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109: Ali Ebright: Step-by-Step Cooking and Blogging Growth

February 10, 2016 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Ali Ebright of Gimme Some Oven on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to keep posted with her.
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Ali Ebright of Gimme Some Oven on The Dinner Special podcast talking about her step-by-step cooking and blogging growth.

Gimme Some Oven

On Gimme Some Oven, Ali creates fresh, creative, quick and easy recipes for sharing, and does all the photo taking, recipe creating, food styling and taste tasting for her blog. Apart from her recipes, Ali shares plenty of beauty, craft, fashion and gift DIYs, as well as music and movies just to mention a few other things she writes about.

I am so happy to have Ali Ebright of Gimme Some Oven joining me here on the show today.

(*All photos below are Ali’s.)

On Her Blog:

I began the blog about six years ago back in 2009, and I began it just totally as a hobby, for fun. At the time, I was definitely in the process of still teaching myself how to cook and a bunch of my friends did not cook. So it was the sort of thing where I’d go to a party and people are always asking for recipes. So once I stumbled upon the idea and format of a blog, I decided it would be a great way to just organize my recipes and be able to share them with a half dozen friends. It ended up growing from there, but it began just totally as a fun, creative outlet and a place to just help myself organize recipes.

I was actually a musician prior to this.

I worked at a church for many years leading music and then I also taught music lessons on the side. So cooking was just a total hobby. I knew nothing about photography, and I’ve always enjoyed writing and reading. But no, I had zero experience in just about all of the major aspects of blogging especially the tech side. I knew nothing about how to create a website or any of that. But it’s been a fun thing to learn.

On Honing Her Skills:

Ali Ebright of Gimme Some Oven on The Dinner Special podcast talking about honing her food blogging and cooking skills.

Back in the day before there were just a ton of food bloggers on the scene and so many resources out there, I did a lot of Googling. I did a lot of research the old fashion way by talking to photographers or talking to writers or people who were much better cooks than I was, just trying to have them actually teach me one on one. But now, I can go to YouTube for any of that. I think I’m naturally somebody who loves to learn and teach myself things. So it was fun to be able to begin in all of these things like begin as a very amateur photographer and see where I needed to go and slowly inch my way there towards taking photos that I felt okay with.

It’s been step-by-step, like beginning photos on my blog, to beginning recipes, even beginning writing. I think most food bloggers look back on where they began and have a little bit of a cringe moment. On the other hand, I try and see it as progress. Any time that I get down on myself where I feel like I am not as good as I would like to be, I can always look back to some of those first years especially and be like, “Oh yeah, don’t forget, you’ve come a long way.”

On Her Curiosity Around Food and Cooking:

I think more than anything, I love to eat but also even more than that, I’ve always been just fascinated by the idea of what happens when people share a meal together. That life around the table. I feel like it’s such a special way that people connect in something that’s so fun and nourishing. Food has always been a very social thing for me, not that every meal is social but those are the meals that I’m really inspired to cook. And any time that you can have good people around and have good conversations, I’m all for any of that. Even back in the day, that was my main motivation, just to teach myself how I could cook a healthy meal.

On Learning How to Cook:

By trial and error. My mom is a fantastic cook, and she cooked really well balanced and pretty healthy meals for us growing up. Almost every night, we had dinner on the table and we sat around together, but she was also one of those moms that, for whatever reason, never really made me help her that much. So, somehow, I got to college and I knew a little bit but not much. And by the time I was introduced to cafeteria food and quickly realized how good I had had it, I also realized I didn’t know how to cook any of my mom’s special dishes.

And so it was definitely in college when I had my first apartment with a kitchen that I started just experimenting and figuring out how to make some of the basics. But then, from there, especially in my 20s, I just really enjoyed the process of following a recipe. With recipes, most of the time, they work. There are the occasional duds, but I felt like it was a pretty successful experiment learning to cook. Most of the time, things turned out the way I had hoped and so I really enjoyed it.

On Deciding on What to Cook for Her Blog:

Ali Ebright of Gimme Some Oven on The Dinner Special podcast talking about deciding on what to cook on her blog.

A lot of the recipes on there are random cravings or foods that I wanted to learn how to make just personally. But as time has gone on, a lot of it is definitely geared much more towards my readers, and I keep a running log of the different requests that they make. We’ve had literally hundreds of requests now for a crock pot potato soup. Apparently, everybody loves potato soup, but they really want to know how to make it in a crock pot. So today, that was a recipe that was an example. I have a stove top potato soup that I love, but they really wanted a crockpot version.

So yeah, trying to find a good mix of things that different people want to eat and even with the different diets and such, that kind of goes back to my love of entertaining, too. I feel like whenever I have people over, I have lots of friends who are vegan or gluten-free or have different food intolerances. And I’ve always said that my blog is never going to be a niched diet blog. It will never be all gluten-free. But, I totally want to make sure that there are recipes on there that different people can enjoy completely.

On Her Food Heroes:

I’m actually that one weird food blogger who hardly ever watches food TV. I’ve never had cable, and I occasionally catch things on YouTube. But I think for sure, Rachael Ray was probably the first person, her 30 Minute Meals. That’s just how I cook, and I love that she is one of those pioneers in the industry who’s made cooking really approachable and easy and geared toward families. Just being able to make it possible to get a healthy and well-balanced meal on the table quickly. I am a big fan of hers. I saw her. She came through Kansas City, where I live, and did a book tour like a year or two ago, and I heard her speak. And I was like, “Man, the girl knows what she’s doing.” She was really impressive and I think, more than anything, I realize how hard she’s worked at her career and so I really respect her.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

Honestly, probably the only one that I watch regularly is Chopped. I really like Chopped.

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

One of my best friends in Kansas City is Cookie and Kate who I believe was actually on your podcast before. Kate from Cookie and Kate, she has a fantastic vegetarian blog. For a vegan, I highly recommend Minimalist Baker. John and Dana are just fantastic, talented cooks.

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

On Instagram, I am a big fan of Pumpkin the Raccoon. I don’t know if anybody follows Pumpkin. It’s literally a pet raccoon. It’s just the absolute cutest. I am also a big fan of the Two Sisters Angie on Instagram, which is also under the hashtag fashionbymayhem. It’s this really sweet little girl who makes these super creative dresses out of paper. It’s just a fascinating account. Other than that, there’s just a zillion food accounts out there that I also love to follow for inspiration.

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

I have a pretty normal kitchen. I do have a dehydrator that was my Christmas gift from Santa when I was 16 years old. I’ve always had a long obsession with beef jerky. So even as I’ve lived in teeny tiny kitchens, I’ve always made room for my little dehydrator which takes up more space than it should.

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

Brussel sprouts. I am obsessed. I feel like they were given such a bad rap when we were young. They were always boiled or something super boring. They are so good roasted.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

Anything from America’s Test Kitchen. I am 32, so I feel like I’ve been through a zillion weddings in the last decade of life, and I give America’s Test Kitchen’s New Best Recipe Book to all my friends who get married because I feel like it will never fail, and I love the research behind their recipes. They have a cooking for two. Yeah, anything of theirs, I just 100% recommend.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I have music on all the time when I cook. I mean, we’re always happy. Cooking makes me happy. So I feel like, any song that makes me want to dance in the kitchen, that’s always a plus. But currently, Adele’s new album is on full-time.

On Keeping Posted with Ali:

Ali Ebright of Gimme Some Oven on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to keep posted with her.

Anywhere on social media really. We’re all over Instagram and Pinterest and all that jazz. So yeah, anywhere on social media.

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: 30 Minute Meals, Adele, Ali Ebright, America's Test Kitchen, Chopped, Cookie and Kate, crock pot potato soup, fashionbymayhem, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Gimme Some Oven, Minimalist Baker, Pumpkin the Raccoon, Rachael Ray, Two Sisters Angie

108: Emily Stoffel: How Cooking Changes with Parenthood

February 3, 2016 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Emily Stoffel of The Pig & Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to keep posted with her.
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Emily Stoffel of The Pig & Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how cooking changes with parenthood.

The Pig & Quill

Emily started The Pig & Quill in 2012, and most recipes on her blog are heavy on the plants and low on refined sugars and starches though she is a firm believer in moderation. She is also a new mom.

I am so happy to have Emily Stoffel of The Pig & Quill joining me here on the show today.

(*All photos below are Emily’s.)

On Cooking as a New Parent:

Emily Stoffel of The Pig and Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about cooking as a new parent.

It’s definitely driven a little bit more by convenience. I used to just cook whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and now, a lot of what we are doing in the house is meals, particularly dinners, where you can prep a lot of things in advance a little bit here and there throughout the day. I can prep a little bit during the first nap. I can prep a little bit during the second nap. And then by the time she goes to sleep, and we’re having dinner at night, there’s very little that’s required to bring it together, and we can still eat at a reasonable hour.

A lot of that is relying on things like a slow cooker, or, I use my rice cooker for everything. I’m cooking a lot of things in the broiler. I didn’t used to do that a bunch, but it’s such a fast way to cook protein. So that’s changed my game a little.

And my husband’s a great sport about the fact that we eat the same three or four meals in rotation, which we did not used to do. It used to be something different every night. We just have go-to’s that we know we can pull off in a moment’s notice. So there’s a lot of that, but still trying to keep things interesting.

I wasn’t such a really big proponent of the slow cooker actually before I had Lana. I know a lot of people are super hardcore slow cooker fans. I guess I just didn’t really give it a chance. I thought, “Oh, it’s for everything. Let it go…Whatever. I can do the same thing on my stove,” but it is really nice to be able to start something in the morning and then be able to leave the house and run errands or whatever and come back. I use my rice cooker for oatmeal which makes breakfast a no-brainer. So one of us can get up in the morning and start the oatmeal.

When we first had Lana, when she was a newborn, one of us would sneak out of bed before she would wake up in the morning, because she sleeps in our room, and put out all the oatmeal toppings and the ingredients and everything and set it. And then by the time she was up, it was ready to go. So we wouldn’t have to worry about making breakfast for ourselves. So yeah, I use that. I even hard-boil eggs in my rice cooker.

It’s pretty incredible. If you have a steamer insert, you just throw the eggs on top while you cook the rice. The time the rice is done, your eggs are done, and it’s perfect. If you want soft-boiled eggs, you can do it when you cook your white rice. And if you want hardboiled eggs, you do it when you cook your brown rice.

On Putting a Meal Together Quickly:

Emily Stoffel of The Pig and Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about putting together meals quickly.

I mentioned that I like to use the broiler a lot. So I marinate a protein throughout the day. And then I can just pop it in the broiler when Lana’s napping or goes down for the night. And it usually just takes ten minutes to cook a protein that way.

I have a couple recipes on my blog. One is the shoyu chicken, and that’s super easy. It’s just chicken thighs that you marinate, and broil, and serve it with white rice or whatever side you want. And then the other one is a pumpkin curry which takes a little bit longer to do, but again, it’s something where I can do different elements throughout the day. And then it’s topped with a crispy, spice crusted tofu, and that is done completely under the broiler.

And even if you just look at the recipe for the tofu element, we put that tofu on salads. Sometimes, I just have it in a bowl with roasted veggies. So even if you’re not into curry or you’re not doing the pumpkin curry part of it, the tofu is super clutch. We do that all the time.

On How to Make Cooking Fun:

Emily Stoffel of The Pig and Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to make cooking fun.

This is a cop out, but when we had Lana at first, we did a lot of the grocery meal delivery kits that are popular right now. I know that there’s Sun Basket, and there’s HelloFresh. And I know a lot of different ones that folks do. Some are organic, some are not. And that’s something that I probably never would have considered doing before I had kids. But it’s fun because they have the instructions written out so clearly step-by-step with those meal kits that it’s super easy for two people to tag team a recipe. You can just say, “Here’s where I started,” or “I left off at this step.”

Unlike some recipes, traditional recipes, including the ones that I write, a lot of times, the items that you have to prepare are called out in a different color or something like that, so you can see exactly what you need to do to this fruit or to this vegetable before it goes to the cooking stage. And you can break up the responsibilities that way.

We found those actually really helpful because it was a fast way to still be cooking together in the kitchen, something that was homemade. But A, you don’t have to go to the grocery store and B, just the way that the recipe is written, it’s really easy to do it on your own. But if you’re moving around the kitchen with multiple folks or something like that, it’s easy to make that come together.

The other thing that’s fun is we don’t go out a lot for dinner anymore. So when we’re feeling not super inspired, we’ll invite people over to just have hors d’ oeuvres here or something like that. And that’s a good way to get engaged about cooking again. You don’t feel like, “Oh my gosh, I’m just making dinner for myself to get by.” You feel like you’re entertaining which is a refreshing way to feel when you don’t get a lot of fun evening time. So that’s something that’s invigorated my time in the kitchen.

On Her Food Heroes:

Well, aside from my family, so my mom first and foremost, I learned so much from her just growing up in the kitchen, and her dad like I mentioned, just having exposure to that at a young age, and my dad as well.

In terms of people that inspired me, I guess if you think about the Nigella’s or Ina Garten, those types of folks even before Food Network was anywhere near where it is today, those were the types of folks where I just really admire. They’re cooking super un-fussy food that’s just delicious. It just tastes good. They don’t necessarily have a hook or a theme. They just make food that’s accessible and super tasty. And they deliver it in such a seductive and enticing way without really trying.

And I know that now, they’re these big brands, and they’ve got marketing up the wahoo. But back in the day of Yan Can Cook or The Frugal Gourmet, I used to watch those folks on PBS, and those were just people that cooked food that they knew they would enjoy. There wasn’t really any big spin to it.

Those are the types of folks that I think I learned the most from, just seeing their passion and seeing how that can translate into something that’s educational and entertaining. I also had a really unabashed girl crush on Giada when I was in college to the point where I would have dreams that we were best friends hanging out in Santa Monica. It was super creepy.

On Her Blog:

Emily Stoffel of The Pig and Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about her blog.

I had sat down with one of my good friends, and we were doing this life mapping of everything that we wanted to do in the next several years. And I told her that starting a blog was something that I really wanted to do, and I started The Pig & Quill without doing a lot of research, without coming up with a big plan for a brand or an image or even an idea of how the site would look.

It was just like I told her, “This is what I want to do.” We brainstormed a bunch of names. I bought the domain name, and then I sat on it for six months. And then it was bugging me that I had spent $13 to register this domain name and hadn’t done anything with it.

So Labor Day weekend of 2012, we actually stayed home that weekend, it was a stay-cation, and I was like, “Okay, this is the weekend that I’m going to start the blog,” and I launched it without a lot of research or anything. The images were awful, but it was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was just me talking about the food that I liked but also talking about how food fit into my life and adding a personal storyline to each post.

So yeah, it wasn’t really like, “Oh my gosh. I have this vision that I’m going to be a food blogger.” It was just something that I did spontaneously, and I’ve had to learn the ropes as I’ve gone along. Fortunately, there’s a ton of inspiration out there these days to help me grow, but it’s a crazy space, food blogging, because there’s so much opportunity and so many different angles and approaches that you can take with your blog. And I went into it with, like I said, with a really unclear vision. I was just like, “I’m going to get this up today.” And hindsight being 20-20, I would have mapped out my look and my voice a little more before I started, but finding my way has been part of the fun.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

I watch Master Chef Jr. When I’m over at my in-laws or my mom’s house, I watch Chopped. That’s always fun. Sometimes, we pause it and say what we would do with the ingredients if we were given the basket. I don’t watch a lot food TV anymore these days.

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

Oh, wow. There are a lot. I really love i am a food blog. Everything that Stephanie makes I want to eat it immediately. Two Red Bowls, the photography is ridiculous, Fix Feast Flair, Kale & Caramel. I’ve only been reading Kale & Caramel in the last, probably, six months, but her voice is…I feel like I just want to be friends with Lily in real life. She cracks me up, and she does a really good job of doing what I really like doing in food blogs, which is pairing a little bit more of personal anecdotes with recipes. She does a lot of that.

Bev Cooks was one of the first food blogs that I read back in the day. She is hilarious. And she has two kiddos. They’re twins, and they’re the most adorable people ever. Her Instagram is just ridiculous. Wit & Vinegar, Billy’s really funny. I think his aesthetic is really different from anything that anyone else is doing.

I really like reading Dessert for Two because Christina’s got a little one that is Lana’s age. So it’s been fun reading her blog and seeing her daughter at the same stage that Lana’s at. We were pregnant at the same time. We’re not BFF’s or anything, but I stalked her throughout our pregnancies, and that was really fun.

Chocolate and Marrow, I really like Chocolate and Marrow. Brooke just does crazy, creative stuff, really, really delicious things, really indulgent and just beautiful stuff.

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

Snapchat, I just haven’t really gotten into yet. I would say of those things, I probably use Instagram the most. Violet Tinder, she’s really great. She has just a super rainbow-hued, really fun Instagram. And she does a lot of candy-colored things and water colors, and everything is just super poppy, neon bright. Miss New Foodie is really funny. She has some pretty funny captions for all of her indulgent eats.

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

The thing that’s most treasured in my current kitchen is not even mine because I rent, but it’s our stove. We have a vintage Wedgewood stove in this kitchen that’s incredible. It’s really petite. The oven portion is really petite, but it heats up super-fast and evenly. It’s got a legit broiler which I mentioned earlier that really gets the job done.

In terms of an appliance, I have a garlic press, the same garlic press that I mentioned earlier where I think it’s called the Garlic Twist. It’s like this big piece of acrylic. And rather than crushing garlic through it, you put the garlic in, and you twist it. And because it’s one piece of plastic, it rinses out super easily. I use it probably every day. It’s not like the garlic presses where there’s all the little holes that you have to get all the stuff out of.

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

I don’t really love mustard or I didn’t really love mustard, particularly yellow mustard, but I didn’t really use any mustard. And now, maybe because my husband is a huge mustard aficionado, I’ve come around on mustard. I actually really like hot horseradish-y mustards more so than a yellow mustard. But I used to really not be a fan of yellow mustard. I can at least tolerate it now.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I’m an awful baker, so I have to rely on cookbooks for baking or at least for measurements that I can gain inspiration from, so The Williams-Sonoma baking cookbook is really great. It’s got tons of cool recipes. But it’s also just good for if I need a jumping off point for an idea that I have.

I mentioned i am a food blog earlier, and her book Easy Gourmet is great. I’ve given it to a bunch of people because it’s just exactly what it says, easy gourmet. It’s really accessible. Anything by America’s Test Kitchen is good for the same reason as the Williams-Sonoma baking book. You just know that everything is really thoroughly tested, and it’s a good jumping off point. I still have a subscription to Bon Appétit and Gourmet. I know that that’s not a book, but those are good for keeping me aware of food trends and things like that.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

Well, I always have this vision that if I ever quit my day job and I got to just spend all day cooking in my kitchen, that I would do it listening to Carole King or Adele on the record player. So I guess I’d say both of those ladies. Then for something maybe a little more poppy, I’ll dance in the kitchen to Britney Spears or Nelly Furtado, early 2000’s Nelly Furtado. The Who, it’s really fun.

On Keeping Posted with Emily:

Emily Stoffel of The Pig and Quill on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how to keep posted with her.

I’m probably the most active on Instagram, and that is @thepigandquill or Facebook, and then Pinterest. I love Pinterest.

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Adele, America's Test Kitchen, Bev Cooks, Bon Appetit, Britney Spears, Carole King, Chocolate and Marrow, Chopped, Dessert for Two, Easy Gourmet, Emily Stoffel, Fix Feast Flair, Food Network, Garlic Twist, Giada de Laurentiis, Gourmet magazine, HelloFresh, i am a food blog, Ina Garten, Kale & Caramel, Master Chef Jr., Miss New Foodie, Nelly Furtado, Nigella Lawson, Parent, Sun Basket, The Frugal Gourmet, The Pig & Quill, The Who, The Williams-Sonoma Baking Cookbook, Two Red Bowls, Violet Tinder, Wit & Vinegar, Yan Can Cook

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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