Kenton and Jane's interview
Interview by JillWe interviewed Kenton and Jane!
Visit the blog: Lemon and Olives.
"My grandparents showed me what it was like to work in a Greek kitchen cooking with love and passion"
Hello Kenton and Jane, so tell us...
When did you begin your blog, and what inspired you to start it?
We launched our blog on August 1st, 2013. Both Jane and I loved cooking and did so at least 5 times a week. I was very passionate about Greek cuisine and she shared the interest. She suggested actually cooking all the recipes we had acquired through family and friends. We decided that since we loved food bloggers, creating our own site and showcasing what we cook/learn along the way would be a great way to contribute. It’s been one of our most rewarding ventures to date!
Are you involved in the blogging community - how do you attract new readers?
We try to be. We always love seeing what others are doing, commenting, and cooking fellow food blogger’s recipes. We actually want to get more involved with the community because we feel that food bloggers can help one another. As for attracting new readers, we just focus on perfecting our food photography, recipes, and producing quality content. Things just seem to be working for us using this approach.
Who has influenced your cooking the most?
I would definitely say our families. My grandparents showed me what it was like to work in a Greek kitchen cooking with love and passion, as did Jane’s parents. However, what continues to be the greatest influence has been each other. When we are creating recipes we’re always pushing one another to add this spice or suggesting an item. It helps us grow and evolve.
If you could be contestants or guests on any cooking show, what show would you choose?
I doubt we could win, but we would love to be on Chopped. That show really pushes your creative side in terms of cooking. Some of the stuff they pull out of that basket is crazy! Also, we’re huge Gordon Ramsey fans, so anything with him, preferably where he’s not yelling :)
What is your earliest food memory together?
Pastitsio. During the first few months of our relationship, I made this as her first homemade Greek dish. She loved it and we've made it hundreds of times now, she’s even cooked it herself. We think it was the first meal that really put us on this course and solidified a common interest.
Do you have a secret ingredient, a product you use a lot that is unexpected or that helps you save time?
Not so much a secret ingredient as we do products. We use a Cuisinart food processor and a KitchenAid mixer religiously.
Is there any dish, ingredient or type of food you refuse to cook? Or anything that you refuse to eat?
Nothing we refuse, but one main thing we don’t cook with is mint. Jane doesn't like it one bit. It’s a major herb in Greek cuisine, which makes it ironically funny, but we find ways around it.
What is your absolute favorite Greek dish?
This is such a hard question, and one we get asked often. I feel like if you were to ask us next month it would be different. Today however, we’re going with Youvarlakia Avgolemono.
What is your funniest food flop?
Cooking our first whole chicken. We not only cooked it upside down, put we also photographed it that way. What’s funny, is that photo got accepted onto a big “food porn” site. We never changed the image, its still up on our site (and on the food image site).
Anything else you would like to share?
We just hope everyone will include a little Greek and or Mediterranean cuisine into their lives. It has so many positive health benefits!
Thank you Kenton and Jane for answering our questions and see you soon!
Published by Jill - 04/25/2014
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