SO. And so, like, they're planning just for themselves.

Stephanie [00:01:44]:

Yeah.

Kelly Jaggers [00:01:44]:

So lots of reasons why you might just be cooking for yourself. So it's not just because you're a single, although you probably maybe you are. That's also fine. Like, I don't judge. Whatever. So, yeah, it was important for me to kind of, kinda fill that gap and to help, to fill out that market a little bit.

Stephanie [00:01:58]:

I feel uniquely, interested in this topic after just having spent 2 weeks with my mother-in-law who's 92, and she still does all her own cooking. And every time I was gonna make something, she acted sort of horrified at my portions because she's used to cooking for just herself. So she's always really keenly in tune to not cooking too much so she doesn't have to eat the same thing for 5 days.

Kelly Jaggers [00:02:25]:

Exactly.

Stephanie [00:02:26]:

Yep. Because leftovers are a problem when you're when you're single.

Kelly Jaggers [00:02:30]:

I mean, leftovers are great for 1, maybe 2 meals, but, like, five meals of lasagna in a week or 5 meals of, whatever it is that you've made. Yeah. It can get a little get a little depressing. Right? And it makes you not wanna cook, make you wanna reach for a takeout menu, and that's so expensive. So you're wasting food, spending more on maybe delivery or takeout than maybe you've planned for in the budget. So why not think about meals that are scaled for 1 to 2 portions? I think that makes a lot of sense for people who are thinking about their budget, thinking about ways to reduce food waste, which is so important too. Right? Food is so expensive these days. If you go to the grocery store, it's so high.

Kelly Jaggers [00:03:09]:

I don't wanna be throwing that food away. I'm gonna eat what I bought. So I wanna plan for meals that I can make, just in the portions that I want.

Stephanie [00:03:16]:

Your book is beautifully done in lots of ways. So Thank you. First of all, the design of it

Kelly Jaggers [00:03:23]:

Yeah. Yeah. I love They did such a wonderful job with it. It's so, so pretty.

Stephanie [00:03:29]:

It's pretty. It's simple. It's easy to follow. You have pictures for most of the recipes. You also have, like, calorie counts, fat, protein, carbohydrates. So if someone is watching their calories, that's really helpful.

Kelly Jaggers [00:03:45]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:03:45]:

We've got it also broken down into proteins, which we're kind of obsessing these days about if we're getting enough protein. So I loved that. Yeah. I also really liked the size of it and the paper, and it just feels like a manual I can pop in my purse and, you've got shopping lists, meal plans. It's really quite well done.

Kelly Jaggers [00:04:08]:

Thank you. Thank you. It's, it was a labor of love. I think that the most challenging part of the book was the meal plans is coming up with the 8 weeks of meal plans and the shopping lists because I wanted to make sure that the meal plans included a variety of recipes from the book. Nothing was too, like, Mexican every single night or, like, chicken every single night. I wanted to make sure there's plenty of variety. And to give an example for people who maybe have never sat down to meal plan before to say, like, this is what you can do. These are the kinds of recipes you can plan for.

Kelly Jaggers [00:04:37]:

This is an idea of what your week might look like, but feel free to plug and play. Right? Like, oh, I'm not such a big fan of this recipe. I'd rather have this. And you can just plug it into the meal plan and make it easy for you to customize and individualize so that as you start this meal planning journey, you have these great tools and you can just kind of utilize the week over week for yourself.

Stephanie [00:04:58]:

And the prep list too were really thoughtful. I think when you're cooking for because I do cook from 1 a lot, actually, 2. Mhmm. In my food life, because I'm doing recipe development, I'm, you know, usually making recipes for 2 to 6. Yep. But my husband in the summertime lives at our cabin for the most part. So I am cooking for myself a lot. And if I'm not eating recipe leftovers, which usually I end up giving to my neighbors because I don't really wanna eat what I just cooked.

Kelly Jaggers [00:05:29]:

I don't know why. Completely understand. I'm the same way.

Stephanie [00:05:31]:

I'm a

Kelly Jaggers [00:05:31]:

first creature. It. Cooked it all day. I don't wanna consume it. I get it.

Stephanie [00:05:35]:

I photographed it. I'm just saying

Kelly Jaggers [00:05:37]:

with it all day, and I just don't want it. Yes.

Stephanie [00:05:39]:

So I'm, like, always running around the neighborhood, like, who needs food?

Kelly Jaggers [00:05:43]:

Who's hungry? I have I have meals. Please take these foods from me.

Stephanie [00:05:46]:

Yes. So, like, then I'm just myself and I'm like, oh, well, okay. What am I gonna just make for myself? And I always end up making too much. So then I've got, like, food and I again, I'm very conscientious about food waste too. But so I really enjoyed, the way that the book was put together. How did you get into cookbook writing? Were you a blogger first?

Kelly Jaggers [00:06:08]:

I was. I was. So, I had a blog. It still exists out there. I'm not updating it, obviously, but it was evil shenanigans.com. The shenanigans are evil because they're good for your taste buds, but maybe not so great for your waistline. And I started working on that blog when I went to culinary school. I was going to culinary school to become a baker.

Kelly Jaggers [00:06:26]:

I wanted to open my own bakery. I had these really grand plans. And I walked into bakery pastry management, one of my last classes for my degree, and the teacher came in and she's I'll never forget. She said, first thing she said before she even introduced herself was 90% of bakeries fail in the 1st year. It's about a $1,000,000 total investment. And I was like, and with that, I'm out. I am risk averse. I I know how hard it is to earn my money, and I was not interested in that.

Kelly Jaggers [00:06:50]:

So now what do I do with this education I've acquired? I don't wanna work in restaurants. I didn't wanna have that kind of, like, you know, chef y lifestyle that that's not me.

Stephanie [00:06:59]:

The beer doesn't appeal to you?

Kelly Jaggers [00:07:01]:

No. No. I am a gentle soul. Soul. I don't think I could handle it. I would cry every day.

Stephanie [00:07:06]:

Yep.

Kelly Jaggers [00:07:07]:

So I I started writing a blog during my culinary school journey, and so I just kinda focused in on that for a while, trying to figure out, like, what am I gonna do? And about a year into working on the blog, I received an email from a publisher asking if I was interested in working on a book on pies. And I looked around and said, are you sure you mean me? And they did. And so I wrote my very first book, which was the Everything Pie Cookbook. And since

Stephanie [00:07:29]:

then had that. Yeah.

Kelly Jaggers [00:07:31]:

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And so since then, I've written, a number of books for my publisher. I write roughly 1 a year right now. So I do the books and also the photography as well. So, on top of the books I write and shoot, I also shoot photography for other people's cook books.

Kelly Jaggers [00:07:46]:

So, so it's been a lot of fun. Yeah. Just like a nice little transition from, like, culinary school, I wanna be a baker, to now I write cookbooks and study food for a living, and it's the best, and I love it.

Stephanie [00:07:57]:

And you're not doing or you're not updating your blog at the same time, so your whole focus is really on your cookbook each year.

Kelly Jaggers [00:08:04]:

Yeah. Yeah. It it it's a labor of love. It's one of those things that, you've, I think, written a cookbook, so I think you understand. And developing recipes too. It's one of those things where I want them to be right. I want the recipes to work. So I do spend a lot of time working on the recipes, thinking about ingredients, studying what's trending, but also thinking about what will still taste good in 10 years.

Kelly Jaggers [00:08:25]:

So I want things to be up to date and current, but I don't want them to be so up to date that people are like, oh, we're so over this. You know?

Stephanie [00:08:31]:

Yeah.

Kelly Jaggers [00:08:32]:

So I spend a lot of time thinking about those things. So, yeah, that's that's what I do. I do photography. I do the cookbook writing, and then I also do, a little bit of light personal chef and catering work in town.

Stephanie [00:08:42]:

So Where do you live?

Kelly Jaggers [00:08:44]:

I live in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Stephanie [00:08:46]:

Oh, nice. I just, I, I was just doing a cooking demonstration yesterday from 1 from my cookbook, and there's an recipe in there for king ranch chicken that was my mother in law's from Houston. And, you know, I know in Texas, like, everybody knows king ranch chicken is like our wild rice soup. Yes. Yes. Exactly. Was just so impressed with this King Ranch chicken. And I was like, people, I did not invent this thing.

Stephanie [00:09:12]:

You know? This has been being made in Texas for some time.

Kelly Jaggers [00:09:15]:

It's called the king ranch. Yeah. It's from the king ranch, and it's, yeah. It's very, very famous in the state. We I think everyone grew up eating it that I knew.

Stephanie [00:09:24]:

Yeah. And it is delicious. So you can Very

Kelly Jaggers [00:09:26]:

tasty. Yeah. No. It's it's for that.

Stephanie [00:09:28]:

It's one

Kelly Jaggers [00:09:28]:

of those things you kinda can't go wrong with.

Stephanie [00:09:30]:

So And, you know, they were asking me all these intimate questions about, like, the tortillas and what kind and how long they last. And I just I thought, oh, this is when you write a cookbook, you're writing it in your own vacuum, essentially. And these are the kinds of questions that cooks have that I wasn't thinking about when I wrote the recipe. Yeah. So I'll get better on the second book about thinking about some of that. But I think with each book, you get better. Don't you think?

Kelly Jaggers [00:09:55]:

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. It's it's, the first book's a challenge. You you kinda don't I hate to say you don't know what you're doing, but, like, you write recipes. You know how to develop recipes. But have you written a book before? No. No. I ended up writing my first book over the course of basically a week.

Kelly Jaggers [00:10:11]:

We had a snowstorm in Dallas that year, and it basically shut the entire city down. All the roads were frozen over. We were actually hosting the Super Bowl that year too, so it was kind of like this thing where I was watching the news where the they were like, can we even have it? It's all snowed in, and I'm like, it's

Stephanie [00:10:26]:

a quarter

Kelly Jaggers [00:10:27]:

of an inch of snow. It's so small. Yeah.

Stephanie [00:10:29]:

And we were laughing at all of you. Just like, oh my god. What is going on in Dallas?

Kelly Jaggers [00:10:34]:

Well, we don't have the infrastructure in place, and, also, we can't we drive aggressively. Anyway, so I ended up getting stuck at home for week. And I'm like, well, I guess I'll just work on the book. And so I did writing and testing and writing and testing that whole week. And by the time the week was over, I had about a 110 pies in my kitchen and in the fridge and freezer, and the majority of the book done. Like, it just was one of those things. And I was like, oh, how how will I ever write another one of these? This has been such a ordeal. But as you get into it and you learn, like, your own process, you it gets easier.

Kelly Jaggers [00:11:07]:

And you also think about those questions. Like, what do I do with the excess ingredients of this? And what will they do with these leftovers? And could they turn them into something else? And what suggestions do I have for substitutions, maybe for our vegan friends or for people who don't eat these kinds of proteins? Maybe you don't eat shellfish or pork. Like, you know, you think about those things and, like, little tidbits you can include in your recipes to make it better for your audience.

Stephanie [00:11:31]:

Yeah. And you have a lot of that in the book too. Like, in at each page, there if you have some suggestions, like, here's some variations on ways to use grits. Yep. Here is a tartar sauce that goes with this crispy fried shrimp, like Yep. How to freeze seafood. Like, I like that. I thought it was really thoughtful too.

Kelly Jaggers [00:11:50]:

Thank you.

Stephanie [00:11:51]:

What are some of your favorite cookbooks that you find yourself getting inspiration from recently?

Kelly Jaggers [00:11:58]:

Basically, anything from Nigella Lawson. She is the domestic goddess and basically my favorite food person. I adore Nigella Lawson. I love any of the books that deal with, like, specialty one topic cooking. So I love to read books on, like specifically books on, like, vegan cooking or, like, how to cook with chickpeas or, like, specific culinary areas, like, say, books, like, on Israeli cooking or Russian cooking or, German cooking. I love to learn about different food ways. So, I spent a lot of time studying Asian food culture, and now I'm kind of getting invested in more of, like, my own background. So learning about Germanic, Austrian, a little bit of Northern Italian foodways.

Kelly Jaggers [00:12:43]:

And then, of course, I love reading cookbooks from my home state of Texas. So I have a number of cookbooks from people who are in the state who are just masters of their crafts. So books on barbecue, books on southern comfort food, books on Tex Mex.

Stephanie [00:12:58]:

Yeah.

Kelly Jaggers [00:12:58]:

And then even drilling down books on Austin cuisine, on Dallas cuisine. Like, these books are so interesting to me. So I love to I read them like textbooks. Like, I love to just study them. Right? I could just sit there and read a cookbook like most people read a novel. So yeah.

Stephanie [00:13:14]:

Same. I just I don't know why I'm even telling you this, but it's kind of a cute story. I was traveling, and a woman contacted me, and she was cleaning out her mom's house. And we do a cookbook swap every year, with my radio show. And she said, I've got all these books, and I know you have the swap. She said, can I bring them to you? I said, yeah. You can bring them to me. Here's my garage code.

Stephanie [00:13:32]:

Just put them in my garage. And she was like, wait. You're just gonna give me a garage code? I'm like, yeah. Just put the books in there. She goes, I can't believe you're just all she goes, can I do anything else while I'm at your house? Can I bring in the mail? I'm like, sure if you want to. So I've got home from the cabin and the books are in the garage. And I started looking at them and they were real, like, treasures. Like, a lot of old Lutheran church cookbooks.

Stephanie [00:13:57]:

And there was one cookbook that was Minneapolis Restaurants that I only knew of 3 of the restaurants in the book. So it's gotta be, you know, 75 years old. Yeah. And it was just full of treasures and her notes, and there was a box, a wooden box that has actual recipes written in it by hand.

Kelly Jaggers [00:14:17]:

Oh my gosh.

Stephanie [00:14:18]:

And so I'm just like and there's 3 boxes of this person's life, you know? And I just I feel like so honored that this woman gave me the boxes of the books, and I've been kinda paging through them at night, like, reading the recipes and thinking, okay. This has olio and shortening. Can I find a way to do something different with it? And how does that work? But, yeah, I get jazzed by the same things.

Kelly Jaggers [00:14:43]:

I have my old, I don't wanna date myself too hard, but I did grow I did grow in in the elementary school in the eighties. And, I had a cookbook that our PTA put together for our elementary school, and I still have a copy of that, like, construction paper bound

Stephanie [00:14:59]:

Yes.

Kelly Jaggers [00:14:59]:

Spiral bound cookbook from the elementary school, and the kids all submitted recipes. And most of them, the parents, obviously,

Stephanie [00:15:07]:

you

Kelly Jaggers [00:15:07]:

know, helped. But, occasionally, it was a kid who, like, made up a recipe for the cookbook. And I loved to read through the book, and just kind of, like, remember, like, all my friends and the teachers and, like, you you know, all that stuff. It's just it's such a treasure. Like, no one else appreciates it than me, but I love it. It's it's to me, it's priceless.

Stephanie [00:15:23]:

When you what one of the things I liked about this book too is that you have a lot of baking recipes. People don't think about baking for 1, and you I'm just looking. You have a whole cook book about baking for 1.

Kelly Jaggers [00:15:34]:

I do. I do. Yeah. My first book that I did in the series was the baking for 1 cookbook. I did go to culinary school for pastry. So my my background is, well, my education is in pastry. That's not to say that I'm not educated on other forms of cooking. I did take a bunch of extra extracurricular cooking classes for, like, American cooking, French cuisine.

Kelly Jaggers [00:15:52]:

I learned how to make the omelette, the whole nine. But, yeah, I I love baking. Baking is my passion. And so when they, were talking about, like, what books are you interested in? I said, I'd love to do some more baking books. And, like, what about baking for 1? And I'm like, I'm your girl. So

Stephanie [00:16:06]:

I mean, that's a cake for 1, creme brulee for for 1. These are not easy things to make. I love it.

Kelly Jaggers [00:16:11]:

Yeah. Scaling them down was a challenge, especially for things, you would think you just cut especially, like, things like cookies and cakes. Oh, you just cut it down by, like, a quarter. You don't. You really have to think about your ratios of fat, how the leavening is gonna work with these ingredients. Do I need to add less liquid, more liquid? It's it's a little bit challenging to scale down baking recipes. So that was a fun one to work on just from, like, my nerdy food science brain that, like, I really enjoyed sitting down and working on that book. That was a good

Stephanie [00:16:40]:

Yeah. The desserts look exceptional. Also, like beef short rib pot roast for 1. Great. I mean, everybody loves that recipe, but it's makes a huge quantity.

Kelly Jaggers [00:16:51]:

It does. And short ribs are perfectly portioned. Right? Like, you think of a short rib, generally, the kind you get in the grocery store have the bone on and a big chunk of meat on top, that's that's already portioned for 1 person. So that's a little bit of work, and then the extras can be wrapped up, stuck in the freezer, and you can braise them another day or make more pot roast or whatever you wanna do.

Stephanie [00:17:09]:

And, lobster mac and cheese for 1. I mean, Paul Lee's.

Kelly Jaggers [00:17:14]:

Mhmm. Yeah. I mean, if you're gonna have mac and cheese, why not have some too? Right?

Stephanie [00:17:19]:

Like Like, you're only if you just make it for 1, here's you know, because I'm always obsessed with how much I'm eating. Like, I can't overeat it. Right? I can't eat half the pan because I've only made the portion for 1, so I like that too.

Kelly Jaggers [00:17:32]:

But, like, you get the satisfaction of eating the whole pan. Yes. It's a shortcut. It is a shortcut. It's a little brain hack too. Like, I get to eat the whole thing, and then you eat the whole thing.

Stephanie [00:17:44]:

I love Yes. All by myself. Okay. Do you do social media?

Kelly Jaggers [00:17:48]:

I do. I do. You can find me on Facebook, evil shenanigans. I'm on x. That would be Kelly Jaggers. Instagram, Kelly Jaggers. On, threads, Kelly Jaggers. So you can find me on on all the major socials.

Kelly Jaggers [00:18:03]:

I I don't TikTok. I I'm on there, but I don't actually do anything on TikTok. So, you you know, it's not not for me, but that's okay. Not everything.

Stephanie [00:18:10]:

It, but it's it's I don't know. It's it's like I have a love hate relationship with it. When you are

Kelly Jaggers [00:18:15]:

I just doom scroll through to to TikTok all the time.

Stephanie [00:18:20]:

Yes. Absolutely. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay. Hold on one second.

Stephanie [00:18:24]:

Mhmm. My dog is barking. So I'm just gonna pause one second. Alright. So when you open your, let's say, Instagram Mhmm. And a reel pops up from someone, who do you love to follow and love to, like, watch their stuff?

Kelly Jaggers [00:18:39]:

So I follow such a wide variety of people. My Instagram is is strictly curated to be food, hockey, and dogs, like my three favorite things in life.

Stephanie [00:18:49]:

Are you a hockey person? That's so funny because my social media state.

Kelly Jaggers [00:18:53]:

I I'm a huge hockey fan of the Dallas Stars. I also like the Calgary Flames. I have lots of lots of teams that I like to follow, but I'm a diehard Stars fan. So it was

Stephanie [00:19:02]:

I gotta be honest. Every time I hear someone say the Dallas Stars, it it still have, like, a pain in my heart because they were the Minnesota North Stars.

Kelly Jaggers [00:19:12]:

North Stars. That's right.

Stephanie [00:19:13]:

That's right. Still are, like I don't know. Just in my heart and in my, like, growing up childhood, and I don't know. I'm like, Mike Madonna and just I know. I know. They all come back here too.

Kelly Jaggers [00:19:27]:

I know. Well, Mike Madonna works for the wild now, so that's exciting for him. But we got it we have a statue down here

Stephanie [00:19:33]:

in Dallas anyway. He was my neighbor.

Kelly Jaggers [00:19:35]:

Was he really?

Stephanie [00:19:36]:

Yeah. He did live in Minnesota. But Mhmm. When he came here as a kid in I think it was probably high school or junior high to play Mhmm. He stayed at our neighbor's house. They, like, kind of helped raise him and knew his parents and actually dated my sister for a hot minute. So Oh, wow. Big fans of his and his wife, and they've done so much good work too.

Stephanie [00:19:56]:

That's crazy. Well, yeah, he's

Kelly Jaggers [00:19:58]:

he's he's he's kind of a great guy. We we like him down here too

Stephanie [00:20:02]:

a lot. So Oh, that's so funny.

Kelly Jaggers [00:20:04]:

Okay. So, yeah, so reels that I'd wanna see. So anything from, some of my favorite fiction authors. So like Deanna Rayburn, Tess Gerritsen, I love to see reels from the authors I love. I love to see reels from, like, New York Times Food, from Tasty. I love to watch those little quick videos where they put things together. I know it's unrealistic on the timing, and it makes it look a little easier than it is. Yeah.

Kelly Jaggers [00:20:27]:

Hands and pans. But I'm kind of addicted to watching them. They're so satisfying to watch it, like ingredients to completion. Obviously, I we talked about Nigella Lawson before. I will talk about Nigella Lawson until the end of time. I adore Nigella Lawson. But then, like, all of my friends, you know, people that I've known for years who work in food, I'm just thrilled to see what they're doing and the content they're producing. So bake at 360, my friend, Bridget, or 3 bake at 350.

Kelly Jaggers [00:20:53]:

I'm sorry. Bridget, she's one of my favorite, like, dessert bloggers. She makes the most beautiful cookies. And so, like, she'll post reels about, like, you know, dessert. She's making cookies. She's decorating. I love to see those kinds of things. Yes.

Kelly Jaggers [00:21:06]:

So, yeah, like, it it's just basically, like, all of my friends and people who work in food. And then, of course, dogs. We rate dogs is another one. Like, if if there's a cute puppy to be seen, I want to see the puppy. So Yeah.

Stephanie [00:21:17]:

Yeah. Yeah. I've sort of become obsessed with animals eating.

Kelly Jaggers [00:21:22]:

Mhmm. Mhmm.

Stephanie [00:21:23]:

Like Sure. The hamster eating a carrot or Oh.

Kelly Jaggers [00:21:26]:

The little crunch crunch noises. It's just oh my gosh.

Stephanie [00:21:31]:

Love it. Absolutely. It's so cute. Yes. And also there's one where there's, like, a monkey that's feeding a rabbit. And I don't know why, but that's what I've become obsessed with.

Kelly Jaggers [00:21:43]:

Yeah. There's there's one, Instagram account that I like to follow, and it's a person and they have these 2 very wild little beagles And they set the a table up, and they make food for the beagles. And then the beagles jump on the table and eat the food, and he's trying to stop them. And it's it's hilarious. And I know it's all set up, but every time, I I get sucked in and I laugh every single time. So

Stephanie [00:22:04]:

There's also the one that's like that where it's a pit bull that has hands with gloves, and it's made it. Yeah. Like, the food, but it looks like the pit bull's making it, and he has really funny kind of expressions on his face.

Kelly Jaggers [00:22:17]:

Yes. Yes. Yes. And see, that that combines 2 loves, the food and the dogs. So Sure.

Stephanie [00:22:22]:

You know?

Kelly Jaggers [00:22:23]:

Yeah. No. It's Absolutely.

Stephanie [00:22:25]:

The the

Kelly Jaggers [00:22:25]:

the stuff you see on there is is pretty wild. But, yeah, I

Stephanie [00:22:28]:

love fun talking with you.

Kelly Jaggers [00:22:30]:

It's been so nice to talk with you. Thank you for having me.

Stephanie [00:22:32]:

Yeah. It's the ultimate meal planning for one cook book, and your publisher sent me a couple. So I'm gonna do a giveaway with 1 when I put the podcast together. So I'll give, one away to someone, and it's been lovely to see you. When you get your next book going, give me a shout back. I love talking to cookbook authors and hearing about their process. And, again, I really thought your book was super thoughtful. You did a great job.

Kelly Jaggers [00:22:55]:

So glad you liked it. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Stephanie [00:22:58]:

I did. Thanks, Kelly. I'll see

Kelly Jaggers [00:22:59]:

you soon. You. Take care. Bye bye.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

"Preppy Kitchen Super Easy" is John Kanell’s follow-up to his best-selling cookbook “Preppy Kitchen.” In this episode of “Dishing With Stephanies Dish,” I speak with him about his success, the ease of his recipes, and his favorite tools to use in the kitchen.

Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter! This post is public so feel free to share it.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:

Stephanie [00:00:15]:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Dishing with Stephanie's dish podcast. I am here with John Cannell, and he is the author of the Preppy Kitchen cookbook. Now feel like Preppy Kitchen is such a complete statement because it makes me think of all the things about you right off the bat. Congratulations on a great moniker on on a well titled cookbook.

John Kanell [00:00:42]:

No. Thank you. Preppy Kitchen's super easy.

Stephanie [00:00:44]:

Yeah. And, like, do you identify with that just in terms of I mean, I'm looking at you. You're pretty cute. You seem like a preppy person.

John Kanell [00:00:52]:

I suppose I do. But, you know, I used to be a math and science teacher, and I dealt with all these kids. It's kind of a long story, but I dealt with kids who had all this math anxiety and science anxiety too. They thought, like, I am an English person or I'm I love history, but I cannot do it. My brain doesn't work this way. And I was teaching middle schoolers, and they already had the sense of failure ingrained in them, and it was heartbreaking. You know, like, later on in life, when I switched careers and I pivoted over, I saw the same thing for people in the kitchen. They're like, I'm a baker.

John Kanell [00:01:24]:

I cannot cook. Or I am fine on the grill, can't bake anything. Or I just use my credit card and call it a day.

Speaker C [00:01:30]:

No. You can send it

John Kanell [00:01:30]:

with my kids. Like, you can do it. Let's just be prepared. Let's have all the steps laid out and everything else. So it's kind of a play on words. It's about being prepared in the kitchen and having, like, a fun, easy time, not anxiety inducing train wreck where you're, like, halfway through a recipe, like, I don't have this ingredient. Why do I die? You know?

Stephanie [00:01:51]:

Okay. I'm just gonna back up for a second because your aesthetic is really appealing to me in lots of ways. Number 1, just talking to you and the way you have your background set. Awesome. Number 2, the photographs in the book and the photographs on your Instagram and on your sites are also incredibly beautiful. Are you doing all this by yourself? Do you just have this lifestyle persona hidden inside you as a math and science teacher? Come on.

John Kanell [00:02:18]:

Well, I used to do it all by myself back back in the day. But to answer part of your question, like, in pieces, I was an art major. So I wasn't a science teacher, but UCLA and had, like, a fine arts degree. So I was about color theory and putting things together and conceptual art. So my career path has gone all over the place. And now, you know, I find that as business gets busier and my kids get older, I have 2 7 year old boys, they're twins, that whatever someone else can do, they can free me up to, like, spend more time with my family or do things that only I can do, I'll outsource. So the book, book number 1 and book number 2 were both shot by David Meloche, who's a be like, a wonderful photographer. For styling here, like, I do like to collect antique copper and stuff like that.

John Kanell [00:03:09]:

But there's there's a community that comes together.

Stephanie [00:03:11]:

I love antique copper, and I also actually kinda like cooking with it, But cleaning of it and the maintaining of it is, like, a full time job.

John Kanell [00:03:20]:

If like, you have to just understand, like, most antique copper is tinned on the inside, so you might just have to get it retinned every once in a while. Or if you found a piece for, like, $5 at a flea market and it's falling apart, you're gonna say, okay. This is $5 plus the retinning cost, and then it'll be good as new. Because copper you know, old copper's is so heavy. It's gonna conduct the heat really beautifully. And part of being prepared and having the right tools, like, you know, having the nice a nice pot or pan, a nice heavy one that conducts heat conducts heat evenly because you could be following a recipe perfectly to the t. Everything is right. But you had one of those, like like, a sad pot that has paper thin walls that scorches everything.

John Kanell [00:04:02]:

And, you know, your food's kind of it's not ruined, but it's not as good as it could be just because of the tool you had.

Stephanie [00:04:07]:

You're speaking to the choir. I'm at my, summer place, and I'm working on a cookbook. And we got a new stove, like, last year, and we have to buy a our place is super little, so we had to buy this specific size stove. Yeah. And it is just the worst. Like, everything I cook for the cookbook burns. There's so many hot spots in it. It's 75 degrees off.

Stephanie [00:04:32]:

And I'm just like, okay. I don't know if I can cook a cookbook and all the test all these recipes with this horrible stove. No. So, yeah, it's been challenging. Not

John Kanell [00:04:44]:

cool. Not cool at all.

Stephanie [00:04:44]:

When you when you besides your fancy French copper cookware, do you have, like, anything that you recommend for just the basics?

John Kanell [00:04:54]:

You know?

Stephanie [00:04:54]:

I, like, I always recommend All Clad, but that's a kinda easy one. AllCloud.

John Kanell [00:04:58]:

Because it kinda just lasts it's, like, indestructible, lasts forever, and is you know, it's expensive, but I will have the All Clad until I don't know what happens to me.

Stephanie [00:05:08]:

Yeah. Same.

Speaker C [00:05:09]:

You

John Kanell [00:05:09]:

know, you just clean it with some steel wool. If it gets really singed, then it's fine. And then, also, you can find some, like, nice cast iron enameled, like Dutch ovens or something. You can get them secondhand. And if they're in good shape, they'll last forever. So those are, like, investment pieces that really make your time in the kitchen a lot easier.

Stephanie [00:05:29]:

Agreed. Now you're on your second book here. How did you can you give me the transition from math and science teacher to cookbook author? Did you just love cooking?

John Kanell [00:05:41]:

You know, I grew up in the kitchen with my mom. So I always had my mom taught chef, and my mom came from a very small town in Mexico where, like, everything was made fresh every single day. And she came to this country with a love of fresh flavors and ingredients and learning. She never wanted to stop learning. So she explored the world through her kitchen and cookbooks and recipes she clipped out. And, I got to be there on that journey with her and learn a lot from her. So and she was a teacher and retired as well, so I followed her by I just became a teacher. And, when my husband and I were planning a family, because it takes a lot of planning, we were thinking who's gonna be home? And, you know, my job had specific breaks, but you can't show up to school late.

John Kanell [00:06:29]:

So, if, like, you know, if your kid is sick or something happens, he really encouraged me to do a pivot. And he's like, you know, you love teaching, but you really are passionate about food. Like, that's what you kind of light up when you talk about. So he's like, you know, you could. I see people, like, having food blogs, and they can make that a career. So why don't we, like, try that out, and you can work from home and be there more often? So I really credit him for helping me do that because it was really taking a chance. Ended up working out pretty well.

Stephanie [00:06:59]:

And I I mean, congratulations on the books and your story of your mom is pretty inspiring. She sounds like a really neat lady.

Speaker C [00:07:08]:

She really

Stephanie [00:07:08]:

But that is, I think, how a lot of us get started and and the being a cookbook writer is probably more possible now than it was before because of digital creation and social media, to be honest. Yeah. Did you always have a knack for that too? Because many people are great with, like, the food or the recipes, but they're not so great at the digital side. And then there's people that are great at the digital side, but maybe their recipes aren't the best.

John Kanell [00:07:35]:

Part of you thinks I was horrible at everything when I started except, like, I could make a delicious dish. But and I the funny thing is I went to art school. But, like, my photography classes were conceptual art photography classes. And there was no skill. Like, if you wanted to have any skill earned, you'd speak to a technician. And the teacher was just there for the discourse of arts and, like, different references. And, you know, it's a lovely conversation. I enjoyed it, but it gave me zero preparation for shooting food and making it look attractive because it's very difficult.

John Kanell [00:08:07]:

It looked tasty even as in the I mean, it's hard. And if you went scrolled all the way back on my Instagram, you would see some very tragic looking things. And I was, you know, so proud of them at the time.

Stephanie [00:08:21]:

Yeah. And I do think, like, the authenticity of the not so perfect photos too. Certainly not for a book, but we kind of had these whole curated Instagram feeds and lives and I do feel like we're getting away from that a little bit in a way that appeals to me just because it feels more democratic for everyone else.

John Kanell [00:08:43]:

Yeah. I mean, I am a bit of a klutz. I'm gonna acknowledge this. So for me, that part comes out of my YouTube channel where I'm making things and, like, something falls or, like, the I made eclairs 10,000,000 times. It's my favorite thing, but I'm filming it and they fall down because I added, like, a little bit too much egg that day, or the eggs were a little bit on the larger side than I was used to. And I'm I will show that. I don't edit it out. So I'll say, like Same.

John Kanell [00:09:10]:

And but now, let's just come back and say, could you use these? Yes. They're still gonna be delicious. They're not gonna make someone French happy, but you will eat them, or we can remake them. And let me show you the correct amount of egg right now. You know? Or I

Stephanie [00:09:23]:

can Oh, I love that.

John Kanell [00:09:25]:

The fridge.

Stephanie [00:09:26]:

No. I absolutely love that. I have done 2 horrible videos. 1, I cut my head off, but I really liked what I made, so I kept it in. It's the headless shrub making. And then the second, I had a absolute whipped cream failure where it, like, just went like this all over my whole kitchen. Oh, no. And I just left it because I was like, well, I've done that once with soup where I Vitamix it and it was too hot and it blew out all over and now with whipped cream.

Stephanie [00:09:55]:

So I think people actually appreciate that because it makes them feel like they can do it too.

John Kanell [00:09:59]:

Yeah. And also, like, whipped cream is actually quite difficult because in the US, there's all these additives and every every brand is a little bit different. If you go abroad and you make a whipped cream with like a double cream or something else, it takes longer to whip. But when it does, it's a beautiful consistency. And depending on what's been additive or how it's been ultra pasteurized, it could become kind of chunky very easily.

Stephanie [00:10:22]:

Yeah. Okay. So yes. Also, cooking with well and your mom being from Mexico and probably you traveling all over too. Cooking all over in different places is weird. We travel a lot by boat. So cooking in a small space boat kitchen with, you know, butter from all over different goat butters and just like, oh my gosh. This is unique.

Stephanie [00:10:45]:

Let's talk about specific recipes in your book and give me, like, your top five that you feel really attached to.

John Kanell [00:10:53]:

Well okay. So on the back cover, I'm gonna start start sweet. In the book, I have the perfect birthday cake, which is like a beautiful vanilla melt in your mouth cake. But on the back cover is what I actually make for my birthday for myself. And it's a lemony Italian olive oil cake, Two layers with a crunchy sugar topping, and in between and on top, a mountain of mascarpone stabilized whipped cream with lots of fresh berries. It's, like, just perfectly sweet, has that wonderful consistency, and it's a very simple cake to make. So, you know, it's a good example of something delicious, something visually stunning. It doesn't have to be difficult.

John Kanell [00:11:35]:

It doesn't have to be time consuming. And you can really make it your own. One of the side dishes that I am very attached to to is part of my Sunday dinners growing up, and it's a Greek style, spicy tomato orzo. It goes with everything. Like, we would have it with a roast chicken or a big garlic studded leg of lamb in a salad. But you can have it a 1000000 different ways. It's silky. It's perfectly spicy.

John Kanell [00:12:02]:

It has a lovely play of flavors. It does take a little bit of time. And whenever you make something saucy and pasta y on the stovetop, you know, it's gonna burn on the bottom and you're constantly, like, stirring and scraping. So my time saving hacks for this were to start off by using Bloody Mary mix for the base because that gives you a perfect spiced tomato

Stephanie [00:12:22]:

Yes.

John Kanell [00:12:24]:

And saves a lot of time. And then we do a little work on the stovetop and then pop it into the oven and just bakes perfectly on its own. It's so silky, perfectly saucy, and goes with everything. There's, like on the cover, I have a a lemony chicken pasta bake, and it's a one pan meal. There's a whole chapter of 1 pan meals because, you know, we don't necessarily wanna feel like Cinderella every single day at the sink. And it is just a nice combination of pasta that's been cooked in a flavorful, like, white wine chicken stock sauce. Yum. It's made creamy with a little stir of ricotta, and then you have these beautiful, big, juicy pieces of chicken, lots of sweet cherry tomatoes, lemons, squash, and it's finished off with giant dollops of ricotta.

John Kanell [00:13:14]:

And it looks so good. It's delicious. It's decadent. And it's something you can just make really easily. And then for breakfast, there are these pear fritters where like, I make recipes for a living, and I enjoy all the recipes that I make because they're these pear fritters were so good. It was like, they're so easy to make. It's basically like if you haven't made fritters, which I'm sure you have, but they're it's like pancake batter holding a lot of fruit, and you deep fry it. So unlike a regular donut where you're you know, the yeast and the rising, it's time consuming.

John Kanell [00:13:49]:

You can just throw this together in a few minutes. And the combination of these lovely pears with just enough golden batter holding together, drizzled with a lemony glaze, they're like it's you will eat and inhale the entire batch of them.

Stephanie [00:14:06]:

I feel like you need to have a radio or a TV show too because one thing you're doing that's really working for me is you are making all of the food sound so absolutely delicious with your adjectives and your adverbs and just I mean, I wanna cook everything.

John Kanell [00:14:23]:

Oh, you're too sweet. Thank you. The book starts out, by the way, like, on the subject of being prepared with the pantry of convenience. Because a lot of us like, I'm a little scattered. I I will admit this. And I will go to the store. Do I have cinnamon? I'll buy cinnamon. I go to my pantry and there's 8 cinnamons there.

John Kanell [00:14:44]:

I am set. But I wanted to show people how you can set things up. Just talk about the different kinds of flours, the different kinds of sugars, like all the stuff that, you know, we might take for granted. But when you're making a recipe or setting yourself up, you need to know have them at hand, know what they do. And, you know, if we're talking about a chocolate chip cookie, there's a dry mix for chocolate chip cookies. So you guys have that in your pantry hanging out, the recipe is halfway done, and you can make as many cookies as you want. And it's like a time saver. Same thing for, like, like, a chocolate cake mix.

John Kanell [00:15:16]:

There's a pancake and waffle mix too. So you can have those in your pantry. And then also talk about, like, different ways to, like, treat butter, like, you know, European versus American butter. You know, I love browned butter. It's one of my flavor hacks. It goes in anything. Anything that has butter, you can sub in browned butter, which is butter that's been cooked and caramelized a bit and has lovely nutty flavor. And it gives you so much extra depth and makes everything just a little bit more special.

John Kanell [00:15:43]:

So, of course, I'm gonna talk about butter, browning it. The different types of butter have different amounts of butterfat in them, just so you know, and what that what that means for your recipes, and the list goes on. And I started you off kind of to set you up for success. And then from there, we have all these easy recipes with tons of variations where you can swap out different proteins, try different sauces. You could use different, like, flavor combinations with spices. Or if it's like a baked good, I'll show you how to make cupcakes verse like, the there's people who make either a batch of cupcakes, the 8 inch, the 9 inch layer cake, or a sheet cake, and it'll give you instructions for any of those. So you can

Stephanie [00:16:23]:

Right that alone is impressive because my number one failing as a cook is pan conversion.

John Kanell [00:16:32]:

It's a it takes actually, it takes some math. So many times

Stephanie [00:16:34]:

This is why I'm bad at it.

John Kanell [00:16:37]:

So many times I wish I could go back in time to my middle school math class and say, Listen to this. This is how we're going to use some math in everyday life. And, you know, the only other time that happened out of the kitchen was when I was calculating, how much flooring material to buy. And I do some geometry. I was like, I used the geometry in real life. It's a miracle.

Stephanie [00:17:00]:

Spatial spatial relationships. They're they're here. My daughter, we were working on a project that we had to map out where we were gonna put some boost in an event and she looked at me and she said, how did you do on the SAT and your spatial reasoning? And I was like, not good. Not good.

John Kanell [00:17:19]:

Sassy. She's

Stephanie [00:17:21]:

pretty funny. Could have inspired you. Like, you kinda give me a little bit of a Ina Garten vibe, and I say that in a very nice way because I feel like she's the the leader of high all high priestess of recipe testing. I mean, her recipes always work. They're always beautiful. They're fairly easy.

John Kanell [00:17:40]:

Yeah. Well, that's a very kind

Speaker C [00:17:42]:

the I grew up

John Kanell [00:17:43]:

in Los Angeles, so I'm not, you know, starstruck when I see people. However, one time in New York, I was with my husband, and I saw Ina and Jeffrey walking hand in hand in the park. And it was like, it's real. They're together. Like, he came down. I love her. For recipe testing, what some people don't realize, it's so important to test your recipes multiple times by multiple hands in multiple places. Because you can be in one, like my famous example for this is in the south, and in the south, and it was falling flat.

John Kanell [00:18:31]:

Or it was, like, it had a little bit of a concave, and it wasn't something was off on the texture. And I was like, oh. So I kept adjusting the recipe over and over again. I was like, it's working for me. I don't know what's going on. And, eventually, after some research, we found out that in the, like, in the 4 regions of the US, there's, like, 4 big flour companies. Each one of them uses a different amount of baking powder in their self rising flour. So if you just try to make a self rising flour recipe for something as finicky as a cake, where you're really trying to reduce the flour to give a melt in your mouth consistency, It's it's literally impossible unless you have in your notes everything for the different flour companies.

John Kanell [00:19:10]:

And there's, like, you know, sub brands and private labels, so it's we ended up just using regular flour with to make it work. And you would never have known that unless you recipe test things in different places, especially with different ovens and, you know, like, you have to give proper ranges. And, one of the goals is always to have things just past multiple hands, multiple places, multiple times before they make it into the blog or the cookbook. Because if someone's trusting you with a recipe, what they're really trusting you with is their time, their money, and their moments. You know, it's you're making something for your family to come together. It could be as simple as just dinner for yourself after a long long day, or it's a big celebration and it's like a supposed to be like a show stopping, meal, and that is very, daunting. So we I also wanna make sure it's just right and it'll be full proof.

Stephanie [00:20:01]:

It is kinda heartbreaking when someone texts you or sends you a message and they're like, I made your blah blah blah, but I'm a terrible cook and it didn't work out. And I always think, oh, no. Like, I don't. I'm sorry it didn't work out, number 1, but I'm more sorry that you think you're a terrible cook because of something you cooked of mine that didn't work out. Like, there are so many variables and

Speaker C [00:20:23]:

Yeah.

Stephanie [00:20:24]:

You know, you're trying to control all those variables, but also sometimes everything's just not controllable. Right?

John Kanell [00:20:32]:

There is not. The 2 things I will say on this podcast or the variables you can control. 1, just get a kitchen scale. It'll save your life for anything baking related. Or even if you're just making anything where you have to weigh things out, you will use less measuring cups, less little bowls, less everything else, and save all that washing up time if you're using a scale as dumping it

Speaker C [00:20:56]:

in, and you

John Kanell [00:20:57]:

will get accurate results. If you scooped up flour from a measuring cup, you are going to add maybe like 60% more flour just by packing it in. Most people don't know that if you're using a measuring cup, you're supposed to fluff the flour in your canister. Use a spoon, sprinkle it in like a gentle rain, and then level it off with a knife without compressing to get accurate results, which will give you that melt in your mouth delicious texture that

Stephanie [00:21:23]:

you A scoop and sweep.

John Kanell [00:21:25]:

Yeah. And that's a little bit more work, a little bit more finicky. So if you just dump it in using a scale, you're saving you time. And then the other thing is just do not overmix any batter unless you're doing a bread. So I always use the mixer until I see just a couple streaks of flour and then finish it off by hand with a spatula so I can scrape it down and fold it together. So you have ultimate control and everything will be a nice texture because the texture even changes how you've taste things. You know, if it has a gummy dense texture, those

Stephanie [00:21:57]:

Mhmm.

John Kanell [00:21:58]:

Your tongue just can't accept it and you miss a lot of the flavors.

Stephanie [00:22:03]:

So I think your advice is really solid, but I'm gonna just confess. And I know, like, my friend Zoey Bakes, she'll say the same thing about the kitchen scale.

Speaker C [00:22:14]:

Yeah.

Stephanie [00:22:14]:

She's like, and then you don't have to mess up another bowl and all the little dishes. But there's something about a kitchen scale that feels so mathy.

John Kanell [00:22:23]:

No. It's not. You just press the 0. Just press the 0 button when you're done, and it starts at 0. There's no adding involved. So just tear it out.

Stephanie [00:22:31]:

0 zero 1.

John Kanell [00:22:32]:

No math.

Stephanie [00:22:33]:

Just I use it for my sourdough baking, and I just always feel like, oh, again, with the math. Like, I gotta figure out how much the bowl weighs, how much the this weighs and everything.

John Kanell [00:22:45]:

Zero it out. Put the bowl on to zero it out. And I will tell you that you might just be an intuitive cook, and, like, my mother just doesn't use any measuring. She just throws things in, like, like, a handful of this. And I'm like, oh my gosh.

Stephanie [00:23:01]:

That's how

John Kanell [00:23:02]:

would I full?

Stephanie [00:23:04]:

Like, I have, like funny.

John Kanell [00:23:05]:

If I remember trying to get one of her recipes onto the blog or, like, use that as a starting point,

Speaker C [00:23:09]:

I will it's so frustrating for her because I have to stop her at

John Kanell [00:23:09]:

each point and then take take it, comes out anyway. So maybe you're that person. You're too

Speaker C [00:23:13]:

talented for this. Know. I don't know.

Speaker D [00:23:14]:

I don't know.

John Kanell [00:23:14]:

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I comes out anyway. So maybe you're that person. You're too talented for this.

Stephanie [00:23:22]:

I don't know. I'll we'll see. Now you've competed on some food competition shows, haven't you?

John Kanell [00:23:28]:

So I was a judge on Disney's, Magic Bake Off, and part of the fun there was getting to do, like, a judges compete

Stephanie [00:23:37]:

Yeah.

John Kanell [00:23:38]:

Thing. And it was a I It was really the first time I had done that, like, in a high stakes environment, and it was quite fun. I was working with, another Disney actor who is absolutely not a cook or a baker at all. He's quite young. So I had a couple sessions giving him some, like, coaching moments, and he did his really did his best. And we pulled it together. I was so proud of our our creation. Didn't win, but that was fun.

Stephanie [00:24:04]:

Teacher too. Just like the way that you say that, which is so nice. Like, always lifting someone up.

John Kanell [00:24:11]:

Thank you so much. He was it was fun. I mean, I didn't, realize how invested I would get into it when I accepted the challenge, but I was, you know, really going all out. It was a very elaborate cake we ended up making with, like, have, like, marzipan decorations all over it. Wow. It was all had to be very timed out because normally, I have the luxury of time. Yeah. Well, this I can, like, finicky work on something until I am happy with it, and this was you know, the clock was ticking.

Stephanie [00:24:42]:

Would you do other TV competition shows that passed?

John Kanell [00:24:46]:

Maybe. I could do it. Like, if it was fun. I'm gonna do, Foodie Con in New York in the summer. And, one of the challenges which I have agreed to do is, like, handcuffed and hangry or I'll be handcuffed somebody else doing something, which is just fun and kind of like, you know

Stephanie [00:25:02]:

That is fun. Really.

John Kanell [00:25:03]:

So I would do that. Like yeah.

Stephanie [00:25:05]:

You're handcuffed too.

John Kanell [00:25:07]:

I'll be handcuffed to another food person, TBD, and I get one free hand. So I'm hoping my left hand is free.

Stephanie [00:25:15]:

If you had to pick someone to be handcuffed with, and it can be anybody

Speaker D [00:25:20]:

Mhmm. That

Stephanie [00:25:20]:

you have to cook something with, who would it be?

John Kanell [00:25:22]:

I know.

Stephanie [00:25:25]:

I mean, that's a solid bet. Right? Yes. Because you know whatever you did would be great. We are talking with John Kanell. It is the Preppy Kitchen. Super easy. A 100 simple and versatile recipes. When you think about, like, the legacy that you're gonna leave your kids, 2 7 year old boys, are you gonna teach them to cook?

John Kanell [00:25:45]:

They already know. I mean, honestly, they are very curious about what happens in the kitchen. And I love using my time in the kitchen as, like, bonding time, like my mom and I did. So, you know, we're all connected to devices as adults. My kids are, like, connected to the Legos. And being in the kitchen is one moment where you're really, really present. It's tactile. You're engaged, and you're making something that's memorable.

John Kanell [00:26:16]:

So, like, on Sunday, we like pizzas. Started off very simple with, like, them adding the toppings on. And now once they were 6, they were at the point where they could start off with just all I do is warm measure the water out and warm it. And then they, like, you know, bloom the yeast. They add the flour in. And they're using a scale, so they get to talk about numbers a little bit. Like, okay. Let's get close to that.

John Kanell [00:26:41]:

And it doesn't be perfect, but, like, let's get close. And then they need it, and they work on it, and they shape it. And, you know, it's like a nice afternoon where they can come and do a little bit of work, and then exit, and they love it.

Stephanie [00:26:52]:

Yeah. I love it. That's a great story, and I hope more people get in the kitchen with their kids because that is how you learn.

Speaker C [00:26:59]:

And it's

John Kanell [00:26:59]:

how people connect with food too. Like, it's easy to a picky eater. I understand some people are just naturally, like, super tasters or else, and, like, I won't take that away from them, but, like, my kids. And then I developed an appreciation for it. And just your palate changes over time, and you change. But the exposure is different. And when you're making something, you have a hand in it, and that really gives you more of an investment in trying it out and wanting to like it.

Stephanie [00:27:25]:

Yeah. And I think people do go back and try foods that you maybe didn't like as a kid and you have a totally different experience with it later.

John Kanell [00:27:32]:

Yeah. The brussels sprouts.

Stephanie [00:27:34]:

Yeah. Oh, gosh. We I made brussels sprouts for a dinner party once and one of my friends was aghast. Like, literally could not understand why I would be serving brussels sprouts and I was like, well, have you had them in a while? Go ahead and taste them. They're pretty great and he loved them, but he was just like remember that time when you had a dinner party and you made brussels sprouts? He just thought it was so risky. I was like, not too risky. Yeah.

John Kanell [00:28:00]:

One little face.

Stephanie [00:28:01]:

Yes. That's right. Well, I'm gonna put links to the book in the show notes and people will follow you. I'll put all that in the show notes. It was great to talk with you, John, and good luck on the book.

John Kanell [00:28:12]:

Thanks so much for having me over, and Yeah. Wait to see everybody on my book tour. It starts August 20th.

Stephanie [00:28:17]:

And will you be coming to Minneapolis by chance?

John Kanell [00:28:20]:

I will not. I think the closest I'll get is Chicago. But if you're in the neighborhood, come see me. We go to Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and New York, and not in that order.

Stephanie [00:28:32]:

How fun, though. Oh, I just I'm I hope I get to do a book tour sometime. Right now, my books are pretty regional. But someday, I'm gonna go on a book tour, I swear.

John Kanell [00:28:41]:

It's really fun. I I see that visualized in your future.

Stephanie [00:28:45]:

Yes. I'm manifesting right now. Thanks for being on the program. I really appreciate you.

John Kanell [00:28:49]:

Thanks for having me. Have a nice day.

Stephanie [00:28:51]:

Alright. Okay. Bye bye.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe