When did you first get in to cooking and do you remember the first recipe you tried?
I spent a ton of time with my foodie grandparents when I was growing up, they are huge influences in my culinary cuisine and they let me stir their dishes as early as I can remember. My first recipe may have been eggs, my grandpa "Tutupa" was a stickler for making the perfect soft scrambled eggs. He taught me the importance of adding water (never milk) to the eggs and not over stirring in the pan.
What's your kitchen like and how do you keep organized when cooking?
This is a good question and my answer may be atypical of a food blogger. My kitchen is quite disorganized, I have random recycled jars filled with dry ingredients stuffed randomly into cupboards. I really like to keep things clean but it takes me forever to find anything. My house in Los Angeles was built in the early 1900's so the counters are comically low, I use the height disparity as an excuse to get my squats in while washing the dishes.lol
What tips would you give to someone wanting to become a better cook?
Practice! Cooking is all about timing and tasting your recipe throughout the process.The more you cook the more comfortable you will get with the cook time of ingredients, I promise It'll become second nature.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party and what would you cook for them?
Since I've been so heavily influenced by my grandparents I would love to invite past generations of relatives to my dinner party. I would pick my great great grandmothers brains about old family recipes that have been lost over time. I have German, Norwegian, Irish, french, and English lineage so I have lots of lessons to learn about the cuisine of my heritage. I would totally cook them a middle eastern feast complete with falafel sandwiches and baba ganoush because it would be unlike anything they had ever eaten.
Do you do any other crafts and what are your hobbies?
I love art, photography has been my media of choice lately but in the past i've really enjoyed acrylic painting, and drawing with charcoal. I'm a big vintage shopper, I love to customize and distress my clothing.
Which cooking blogs do you love to read?
The Sprouted Kitchen, a Better Happier St. Sebastian, Culinary Bro-Down, and Local Milk