Why do YOU cook, Monica Bhide?

I'm not sure there is a harder working food writer than Monica Bhide . She teaches, writes magazine articles, has a syndicated newspaper column called Seasonings , and has written several cookbooks including her most recent, Modern Spice . What I like about her writing is the personal stories and her enthusiasm for using different ingredients. She's also about as big a twitteraholic as I am. Not only do I learn something new when I read her stories, articles and tweets, but I enjoy the journey. As a child, I always felt that I had trouble relating with the world. I always felt that I did not fit in the crowd and that I could not really "connect" with people. Then one day, I discovered what I did relate to: the kitchen. I would spend hours watching my parents and my grandparents and uncles and aunts cooking but never attempted to try it myself. I think I was about 8 or 9 when I began to cook. It was an experience unlike any other. I never felt awkward or out of place ......

Continue reading

Why do YOU cook, Maria Speck?

I met Maria Speck, the Grain Gourmet on Twitter where her recipe tweets piqued my curiosity. She grew up in both Germany and Greece and shares her recipes and mostly Mediterranean techniques for cooking with whole grains in ways you might not expect. In her beautiful new cookbook, Ancient Grains for Modern Meals , you'll find cakes from quinoa and smoked trout, an easy crust from cooked polenta, a hearty frittata with wild rice and wheat berry "fool" with figs. Her recipes will surely broaden your horizons as much as they tempt your tastebuds. It all started with a small bag of wheat berries someone handed me at a cemetery in Greece during a ceremony to mark the recent death of my grandfather. I was six years old and hungry. While I scooped up the mixture of cinnamon and cumin-scented grains, chewing on their succulent starchy centers, interspersed with chunks of roasted walnuts and sugarcoated almonds-I became completely oblivious to the crushing sadness all around ......

Continue reading

Why do YOU cook, Aleta Watson?

San Jose Mercury News readers will surely recognize the name Aleta Watson . Aleta is an award-winning reporter and restaurant reviewer who was on staff there for quite a while. I'm always curious about what restaurant reviewers choose to cook at home. Thankfully Aleta has a gorgeous blog, Skillet Chronicles , that satisfies my curiosity while inspiring my own creativity. It turns out Aleta cooks the way I do and the same things that appeal to her generally appeal to me too. She is also a proponent of the joy one finds in the kitchen! Can I get an "amen"? If you enjoy my blog, I'm confident you will enjoy discovering hers too. "The salty tang of preserved lemon in a chicken tagine. The deep savor of slow-cooked cassoulet. The sweet satisfaction of Sicilian cookies stuffed with ground figs and nuts. I cook because I’m a curious eater. I love to taste new foods, explore unfamiliar cooking techniques and share my finds. When I was growing up, our family meals lea......

Continue reading

Why do YOU bake, Irvin Lin?

While Irvin Lin is a relative newcomer to food blogging, having launched Eat the Love earlier this year, he has quickly been embraced by bakers, cooks and food lovers. He's extremely talented as a baker, having won various competitions, including the Food Wars :Pie or Die, also this year. Lin does it all with a sense of joy and humor that is positively delicious. "There is something slightly schizophrenic about being a home baker. It’s a soothing zen-like solitary experience where precision measurements are needed to ensure a perfect end result. It’s a bit magical, when you put that batter or dough into the oven, at the correct temperature, and it comes out a baked good, something worthy of sharing with the people you love. Baking may be a lot of science (as well as a lot of art – don’t let anyone tell you any differently) but it’s also a magic that everyone can access. Few things in life create the warm happy feeling I get when I smell something baking in the oven. But bakin......

Continue reading

Why do YOU cook, Dianne Jacob?

If you are a food blogger or an aspiring food writer, there is a good chance you know Dianne Jacob , author of Will Write for Food : The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More, now in it's second edition. She's an editor, a writer, a teacher, a cook and a coach. She has helped countless people get book deals and polished their writing. After meeting her at a book signing years ago, we've gotten to be friends and I've been lucky enough to share the stage with her at various conferences. In addition to Will Write for Food she co-wrote Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas , and past work experience includes both newspaper and magazine editing. Her popular and provocative blog addresses food writing and blogging issues, but it doesn't answer the question--why does Dianne cook? So, I'm happy to give her that opportunity here. "I’m a storyteller first, not a chef. As far as cooking goes, I’m just an enthusiastic home cook who makes fo......

Continue reading

Why do YOU cook, Vanessa Barrington?

There are lots of books out right now about canning and preserving and making all kinds of things from scratch. So how is D.I.Y. Delicious . different? It's written by Vanessa Barrington , a talented cook and writer, who figured out how to make stuff on her own, in a real home kitchen. It's filled with recipes for everyday things you will get excited to make yourself when you see how easy most of the recipes are. Soon you'll be making mustard, yogurt, pickles, horchata, crackers and more. The book also features recipes for using many of the things you'll learn to make. So after you learn to make Creme Fraiche (pg. 116) you can make Artichoke Soup with Creme Fraiche (pg.119). It also includes lots of cool ideas you probably haven't considered before like Savory Porridge with an egg and cheddar cheese or Pulled Pork Canapes with fig rosemary jam. Vanessa Barrington is creative, socially conscious and just plain fun. She's a talented writer, recipe developer......

Continue reading

Why do YOU bake, Kate McDermott?

Photo credit: Kelly Cline Let me just say I am in awe of bakers. And pie? That's like the holy grail. There are so many opportunities for failure and I have personally experienced most of them. Kate McDermott is not only a pie goddess, but on her blog, The Art of the Pie , she shares the secrets of pie baking in a way that makes you feel like you can do it too! She's encouraging, detailed, warm and wise. Some day I hope to be in Seattle to take one of her award-winning classes . I love to bake and can't remember a time in my life I didn’t.  As a little girl, I took great delight in making mud-pies in the backyard. This may have been the first step on the path to becoming a pie maker. I bake because I like to put simple ingredients in a beautiful bowl, turn them into something delicious, give it away and see the happy smile on someone else’s face. There’s nothing like sharing a freshly baked pie with friends and family. I bake when I am happy and I bake when I am sad. ......

Continue reading

Why do YOU cook, Andrea Nguyen?

Photo credit: Penny De Los Santos Andrea Nguyen is a cookbook author who has demystified making Asian dumplings and recreating Vietnamese food in your own kitchen. Woven in between her recipes are stories about family, culture, traditions and faraway places. But aside from being such a talented author, it's great to spend time with Andrea. She exudes enthusiasm and positive energy. She also has a wonderful laugh and can talk about food for hours. Here are the 13 reasons why she cooks. I bet some of her reasons will ring true for you too... My mother started me out cooking when she deemed me old enough to make rice for our family dinner. I was about 8 years old. By then, she and my father had observed that their chubby youngest daughter was an enthusiastic eater. Why not see if she can cook too? After all, it’s part of being a good, well-rounded super woman. My mother, now 75, is not only beautiful, but socially graceful. Her hair is constantly coifed, her nails are perfect......

Continue reading

Why do YOU cook, Mary Ladd?

Photo credit: Mary Ladd I first discovered Mary Ladd's writing on her blog Jalapeno Girl a few years ago. She was a cooking school graduate who wrote about spicy food and more. At that time she was doing some catering and shared the good, the bad, and the downright ugly about creating and serving meals on a large scale. I enjoyed reading her insider stories about parties of all kinds and her accounts of dining on offal with the likes of Anthony Bourdain. While not a category, I was struck by how often nudity factored into her catering gigs whether at a nightclub or the famous Bay to Breakers race. Now Mary writes frequently for the SF Weekly food blog, SFoodie and always manages to stay on top of tasty local food and happenings. "Many of my best memories are food related, so I guess I am trying to recreate that. I cook because it is a way to continue learning about food and culture. Many of the foods I favor today are not ones I grew up with. My folks are great c......

Continue reading