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107: Alexandra Lawrence: How Music and Food Come Together

January 27, 2016 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.
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Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how music and food come together.

Keys to the Cucina

Alexe is from a large Italian family where food is the center of everything. She’s been a food lover all her life and plans for meals way too far in advance. Alexe is a musician, and on her blog, she integrates music and food because she believes they’re the most important elements to entertaining.

I’m so excited to have Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina joining me here today.

(*All photos below are Alexe’s.)

On the Role of Food in Her Family:

Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the role of food in her family.

“A big role” is definitely an understatement. My immediate family, we grew up in Northern Virginia, and my extended family’s in New Jersey. They’re a little louder and crazier. My mother grew up full Italian, and food was the center of everything that we did.

We ate dinner, my sisters and I, every night. My mom cooked every night except Saturday. She and my dad went on dates every Saturday, but it really was just the main thing that brought us all together at the end of the day. We could chat and catch up with each other. She also made breakfast every morning too, so we ended, began, ended our day with her food.

On Her Curiosity Around Cooking:

I have a lot of memories of my sister Brooke. She’s 14 months older than me, so we’re really close but I have memories of her playing out in the cul-de-sac while I was in at around five or four helping my mom get dinner together. So dad was probably around eight or nine. She would let me snap the green beans, the ends off the green beans, and then I graduated to other things like stirring the risotto and helping season the tomato sauce. It was a very gradual process, but it’s always been in my heart for sure.

I think it was just about getting food day to day with four kids, going in four different directions. Things were definitely hectic so she was helm of that, and I would say in my teenage years, I helped out a little more. I also lived at home through college, so that’s when I really was able to take the reins from her a little bit and actually make things for my mom and dad. That gave me a really good taste of how to prepare things on my own and make full complete meals.

On Her Blog:

Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about her food blog.

It started when I got my first full-time job out of school. I was working at a start-up here in D.C. I was also living on my own for the first time, so I really was in control of my kitchen and what I was making every single day, which was something that I never really had experienced. But my colleagues would tease me. I’d go heat up my lunch. I’d have a full plate of a proper starch and vegetable and a meat, and it looked like I just prepared it. They would joke and also ask, “How did you do that? You love to cook. I didn’t know that.”

So that sparked an interest and made me realize a lot of people don’t know how to really cook healthy balanced meals. Some of them, they didn’t grow up with a mom like me cooking every single night of the week. So that was in 2011, and I got a new job in 2013, and I wasn’t feeling very inspired. I would come home at night and watch the Food Network. I also started to read a lot more food blogs during that time period as well, and I realized I have something to share.

So I worked on it for about two months before I posted my first recipe. I went back and forth with the name. I always knew I wanted to fuse music and cooking, so basically it started out of feeling uninspired at the day job.

On How to Make Cooking Fun:

Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking fun.

I try to experiment with different spices. I have a subscription to Hatchery, it’s a monthly box subscription that comes, and it’s artisanal ingredients from people who make seasonings to rubs, to barbecue sauces. So that opens my eyes to ingredients that I never had cooked with before.

I love doing that. I think changing up the spices, changing up the vegetables. Sometimes, I get in a rut with every week at the store getting green beans and broccoli and kale, but I started to buy cauliflower a couple of weeks ago, so I was doing a lot with that. I made a soup. I roasted it. I just think making small tweaks can change things drastically.

On Her Music:

I mainly write on the piano, so that definitely lends itself to more ballad-y, maybe blues-y. I also experiment a little bit with the guitar, and my voice is more soulful than you would think. And I love soul and Motown music. So that’s my style, catchy melodies. I love doing it. It’s a great creative outlet.

I grew up on Elton John and Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, a lot of classic rock. When I’m writing though, I definitely get influenced by women singer-songwriters. People as old as Carole King to newer people like Sara Bareilles, really anything. I’m getting really into the indie scene now. Spotify really suggests under the radar artists, and I really will listen to anything, and as long as it’s got grit and soul, then I’m in.

On Music and Food:

I definitely think that they complement each other. For me, the ultimate relaxation is coming home—when I’m not too frazzled—coming home from work, I put on music right away, and I usually opt for something a little more mellow and that matches my relaxed state that I get in in the kitchen.

When it comes to entertaining, we actually just had a dinner party for 10 people here, Saturday night. I let my husband make the playlist. He’s really into music as well. But I definitely think you have to know your audience, like who’s coming over, what you’re serving, what the mood is going to be like. We did more of electronic, indie tracks during the dinner party.

Knowing your audience, I think, helps me determine what kind of music. I know when my parents come over, they hate weird electronic or hip hop or rap, so I definitely don’t play that. So I think that’s the best tip. Know who you’re going to be entertaining.

I love listening to Van Morrison, The Eagles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I like the old stuff, and then I’ll put on Pandora sometimes and let it shuffle through like Alabama Shakes and John Legend and those kind of artists.

On Choosing Between Music and Cooking:

Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about choosing between music and food.

At this point in my life, cooking is playing a bigger role. All through middle school and high school and college, I was really pursuing music very strongly. I made a couple of CDs. I was writing all the time, and I had a ball with it. Everybody knows the music industry is very cutthroat and very difficult. And I wasn’t sure if I had the guts to go full-fledged into it and sacrifice a lot of the things that I loved about my life. Not to say that you can’t have both, but there’s definitely a level of sacrifice I wasn’t sure I was willing to make.

So at this point, I would choose cooking, and the food blog has really opened up my eyes to all the opportunities that are out there. As far as I see it, they’re endless. Especially this day and age, my mom is always like, “You guys have so many opportunities at your fingertips these days.” So I felt a lot of momentum. With the blog, I’ve gotten to do great partnerships with brands. So I feel the results from it much quicker than I ever did with my music.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

I love anything with Bobby Flay. I’m obsessed with Chopped, and I love Giada at Home.

What are some food blogs or food websites we have to know about?

Okay, so there’s one called Feastly, the website is eatfeastly.com and basically, it brings together home cooks like myself. You can post meals and sell basically a seat at your house for people to buy and come experience a dinner with you.

So if you’re looking to experience D.C. in a different way instead of going out to restaurants, come to my home, and I’ll prepare a fresh cooked meal for a much cheaper rate than you would pay going out to a fancy restaurant. So I love that.

I actually hosted my first meal back in the winter. I’m trying to get ramped up again because I think that’ll help grow a local following here in D.C. versus the blog I’d see as more national stuff. But actually bringing people into my home and feeding them live and seeing their reactions, I think that’s where all the magic happens.

I also follow this website. He’s an entrepreneur guy named Gary Vaynerchuk.

He’s crazy, and I love his no-bs attitude, and he’s very motivating. So he helps me if I’m feeling like I’m in a rut, just to keep pushing and gives great tips on how to become the ultimate entrepreneur.

Who do you follow on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook or Snapchat that make you happy?

I would say definitely somebody on Instagram since I spend a lot of my time there. I would say there’s this handle called, A Daily Something. It’s actually a blogger based in Northern Virginia so not too far from here in D.C., and she’d post basically little glimpses of life, and that always makes me feel warm and cozy and happy.

What is the most unusual or treasured item in your kitchen?

It’s like a silver pot that was my great Aunt Connie’s that my mom used to make her sauce in, and she passed it down to me.

A lot of good food was made in that pot.

Name one ingredient you used to dislike but now you love.

I never really cooked a lot of Indian food, so it’s curry. It always smelled weird to me, but I love it now in Thai food and in Indian food.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

Anything with Ina Garten. She has a great one I think it’s 10 or 12 years old. It’s called Make it Ahead, and she just has such a clean simple way of showing you how to entertain and make delicious meals that can feed a lot of people, which is something that I love to do.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I would say Tumbleweed Connection by Elton John. Most people my age don’t know it, but it reminds me of my dad and my family and feeling warm and cozy, which are some of the feelings that cooking conjures up for me.

On Keeping Posted with Alexe:

Alexandra Lawrence of Keys to the Cucina on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.

I would say Instagram. I post on that pretty consistently, so my handle is @keystothecucina.

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: A Daily Something, Alabama Shakes, Alexandra Lawrence, Billy Joel, Bobby Flay, Bruce Springsteen, Carole King, Chopped, Crosby Still Nash & Young, Eatfeastly.com, Elton John, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Gary Vaynerchuck, Giada at Home, Hatchery, Ina Garten, John Legend, Keys to the Cucina, Make it Ahead, Motown, Music, Musician, Sara Bareilles, The Eagles, Tumbleweed Connection, Van Morrison

047: Kylie Antolini: Baking and Eating in Portland, Oregon

June 10, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.
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Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about baking and eating in Portland, Oregon.

The Baking Bird

Kylie started her blog in 2008 when she was experimenting with vegetarian and veganism, and through her journey, discovered her love of baking.

Apart from showcasing her baked goods on The Baking Bird, she also shares her favorite places and adventures around where she currently lives, the lively food city of Portland, Oregon.

I am so happy to have Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird joining me here on the show today.

On Finding Her Passion for Baking:

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about finding her passion in baking.

When I was at home and I was a teenager, my parents were meat eaters. I just became vegetarian because it interested me. I thought it was a healthier lifestyle and I had to fend for myself. So I first started out with getting cookbooks. Maybe you’re familiar with them: How It All Vegan! and The Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. They were my main inspiration.

I first started making some of their savory recipes. And then I decided to experiment with some of their dessert recipes. I just really love the idea that you can bake awesome stuff without using traditional ingredients like butter and eggs, and you get similar results.

I love the process of experimenting like with flax egg replacer or applesauce and bananas. So that was really the thing that caught on to me, and I really just enjoyed experimenting. I felt like a scientist in the kitchen. And to this day, I don’t bake vegan really anymore but one of my favorite vegan baking hacks is putting apple cider vinegar and non-dairy milk and making a buttermilk with it because it curdles the milk, which is awesome because I don’t like going to buy buttermilk because it usually goes to waste. I only use like a cup of it. That’s one of my favorite things that I’ve carried into my regular baking style now.

That was how I found my passion for baking. I just really enjoyed it and I combined my love for photography and started taking picture of things I made and thought, “Oh, I started a blog.”

On No Longer Being Vegetarian:

To be honest, it wasn’t really by choice. I had gotten into running quite a bit around the time that I became a vegetarian, and my body just couldn’t keep up with the nutrition I was getting.

Unfortunately, there were some signs that showed up here and there. My doctor encouraged me to start eating meat. I also suffered from a lot anxiety and insomnia and I noticed the correlation from eating to vegetarian and running too much. So it took a lot of convincing and my parents were really adamant about it. They’re just trying to get me meat all the time, and I was like, “Uh!” But I ended up feeling a lot better once I did and I started sleeping a lot better. My anxiety really went down. So that was really basically it. I wanted to keep being vegetarian but it just wasn’t best for my life.

On Her Interest in Food:

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about her interest in food.

I know that after I was going to being vegetarian, I really got an interest in collecting a lot of cookbooks. I became really obsessed with food because when you have to start combining certain ingredients to have the right nutrition, the right balance, you really have to look at a lot of different resources. So I became obsessed about collecting lots of cookbooks and reading recipes. That was what really got me into cooking.

And my mom was always a really avid cook when I was younger. She kept all the vintage Bon Appétit magazines and was really into that. And my grandmother on my dad’s side is also a great baker. And so I would bake with her.

She’d always have a homemade pie or something for dessert when we come over to eat. I guess they were my inspiration and I grew up in a family that really loved food, so that had a big part of it.

On the First Thing She Baked:

Well, I remember the first thing that I bragged about. It was this vegan chocolate peanut butter pie with bananas, and no-bake. It was so easy and so delicious. I think it was actually from La Dolce Vegan, the cookbook from Sarah Kramer.

Fabulous recipe but terrible photos if you go back and look in the blog. It’s the very first one but it’s delicious.

On Things Not Going as Planned in the Kitchen:

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about things not going as planned in the kitchen.

I can think of one or two instances. But fortunately, it doesn’t happen very often which is great. That’s why I think baking is more of my thing than cooking.

I was trying to make a vegan chocolate cake. I turned the pan upside down and it just completely disintegrated and crumbled into pieces. I was like, “Okay.” I think I baked two things that day and they both didn’t turn out. I was like, “This is just not my day.”

Sometimes you have the baking energy and sometimes you don’t. There’s just something in the air and it makes your work shatter. But for the most part, I’m pretty lucky.

It always depends on your oven too. I had to get used to my oven in my apartment. It runs a little bit warmer. So I found over the years that it’s best to play it safe and subtract a little bit of time from your baking time and check it so it’s not too done.

On The Food Culture in Portland, Oregon:

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the food culture in Portland, Oregon.

Portland is crazy with food. There are so many people here that love food and have a passion for it. It was the number one reason I actually decided to move here. Because when I first visited, I spent a week here and had a list of places I wanted to go. I was just amazed with how people love food here and get such a wide variety.

You can go to a specific shop just for cupcakes or just for pie. I think the food culture is very experimental and it’s very inspiring. Sometimes it can get a little predictable.

There’s a lot of repeat comfort food here. A lot of pork belly, I see that left and right. So people really love that kind of Southern style. I see that quite a bit. But it makes sense when it’s overcast a lot of the time and it’s raining. So people really enjoy that kind of food here.

There are a lot of donut places. I’m sure you’ve heard of Voodoo Doughnut.

I will drive by and the line can be an hour long. It’s pretty nuts. But there have been a few places that have popped up that you can get donuts now. Pip’s Doughnuts is really amazing if you’ve ever had a chance to check them out. And my personal favorite is Coco Donuts.

On Special Places to Eat in Portland:

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about some special places to eat in Portland, Oregon.

I would have to say as far as dinner places, my favorite, favorite place is Tasty ‘N Sons. They’re at North Williams and they’ve opened another location Downtown.

And I really have been loving Ox. I went there for my birthday. I had a fabulous birthday meal.

LucLac has an amazing happy hour. You can get like a huge variety of different small plates for just $15. They make amazing cocktails too. So they are really awesome. Sweedeedee is my favorite brunch place that can get really crazy busy though. A lot of people have caught on that it’s amazing.

For really good vegetarian/ vegan food, Harlow is wonderful too. They make great smoothies.

Levant is also really nice. They have Mediterranean food and they just started doing a brunch. And Scott Snyder who’s the owner, he’s actually from Santa Cruz where I’m from. So we have some ties to that in some ways. He’s really great. His food is awesome.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

Well, I don’t have a television, so I think that makes me the odd one out. But I did just finished watching the last season of Top Chef.

Two of the chefs on the show were from Portland and that was all over the Portland news. I had to watch it.

I actually had an opportunity to photograph Doug Adams who was on the show, one of my freelance jobs for the Portland Mercury. So that was really awesome. I got to meet him in person and that’s made me more interested in watching the show.

What are some food blogs or food websites we have to know about?

I definitely have a lot of favorite bloggers I follow on Pinterest and Instagram or what-not. My three favorites of late would  be Half Baked Harvest. Perhaps you’re familiar with her. And my latest obsession, Twigg Studios. I think she’s from England or Australia. I forgot. Anyway, I contacted her because I just fell in love with her photography and wanted her to know that her stuff is amazing. So definitely check her out. Her photos for just her recipes are genius.

I also recently discovered Broma Bakery and I really like her recipes.

Who do you follow on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook that make you happy?

I would say Instagram, I really love following Izy of Top with Cinnamon. Her recipes and photos are amazing. I really love Call me Cupcake. She is lately @linda_lomelino. She is amazing too. And then also, the Twigg Studios gal with her blog.

As far as Pinterest, I don’t really always know who I’m following.

What is the most unusual or treasured item in your kitchen?

I wish I could say I had some really cool hand-me-down spoon from a great grandmother or something.

I would say my most treasured item, because I use it so frequently, two metal mixing bowls, my small and large. I bought them a few years ago when I started making macaroons. The recipe I was going off of said that it was best to have metal bowls just for keeping the coolness and protecting it from too much heat. And I love them.

I just use them for everything, so I couldn’t bake without them.

Name one ingredient you used to dislike but now you love.

Cardamom did not sit well with me at all. But now, I love it. I want to put cardamom in every single thing I bake. A lot of recipes on the blog have cardamom in them. I almost have to stop myself because people are going to get tired of using cardamom now. It’s really weird. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it was becoming vegetarian and experimenting with spices, but I love cardamom and also ginger. I used to hate ginger and I use it all the time now.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I think my number one favorite go-to resource book is The Flavor Bible. It’s pretty awesome.

If I want to tweak a recipe or I have an idea, I can go to that and it will list a bunch of ingredients that go really well with it. It’s pretty spot on.

They also recently released a Vegetarian Flavor Bible. I haven’t looked at it. But Flavor Bible is amazing.

I also really love the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book because they have just the basic pie and cake recipes that you can make your own. They’ve been tested by the best of the best bakers and scientists. And that’s what they do all day long. So that’s a really great resource to have too.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I love music so much and I always try to put on a record when I bake. It’s really tough. I would have to say Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A.

On Keeping Posted with Kylie:

Kylie Antolini of The Baking Bird on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping posted with her.

I think I’m most active on Instagram, The Baking Bird, and Pinterest. I’m also on it quite a bit. Yeah, Instagram and my blog.

 

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Baking, Bon Appetit, Broma Bakery, Bruce Springsteen, Coco Donuts, Cook's Illustrated Baking Book, Doug Adams, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Half Baked Harvest, Harlow, How It All Vegan!, Kylie Antolini, La Dolce Vegan, Levant, Linda Lomelino, LucLac, Oregon, Ox, Pip's Doughnuts, Portland, Portland Mercury, Sarah Kramer, Sweedeedee, Tanya Barnard, Tasty 'N Sons, The Baking Bird, The Flavor Bible, The Garden of Vegan, Top Chef, Top with Cinnamon, Twigg Studios, Vegan, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Flavor Bible, Voodoo Doughnut

Hello! I'm Gabriel Soh, home cook, food enthusiast and your host of The Dinner Special podcast.
Everything here on The Dinner Special is an experiment, just like with cooking. Thank you for listening and being part of the adventure.

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