The post Alison Roman Will Inspire You to Cook, If Nothing Else appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>But if you ask Roman, she’s just a person writing recipes that people like. “I’m not trying to corner a market,” she relayed in an interview with the New Consumer. “I’m not trying to appeal to millennials, which by the way, could be a 40-year-old at this point.”
“There’s other people in my industry that would never get that label that,” she reflected, “quite frankly, have never achieved the level of popularity, and I’m wondering why. It’s just interesting to me.” Her rise to popularity is in part thanks to her viral recipes (look up #TheStew and #TheCookies), and in part due to her unapologetic approach to cooking (look up that beef with Chrissy Teigen).
She also has a newsletter you’d actually want to sign up for, with recent recipes including sticky apple cake and chicken salad. But according to Roman, her success came about fairly intuitively, with no real business model to follow. “I have no strategy,” she admitted. “That’s something you should know about me. I’m like an animal. [Laughs.] I operate on instinct — yes or no. I say no a lot. And I say yes to not as much, especially these days.”
Follow her on Instagram for some behind-the-scenes footage from her kitchen.
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]]>The post Get Reacquainted With Your Kitchen With Minimalist Baker appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>But with so much going on, both outside and inside our kitchens, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. A good place to start is with the Minimalist Baker. An online platform run by recipe developer, food stylist, and cookbook author Dana Shultz, the Minimalist Baker is all about simple recipes that make you feel good.
“The first and most important approach to food is simplicity,” Shultz explained once in an interview with Bakepedia. “That’s important to me because that’s the way I cook, and the way I search for recipes online and in cookbooks to actually make.”
“I always recommend reading the whole recipe start to finish and observing the required prep and cook time before starting,” she adds, “so they have an idea of what they’re getting into and aren’t surprised along the way.”
Another tip from Shultz: “I also don’t recommend making too many substitutions or alterations to the recipes as vegan and gluten-free baking especially can be tricky when you make too many swaps.”
Indeed, a lot of her recipes include healthy options and are diet friendly, so that you can eat at ease. And with a motto like “10 ingredients, 1 bowl, or 30 minutes or less”, she’s already got us hooked.
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]]>The post From Tacos to Muffins: Lindsay Ostrom is Cooking Up a Storm appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>One Instagram page we’ve enjoyed scrolling through for food inspo these past months has been Pinch of Yum. Run by food blogger and legend Lindsay Ostrom, it has become a Mecca for food enthusiasts and aspiring chefs alike, amassing over one million followers.
“Instagram stories have been huge for us,” admitted Ostrom in an interview with the Mediakix blog. “It’s amazing to me that we can just be in our house in our pajamas and doing some random video posts that will be viewed by more than 50,000 people. If I were to go in front of 50,000 people in real life, it would feel so intimidating. But I can talk to that many people from my pajamas, on my couch, without showering, and not feel nervous about it at all.”
Her down-to-earth approach to blogging seems to have struck a chord with others. But it’s Ostrom’s unapologetic enthusiasm about cooking that makes her truly stand out. According to Ostrom, she hopes she can inspire others just as well.
“I want you to be so excited about these recipes that you eagerly await 5 pm when you can go home from work and start cooking,” she remarked.
Recent recipes include triple berry cheesecake muffins and crispy black bean tacos with cilantro lime sauce. You can thank us later!⠀
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]]>The post Indulge Yourself With Jessica Merchant’s Recipes appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>This week, we present you with Jessica Merchant. The mastermind behind the hugely successful food blog How Sweet Eats, Merchant has amassed over 500,000 fans on Instagram (and counting!). Scrolling through her page, you’ll easily get hooked.
Merchant’s blog and accompanying Instagram offers anything from healthy recipes to comfort food and indulgent desserts to cocktails and mocktails. “One of my main points is to not be afraid to make things your own,” she told Bakepedia.
Merchant puts her money where her mouth is. A self-taught cook, she taught herself the ins and out of cooking and baking through trial and error. According to Merchant, she makes upwards of six recipes per day and tests most of her recipes at least once.
“My desserts aren’t as precise as many [dessert recipes], and a lot of them allow you to swap things in and out,” she admits. She adds that “it’s all about trial and error; that’s how I learned to bake. So don’t be afraid!”
Get your hands—and feed—messy by following her on Instagram. You can also purchase her best-selling cookbooks, Seriously Delish, and The Pretty Dish.
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]]>The post In the Mood for Mexican Food? We’ve Got You Covered appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>Scrolling through Orozco-Moore’s Instagram page will have you drooling. A first-generation Mexican-American, her recipes offer a blend of authentic Mexican food and Mexican-inspired dishes. Recent posts include Asian-Inspired Chicken Tacos topped with crunchy broccoli slaw and super flavorful Quinoa Black Bean Chili.
According to Orozco-Moore, she draws her inspiration from her mom’s authentic Mexican cooking: “My mum’s red enchiladas will always have a special place in my heart,” she gushed in an interview with National Geographic.
“The sauce is made with a blend of guajillo, ancho, and arbol chilies and a small piece of Mexican chocolate. No fancy stuffing either—just a handful of Mexican cheese and diced onions.”
Orozco-Moore absolute favorite Mexican dish? Tacos. “Especially carnitas tacos made in the slow cooker,” she explains. “The shredded pork is highly seasoned and tender—perfect for scooping into a homemade corn tortilla and topping with queso fresco [Mexican white cheese], coriander and onions.”
Check out her blog and follow her on Instagram for more.
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]]>The post Frankie Unsworth Will Teach You How to Stylize Your Plate appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>“I love the finickity little details that go into my job,” she gushed in an interview with Linen Beauty, “picking out the prettiest leaves for the top of a salad, carefully segmenting citrus with surgical precision and the regular challenge of wrangling a linen napkin into a seemingly natural but picture-perfect positon beside a plate.”
Unsworth recalls being passionate about the details and thought that go into making a photo-worthy meal long before it was her actual job. “Even as a child I loved soaking in the atmosphere in restaurants, obsessing over every little detail and specifically chose to study languages at school (Italian, French, Spanish) from countries whose cuisines I liked the most,” she recalls.
Nowadays, the majority of her time is spent alongside cooks, photographers, and writers, making sure their set and dishes are properly styled so that a certain atmosphere is presented, alluring potential customers and foodies. With clients including brands and publications as big as Twinings, Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, and The Guardian, she clearly knows what she’s doing.
You’ll want to take note.
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]]>The post Tiffany Howard’s Cakes Will Inspire You to Start Baking appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>The mastermind behind the successful food blog Oh Honey Bakes, Howard has gained online stardom thanks to her seasonal recipes of (mostly) gluten-free cakes. Because who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
“I transitioned to a gluten-free diet about a year ago, and while I still love over-the-top cakes, I want to create recipes for every day as well as for special occasions,” relayed Howard in an interview with le buzz.
Some of her recent recipes include dark chocolate pound cake with dark chocolate ganache and pumpkin cake with gingersnap toffee, cream cheese buttercream filling, and cinnamon Swiss merengue (is your mouth watering yet?).
Raised in Virginia, at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Howard is currently based outside of Seattle, where she works from her tiny farm.
“I fell in love with baking about ten years ago,” she shared in the interview. “I started baking insane cakes after I had my son, and friends started asking for the recipes.”
According to Howard, it was when the family moved to Seattle (and after some encouragement from a friend), that she started posting her cake recipes, sharing them with a larger audience. “I really had no expectations, it was just something fun for me to do,” she admits.
Her Instagram page will inspire you to start baking.
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]]>The post Jam and Cocktail Hour: Signe Johansen Will Teach You How to Hygge appeared first on PlayJunkie.
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And since it’s perfect baking weather (
) I made a double batch of cinnamon buns – one in a cake form and the other as individual buns – to share with our lovely neighbours this afternoon. My Scandinavian recipe goes a little easier on the sugar compared with classic American cinnamon roll recipes, and I added a little @gilchesters wholemeal flour to the dough for both flavour and texture… Recipe link in my bio, or if you already own Scandilicious Baking you’ll find it in there on pp. 100-101 
Johansen puts her money where her mouth is, with recent posts on Instagram including a mouthwatering photo of maple, toasted pecan, and sour cream muffins, as well as a recipe for the ultimate cinnamon bun.
hot
The author of six food and drink books, Johansen has written for publications like The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Stella, and Marie Claire, exploring Nordic cuisine and beyond. She’s also the co-founder of “Spirited Women”, encouraging women to try whiskey and other spirits (with an accompanying book titled “Spirited” where you can find fifty cocktail recipes).
Another recommended book is “How to Hygge”, where Johansen outlines the Nordic way of living. “When I’m invited to dinner I always take some Nordic homemade jam – plum or wild blueberry,” she shared. “I make a very punchy tart jam, not overly sweet, with a lot of flavour. People always love homemade jam.”
), well not every dish has to be complicated to be a winner. And this recipe definitely is 
#KeepItSimple #BestSandwiches #WFHLife #ItsARecipeSoThere #fishfingersandwich #OFM #SOLO #CookingForOneIf you’re a fan of Nordic minimalism, buttery desserts, and cocktail hours, you might have just hit the jackpot.
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]]>The post Follow Skye McAlpine for Some Comfort Food appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>Enter Skye McAlpine. A home cook based between Venice and London, McAlpine knows her way through the Italian kitchen and is prepared to show you the ropes. “I cook largely Italian food,” she remarked once in an interview with Julia Berolzheimertold, “but one of my favorite recipes is my Auntie Effie’s butter shortbread—and that’s about as British as you can get!”
And when it comes to comfort food, one of her favorite dishes is Risotto. “Risotto is such comfort food,” she notes, “but the touch of lemon makes it a lovely, delicate and elegant dish. The kind of thing you could happily eat on the sofa straight from the pan, or proudly serve at a dinner party. Also: I always have a few lemons lying around in the kitchen and rice in the cupboard, so it’s the kind of dish that I can easily throw together without thinking.”
Luckily for us, McAlpine shares her cooking knowledge with others. Her recipes include traditional Italian dishes as well as reinvented favorites like scallops on the shell with pistachio gratin, grilled radicchio with pomegranate, and chocolate and amaretto custard.
Follow her on Instagram or purchase her cookbooks for more.
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]]>The post Step Up Your Cooking Game with Mandy Lee appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>Born in Taiwan, raised in Vancouver-raised, and slow-aged in New York, Lee is currently based in Hong Kong with her husband and pups (her blog, aptly named Lady and Pups, suggests the central role both food and dogs has in her life).
Her cultural background comes to place in the dishes themselves, which act as a sort of homage for her mixed heritage. “Even a Nutella sandwich has codes to be cracked,” says Lee. “For the life of me, I don’t understand why people cook if they don’t enjoy the fundamental aspects of it.”
With so many of us craving to crack the code of cooking, Lee’s recipes come in handy. Featured mainly on her blog, Lee also shares her tip and tricks with other publications, including Saveur, FoodandWine.com, Yahoo, Food 52, and the WashingtonPost.
Take a bite:
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