Hi, I'm Nancy. I've been focused on the fun of food my whole life and have been writing about it for over three decades. I love creating dishes that make my family smile and that I think will make you and your loved ones happy, too. (Perhaps you can guess from the pic that I also love to garden. I occasionally post about enjoying the herbs in my yard. The lavender in the pic at left is featured in the buttercream recipe that's shown below. (BTW, I'm a huge lavender fan and grow a lot of it in my yard.)
The Recipes
Mostly, I post my own recipes at Kitchenlane, and these are always tested at least twice (and if I'm not completely satisfied, much more than that). My wonderful hubby has been one of my top tasters for so long he has gotten very experienced at the job. Sometimes he'll say,"That one is good enough for me to eat, but not good enough for you to publish." He just knows from the past that I want my dishes not just to "pass," but be so good you'll keep them in your repertoire and feel are well worth paying for in my cookbooks. A lot of what I know about food, I learned just by testing, changing things and observing the results, then testing again. I also graduated from a year-long pastry chef training program taught by the former White House Executive Pastry Chef, Roland Mesnier.
 |
| Lavender Garnish & Lemon-Lavender Buttercrea |
Occasinally people ask why I don't post more recipes from other bloggers. For one thing, creating my own, not borrowing from others is what I've always been expected to do when I write cookbooks and for food magazines and newspapers, so it's become a habit. For another, developing my own recipes is an enjoyable process that I've gotten good at. I have my own way with food, as well as with words, so why not share what I have to offer with you!
The Pics
Often I style and take my own photos such as the chicken curry in a hurry pic at left, and other than a couple introductory classes for bloggers, I have no training in this area. I have worked with some food photographers and stylists during photo shoots for some of my cookbooks, and am gradually trying to put in practice what I learned from them. (Recently, I worked with Diane Cu and Todd Porter on the photos for my upcoming book and they were truly inspiring.)
Sometimes, I do the styling and my hubby, who does have a lot of experience and some professional training in landscape and nature photography, takes the pics. It is always gratifying when he's not at work and we can function as a team. We shoot in natural light, usually on a year-round porch that serves as an informal studio or on the deck right off the kitchen. (On occasion, we've been shivering from the cold, suffering from the summer heat, or had some of our props blow away, so it's not as appealing as it might sound!)
For more formal details on how I got started, books and articles I've written, and such, you can check out my official full bio below.
Official Bio
Nancy Baggett was first introduced to the pleasures of cooking in her family's farmhouse kitchen at the age of five, when she began helping her mother bake cookies and cinnamon sticky buns. "I probably wasn't much real help at that point," she notes, " but those hours with her in the kitchen gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment that I still feel whenever I cook or bake today."
Nancy also recalls the times her grandmother, aunt and mother gathered to prepare traditional family recipes for the holidays. "Early on I realized that the baking together was really preserving part of our family's heritage and providing continuity from one generation to the next," she says.
By the time Nancy was 13, she was accomplished enough to cook supper on the nights her mother, a school teacher, had after-school meetings. "Usually, my menu consisted of tuna casserole made from a recipe on a cream of soup can, plus applesauce and canned corn — hardly gourmet, but my meals always got eaten so I was thrilled," she recalls with a laugh. Though Nancy continued to enjoy experimenting with recipes during her teen and early adult years, cooking was just a hobby until her son was born. "After college I’d worked as a technical writer and editor and was looking for a way to keep professionally active while being an at-home mom." Once she thought about it, she says, the idea of combining her writing background with her interest in cooking "just seemed like a natural."
Eventually, Nancy decided to focus on baking and desserts and spent a year in a professional pastry chef program taught by the White House Executive Pastry Chef, Roland Mesnier. She says that the professional schooling helped reinforce what she'd learned on her own over the years.She began selling food features to the local weekly, then to the two large newspapers in the area, The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post.
Known for both lively writing and ultra-reliable recipes, Nancy has since contributed to many major magazines and newspapers, including Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, The Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Day, House Beautiful, Chocolatier, Cooking Light, and The Los Angeles Times. She is a long-time contributor for Eating Well magazine and The Washington Post food section.
Nancy has authored and co-authored numerous cookbooks.
Her most recent book, Kneadlessly Simple--Fabulous, Fuss-Free No-Knead Breads, has won praise from both buyers and reviewers. Her very popular The All-American Cookie Book, has more than 100,000 copies in print and was nominated for a 2001 Best Baking Book Award by both The International Association of Culinary Professionals and the James Beard Foundation. Her International Chocolate Cookbook was selected 1992's best dessert book by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She will have a new book, Simply Sensational Cookies coming out in fall 2012; for details or to preorder go to Amazon.
Nancy is a frequent television and radio guest chef and has appeared on "Good Morning America," "CBS This Morning," CNN, the Food Television Network, the Discovery Channel, Lifetime Television, and scores of other national and local shows. She has also been an occasional culinary commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered--Weekend Edition." Additionally, she presents workshops, classes, talks and demonstrations for organizations including the Smithsonian Institution, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the Home Baking Association, and at many events around the country.
Nancy Baggett is a member of the Washington, DC chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The mother of a grown son, David, and grandmother of two children, Charlie and Lizzie, she lives in Maryland with her husband Charlie and mini- poodle Remy. "After almost thirty years, I still love writing and creating recipes, so I must have made the right career choice for me," Nancy sums up.
0 comments:
Post a Comment