She’s Cookin’ Up Some Good Stuff

Posted by Correen in Articles, Interviews | 7 comments

First off, I’d like to say I praise the women who do what they do so easily and eloquently…while blogging about food. I’m ever grateful for my peeks into their kitchens…it fills my heart with joy knowing you get to meet these incredible gals too. Kudos to Alisha, from The Ardent Epicure, for offering her pay it forward to Priscilla from She’s Cookin’…I’m blown away by her responses to my questions! It’s more than a good thing…it’s lovely, thank you Priscilla!

You’ve recently returned from a two week trip to the Netherlands, which sounds just heavenly to me by the way. Please tell us about the food scents and tastes you experienced while on your travels.

My recent trip to the Netherlands was truly amazing on many different levels. This was the first time I had ever traveled with a group, and a group of women – not couples, at that! One week of the trip was spent on a refurbished, former cargo barge navigating the rivers and canals of The Netherlands by day while our group cycled through the countryside. The Netherlands is a country defined by the sea and mussels, eel, herring, and other kinds of fish unfamiliar to Americans are popular at cafes and street stands. I made it my mission to experience what is often referred to as their national dish: Broodje Haring, which is raw, fermented herring in a soft roll sprinkled with onions and pickles. I happened to be there during the time when the coveted white asparagus is in season. Casual cafes and fine restaurants alike offered blackboard specials of this delicacy. I marveled at the varied preparations: from traditional soups and steamed spears served with chopped egg and butter, to more elaborate creations with smoked salmon or mousse in pastry shells. In Belgium it was all about sampling the chocolate of renowned chocolatiers and the fluffy Belgian waffles with all manner of decadent toppings.

If you had your choice between a pasta or potato dish which would you choose? What would you make?

I have to go with pasta on this one, although I’m a lover of the spud, too. Pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic and seasonal vegetables or mushrooms is the perfect quick, healthy weekday dinner. I have a lot of go-to pasta recipes on my blog, one of my favorites is Bowtie Pasta with Salmon, Peas and Caramelized Onions.

I, for one, appreciate how you honestly integrate sponsored posts into your blog. Please talk with us about how you approach an offer from a sponsor…from invite to your final writing.

Thank you! She’s Cookin’ is brand friendly with a particular interest in high quality gourmet products, nutritious foods, and brands that are socially conscious. The first thing I consider when approached by a sponsor is whether the product fits in with the She’sCookin’ mission to encourage cooking at home by sharing simple + seasonal healthy meal ideas suited to today’s busy lifestyle. Many sponsors desire a personal insight or “story” in the post so it’s important to genuinely like the product. For example, for Hunts tomatoes, I could relate how much my cooking has been influenced by my husband’s struggle with heart disease and how I use canned (low-sodium) tomatoes when we no longer have tomatoes from our garden.

Your site spotlights a lot of other food bloggers…sweetness! How have you met these guys and gals over the years and how do you maintain these relationships?

I started my website just before Mother’s Day in 2009 with the intention of featuring a mom every month – my sweet mother being the first of course. It took several months before I discovered what my niche would be. I actually resisted the idea of being a food blog because there are so many amazing ones out there! But my fate was sealed when I began contributing at OCFamily.com as their resident food blogger. But back to the question… I still feature a mom (or dad) each month and one of their favorite family recipes – they’re not always bloggers, but since I’ve met so many Top Moms in the blogosphere, oftentimes they are, and it’s a good feeling to feature them on She’sCookin’ and my Facebook page with a little link love Our relationships continue through visiting and commenting on each others blogs.

When you get together with family and friends what are their most requested recipes?

My family loves anything I cook. Many of their favorites are among my first posts and its surprising to go back to them and see how much my photography and writing has improved! My daughter always requests cornbread, I even include this in the care packages I send to her (she’s a student at UC Santa Cruz), the salmon with bow tie pasta I mentioned above is a fave, and lasagna – such as this healthy Kale and Sausage Lasagna. Really, I cook for love and with my daughter now in college and my husband traveling so much, I’m not doing nearly as much cooking, but my blog challenges me to be creative in my home cooking and my culinary adventures abroad have led to my being a contributing writer at Honest Cooking and have added a whole new dimension to ShesCookin!