Chefbirdsong's interview
Interview by GitanjaliWe interviewed chefbirdsong!
Visit the blog: The Front Porch Gourmet.
Discover chefbirdsong's favorite recipe: Lemon Meringue Pudding Sweet Rolls
"I live for the experience of a great meal. Why not break out the china on a Tuesday night? Why not try new foods? Life is to live and food is big part of that.
Life is too short to eat ugly food."
Hello chefbirdsong, so tell us...
Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you begin your blog, and what inspired you to start it?
I grew up in a very small town in South Carolina, population about 25, if you include all the cows and chickens. I am a born and bred, true Southern Belle. Now understand, that is a little different by definition that most would naturally think. Being a Southern woman means you aren't afraid of much, if anything. You get dirty, go mud ridin, have NO problem parallel parking a Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab, love football with an intense passion (GO GAMECOCKS!!!), know how to weld pipes, catch and clean fish and appreciate a fine bottle of whiskey. We typically know how to get what we want. We are equally as comfortably happy wearing pretty dresses and high heels, as we are in cut off blue jean shorts, t-shirts and flip flops. We are Southern, and we are sassy, and every last one of us will "Bless Your heart" in one fashion or another ...AND, we KNOW how to feed you! If you are Southern, you always have a cake or two lying around for company, sweet tea in the fridge and you can cook up a storm!
When I was a little girl, mama didn't like anyone in the kitchen with her, "under her feet", while she cooked. It was her sacred place. So I would sit on top of the refrigerator while she cooked so I could watch. True story. You can't make these things up.
After my mama passed away, I became the family chef. After some trial and error, a few burned dishes, and a pot spot welded to the stove, I actually became pretty good! All of our family and friends would come over to the house on Sundays for a huge meal and I found true bliss cooking for them. There is just something so deeply caring about feeding others.
Eventually I was asked to share my recipes with co-workers, and then I was asked to write a cooking column for a women's magazine who publishes in cities along the East coast. I am very competitive by nature, and soon found ways to compete in cooking through the State Fair and in local and national cooking competitions. I also began to submit recipes to national cookbooks and magazines and it wasn't long before my recipes were published.
After much pushing and persuading from many, many friends, I began the Front Porch Gourmet blog. My amazing friends who always keep me at my best, my incredible mama, my wonderful daughter and step sons, and my fabulous, ultra supportive, sweet husband Keith are my inspirations.
Are you involved in the blogging community - how do you attract new readers?
I have recently become more active in the blogging community and would eventually like to become even more so. As a full time Marketing Director for an environmental engineering group, I am pretty knowledgeable in the social media world and I use it a great deal to attract new readers. Currently, I use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, AboutMe and a few others. I also love to participate in Blog Hops and post recipes with many different sites. Of course, I still participate in as many recipe and cooking competitions as I can find. Those are fun!
Who are your culinary idols?
I have had many over the years, but the ones who have lasted through my whims are the Barefoot Contessa, Julia Childs, Bobby Flay and Giada. I love their elegant, simplistic approach to meals and how they always highlight flavor.
If you could be a contestant or a guest on any cooking show, what show would you choose?
I have thought about this often and I really think I would LOVE to be on Chopped! I love how they have to be creative with foods and never know what's "in the basket". One of my favorite things to do is dare myself to create new meals with what we have before additional grocery shopping. Please note that when I do that, I always have a Plan B... just in case. LOL! I also have friends text me or call me often, tell me what they have on hand, and ask me what they can make for dinner. I LOVE to be creative and to me this is creativity at it's finest!
What is your earliest food memory?
Sunday Dinners after church.
Mama would stay home to cook while we went to church. When we walked in, Meet The Press was always coming on TV, and you could smell rice and gravy with fried chicken, or baked ham with pineapple coming from the kitchen. Mama would always make the desserts on Saturday nights while we watched Love Boat, Hee Haw and Fantasy Island. She did her shelling then too. The local farmers always brought her bushels of corn, peas or beans and we would spend Saturday shucking and shelling to put up in the freezer or can for winter.
I also remember being very young in my high chair and she would feed me from my divider plate. Being OCD, I still don't like food to touch, except of course meatloaf and mashed potatoes :) Yum.
Oh! And there were the weeknight dinners! I couldn't wait to get home to see what was for dinner! I loved her macaroni and cheese with ham, homemade Salisbury steak and peas, Salmon balls, applesauce meatballs, you name it. My mama could really light up a kitchen!
Do you have a secret ingredient, a product or a trick you use a lot that is unexpected or that helps you save time?
I always make a two-week meal plan and shop once for the two weeks. It's comforting knowing you have enough in the house to make 14 meals without extra trips. Then I spend several hours on Saturday or Sunday playing sous chef for myself! LOL! I spend a few hours making sauces for the week, baking breads and desserts, assembling casseroles, chopping veggies and marinating meats.
My husband is a distance runner and he really likes to have fruit and veggie smoothies after runs, so I pre-package and freeze ingredients for those. He can just grab a bag out of the freezer and blend away. It makes everything incredibly easy through the week when I get home from work. I also home can from our garden which saves a ton of money.
Is there any dish, ingredient or type of food you refuse to cook? Or anything that you refuse to eat?
LOL! Unfortunately, No. :) It's ALL fair game in our house! There's everything from squid and lobster to a rabbit in my freezer now!
Your blog has a very Southern tone. Is that where you get your recipe inspiration from?
Sometimes yes, and sometimes, no. My mother, and my heritage was naturally a huge influence on my cooking style. So many of my most cherished recipes are those handed down from her. There's a special section in my blog called "Sunday Suppers" and those recipes are the Sunday meals I grew up on.
I have a beautiful, diverse group of friends from all walks of life and from all over the world. Many of my ideas for meals are inspired through meals they have shared with me. In the blog you will find Mexican recipes, seafood, street food, Southern, Irish and even a northern recipe. I think there's one. ;)
I also have a penchant for fine dining, and all kinds of dining experiences. I love anything new and different and just recently joined the Atlanta DinnerLab which is all kinds of chefs, serving all kinds of cuisine from all around the world. You never know where you will be until the day before the meal and I think it's super exciting!
I am very proud to have been raised on grits, and I love the Southern style if cooking, but I think my style is a little more diverse than that. My mama baked the best chocolate pound cake you will ever pass through your lips, but Im pretty sure she never made a Salmon Cold Noodle Bowl!
What are your goals for your blog? Where would you like to see it in the next year? Five years?
In my opinion, food and meals should be an experience. After a great meal, you should have a story to tell. You should have created a memory. Or it should provoke a memory to take you to another special time and place. It should bring a sense of fullness. A sense of family. There should be happiness or contentment. It should be peaceful and exciting all at the same time. I've heard you should eat to live, not live to eat. I live for the experience of a great meal. Why not break out the china on a Tuesday night? Why not try new foods? I mean really, why not? Life is to live and food is big part of that. Why not make them memorable all the time? Life is too short to eat ugly food.
That's what Im after with my cooking and my blog. I want to tell stories. I want people to enjoy their food. I want people to enjoy my recipes. I want others to share this amazing, happy place with me. There is always room for one more around my table.
Could you share your three favorite recipes with our readers?
Of course!
One of my favorite Southern dishes and my most requested recipe is Shrimp and Meatwater Grits:
http://thefrontporchgourmet.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/my-soon-to-be-world-famous-shrimp-meat-water-grits/
One of my absolute favorite brunch, snack or dessert recipes are these Lemon Meringue Pudding Sweet Rolls. OMG.:
http://thefrontporchgourmet.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/when-life-hands-you-lemons/
...and for a little something different, quick and easy, I adore these cold noodle bowls:
http://thefrontporchgourmet.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/noodle-on-this/
Thank you chefbirdsong for answering our questions and see you soon!
Published by Gitanjali - 03/14/2014
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