Featured Food Blogger Friday: The Novice Chef

When you’re a food blogger taking your own photographs (so, you know, practically all of us), you have one goal in mind: make the food in your photo look so good that people will want to reach through their computer screens to take a bite.

That’s exactly what happens when I read The Novice Chef. Jessica is a bubbly twenty-something living in the sunshine state and reading her blog, you can’t help but feel just a little bit of that cheer (even if you are in rainy Chicago…not that I would know or anything).

Started by accident but lovingly maintained, The Novice Chef is a chronicle of one new home cook’s adventures (and occasional misadventures) in the kitchen.

I chatted with Jessica this week to talk about Top Chef, Thanksgiving dinners and DIY cookbooks.

MC: Why did you decide to start your food blog? How long have you been blogging?
JL: I started my blog 1 1/2 years ago. It was originally titled “Life Or Something Like It” and was about my everyday life. Over a short period of time, I discovered my inner foodie and my love of sharing recipes and stories with others. It somehow morphed into a cooking blog!

MC: How would you describe your cooking style?
JL: Impromptu and traditional. A lot of times I start with a traditional recipe and find myself changing it up in one way or another. On the other hand, a lot of my original recipes and inspiration comes from my family. And those are traditional recipes that I stay true to.

MC: What is your favorite cookbook? Why?
JL: Honestly, my favorite cookbook is my own cookbook…and it is not really a cookbook. It is a big photo album filled with different recipes torn out from magazines, or copied down from family members. I only own a few cookbooks, because I usually only like 30% of the recipes in it. I would rather sign up for cooking magazines and get new recipes to pick from each month.

MC: What is the first meal you ever prepared?
JL: The first dish I ever prepared alone was green bean casserole at Thanksgiving. After that year, it was always my responsibility to make…and I cherished being in the kitchen with my Mom, Aunt Gay and Granny!

MC: Where do you get the inspiration for the recipes you create?
JL: My family, all the way! All of the women in my family can cook and I pull all my inspiration from them. Most of the time when I am stuck in a cooking rut, I think of something I ate and loved as a child and it always gets me going again in the kitchen.

MC: If you could have dinner with one famous/celeb/well-known chef, who would it be?
JL: Kevin Gillespie. No question! Ever since I first saw him on my favorite cooking show, Top Chef, I knew he was my man! His down to earth, laid back personality directly reflects in his food. I

MC: What is one thing you still want to learn how to do in the kitchen?
JL: Oh boy! I want to learn how to use gum paste to make flowers and such for decorating cupcakes. I also want to make homemade pasta without a pasta attachment one day. I have made homemade gnocchi from scratch, but I would really love to be in a kitchen with an old Italian lady…showing me step by step how to make delicious homemade pastas, all by hand. I think that would be amazing!

MC: What is one piece of advice that you would offer a brand new blogger?
JL: Figure out who you are and stay true to that. I believe the most successful food bloggers have stayed true to who they are and it has helped to keep them relevant and grow in followers. Do not be influenced by others, because then your blog can easily become an imitation.