Chatting with You

All your questions, answered. Or at least most of them.

Welcome to the first Early Girl Q&A — last week I asked what questions you had for me about cooking, food, life, and received an inbox full. Many were recurring, so I tried to include all of those, and many were coupled with sweet compliments and kind words, which I’ve purposely excluded because it felt utterly gratuitous to reprint them here. But know that I read them all, and that I’m humbled and grateful to all who wrote them. If you find this dialogue useful or entertaining, I’m happy to make it a recurring column, but I won’t flatter myself, so please do let me know if that’s something you’d look forward to.

Alright, that’s enough prelude. Let’s chat.

When can we expect the next episode of the pod?

Well, I’m glad you asked. I’m sorry to report Check Please! is on an indefinite hiatus. My co-host and producer Mason had a career change that left him little room to continue, and with my own job and other commitments, it’s not something I’m able to carry on alone.

Do you ever eat fast food?

Almost never — not because I’m above it or anything, but because it has very little use case for me. I pack lunch everyday for work and cook 6 nights a week. The 7th night is always date night, which has certain criteria for ambiance. Even when I’m on the road, I love the challenge of a drive-by dining guide. I try to pin point the very best spot for a quick bite, a coffee, etc. I find it hard to settle for less.

If we ever go, it’s usually to Top Notch, an old drive-in that’s the type of place you can get a charcoal grilled burger, a chicken dinner with gravy or apple pie.

Any recommendations on how to make time to cook more adventurous meals?

Plan ahead! If you want to tackle a project cook, pre-read all the recipes or reference material you need to familiarize yourself with it in advance, then plan a day to shop and a day to cook.

If you weren’t a chef/cooking what would you be doing?

I’m not sure how widely known this is, but I don’t cook for a living! I work a 9-5 as a creative content manager. There’s some cooking involved because it’s for a cookware brand, and I happen to have a culinary skillset, but it’s not even technically part of my role. If I wasn’t doing this in the culinary brand realm, I imagine I’d be doing it for a brand in the world of fashion, art or beauty. If money wasn’t an issue, I’d be an artist.

How is the cookbook coming along? Will the parmesan ice cream be in it?

The manuscript is well on its way. It just might be...

What are your thoughts on vegetarianism and/or veganism?

I would never want to limit my ability to enjoy food to the absolute fullest. I think restrictive diets are a killjoy.

I fully acknowledge how cruel and unsustainable the meat and dairy industry can be, and I think there needs to be a reckoning with how we consume meat. The expectation that it should be cheap, abundant and available at every meal is fraught, but I also think veganism is an overcorrection that does little to combat the damage these massive industries will continue to do regardless.

What are your go-to travel snacks?

Spicy jerky, roasted cashews, pretzels, those little mini rice cake chips in the ranch, cheddar or caramel favor. If it’s a road trip situation, and I have a cooler, fruit like grapes or cherries when they’re in season, Stumptown cold brew concentrate, and peanut butter-stuffed dates coated in dark chocolate.

With kids, I need to batch cook to save my sanity. How can I elevate my everyday cooking while keeping it healthy and easy?

Diversify cuisines! It doesn’t always have to be chicken, rice and broccoli (not that you’re cooking that specifically). A simple curry, cavolo nero pasta, fish and charred vegetables with chimichurri, okonomiyaki, etc. can all be just as simple to make and more exciting.

What’s the perfect breakfast?

Sometimes it’s a well-executed French omelette and pancakes for the table. Sometimes it’s a a bagel with scallion cream cheese and half an açai bowl. Often it’s a really excellent pastry and a black iced coffee.

What flavor profile(s) do you gravitate to when cooking? What is one ingredient you always have in your kitchen?

I’d say my cooking skews largely Mediterranean — Greek, Turkish, Spanish, Italian and French-influenced, as well as Mexican and American. My heritage is Greek/Mexican-American, but I have a lot of interest in the culinary scenes of Europe and the UK, so it’s all sort of a mishmash.

There are many, it would be too hard to pick one, but what comes to mind beyond the more obvious basics would be dates, labneh, fresh parsley and cilantro, buttermilk, at least two good mustards and quality honey.

Where do you get beef to make steak tartare at home? Is supermarket OK?

Grocery store steak is fine! Buy the same day you intend to make it, keep it nice and cold and keep your tools clean. I recommend freezing it for 15 minutes before chopping it up, which makes it faster and easier to do, so overall you’re minimizing the time it’s sitting out on the board and warming in your hands.

I’m going through my second round of IVF after the first one failed. Do you have any comfort foods you recommend while I go through this?

I’m sorry you’re going through such an emotionally and physically taxing time! I think comfort looks different for everyone, but for me it often takes two forms — real comforts from childhood and idealized ones — my mom’s cocido, rice and beans, the breakfast she would always cook for me, and things I never really grew up eating but thought of as the platonic ideal of comfort — chicken pot pie and chocolate cake. It might be nice for you to revisit those feelings and draw from them now.

Why did you move to Austin and do you think you want to stay there basically forever? Do you like it better than Arizona?

I moved to Austin because no one born in Phoenix wants to die in Phoenix. I wanted to choose somewhere of my own. Austin had the greenery I craved growing up in the desert and a busier food & drink scene without being overly buzzy or terribly far from home. There are things I love about Arizona, but I’d much rather stay here.

Do you and your husband argue?

I struggle to characterize anything that goes on between me and Roger as an argument, because I feel like it bares a desire to win. We get along easily 80% of the time. Occasionally, there are misunderstandings, words that bruise, things that cause us to recede from each other. We’re human, of course, but we feel this distance so acutely and painfully that we struggle to bear it and seek to reconcile almost immediately.

How’s 30 treating you?

I’ve been saying that this is the year I get everything I want, and so far, it’s working out that way!

What’s your favorite place you’ve traveled to?

I think my favorite cities have to be Barcelona and Mexico City. In terms of the natural world, I love Montana in the summer.

What’s a day in your life look like?

I start my day around 7. I go for a short run. My husband makes me coffee as I get ready for work. I’m at the office by 9 — meetings, computer work, often 1 or more shoots to oversee. Home by 5:30. I cook dinner and do yoga, sometimes at home, sometimes at a class. I work on writing, recipe development, pop-up planning, all the other things I do from 8 to 10. I watch Real Housewives or Girls until 11:30, then skincare, laying out my clothes for the next day and bed.

How did you get into your job?

I studied print and photojournalism in college with a focus on food photography. I hated journalism and only did it because my parents wanted me to, so I went into the service industry after that. I started picking up a little bit of social media work at the restaurants I worked at, and in combination with a comms degree, that was enough to get a foot in the door at an agency doing social media full-time. I moved over to brand work from there and over multiple years and jobs, leveraged my personal interests and social media presence overtime to land at a culinary brand I actually love.

What is your health & fitness routine?

A lot of questions about how I cook the way I do and have the body I have, so it’s worth clearing up that the food I post here is not how I eat most of the time. Five days a week, I’m pretty laser focused on cooking healthy pescatarian meals with a balance of vegetables, fruit and protein. The weekends are for indulgence and when I do most all my recipe development — because it’s much less routine, that’s usually what excites me most and the majority of what I share. Beyond that, I’m very consistent with running five days a week and doing yoga four days a week (which is like a very normal, vigorous routine with a core section). I also make time once a week to hang out in the sauna and cold plunge.

What is your skincare routine?

Before bed I double cleanse with Mario Badescu cleansing oil and La Roche Posay hydrating gentle cleanser, followed by a peptide serum, retinal 0.2% emulsion, caffeine under-eye serum and rose hip seed oil, all from The Ordinary. Five nights a week, I do a longer facial massage routine and two night a weeks, gua sha. In the morning, I just use the rose hip seed oil and Innisfree SPF.

Do you have any rules you live by? Things you’re strict about and mindful of?

I am a very strict woman. Everything I do, I do with extreme discipline, and I almost never abandon my commitments. I don’t skip exercise, I cook the groceries I buy, I never even hit the snooze button — I try to be more lenient with other people, but for myself, I feel like I can’t waiver on my commitments or all the things I want to accomplish will start to get away from me.

When did you start pottery?

I’ve been doing ceramics since undergrad. I began 10 years ago now!