Hi Nesters!
Welcome to the first installment of my new interview series "Meet the Bloggers."
Today, we're talking with Lyndsey from "The Tiny Skillet." Lyndsey also has two other blogs Aqua Sunday (her family & lifestyle blog) and The Tiny Bento (a blog about her new journey into bento boxes).
I met Lyndsey on the forum of the cosmetics company, Aromaleigh. There, women talk about all kinds of stuff (family, jobs, pets, etc.), not just makeup. Lyndsey and I hit it off immediately and even though we've never met in person, I'm happy to call her my friend.
On to the interview. . .
Hi Lyndsey, please tell us a little bit about your life outside of the blogosphere.
I am married with one daughter, we live in Sarasota, Florida. I work as a Health Room Aide in an elementary school right around the corner from where we live. I started out working as a teacher's aide in the special needs pre-school classroom. I enjoy all of the positions I have done working in the school. Before that, I was a travel agent and was able to travel all around before kids!
A good friend of mine who I met online encouraged me to start a blog. She knew I was into cooking and crafts and photography, and she said that was a good way to share that. My family lives in Michigan so this way I can also share with them my photos of our life here. I had many recipes and wanted a place to put them and share them, so that's when I decided to start a "food" blog so I would not bore those who for some reason didn't want to talk food.
What was your earliest inspiration for cooking and what were some of the first things you learned to cook?
My mom was a good cook, so I didn't really get a chance to cook when I was young. I first learned that I could cook anything in Girl Scout camp when we cooked breakfast over the campfire. I came home and my mom let me cook the bacon. Then I really got interested in herbs and spices and what went with what foods...so much that my mom would ask me to season this or that when we were cooking. Now she asks me things like how to cook a standing rib roast. Once my father taught me how to grill (I don't have any brothers), there was no stopping me! :D
What is your favorite type of cuisine to cook?
I enjoy many ethnic cuisines and like trying new things, so I really like experimenting. I also like to make things that are really good, but simple to make, things that look impressive. But then sometimes I get that glassy eyed look from people when I explain how easy it is to make. :)
How many cookbooks do you have? Which is your favorite?
Too many to count, I love cookbooks. Some I've never made anything from, I just enjoy looking at them. Oh come on...I can't pick just one! I do enjoy the cookbooks that come from magazines like the Cooking Light, Sunset, and Southern Living cookbooks. The first ones that I learned a lot from are the Graham Kerr "Minimax" books. I try to cook healthy and he explains a lot on how to add flavor when you remove fat from a dish. I also learned that you don't need the meat portion to be the largest, which is the way it usually was growing up. My family is not really big portion eaters anyway so that's good.
What kitchen gadget or tool do you find invaluable?
That would probably be my stoneware if you can call them a gadget. I love stoneware and use it every day or at least every other day. I have my large bar pan, medium bar pan (like cookie sheets with about one inch edge), round pizza pan, round cake pan, 5 x 11 baking dish (perfect for my small family). I also have an 8" pizza stone that Maranda uses to warm up things for herself, a bread pan, and a clay baker. I am pretty passionate about my stoneware. :-) It cooks evenly, cleans up easy, browns food you want crispy. You don't usually have to turn it and things don't stick to it. I never have to use parchment paper. You can use it for cookies, biscuits, potatoes, veggies, meats, breads, leftovers...most anything! Okay...is that too much? :D I also have many chopsticks in my utensil jar that I use all the time when cooking.
Is there anything you don't like or refuse to eat?
Yes, I was a picky eater as a child, but now I eat most anything. Funny, now I see how picky my parents are, when I'm trying all these new things they really don't want to. Anyway I don't like hot dogs, (as a child I didn't want to go to birthday parties because they always used to serve hot dogs). I also don't care for ham, shrimp, or blueberries. I know, I know everybody likes those things...but I've made some killer shrimp for other people! I like a lot of things that others don't like...weird huh?
If you could invite a famous chef to dinner, who would it be and what would you cook?
I don't know that's a hard one. I could say Tyler Florence because he's cute, or Anthony Bourdain because he likes real food and has been everywhere and would be interesting to talk to and likes to eat while barefoot, but I'll say Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen. She is the one that got me into twitter so much where I was introduced to many food bloggers. She lives right here in Sarasota, so I've seen her on a couple of our local stations. She started the food forum, wrote a cookbook, and is funny and fun to be around. I would probably grill something.
What would you eat for your last supper?
Another hard one...probably a really good steak marbled with fat, and garlic bread with tons of garlic butter, and bacon. All the fatty stuff I would normally try to avoid, but who cares if it's your last!
Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you'd like readers to know?
I don't have any professional training. I cook because I really enjoy it and I enjoy food. I like to try to eat healthy and use fresh and local foods but still enjoy some good ol' comfort food. I also think it's important to teach your kids to enjoy foods and introduce them early in their life to eating healthy. It might surprise you what they'll eat if you just take the time and make the effort. I would also like to thank you Robyn for getting me to start a blog. Thank you for all your help and encouragement!
Robyn
* Up next in the "Meet the Blogger" series: Cinseven13
