Speaker 1: You know, I think, and this is something that you
Speaker 1: have done beautifully, Like it's all about connecting with your
Speaker 1: community exactly and really understanding and hearing them and listening
Speaker 1: to them and giving them just more of what they want.
Speaker 2: So it's great.
Speaker 3: Earlier this week, I attended the Council of Fashion Designers
Speaker 3: of America Awards called the CFDA, and there I met
Speaker 3: a young, very hard working creator of Half Baked Harvest,
Speaker 3: the popular food blog and website, Tagan Gerard. We were
Speaker 3: on the floor right, Yes, we were on the floor,
Speaker 3: and we were on the floor where all the tables
Speaker 3: were set for the four hundred and fifty guests. Everybody
Speaker 3: buzzing around, looking at each other and taking photographs, and
Speaker 3: I immediately recognized Teagan.
Speaker 2: I think she recognized me. I certainly did.
Speaker 3: Having just read that big article in the New York Times.
Speaker 3: I was so happy to see you in person and
Speaker 3: to invite you because Tea lives in Colorado, in the
Speaker 3: snowy mountains, and she's not always in New York and
Speaker 3: not always.
Speaker 2: Available to talk.
Speaker 3: So I just thought it was opportune if you were
Speaker 3: going to be around long enough to come in. So
Speaker 3: we talked about building a business in the world of
Speaker 3: food and media.
Speaker 2: So welcome to my podcast.
Speaker 4: Well, thank you and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: Well, it's really a delight.
Speaker 3: And I was not following you, by the way on Instagram,
Speaker 3: but I knew about you, and everybody who works for
Speaker 3: me follows you. And Tea has I think five point
Speaker 3: six or five point four million followers on Instagram and many, many,
Speaker 3: many more fans than that. And she writes a blog.
Speaker 3: She has three gorgeous cookbooks published by my publisher, Clarkson Potter.
Speaker 3: I've been publishing with Clarkson Potter since nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 3: When did you write your first book?
Speaker 1: It was twenty seventeen, I want to say, And yeah
Speaker 1: they've been and you know, the first one wasn't as
Speaker 1: popular as but they've gotten more popular, which is unheard
Speaker 1: of for cookbooks.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, it's not because because you're in a
Speaker 3: different time. Yeah, I mean you're in a different time.
Speaker 3: You are in the time of social media, which you
Speaker 3: understand extremely well obviously with your chiktoks and your and
Speaker 3: your Instagrams and all the other fantastic social media that
Speaker 3: you create. Books become more popular as you become more popular.
Speaker 2: Well really, really and truly.
Speaker 3: And when I wrote my first book in nineteen eighty two,
Speaker 3: there was no social media.
Speaker 4: Someone said, you have what was like a hundred.
Speaker 2: I'm working on my hundredth book right now. I cannot.
Speaker 2: This is for you a good inspiration. I hope.
Speaker 4: I'm working on my fourth and I'm okay.
Speaker 2: So it's hard. It's a lot.
Speaker 4: Those books are so much work.
Speaker 2: Martha tell me about it.
Speaker 3: We just finished the last day of photography on the
Speaker 3: hundredth book last week.
Speaker 4: Well that's the fun part.
Speaker 1: Oh.
Speaker 3: We had two days and we had to do something
Speaker 3: like twelve different recipes and difficult recipes, and boy, oh boy,
Speaker 3: the days were like twelve hours and everybody was pretty
Speaker 3: tired at the end of the two days. And it
Speaker 3: was in my home kitchen, so it's like invasive. But
Speaker 3: I love the people I'm working with so and the
Speaker 3: pictures are utterly beautiful. So it's just a hundred of
Speaker 3: my favorite recipes. Love that in celebration of a hundred
Speaker 3: of creating one hundred books.
Speaker 4: That's amazing.
Speaker 2: You're gonna like it. What's your deadline on the new one.
Speaker 4: I'm up against it right now very much. It should
Speaker 4: be in to be very honest with you.
Speaker 1: One is called one is the original just half Bay Tarvist,
Speaker 1: and then we have half a Tarvist super simple, and
Speaker 1: then half a Tarvist every day.
Speaker 2: Oh so good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I'm not a big like theme.
Speaker 1: Just like to create recipes that people really like to
Speaker 1: make and enjoy and eat.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: So, you've had a success, a phenomenal success with Half
Speaker 3: Baked Harvest, your brand and your work. Tell us a
Speaker 3: little bit about where your company started and when and
Speaker 3: where you're going.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we are going on eleven years. I started
Speaker 1: after I had just turned nineteen. I was kind of
Speaker 1: in a place. I had graduated early from high school
Speaker 1: with an associate's degree.
Speaker 2: What does associates mean?
Speaker 4: It means two.
Speaker 2: Years of college basically.
Speaker 1: So I took college courses through the local community college
Speaker 1: while I was in high school for both high school
Speaker 1: and college credit. Okay, I was not a big school girl.
Speaker 1: I don't do well in a classroom setting. So I
Speaker 1: really wanted to get through it. And I always said
Speaker 1: I've always been a very creative person, really loved to
Speaker 1: use my hands, like put things together, make things beautiful.
Speaker 1: I always said I was going to go into fashion.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be a stylist. That's really what I
Speaker 1: wanted to do.
Speaker 2: Well, that's why you were at the CFDA Awards.
Speaker 1: I felt very honored and lucky to get to be there.
Speaker 2: Who's your favorite design?
Speaker 1: Yes, well I love Kate. I love anything and wearing
Speaker 1: a Kate sweater right now.
Speaker 2: So keep going on your story. I want to. I
Speaker 2: want Oh.
Speaker 1: So, Yeah, I had moved to La. I was going
Speaker 1: to go to school out there. I had been accepted
Speaker 1: to the Fashion and Student Design and Merchandising.
Speaker 4: I got a job right away.
Speaker 1: I was working the phones at Barbazon, acting, modeling and talent,
Speaker 1: being a little call girl. And you know what La
Speaker 1: three months in La and I was I said, no,
Speaker 1: I La is not for me.
Speaker 2: I can't do this. Definitely had a little bit the traffic.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, the traffic, all of it. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's at eighteen years old, it is. I wasn't ready
Speaker 1: for it.
Speaker 2: And you were by yourself.
Speaker 4: I was by myself.
Speaker 2: Where were you living?
Speaker 4: I was living in West Hollywood, so not not going.
Speaker 3: In your own apartment? Yeah, oh by yourself? Yeah, oh
Speaker 3: that's pretty hard on an eighteen years.
Speaker 1: Old Well, you know, especially for someone who this was
Speaker 1: my first time away from home. So I was just
Speaker 1: a deer in headlights basically. And so I came home
Speaker 1: and I did the very expensive school to attend, you know,
Speaker 1: very expensive the tuition. I didn't want to start and
Speaker 1: then have a freak out and then not be able
Speaker 1: to finish and then, you know, waste all that money.
Speaker 1: I'm from a family of eight or I've ate eight
Speaker 1: kids and one of eight kids, so you know, yeah.
Speaker 2: You have to include mom and dad. It's too much,
Speaker 2: it's too much.
Speaker 1: But so I that is when I came home, and
Speaker 1: I was, you know, feeling very lost, like what do
Speaker 1: I do? And I Am not the type of person
Speaker 1: that is going to sit and sit still.
Speaker 4: And it was really my mom.
Speaker 1: I had started cooking for my family when I was
Speaker 1: in probably like six or seventh grade. Uh really just
Speaker 1: out of a necessity to get dinner on the table
Speaker 1: at like more of a normal hour.
Speaker 4: We would eat at nine thirty.
Speaker 2: Very late, right, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: My dad, you know, worked nine to five and then
Speaker 1: he would go to the gym afterwards, and he was
Speaker 1: the cook of the family, and my mom was the baker.
Speaker 1: She just we would have talkative cookies ready to go
Speaker 1: before dinner was a thought. So I started cooking, and
Speaker 1: I just started, you know, like cooking the things that
Speaker 1: we had in our house. And I just then when
Speaker 1: I started, I never stopped. I loved to creative with
Speaker 1: recipes in that way where because like I wasn't able
Speaker 1: to drive myself to the grocery store, so I was
Speaker 1: just using what we had in the refrigerator, what we
Speaker 1: had in the pantry, which was not fancy ingredients by
Speaker 1: any means.
Speaker 2: And so I just never stopped and I.
Speaker 3: Did it was your mom an organized homemaker. I mean,
Speaker 3: eight kids is a lot of kids.
Speaker 1: My mom's incredible, but she's a she is a chaos
Speaker 1: and she loves the chaos. She's incredible. She's very organized.
Speaker 1: She did and she was so organized.
Speaker 2: How far I mean living up in the mountains, no.
Speaker 1: So I'm from Cleveland originally, So my mom was actually
Speaker 1: very organized about her shopping. Her my dad would have
Speaker 1: a date night every week and they would go to
Speaker 1: our local grocery store. It was called Marks, and it
Speaker 1: was like the discount grocery store, and they would get
Speaker 1: everything for the week, all the staples, and my mom
Speaker 1: would stock up, like she had backups for her backups,
Speaker 1: so she never ran out of like her chocolate chips.
Speaker 1: She's very important chocol chips. So she was very organized
Speaker 1: in that way. But yeah, my mom, My mom loves
Speaker 1: a full house. She really loves her kids to be
Speaker 1: around her. She loves all of her family to be
Speaker 1: around her.
Speaker 3: And so in the lineup of eight, where are you
Speaker 3: number four?
Speaker 2: You're number four. I'm very in the middle, okay. And
Speaker 2: the three older ones.
Speaker 1: Are boys, and they are our age range is thirty.
Speaker 2: Eight years old to three. Oh wow, yes, my three
Speaker 2: is the youngest.
Speaker 4: Three is the youngest.
Speaker 1: My parents adopted a little guy about three years ago.
Speaker 1: My parents got married at my mom was nineteen and
Speaker 1: my dad was like twenty two, I think.
Speaker 4: So they've been together for ever a long time, yes,
Speaker 4: since my mom was sixteen.
Speaker 2: So you're cooking now for the family.
Speaker 3: And when did you get the bright idea that you
Speaker 3: should start?
Speaker 2: The idea was my mother's bright ideas?
Speaker 1: Yeah, she said, why don't you. My mom's a very
Speaker 1: in the now type of woman. You know, she was
Speaker 1: a very tech savvy back then, and this is back
Speaker 1: in twenty twelve of like, you know, blogs were really
Speaker 1: just becoming a thing. Instagram, believe it or not, wasn't
Speaker 1: even a thing, right, Oh, no, it wasn't. No, it
Speaker 1: wasn't a thing. Really, it was just getting going or
Speaker 1: not to talk. Twitter was more of the thing and
Speaker 1: was back then. So she was like, I had been
Speaker 1: like reading a few food blogs, probably for like recipes,
Speaker 1: like just to get some recipe inspiration, because food blogs
Speaker 1: were kind of becoming.
Speaker 2: Like I say, did she read my blog? I don't
Speaker 2: know what I.
Speaker 1: Read back then I read I did, Like I'm sure
Speaker 1: that I did. I did, you know, like a little
Speaker 1: bit of Rachel Ray and all the food, you know,
Speaker 1: all the food and our people. So yeah, I did.
Speaker 1: I did it all.
Speaker 2: We're still doing our blog and you guys have an
Speaker 2: incredible website. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3: And I love my blog because it's like a magazine
Speaker 3: article every day and it really does involve what we
Speaker 3: do each and every day on the farm. And and
Speaker 3: yours is, uh, yours is like that too.
Speaker 1: Though.
Speaker 3: You're the way you the way you write is very
Speaker 3: evocative and very personal, and people like that they like
Speaker 3: to get into you lifestyle.
Speaker 2: Yeah they do, and you have found that you have
Speaker 2: found that out very nice.
Speaker 1: No, I think and this is something that you've done beautifully.
Speaker 1: Like it's all about connecting with your community exactly and
Speaker 1: really understanding and hearing them and listening to them and
Speaker 1: giving them just more of what they want and making
Speaker 1: them feel like you're your friend, and like I do,
Speaker 1: I feel like I have a very large friend group online,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: So it's great. So who is your audience and what
Speaker 2: is your reach?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we have an incredible audience range where we actually have,
Speaker 1: you know, an age range from say what, we have
Speaker 1: lots of kids too that read the site, which is crazy,
Speaker 1: and I have moms and dads that come up chain
Speaker 1: and say, my my daughter watches your stories every single morning.
Speaker 1: She just loves you and it's like it melts my heart.
Speaker 1: But it's about like, you know, our it's like twenty
Speaker 1: two to the biggest age range is that like twenty
Speaker 1: two to like thirty six, realm, But we have eighteen
Speaker 1: year olds, we have young college kids, you know, all
Speaker 1: the way up to sixties seven. I mean, like we
Speaker 1: just our age range is very large, but it's our
Speaker 1: biggest demograph is probably that twenty two, twenty six to
Speaker 1: thirty six year old young families. You know, people just
Speaker 1: starting out, graduating college that type of right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so what differentiates you from your other colleagues in
Speaker 3: this in this area do you think?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: I always there's a lot of food people out there.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of food people out there.
Speaker 1: I've always really approached everything with my own I like
Speaker 1: my own twists. So I think something that I do
Speaker 1: very unique is that, Yeah, recipes, you know, they can
Speaker 1: all look very similar. There's only so much you can
Speaker 1: do with you know this and that. But what I
Speaker 1: love to do with recipes is take them and say, well,
Speaker 1: what could what could be different about this? What can
Speaker 1: I make that makes us feel really special or really delicious?
Speaker 1: And I sort of do that in a visual way
Speaker 1: because I'm unique in the fact that I not only
Speaker 1: develop the recipe, but I style the recipe, and photograph
Speaker 1: the recipe and now so much video content.
Speaker 4: I do all the video content for it.
Speaker 1: I do it all, and I look at it as
Speaker 1: in a three sixty way like that. I actually start
Speaker 1: with the visual piece because I am so visual.
Speaker 2: I love to build a mood.
Speaker 1: I love to build the mood, and like with holiday recipes,
Speaker 1: like we want to have a Papa collar, we want
Speaker 1: them to be delicious. So maybe we're adding some pomegranates
Speaker 1: to our salad or whatever. There's always something about my
Speaker 1: recipes that, you know, there's like a Teagan specialness to it,
Speaker 1: because I really love to make them look.
Speaker 4: Beautiful, just as beautiful as they're going to taste.
Speaker 1: So I do that visually and by adding things like, yeah,
Speaker 1: like a Papa pomegranate or Krispy pershudo.
Speaker 3: So talk about pomegranate for one second. How do you
Speaker 3: extract the seeds from a pomegranate.
Speaker 1: I've tried every trick in the book, So whacking it
Speaker 1: on the back of the pomegranate doesn't work for me.
Speaker 4: With like the back of a wooden spoon. Have you
Speaker 4: seen that one?
Speaker 2: Oh that's my favorite? Really too? Oh yeah, oh it doesn't.
Speaker 2: You have to cut the pomegranate correctly to make it work.
Speaker 4: How are you cutting yours?
Speaker 3: Okay, So you take off just the very top, huh,
Speaker 3: and you take off the very bottom, that funny little
Speaker 3: thing that sticks out, Yeah, just out cutting through any seeds.
Speaker 2: Just take that out.
Speaker 3: Then with the tip of your knife, you score it
Speaker 3: into quarters. Then you break the quarters apart, and then
Speaker 3: you hold the cut side down the flesh and the
Speaker 3: seeds in the palm of your hand, and then you
Speaker 3: do take the back of a large wooden spoon over
Speaker 3: a bowl and you keep pounding that quarter of the pomegranate.
Speaker 3: Every single seed comes out perfect and perfectly.
Speaker 2: Oh no, it works. It works. I'm going to do it.
Speaker 3: I'm going home and I'm going to do another video
Speaker 3: because if you haven't seen.
Speaker 4: That, well I've seen it.
Speaker 3: But they're doing it wrong. Some some some people cut
Speaker 3: it wrong. If Martha says that if you cut it
Speaker 3: into quarters, it really.
Speaker 4: Works, yeah, I've seen it only done in half.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, see that's much harder. And you have little
Speaker 3: tiny hands. Tegan bither Way is a slight girl, and
Speaker 3: you know you have to have brute strength with a
Speaker 3: if you take a half. No, no, I'm sure you're strong,
Speaker 3: but but a half is hard. So that's why I
Speaker 3: cut it into quarters, okay, and it really want.
Speaker 4: To give this a try because I just cut it.
Speaker 4: I also cut it into quarters.
Speaker 1: I caught it the same way you cut it, but
Speaker 1: I just sit there and pop them all out. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I'll put it in water, but why water.
Speaker 3: See I don't understand the water things save them from popping. O.
Speaker 2: Mine never pop.
Speaker 4: Well, I'm going to give your try.
Speaker 3: And I eat it pomegranate a day during the season. Oh,
Speaker 3: I just ate a pomegranate this morning. Oh it's so
Speaker 3: full of antioxidants and potassium and all the good things
Speaker 3: that one needs.
Speaker 2: It's so good for you.
Speaker 4: They're absolutely delicious.
Speaker 2: Oh they are. They're so good.
Speaker 3: I don't eat the seeds though, I just chew them
Speaker 3: and then I spit the pulp out.
Speaker 2: Oh. Interesting, Yeah, don't eat the seeds. You don't have to.
Speaker 4: That sounds like a pain.
Speaker 2: No, it's so good, okay, And I once.
Speaker 4: Done it, don't you just drink the pomegranate juice?
Speaker 2: Then? Well, how am I going to get the juice? Well,
Speaker 2: you can buy it at the grocery store. That's not
Speaker 2: the same as eating a fresh pomegranate.
Speaker 4: Well, I've never spit the seeds out. That sounds like
Speaker 4: oh yeah.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's so much tastier just to to chew the
Speaker 3: seeds and get all that delicious juice and then spit
Speaker 3: out the seeds. And I get all my pomegranates from
Speaker 3: palm wonderful.
Speaker 2: Do you know palm? When people do, they are the
Speaker 2: best they are.
Speaker 3: The best, and I love I love looking at Instagram
Speaker 3: for hacks like how to how to get the seeds
Speaker 3: out of there and that.
Speaker 2: Actual are you on TikTok?
Speaker 1: You're on TikTok of course, someone TikTok talks about it
Speaker 1: with the hacks.
Speaker 2: What's your favorite Instagram site besides your own. I'm not
Speaker 2: a scroller. I don't scroll, no, no, but you must
Speaker 2: have somebody that you like.
Speaker 1: I I follow like my family. I follow Lauren Bossic,
Speaker 1: She's getting be Confidential. I think that they are incredible
Speaker 1: with their businesses. I love getting business. I love listening
Speaker 1: to their podcasts. I think that she's amazing, and so
Speaker 1: is Michael.
Speaker 2: I love them. I follow on a podcasts.
Speaker 1: I like Marry on a huge I think she's incredible
Speaker 1: her and Summer Fridays. I don't know if you're familiar
Speaker 1: with Summer Fridays, but incredible brands. I love following people
Speaker 1: that have built their own brands and have also built
Speaker 1: their own product. You know, we're really working on product
Speaker 1: right now. So it's UH love to learn about business.
Speaker 2: I really love to do good.
Speaker 3: That's that's that's that's the next step in building your brand. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we have to get into the New York Times article,
Speaker 3: which was was so fun. Yeah, and they published a
Speaker 3: story by Julia Moskin, a big story about you, and
Speaker 3: which really brought you probably even more followers.
Speaker 1: And did it you know, I don't, I don't quite
Speaker 1: know it was. It was definitely, it's definitely being talked about.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 3: But for the most part, it was a flattering article
Speaker 3: about your ability to attract people who are interested in food,
Speaker 3: who are looking for everyday kinds of recipes. And then
Speaker 3: she had her stuff to say. But I lived through that.
Speaker 3: You'll come across that during your career and you just
Speaker 3: have to, you know, just kind of ignore.
Speaker 1: It, honestly what I do good. It was very disappointing
Speaker 1: that a New York Times.
Speaker 2: Journal did she come to interview you. She came into
Speaker 2: my home.
Speaker 1: It's been a long process for that article. I had
Speaker 1: a two hour meeting with her in December, and she
Speaker 1: came into my home in September and did more of
Speaker 1: an interview and then the article came out. It was
Speaker 1: a little bit and that long very surprising that a
Speaker 1: New York Times journalists would be quoting Reddit. Don't see
Speaker 1: that as very professional at all. But you know, like
Speaker 1: you said, it's.
Speaker 4: It's definitely highlighted the business.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people have seen the
Speaker 1: negativity that was said and how it was very unfairly
Speaker 1: said and a little childish so and not something you
Speaker 1: would think of a New York Times journalist.
Speaker 4: You know what New York Times should be crediting Reddit.
Speaker 2: Let's be honest.
Speaker 3: You know, everybody is looking for readers, and everybody is
Speaker 3: looking for a sensation, and everybody is looking for the edge.
Speaker 4: The title was very like it was clickbait.
Speaker 2: I don't even remember it was.
Speaker 1: Half baked tarvist and controversyal oh, oh, so it was.
Speaker 2: It was very much clickbait.
Speaker 3: Well that didn't That didn't make me read it. What
Speaker 3: made me read it was it was about a young
Speaker 3: woman who's entrepreneurial and really being very successful in the
Speaker 3: food world.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you. I have a lot of people that
Speaker 1: I've been lucky enough to meet and connect with. But
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm not upset that I did it.
Speaker 1: I think it highlights, like you said, it highlights a business.
Speaker 1: I'm you know, maybe I wouldn't be here talking to
Speaker 1: you today. I don't know, and I think that you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people have seen overnight success with TikTok
Speaker 1: and things like that, and it's been eleven years.
Speaker 2: So slow study builds.
Speaker 3: No, No, it really has, and it's been and you
Speaker 3: worked very hard obviously, so you like I have never
Speaker 3: had formal culinary training.
Speaker 1: No, And I think that's been something that has been
Speaker 1: to my favor because I just do not look at
Speaker 1: things with a set of rules.
Speaker 4: I just do what.
Speaker 1: Sounds delicious to me, what I think will look pretty,
Speaker 1: what I think my audience will really enjoy. I'm not
Speaker 1: afraid to pair cheese with fish. You know all of
Speaker 1: the things.
Speaker 3: Well, that's good. And so you've developed your own personal
Speaker 3: style and that's sort of what I did too. I
Speaker 3: never I never had a cooking listen, but I read
Speaker 3: a lot, and I'm sure you do, and I do
Speaker 3: you read a lot?
Speaker 1: I actually don't read a lot, but I have. I
Speaker 1: am a podcast girl, and I love to listen to
Speaker 1: podcasts because reading is something that I'm very slow at
Speaker 1: and it's very tricky for me and I lose my concentration.
Speaker 2: But which podcasts are you listening to about food?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: I don't listen tocast, So you don't, Okay, No, I
Speaker 1: listened to like business podcasts.
Speaker 3: Okay, well that's good. Yeah, you learn a lot. So
Speaker 3: what's your process for developing a new recipe?
Speaker 4: So I kind of, like I said, I sort of
Speaker 4: work backwards.
Speaker 1: I kind of start with, for instance, like easy Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: entertaining recipes. So I know people need ease, and I
Speaker 1: know people want to look beautiful, and I know they
Speaker 1: probably want to make it ahead, So I kind of
Speaker 1: start with that and how wait, you know what recipes
Speaker 1: are great for that? And then I think about, well,
Speaker 1: how can I make that baked bree a little bit
Speaker 1: different and a little bit more pretty and something that's exciting,
Speaker 1: like a fresher way to serve it, you know, so
Speaker 1: tell me, So can I do it with like Christy
Speaker 1: pershuddo wrapped in Christie pershudo? A lot of people will
Speaker 1: do bacon, but like I'm very into using prosudo right now.
Speaker 2: Do you where do you get your pershutto whole foods?
Speaker 2: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: We don't have specialty grocery stores where I am So's.
Speaker 3: Whole, So you're using grocery store ingreedy absolutely, and all
Speaker 3: your recipes all so it's very accessible.
Speaker 1: Very accessible, which I think has been really really helpful
Speaker 1: for people. And I always like to give substitutions. If
Speaker 1: they don't use red wine within their cooking, try using
Speaker 1: pomegranate juice. You know, there's a lot of that now,
Speaker 1: especially with alcohol, people not using it.
Speaker 2: But you're not a vegetarian.
Speaker 1: No, no, okay, we're we're in a red meat face.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about cooking with more red meat. My brothers
Speaker 1: are very happy about that.
Speaker 3: Oh oh can I can I say? You're about your
Speaker 3: one brother?
Speaker 2: Is it red? Oh? Redmand Of course, Redman is to talk.
Speaker 3: About Olympic snowboarder gold medalistes and what year was that?
Speaker 1: It was the Korea, South Korea. One excited, The whole
Speaker 1: family went right there.
Speaker 4: Yes it was, it was.
Speaker 1: He was like eighteen or seventeen at the time, so
Speaker 1: he was a little little thing, but he's a very
Speaker 1: talented snowboarder.
Speaker 4: And yeah, he took home gold that year.
Speaker 3: Oh boy, it's so amazing. Yes, I'm friends with Sean White.
Speaker 3: He's he's such an incredible athlete and I had him
Speaker 3: on my show a long time ago when he was
Speaker 3: at the height.
Speaker 2: Of his Shawn's done incredible.
Speaker 3: Oh and now he has a wonderful business with snowboards
Speaker 3: and snowboarding clothing.
Speaker 2: I know, and he's an incredible entrepreneur.
Speaker 1: I always tell Red you need to go you need
Speaker 1: to follow Seawan's route because he's doing it right. He
Speaker 1: is building a business and.
Speaker 3: Staying in shape and being an educator too to the youth.
Speaker 3: To the youth, yes, who love to get out on
Speaker 3: those slopes. Yeah, are you a scarer?
Speaker 1: I can get down that hill on a snowboard, yes,
Speaker 1: But I am nothing like Red.
Speaker 2: Oh so no, No, you're all snowboarders in the family.
Speaker 1: All snowboard We all started on skis. The first four
Speaker 1: started on skis, and then after that I was snowboarding straight.
Speaker 3: So my grandchildren I have two, eleven and twelve, they
Speaker 3: are skiers, okay, and they are going to Hokkaido to ski.
Speaker 3: They can't wait because they love Japanese food and they
Speaker 3: think that they're going to have a great time in Hokkaido.
Speaker 2: Oh, Japan is Red's favorite place.
Speaker 3: He's so I'm sure he's skied where they're going to
Speaker 3: be skiing.
Speaker 2: And I went.
Speaker 3: I went to Nagano for the Olympics. Yeah, for the
Speaker 3: Winter Olympics.
Speaker 1: That was incrediblext ones are in Milan, so I'm like, read,
Speaker 1: you better make it to that one.
Speaker 2: Okay, you want to go to Milan. Oh, yes, it's
Speaker 2: going to be beautiful. Yes, yeah. What are those on the cover?
Speaker 2: It's a parogi. I love a part. Are you Polish
Speaker 2: in any way?
Speaker 1: No, but I'm from Cleveland, so it's a large there's
Speaker 1: a large Polish community.
Speaker 2: Polish.
Speaker 3: And one of my favorite hundred recipes is my mother's
Speaker 3: potato pirogi.
Speaker 4: The potato perrogi is my face?
Speaker 2: Is this potato?
Speaker 4: This is sweet potato?
Speaker 2: Oh, sweet potato. Okay, So you've changed the.
Speaker 1: Rest of a little bit, switched it up a little bit,
Speaker 1: which and it's so delicious.
Speaker 2: What's the dough?
Speaker 4: I do Greek yogurt? I think sour cream is traditional.
Speaker 1: The dough is so simple, It's like it's like Greek yogurt,
Speaker 1: A couple cups of flour and maybe an egg, I think,
Speaker 1: and then like a pinch of salt. E mix it
Speaker 1: all together, and that you want to sit thirty minutes,
Speaker 1: soft and fluffy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you want to sit thirty minutes? And how do
Speaker 4: you make it?
Speaker 2: I'm going to I'm going to Cary. I'm going to
Speaker 2: check yours out. Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 4: Try the sweet potato filling one time.
Speaker 2: I will. I like it. I like cabbage, not sour krout.
Speaker 1: So I've never done that, Like I grew up my
Speaker 1: phone unfortunately, just grew up with missus Tea's. But my favorite,
Speaker 1: my favorite or the potato Cheddara.
Speaker 4: My mom and I would do it after school all
Speaker 4: the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I like the sweet cabbage. So you steam the cabbage,
Speaker 3: then you have to squeeze all the moisture out of
Speaker 3: the cabbage, and then you have to grind the cabbage
Speaker 3: and mix it with cream, cheese and butter and pepper.
Speaker 2: Well, I love cheese, butter and pepper.
Speaker 3: You would love that filling. It's not easy, but it is.
Speaker 1: Like Brussels routes instead of the cabin I don't know,
Speaker 1: is that too, because I always think of cabbage is
Speaker 1: similar to.
Speaker 2: A Brussels bra They're all of the same family.
Speaker 4: But traditional meat I thought you do, I thought you.
Speaker 3: Do is generally either like sauer kraut potato, or you
Speaker 3: could do meat. We've never want to meet. We have
Speaker 3: never made meat, not in our family. But but it
Speaker 3: was the potato meat too. I love it and it's
Speaker 3: it's so good. I like a reheated and butter just
Speaker 3: in a pan. Oh yeah yeah, but you boil them.
Speaker 2: Right yeah yeah.
Speaker 4: So a lot of times like they'll just make a
Speaker 4: huge batch.
Speaker 1: And it's my brother's favorite when I make homemade progy and.
Speaker 2: I everybody wants to be at my house when because.
Speaker 4: You know it's consuming, it's is it is?
Speaker 3: So you post recipes pretty much daily. Would you do today?
Speaker 2: You know what? Actually?
Speaker 1: Today is a round up of all of our Thanksgiving recipes?
Speaker 2: Oh yea, So, how are you roasting your turkey this year? Okay?
Speaker 1: So I have this is what I want to get you. Well,
Speaker 1: I know I'm afraid. Have you ever roasted your turkey
Speaker 1: with cheese closs soaked in butter?
Speaker 3: I think we invented that recipe. I think that's the
Speaker 3: Martha Stewart and my positive that no darling, okay, no,
Speaker 3: that's been in that's been in our magazine. It's called
Speaker 3: roast turkey one oh one. Okay, well, so and white wine,
Speaker 3: white wine and butter.
Speaker 4: I do chicken broth, but white wine may be so
Speaker 4: much better.
Speaker 3: Always try it with white wine and butter, and the
Speaker 3: cheese cloth is draped over the roast the bird.
Speaker 1: And then secret what it's I think it's a secret
Speaker 1: to making a perfect Oh.
Speaker 3: No, I have a new one this year, boy, I
Speaker 3: have a new one, even better and easier.
Speaker 2: Oh what is it? Nothing's easier than this easier. It's
Speaker 2: a parchment wrap turkey.
Speaker 3: You butter the whole bird after you stuff it, butter
Speaker 3: it with soft butter all over.
Speaker 2: Well I do, Oh, I love, I love stuffing cooked
Speaker 2: in the bird.
Speaker 4: It cooks unevenly.
Speaker 2: Oh no, it cooks perfectly.
Speaker 3: And then you wrap the bird in big sheets aparchment.
Speaker 3: But you have to find the big sheets of parchments. Sure,
Speaker 3: and staple shut. Staple it shut, okay.
Speaker 2: And roast it.
Speaker 3: In two hours the bird is almost perfectly cooked. This
Speaker 3: is for like a fourteen pound bird. Two hours, two
Speaker 3: hours and a half. Uncover it. Then the skin crisps
Speaker 3: like a peking duck. All right, well, no basting.
Speaker 2: I don't base my turkey either. Well no, and then
Speaker 2: cheese goth. You have to baste it all the time.
Speaker 4: I didn't base when it works perfect?
Speaker 2: Oh no, you still have to you should basee it. It's
Speaker 2: even better.
Speaker 4: How much butter. Do you soak yours in?
Speaker 2: Well? You use usually if the if.
Speaker 3: The cheese clu is probably probably about maybe four or
Speaker 3: five sticks of butter.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, and a whole bottle of wine.
Speaker 4: Wow, I'm only doing a stick of butter.
Speaker 1: I need to your recipes, look up, look up my recipes,
Speaker 1: and maybe I need to try the parchment.
Speaker 2: What are your sides for Thanksgiving? I want to hear
Speaker 2: the side.
Speaker 1: I love a traditional Thanksgiving, but like I do crispy
Speaker 1: stacked potatoes.
Speaker 4: I think this year I did.
Speaker 3: I saw that recipe so good, so I haven't tasted.
Speaker 1: I love to do a croissant stuffing. I think it's
Speaker 1: really on me to like switch up the bread.
Speaker 2: This year.
Speaker 1: I'm doing a wild rice and kale casserole dish with
Speaker 1: like caramelized onions.
Speaker 2: Onto I sound cristy. That sounds good.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do some scallop sweet potatoes always rolls.
Speaker 1: We're going to do popovers. And because the popovers are
Speaker 1: my mom's say, very good. So what do you cook
Speaker 1: them in? I could them in and pop over pants over?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I have a metal like a metal one.
Speaker 3: I saw them cooked in coffee mugs recently I've done
Speaker 3: that too.
Speaker 2: And they look so good. I've never done that.
Speaker 4: Sometimes you got to improvise and use what you got,
Speaker 4: you know, And I'm.
Speaker 2: A queen of that and what kind of pies.
Speaker 1: So I am not the biggest pie girl. I'm not
Speaker 1: the biggest pumpkin pie. I don't really enjoy pumpkin pie,
Speaker 1: and neither is my family.
Speaker 2: Try my pumpkin filo. Okay, oh, I saw that in
Speaker 2: your magazine. It gorgeous.
Speaker 3: It is so good. You just made that for my
Speaker 3: hundred favorite recipes.
Speaker 4: I remember when that came out.
Speaker 3: No, no, it's it's an old recipe, but I remember
Speaker 3: one of my favorite beautiful Yeah, it has star annis
Speaker 3: and I love five spice in the pumpkin.
Speaker 1: You'll notice in a lot of my photos you'll see
Speaker 1: a star. I say star a niece. Oh well, I
Speaker 1: can't pronounce.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3: So you have you're going to have a nice Thanksgiving.
Speaker 3: It sounds delicious. Are you going to be home with
Speaker 3: your family? I'm actually cooking for everyone.
Speaker 2: Yeah, photograph it? Can you post it? Well? I mean
Speaker 2: it's like you don't do that.
Speaker 1: You don't know that, So, like I already posted my
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving many on the.
Speaker 4: Site right now.
Speaker 2: Okay, I will look for it.
Speaker 4: I don't think it's as fancy as yours is going
Speaker 4: to be.
Speaker 3: So how do you balance your authenticity while following social
Speaker 3: media trends?
Speaker 1: I think you'll notice about my rescues. I don't really
Speaker 1: follow a ton of trends. I just kind of do
Speaker 1: what's exciting me at the moment. I'm not a trend girl.
Speaker 1: They come and they go in a lot of the
Speaker 1: I've seen so many trends with TikTok and I'm like,
Speaker 1: that doesn't even make sense.
Speaker 2: Have you ever have you ever watched Foody China eight
Speaker 2: eight eight? I don't think so. Do you ever cook
Speaker 2: Chinese food? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Oh, watch Foody China eight eight eight? Okay it is.
Speaker 3: It's my favorite favorite Instagram Okay. And it's funny because
Speaker 3: he says, you now take some water from the Mississippi
Speaker 3: River and has he is a funny, little sticky But
Speaker 3: the food is delicious and uh and it's this guy.
Speaker 3: I've been trying to reach him to do the podcast
Speaker 3: with me and I can't find what is it Foody
Speaker 3: China eight eight eight? I don't know, but it's like yours.
Speaker 3: Yours is fun too. It's fun to watch. It's fun
Speaker 3: to watch people.
Speaker 1: Put a lot of pressure around cooking and it just
Speaker 1: it doesn't need to be that way.
Speaker 3: How did it work in the beginning? How frequently did
Speaker 3: you publish a recipe?
Speaker 1: So I think that's something that's been really key for
Speaker 1: building the business is our consistency. I from day one,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, prioritize consistency, and I posted every single day.
Speaker 4: I was very consistent.
Speaker 1: Everyone knew I was going to give them a new recipe,
Speaker 1: and I continued that and I still continue that today.
Speaker 1: So I think it's really been keeping up that consistency
Speaker 1: in building the trust and the loyalty with the community.
Speaker 1: And like I said, these people really do feel like
Speaker 1: my friends, and I love to be able to help
Speaker 1: them get dinner on the table. And during COVID, I
Speaker 1: saw so many incredible messages I'm sure you did too,
Speaker 1: of how my recipes have helped their families.
Speaker 2: You know. Oh, no, it's really nice to get the feedback.
Speaker 2: It really is so nice when it's nice feedback.
Speaker 3: Did your following grow gradually or did you did you graduate?
Speaker 1: Well? Yeah, there wasn't ever like a celebrity shout out
Speaker 1: or a talk show or a Martha Stewart mentioned like
Speaker 1: that wasn't really I was very slow and steady, which
Speaker 1: I think is also really key because our community is
Speaker 1: very loyal. I think it's why our email subscription list
Speaker 1: is strong. I think it's why our numbers are strong because.
Speaker 2: And what are you doing with your email list?
Speaker 4: We send out a newsletter.
Speaker 1: Well, you can sign up for however many you want,
Speaker 1: but we send out a newsletter every single day with
Speaker 1: the new recipe. We send out a Sunday newsletter that
Speaker 1: is like a recap of everything, and it includes some
Speaker 1: of my Sunday favorites that I share.
Speaker 4: You know, it's what you opt in for.
Speaker 3: Well, it's like a magazine subscription. You're doing a very
Speaker 3: nice thing. Without magazines around any longer, they're just they're
Speaker 3: just going away quickly. It's nice to have a newsletter
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think people are enjoying being off of
Speaker 1: social media a little bit more and kind of viewing
Speaker 1: the content that they really want to be Anyways.
Speaker 3: Yes, so when you started out, you were working by yourself,
Speaker 3: and now you are you actually have a real organization.
Speaker 1: Well, it was always my mom and I so it
Speaker 1: was my mom that encouraged me to start the website,
Speaker 1: and from day one, she built the back end of
Speaker 1: the website and she still does the back end of
Speaker 1: the website. So she manages all the advertisements on the
Speaker 1: website and you know, like the nitty gritty things that
Speaker 1: I would never want to deal with.
Speaker 2: Who's your biggest advertiser?
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean, we work with an advertisement company that
Speaker 1: puts the ads on.
Speaker 4: We work with this company.
Speaker 2: Called ad Thrive. Incredible.
Speaker 1: It's really the reason that's allowed me to not have
Speaker 1: to work with brands, which I love, because when you're
Speaker 1: working with brands in a way where they're paying you
Speaker 1: and it's sponsored content, you're not able to have control
Speaker 1: over what you're really sharing.
Speaker 2: It makes it really difficult.
Speaker 1: So I like to support the brands that I really enjoy,
Speaker 1: and I like to do it in an organic way,
Speaker 1: and I don't really like.
Speaker 2: To be paid for it. Yeah, that's basically. I want
Speaker 2: to do it with the people I like. I'm only
Speaker 2: sharing I use.
Speaker 1: And I think that's also to another point. Why the
Speaker 1: things that I recommend they sell, and because I don't
Speaker 1: recommend things that I don't enjoy and don't use.
Speaker 2: So what's your relationship with Amazon.
Speaker 4: We love Amazon.
Speaker 1: My mom used to be called Amazon Jen because she
Speaker 1: would order from Amazon so consistently.
Speaker 3: I have a friend called Holly. Her name is Holly.
Speaker 3: Her nickname is Holly Overnightly instead of Holly go lightly the.
Speaker 1: Queen of an overnight ship. I love an overnight shipping.
Speaker 1: My relationship with Amazon is great. They're incredible. They're really close.
Speaker 1: They've been especially incredible to work with this last year.
Speaker 2: What do you do with them?
Speaker 1: I honestly, I don't do any sponsor content with them.
Speaker 1: I really just work with them through affiliate links, which
Speaker 1: I guess is sponsored in a way.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're talking more right now about.
Speaker 2: Bigger picture things that how we can work together.
Speaker 1: But I've been doing a lot with Amazon Fashion, which
Speaker 1: is exciting and trying to integrate the worlds of fashion
Speaker 1: and food.
Speaker 3: So you now have a team of six working with you, Yes,
Speaker 3: and they are very supportive and they work how many
Speaker 3: days a week?
Speaker 1: See that is the thing with owning your own business,
Speaker 1: and especially a business and social media that is so
Speaker 1: social media focused.
Speaker 4: It's really a seven day.
Speaker 2: Work week, and they don't mind.
Speaker 1: We have rotating days. So but if something is needed
Speaker 1: on a Saturday. They're not saying no, you know good.
Speaker 2: I think it is. That's how I feel.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you. I think it's important if you're passionate
Speaker 1: about the business and.
Speaker 3: Health, and a creative business like yours or mine really
Speaker 3: requires at least.
Speaker 1: They Yeah, the whole Thursday is a new Friday thing.
Speaker 2: I don't know about that one. Guys. Yeah, and here
Speaker 2: we are on Friday working, aren't we.
Speaker 4: Yes, we are, Yes, we are. I'm happy to.
Speaker 2: Be doing it. So your family is so supportive. What's
Speaker 2: next for your brand?
Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh, so much. We're so excited. We have
Speaker 1: another cookbook coming that is very exciting. People love to
Speaker 1: enjoy the cookbooks. Product is a really large focus. I
Speaker 1: really want to be able to provide people. Honestly, it's
Speaker 1: a beautiful model what you've created and you you've been
Speaker 1: able to be in so many different realms under the
Speaker 1: home housees. I love that you've touched on fashion. I
Speaker 1: love that you have tabletop. Tabletop is really where I
Speaker 1: want to go next, because the community is constantly asking me.
Speaker 4: Where did you get that plate? Where did you get
Speaker 4: that dish?
Speaker 2: You know, they want they want to know everything.
Speaker 1: I'd really love to be able to create that product
Speaker 1: with them.
Speaker 4: It's a very hard thing to do.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: Good luck with all of that. That's so great.
Speaker 3: Excited, So Tigan, this has been a great pleasure to
Speaker 3: talk to you.
Speaker 2: You are vivacious as I expected it. Thank you and
Speaker 2: thank you for joining me on the podcast.
Speaker 3: You can follow at half Baked Harvest on Instagram, on TikTok,
Speaker 3: and on her website half baked dot com.
Speaker 2: Thank you again, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. This was amazing.