0:00

You know, I think, and this is something that you have done

0:02

beautifully, Like it's all about connecting

0:05

with your community exactly and

0:07

really understanding and hearing them and

0:09

listening to them and giving them just more of

0:11

what they want.

0:13

So it's great.

0:17

Earlier this week, I attended the Council

0:20

of Fashion Designers of America

0:22

Awards called the CFDA,

0:25

and there I met a young, very

0:27

hard working creator of Half Baked

0:29

Harvest, the popular food blog

0:31

and website, Tagan Gerard.

0:34

We were on the floor right, Yes, we

0:36

were on the floor, and we were on the floor where all the tables

0:38

were set for the four hundred and

0:41

fifty guests. Everybody

0:43

buzzing around, looking at each other and

0:46

taking photographs, and I

0:48

immediately recognized Teagan.

0:50

I think she recognized me. I certainly

0:53

did.

0:53

Having just read that big

0:56

article in the New York Times. I was

0:58

so happy to see you in person and

1:00

to invite you because Tea lives

1:02

in Colorado, in the snowy

1:05

mountains, and she's not always

1:07

in New York and not always.

1:08

Available to talk.

1:10

So I just thought it was opportune if you were going to be

1:12

around long enough to come in. So

1:15

we talked about building a business in

1:17

the world of food and media.

1:19

So welcome to my podcast.

1:20

Well, thank you and thank you for having me.

1:22

Well, it's really a delight.

1:23

And I was not following you, by the way on

1:26

Instagram, but I knew about you, and everybody

1:29

who works for me follows you. And

1:32

Tea has I think five point six

1:34

or five point four million

1:37

followers on Instagram and

1:39

many, many, many more fans than that. And

1:41

she writes a blog. She has three gorgeous

1:44

cookbooks published by my publisher,

1:47

Clarkson Potter. I've been publishing

1:49

with Clarkson Potter since nineteen eighty two.

1:52

When did you write your first book?

1:53

It was twenty seventeen,

1:56

I want to say, And

1:59

yeah they've been and you know, the first

2:01

one wasn't as popular as but

2:03

they've gotten more popular, which is unheard of

2:05

for cookbooks.

2:06

No, no, no, it's not because because

2:09

you're in a different time. Yeah, I

2:11

mean you're in a different time. You are in the time of social

2:13

media, which you understand extremely

2:16

well obviously with your

2:18

chiktoks and your and your Instagrams

2:21

and all the other fantastic social

2:23

media that you create. Books become

2:25

more popular as you become more popular.

2:28

Well really, really and truly.

2:30

And when I wrote my first book in nineteen

2:32

eighty two, there was no social

2:35

media.

2:35

Someone said, you have what was like a hundred.

2:38

I'm working on my hundredth book right

2:40

now. I cannot. This is

2:42

for you a good inspiration. I

2:44

hope.

2:45

I'm working on my fourth and I'm okay.

2:47

So it's hard. It's a lot.

2:48

Those books are so much work.

2:50

Martha tell me about it.

2:52

We just finished the last day of photography

2:55

on the hundredth book last week.

2:56

Well that's the fun part.

2:58

Oh.

2:58

We had two days and we had to do something

3:00

like twelve different

3:03

recipes and difficult recipes,

3:05

and boy, oh boy, the days were

3:07

like twelve hours and everybody

3:09

was pretty tired at the end of the two days.

3:12

And it was in my home kitchen, so it's

3:14

like invasive. But

3:17

I love the people I'm working with so and

3:19

the pictures are utterly beautiful.

3:22

So it's just a hundred of my favorite recipes.

3:24

Love that in celebration of a hundred

3:27

of creating one hundred books.

3:28

That's amazing.

3:30

You're gonna like it. What's your deadline on the new

3:32

one.

3:33

I'm up against it right now very

3:35

much. It should be in to be very honest with you.

3:37

One is called one is the

3:40

original just half Bay Tarvist, and

3:42

then we have half a Tarvist super simple,

3:44

and then half a Tarvist every day.

3:46

Oh so good.

3:47

Yeah, you know, I'm not a big like theme.

3:50

Just like to create recipes that people really like to

3:52

make and enjoy and eat.

3:54

Right.

3:54

So, you've had a success, a phenomenal

3:57

success with Half Baked Harvest, your brand

4:00

and your work. Tell us a

4:02

little bit about where your company started

4:06

and when and where

4:08

you're going.

4:08

Yeah, so we are going on eleven

4:11

years. I started after I had

4:13

just turned nineteen. I

4:15

was kind of in a place. I had graduated early from

4:17

high school with an associate's degree.

4:19

What does associates mean?

4:20

It means two.

4:21

Years of college basically.

4:22

So I took college courses through the local community

4:25

college while I was in high school for

4:27

both high school and college credit. Okay,

4:29

I was not a big school girl. I

4:32

don't do well in a classroom setting. So

4:34

I really wanted to get through it. And I always said

4:37

I've always been a very creative person, really loved

4:39

to use my hands, like put things

4:41

together, make things beautiful. I

4:44

always said I was going to go into fashion. I wanted to be

4:46

a stylist. That's really what I wanted to do.

4:48

Well, that's why you were at the CFDA Awards.

4:50

I felt very honored and lucky

4:53

to get to be there.

4:53

Who's your favorite design?

4:54

Yes, well I love Kate. I love

4:56

anything and wearing a Kate sweater right

4:59

now.

4:59

So keep going on your story. I

5:01

want to. I want Oh.

5:02

So, Yeah, I had moved to La. I was going

5:04

to go to school out there. I had been accepted to the Fashion

5:06

and Student Design and Merchandising.

5:08

I got a job right away.

5:10

I was working the phones at Barbazon,

5:12

acting, modeling and talent, being a

5:14

little call girl. And

5:16

you know what La three

5:18

months in La and I was I said, no, I

5:21

La is not for me.

5:22

I can't do this. Definitely had a little

5:24

bit the traffic.

5:26

Oh my god, the traffic, all of it. It's

5:28

it's it's at eighteen years old,

5:30

it is. I wasn't ready for

5:33

it.

5:33

And you were by yourself.

5:34

I was by myself.

5:35

Where were you living?

5:36

I was living in West Hollywood, so

5:38

not not going.

5:39

In your own apartment? Yeah, oh

5:41

by yourself? Yeah, oh that's pretty

5:44

hard on an eighteen years.

5:45

Old Well, you know, especially for someone who this was

5:47

my first time away from home. So I

5:49

was just a deer in headlights basically. And

5:52

so I came home and I did the

5:55

very expensive school to attend, you know, very

5:57

expensive the tuition. I didn't want to start

5:59

and then have a freak out and then not be able to finish

6:02

and then, you know, waste

6:04

all that money. I'm from a family of eight or I've

6:06

ate eight kids and one of eight kids, so you

6:08

know, yeah.

6:12

You have to include mom and dad. It's

6:14

too much, it's too much.

6:15

But so I that is when I came

6:17

home, and I was, you know, feeling very lost,

6:20

like what do I do? And I Am not the type of

6:22

person that is going to sit and sit still.

6:25

And it was really my mom.

6:26

I had started cooking for my family when I was

6:28

in probably like six or seventh grade.

6:31

Uh really just out of a necessity to get

6:33

dinner on the table at like more of a normal hour.

6:36

We would eat at nine thirty.

6:37

Very late, right, Oh my goodness.

6:39

My dad, you know, worked nine to five and then he would

6:42

go to the gym afterwards, and he was the cook

6:44

of the family, and my mom was the baker. She just we

6:47

would have talkative cookies ready to go before

6:49

dinner was a thought. So I

6:52

started cooking, and I just started, you know, like cooking

6:55

the things that we had in our house. And I just

6:57

then when I started, I never stopped. I loved

6:59

to creative with recipes

7:02

in that way where because like I wasn't able to drive

7:04

myself to the grocery store, so I was just using

7:06

what we had in the refrigerator, what we had in the pantry,

7:08

which was not fancy ingredients by any

7:10

means.

7:11

And so I just never stopped and I.

7:12

Did it was your mom an organized homemaker.

7:16

I mean, eight kids is a lot of kids.

7:18

My mom's incredible, but

7:20

she's a she is a chaos

7:23

and she loves the chaos. She's

7:26

incredible. She's very organized. She

7:29

did and she was so organized.

7:31

How far I mean living up in the mountains,

7:33

no.

7:34

So I'm from Cleveland originally, So my

7:39

mom was actually very organized about her

7:41

shopping. Her my dad would have a date night every

7:43

week and they would go to our local grocery store.

7:45

It was called Marks, and it was like the discount

7:47

grocery store, and they would

7:49

get everything for the week, all the staples,

7:52

and my mom would stock up,

7:54

like she had backups for her backups, so

7:56

she never ran out of like her chocolate chips.

7:59

She's very important chocol chips. So

8:01

she was very organized in that way. But yeah, my mom,

8:03

My mom loves a full house. She

8:05

really loves her kids to be around her. She

8:07

loves all of her family to be around her.

8:09

And so in

8:12

the lineup of eight, where are you

8:14

number four?

8:15

You're number four. I'm very in the middle, okay.

8:17

And the three older ones.

8:18

Are boys, and they

8:20

are our age range is thirty.

8:22

Eight years old to three.

8:25

Oh wow, yes, my three is the

8:27

youngest.

8:27

Three is the youngest.

8:28

My parents adopted a little guy about

8:30

three years ago. My parents got married

8:33

at my mom was nineteen and my dad

8:35

was like twenty two, I think.

8:37

So they've been together for ever

8:39

a long time, yes, since my mom was sixteen.

8:42

So you're cooking now for the

8:44

family.

8:45

And when did you get the bright

8:47

idea that you should start?

8:49

The idea was my mother's bright ideas?

8:52

Yeah, she said, why don't you. My mom's a very

8:54

in the now type of woman. You know, she

8:57

was a very tech savvy back then, and this is back

8:59

in twenty twelve of like, you know, blogs

9:01

were really just becoming a thing. Instagram,

9:04

believe it or not, wasn't even a thing, right,

9:07

Oh, no, it wasn't. No, it wasn't a thing. Really,

9:09

it was just getting going or

9:11

not to talk. Twitter was more of the

9:13

thing and was back then. So

9:16

she was like, I had been like reading a few

9:18

food blogs, probably for like recipes,

9:20

like just to get some recipe inspiration, because food

9:22

blogs were kind of becoming.

9:24

Like I say, did she read my blog? I

9:26

don't know what I.

9:27

Read back then I read I did, Like I'm sure

9:29

that I did. I did, you know, like a little

9:31

bit of Rachel Ray and

9:33

all the food, you know, all the food and our people.

9:35

So yeah, I did. I did it all.

9:37

We're still doing our blog and you guys

9:39

have an incredible website. Oh yeah.

9:40

And I love my blog because it's

9:43

like a magazine article every day

9:45

and it really does involve what we do each

9:47

and every day on the farm. And and yours

9:50

is, uh, yours is like that too.

9:52

Though.

9:52

You're the way you the way you write is very

9:54

evocative and very personal,

9:57

and people like that they like to get into

9:59

you lifestyle.

10:01

Yeah they do, and you have found that you have

10:03

found that out very nice.

10:04

No, I think and this is something that you've done

10:06

beautifully. Like it's all about connecting

10:08

with your community exactly and

10:11

really understanding and hearing them

10:13

and listening to them and giving them just more

10:15

of what they want and making them feel

10:17

like you're your friend, and like I do, I feel

10:19

like I have a very large friend group online,

10:22

you know.

10:23

So it's great. So who is your audience

10:25

and what is your reach?

10:26

Yeah, we have an incredible audience

10:29

range where we actually have, you know, an

10:31

age range from say what, we have

10:33

lots of kids too that read the site, which is crazy,

10:36

and I have moms and dads that come up

10:38

chain and say, my my daughter watches

10:40

your stories every single morning. She just

10:42

loves you and it's like it melts my heart.

10:44

But it's about like, you

10:46

know, our it's like twenty two to

10:49

the biggest age range is that like twenty two to

10:51

like thirty six, realm, But

10:53

we have eighteen year olds, we have young college

10:56

kids, you know, all the way up to sixties seven. I mean,

10:58

like we just our age range is very large, but it's

11:00

our biggest demograph is probably

11:02

that twenty two, twenty six to thirty six year

11:04

old young families. You know, people

11:07

just starting out, graduating college that

11:10

type of right.

11:10

Yeah, so what differentiates you

11:13

from your other colleagues in this in this

11:15

area do you think?

11:16

You know?

11:16

I always there's a lot of food people out there.

11:19

There's a lot of food people out there.

11:20

I've always really approached

11:22

everything with my own I

11:25

like my own twists. So I think something that I do very

11:27

unique is that, Yeah, recipes, you

11:30

know, they can all look very similar. There's only

11:32

so much you can do with you know this and that.

11:34

But what I love to do with recipes is take

11:36

them and say, well, what could

11:38

what could be different about this? What can I make that makes

11:41

us feel really special or really delicious?

11:43

And I sort of do that in a visual way

11:45

because I'm unique in the fact

11:48

that I not only develop the recipe,

11:50

but I style the recipe, and photograph

11:52

the recipe and now so much

11:54

video content.

11:55

I do all the video content for it.

11:57

I do it all, and I look at it as in a three

11:59

sixty way like that. I actually start

12:01

with the visual piece because I am so visual.

12:04

I love to build a mood.

12:06

I love to build the mood, and like with holiday

12:08

recipes, like we want to have a Papa collar, we want

12:10

them to be delicious. So maybe we're adding

12:12

some pomegranates to our salad or whatever. There's

12:15

always something about my recipes that,

12:17

you know, there's like a Teagan specialness

12:20

to it, because I really love to

12:22

make them look.

12:23

Beautiful, just as beautiful as they're going to

12:25

taste.

12:25

So I do that visually and

12:28

by adding things like, yeah, like a Papa pomegranate

12:30

or Krispy pershudo.

12:32

So talk about pomegranate for one

12:34

second. How do you extract the seeds from

12:36

a pomegranate.

12:37

I've tried every trick in the book, So

12:39

whacking it on the back of the pomegranate doesn't

12:42

work for me.

12:42

With like the back of a wooden spoon. Have you seen that one?

12:44

Oh that's my favorite? Really too? Oh yeah,

12:47

oh it doesn't. You have to cut the pomegranate

12:49

correctly to make it work.

12:51

How are you cutting yours?

12:52

Okay, So you take off just the very top,

12:54

huh, and you take off the very bottom,

12:56

that funny little thing that sticks out, Yeah,

12:59

just out cutting through any seeds.

13:01

Just take that out.

13:02

Then with the tip of your knife, you score

13:04

it into quarters. Then

13:07

you break the quarters apart,

13:10

and then you hold the cut side down

13:12

the flesh and the seeds in the

13:14

palm of your hand, and then you do

13:16

take the back of a large wooden spoon

13:19

over a bowl and you keep pounding

13:22

that quarter of the pomegranate. Every

13:24

single seed comes out perfect

13:27

and perfectly.

13:30

Oh no, it works. It works. I'm

13:32

going to do it.

13:33

I'm going home and I'm going to do another video because

13:35

if you haven't seen.

13:36

That, well I've seen it.

13:38

But they're doing it wrong. Some some some people

13:40

cut it wrong. If Martha says that if

13:43

you cut it into quarters, it really.

13:44

Works, yeah, I've seen it only done in half.

13:46

Oh yeah, see that's much harder. And you have little

13:49

tiny hands. Tegan bither Way is

13:51

a slight girl, and you

13:53

know you have to have brute strength with a

13:55

if you take a half. No,

13:58

no, I'm sure you're strong, but but a half

14:00

is hard. So that's why I cut

14:03

it into quarters, okay, and it

14:05

really want.

14:05

To give this a try because I just cut

14:07

it. I also cut it into quarters.

14:09

I caught it the same way you cut it, but I just sit

14:12

there and pop them all out. Sometimes

14:14

I'll put it in water, but why water.

14:16

See I don't understand the water things save

14:18

them from popping. O.

14:19

Mine never pop.

14:20

Well, I'm going to give your try.

14:22

And I eat it pomegranate a day during the season.

14:25

Oh, I just ate a pomegranate this morning. Oh

14:28

it's so full of antioxidants and potassium

14:31

and all the good things that one needs.

14:33

It's so good for you.

14:34

They're absolutely delicious.

14:36

Oh they are. They're so good.

14:37

I don't eat the seeds though, I just chew them

14:40

and then I spit the pulp out.

14:42

Oh. Interesting, Yeah, don't eat the seeds. You

14:44

don't have to.

14:44

That sounds like a pain.

14:46

No, it's so good, okay, And

14:48

I once.

14:49

Done it, don't you just drink the pomegranate juice?

14:51

Then? Well, how am I going to get the juice?

14:53

Well, you can buy it at the grocery store. That's not

14:55

the same as eating a fresh pomegranate.

14:57

Well, I've never spit the seeds out. That sounds

14:59

like oh yeah.

15:01

Oh, it's so much tastier just to to

15:03

chew the seeds and get all that

15:05

delicious juice and then spit out the

15:08

seeds. And I get all my pomegranates from

15:10

palm wonderful.

15:10

Do you know palm? When people do, they are the best

15:13

they are.

15:13

The best, and I love I love

15:15

looking at Instagram for hacks like

15:18

how to how to get the seeds out of there

15:20

and that.

15:20

Actual are you on TikTok?

15:22

You're on TikTok of course, someone TikTok talks

15:24

about it with the hacks.

15:25

What's your favorite Instagram site besides

15:28

your own. I'm not a scroller. I don't scroll,

15:30

no, no, but you must have somebody that you like.

15:32

I I follow like my family.

15:35

I follow Lauren Bossic, She's getting be Confidential.

15:38

I think that they are incredible

15:40

with their businesses. I love getting business.

15:42

I love listening to their podcasts. I

15:44

think that she's amazing, and

15:46

so is Michael.

15:47

I love them. I follow on a podcasts.

15:50

I like Marry on a huge I think she's incredible her

15:52

and Summer Fridays. I don't know if you're familiar with Summer

15:54

Fridays, but incredible brands.

15:56

I love following people that have built their

15:59

own brands and have also built their own

16:01

product. You know, we're really working on product

16:03

right now. So it's UH love

16:05

to learn about business.

16:06

I really love to do good.

16:07

That's that's that's that's the next step in building

16:09

your brand. Yeah,

16:19

we have to get into the New York Times article,

16:21

which was was so fun. Yeah,

16:24

and they published a story by Julia Moskin,

16:27

a big story about you, and which

16:29

really brought you probably even more followers.

16:32

And did it you

16:34

know, I don't, I don't quite know it was.

16:37

It was definitely, it's

16:39

definitely being talked about.

16:40

I don't know. I don't know.

16:42

But for the most part, it was a flattering

16:44

article about your ability to attract

16:47

people who are interested in food, who are looking

16:49

for everyday kinds of recipes.

16:51

And then she had her stuff to say.

16:54

But I lived through that. You'll come across

16:56

that during your career and

16:59

you just have to, you know, just kind

17:01

of ignore.

17:02

It, honestly what I do good.

17:05

It was very disappointing that a New York

17:07

Times.

17:08

Journal did she come to interview you. She

17:10

came into my home.

17:11

It's been a long process

17:13

for that article. I had a two hour meeting with

17:15

her in December, and she came into

17:18

my home in September and did

17:20

more of an interview and

17:22

then the article came out. It was a little bit and that

17:25

long very surprising that a New York

17:27

Times journalists would be quoting Reddit. Don't

17:30

see that as very professional at all. But

17:33

you know, like you said, it's.

17:35

It's definitely highlighted the business.

17:37

And I think a lot of people have seen the negativity

17:40

that was said and how it was very

17:42

unfairly said and a little childish

17:45

so and not something you would think of a New York

17:47

Times journalist.

17:48

You know what New York Times should be crediting

17:50

Reddit.

17:50

Let's be honest.

17:51

You know, everybody is looking for readers,

17:54

and everybody is looking for a sensation,

17:56

and everybody is looking for the

17:59

edge.

17:59

The title was very like

18:02

it was clickbait.

18:03

I don't even remember it was.

18:04

Half baked tarvist and controversyal

18:06

oh, oh, so it was.

18:08

It was very much clickbait.

18:09

Well that didn't That didn't make me read it. What made

18:11

me read it was it was about a young woman

18:13

who's entrepreneurial and really being

18:16

very successful in the food world.

18:17

Well, thank you. I have a lot of people that I've

18:20

been lucky enough to meet and connect with.

18:22

But you know what, I'm not upset that

18:24

I did it. I think it highlights,

18:27

like you said, it highlights a business. I'm you

18:29

know, maybe I wouldn't be here talking to you today. I don't

18:31

know, and I think that you know, a lot of people have seen

18:33

overnight success with TikTok and things like that, and it's

18:35

been eleven years.

18:36

So slow study builds.

18:38

No, No, it really has, and it's been and you

18:40

worked very hard obviously, so

18:43

you like I have never had

18:45

formal culinary training.

18:47

No, And I think that's been something that

18:49

has been to my favor because I just

18:51

do not look at things with a set of rules.

18:53

I just do what.

18:55

Sounds delicious to me, what I think

18:57

will look pretty, what I think my audience

18:59

will really enjoy. I'm not afraid

19:01

to pair cheese with fish. You know

19:04

all of the things.

19:05

Well, that's good. And so you've developed

19:08

your own personal style and that's

19:10

sort of what I did too. I never I never had a

19:12

cooking listen, but I

19:14

read a lot, and I'm sure you do, and

19:17

I do you read a lot?

19:18

I actually don't read a lot, but I have.

19:21

I am a podcast girl, and I love

19:23

to listen to podcasts because reading is something that I'm

19:26

very slow at and it's very tricky for me and

19:28

I lose my concentration.

19:31

But which podcasts are you listening to about

19:33

food?

19:34

Oh?

19:34

I don't listen tocast, So you don't, Okay,

19:36

No, I listened to like business podcasts.

19:38

Okay, well that's good. Yeah, you learn a lot.

19:40

So what's your process for developing a

19:43

new recipe?

19:44

So I kind of, like I said, I sort of

19:46

work backwards.

19:46

I kind of start with, for instance,

19:49

like easy Thanksgiving entertaining recipes.

19:51

So I know people need ease, and I know people want

19:53

to look beautiful, and I know they probably want to

19:55

make it ahead, So I kind of start with that and how wait,

19:58

you know what recipes are great for that? And

20:00

then I think about, well, how

20:02

can I make that baked bree a little

20:04

bit different and a little bit more pretty and

20:07

something that's exciting, like a fresher way

20:09

to serve it, you know, so tell

20:11

me, So can I do it with like Christy pershuddo wrapped

20:13

in Christie pershudo? A lot of people will do bacon, but

20:15

like I'm very into using prosudo right

20:18

now.

20:19

Do you where do you get your pershutto whole

20:21

foods? Uh huh.

20:23

We don't have specialty grocery stores where I am

20:25

So's.

20:26

Whole, So you're using grocery store ingreedy

20:28

absolutely, and all your recipes all so

20:31

it's very accessible.

20:32

Very accessible, which I think has been

20:34

really really helpful for people. And I always like

20:37

to give substitutions. If they

20:39

don't use red wine within their cooking, try

20:41

using pomegranate juice. You know, there's a

20:44

lot of that now, especially with alcohol, people

20:46

not using it.

20:46

But you're not a vegetarian.

20:47

No, no, okay, we're we're

20:49

in a red meat face. I'm excited about

20:52

cooking with more red meat. My brothers are very

20:54

happy about that.

20:55

Oh oh can I can I say? You're about

20:57

your one brother?

20:57

Is it red? Oh? Redmand Of course,

21:00

Redman is to talk.

21:01

About Olympic snowboarder

21:04

gold medalistes and what

21:06

year was that?

21:08

It was the Korea, South Korea. One excited,

21:10

The whole family went right there.

21:12

Yes it was, it was.

21:13

He was like eighteen or seventeen at

21:15

the time, so he was a little little

21:18

thing, but he's a very talented snowboarder.

21:20

And yeah, he took home gold that year.

21:22

Oh boy, it's so amazing. Yes,

21:25

I'm friends with Sean White. He's he's such

21:27

an incredible athlete and I had him on my show

21:30

a long time ago when he was at

21:32

the height.

21:32

Of his Shawn's done incredible.

21:34

Oh and now he has a wonderful business with

21:37

snowboards and snowboarding clothing.

21:39

I know, and he's an incredible entrepreneur.

21:41

I always tell Red you need to go you

21:44

need to follow Seawan's route because he's doing

21:46

it right. He is building a business

21:49

and.

21:49

Staying in shape and being an educator

21:52

too to the youth. To the youth, yes,

21:54

who love to get out on those slopes. Yeah, are

21:56

you a scarer?

21:57

I can get down that hill on a snowboard, yes,

22:00

But I am nothing like Red.

22:01

Oh so no, No, you're all snowboarders

22:03

in the family.

22:04

All snowboard We all started

22:06

on skis. The first four started

22:08

on skis, and then after

22:11

that I was snowboarding straight.

22:12

So my grandchildren I have two,

22:15

eleven and twelve, they are skiers,

22:17

okay, and they are going to Hokkaido

22:20

to ski. They can't wait because they love Japanese

22:22

food and they think that they're going to have a

22:24

great time in Hokkaido.

22:25

Oh, Japan is Red's favorite

22:27

place.

22:28

He's so I'm sure he's skied

22:30

where they're going to be skiing.

22:32

And I went.

22:33

I went to Nagano for the Olympics. Yeah, for

22:35

the Winter Olympics.

22:36

That was incrediblext ones

22:39

are in Milan, so I'm like, read, you

22:41

better make it to that one.

22:42

Okay, you want to go to Milan. Oh, yes, it's going

22:44

to be beautiful. Yes, yeah.

22:46

What are those on the cover? It's a parogi. I

22:49

love a part. Are you Polish in any way?

22:50

No, but I'm from Cleveland, so it's a large

22:53

there's a large Polish community.

22:54

Polish.

22:55

And one of my favorite hundred recipes is my

22:58

mother's potato pirogi.

23:00

The potato perrogi is my face?

23:01

Is this potato?

23:02

This is sweet potato?

23:03

Oh, sweet potato. Okay, So you've changed

23:06

the.

23:06

Rest of a little bit, switched it up a little bit, which

23:08

and it's so delicious.

23:10

What's the dough?

23:12

I do Greek yogurt? I think sour

23:14

cream is traditional.

23:16

The dough is so simple, It's like it's like Greek yogurt,

23:18

A couple cups of flour and maybe

23:20

an egg, I think, and then like a pinch of salt.

23:22

E mix it all together, and that you want

23:25

to sit thirty minutes, soft and fluffy.

23:27

Yeah, you want to sit thirty minutes? And how do you

23:29

make it?

23:29

I'm going to I'm going to Cary. I'm going to check

23:31

yours out. Hope you enjoy.

23:33

Try the sweet potato filling one time.

23:35

I will. I like it. I like cabbage,

23:37

not sour krout.

23:39

So I've never done that, Like I

23:41

grew up my phone unfortunately, just grew up with missus

23:43

Tea's. But my favorite, my

23:46

favorite or the potato Cheddara.

23:48

My mom and I would do it after school all the time.

23:50

Yeah, I like the sweet cabbage. So

23:52

you steam the cabbage, then you

23:54

have to squeeze all the moisture out of the

23:56

cabbage, and then you have to grind

23:59

the cabbage and mix it with cream,

24:02

cheese and butter and pepper.

24:04

Well, I love cheese, butter and pepper.

24:06

You would love that filling. It's

24:08

not easy, but it is.

24:09

Like Brussels routes instead of the cabin I

24:12

don't know, is that too, because I always

24:14

think of cabbage is similar to.

24:15

A Brussels bra They're all of the same family.

24:18

But traditional

24:20

meat I thought you do, I thought you.

24:21

Do is generally

24:24

either like sauer kraut potato,

24:26

or you could do meat. We've never want

24:29

to meet. We have never made meat, not in

24:31

our family. But but it was

24:33

the potato meat too. I love

24:36

it and it's it's

24:38

so good. I like a reheated

24:40

and butter just in a pan. Oh yeah yeah,

24:42

but you boil them.

24:43

Right yeah yeah.

24:44

So a lot of times like they'll just make a huge batch.

24:46

And it's my brother's favorite when I make homemade

24:48

progy and.

24:49

I everybody wants

24:51

to be at my house when because.

24:53

You know it's consuming, it's is

24:56

it is?

24:56

So you post recipes pretty

24:59

much daily. Would you do today?

25:01

You know what? Actually?

25:01

Today is a round up of all

25:03

of our Thanksgiving recipes?

25:05

Oh yea, So, how are you roasting your turkey this

25:07

year? Okay?

25:08

So I have this is what I want to get

25:10

you. Well, I know I'm afraid. Have

25:12

you ever roasted your turkey with cheese closs

25:14

soaked in butter?

25:15

I think we invented that recipe. I

25:18

think that's the Martha Stewart and my

25:21

positive that no darling,

25:23

okay, no, that's

25:26

been in that's been in our magazine. It's called

25:29

roast turkey one oh one. Okay, well,

25:31

so and white wine, white wine

25:33

and butter.

25:34

I do chicken broth, but white wine may be

25:36

so much better.

25:37

Always try it with white wine and

25:39

butter, and the cheese

25:41

cloth is draped over the roast

25:43

the bird.

25:44

And then secret what

25:47

it's I think it's a secret to making a

25:49

perfect Oh.

25:50

No, I have a new one this year, boy, I

25:52

have a new one, even better and

25:54

easier.

25:55

Oh what is it? Nothing's easier than this easier.

25:58

It's a parchment wrap turkey.

26:01

You butter the whole bird after

26:03

you stuff it, butter it with soft butter all

26:05

over.

26:06

Well I do, Oh, I love, I love stuffing

26:08

cooked in the bird.

26:09

It cooks unevenly.

26:10

Oh no, it cooks perfectly.

26:12

And then you wrap the bird in

26:15

big sheets aparchment. But you have to find the big

26:17

sheets of parchments. Sure, and staple

26:19

shut. Staple it shut, okay.

26:22

And roast it.

26:23

In two hours the bird is almost

26:25

perfectly cooked. This is for like a fourteen

26:27

pound bird. Two

26:29

hours, two hours and a half. Uncover it.

26:32

Then the skin crisps like a peking duck.

26:35

All right, well, no basting.

26:37

I don't base my turkey either. Well no, and then

26:39

cheese goth. You have to baste it all the time.

26:41

I didn't base when it works perfect?

26:43

Oh no, you still have to you should basee it. It's even better.

26:45

How much butter. Do you soak yours in?

26:47

Well? You use usually if the if.

26:48

The cheese clu is probably probably about

26:51

maybe four or five sticks of butter.

26:54

Oh my god, and a whole bottle of wine.

26:56

Wow, I'm only doing a stick of butter.

26:58

I need to your recipes, look up, look

27:00

up my recipes, and maybe

27:03

I need to try the parchment.

27:04

What are your sides for Thanksgiving? I want to hear the

27:06

side.

27:07

I love a traditional Thanksgiving, but like I

27:09

do crispy stacked potatoes.

27:11

I think this year I did.

27:12

I saw that recipe so good,

27:15

so I haven't

27:17

tasted.

27:18

I love to do a croissant stuffing.

27:20

I think it's really on me to like switch up the bread.

27:22

This year.

27:23

I'm doing a wild rice

27:25

and kale casserole dish with

27:27

like caramelized onions.

27:28

Onto I sound cristy. That sounds good.

27:31

I'm going to do some scallop sweet potatoes always

27:33

rolls. We're going to do popovers. And because

27:36

the popovers are my mom's say, very good. So

27:38

what do you cook them in? I could them in

27:40

and pop over pants over?

27:41

Yeah?

27:42

Yeah, I have a metal like a metal one.

27:44

I saw them cooked

27:46

in coffee mugs recently I've done that too.

27:48

And they look so good. I've never done

27:50

that.

27:50

Sometimes you got to improvise and use what you got, you know, And

27:53

I'm.

27:53

A queen of that and what kind of pies.

27:56

So I am not the

27:58

biggest pie girl. I'm not the biggest pumpkin

28:00

pie. I don't really enjoy pumpkin pie, and neither

28:02

is my family.

28:03

Try my pumpkin filo. Okay, oh,

28:06

I saw that in your magazine. It gorgeous.

28:09

It is so good. You just made that

28:11

for my hundred favorite recipes.

28:14

I remember when that came out.

28:15

No, no, it's it's an old recipe, but I

28:17

remember one of my favorite beautiful

28:20

Yeah, it has star annis

28:22

and I love five spice

28:24

in the pumpkin.

28:25

You'll notice in a lot of my photos you'll see a

28:27

star. I say star a niece. Oh

28:29

well, I can't pronounce.

28:32

It doesn't matter.

28:33

So you have you're going to have a nice Thanksgiving. It

28:35

sounds delicious. Are you going to be home with your family?

28:38

I'm actually cooking for everyone.

28:40

Yeah, photograph

28:42

it? Can you post it? Well?

28:44

I mean it's like you don't do that.

28:46

You don't know that, So, like I already

28:48

posted my Thanksgiving many on the.

28:49

Site right now.

28:50

Okay, I will look for it.

28:52

I don't think it's as fancy as yours is going to be.

29:04

So how do you balance your

29:07

authenticity while following social

29:09

media trends?

29:11

I think you'll notice about my rescues. I don't really

29:13

follow a ton of trends. I just kind of do

29:15

what's exciting me at the moment. I'm not a trend

29:17

girl. They come and they go

29:19

in a lot of the I've seen so many trends

29:22

with TikTok and I'm like, that doesn't even make sense.

29:24

Have you ever have you ever watched Foody China

29:26

eight eight eight? I don't think so. Do

29:28

you ever cook Chinese food? Yeah?

29:30

Oh, watch Foody China eight eight

29:32

eight? Okay it is. It's

29:34

my favorite favorite Instagram

29:37

Okay. And it's funny because he says,

29:39

you now take some water from the Mississippi

29:41

River and has

29:44

he is a funny, little sticky But the food

29:46

is delicious and uh and

29:48

it's this guy. I've been trying to reach him to do

29:50

the podcast with me and I can't find what

29:53

is it Foody China eight eight

29:55

eight? I don't know, but it's like yours.

29:57

Yours is fun too. It's fun to watch. It's

30:00

fun to watch people.

30:01

Put a lot of pressure around cooking

30:03

and it just it doesn't need to be that

30:05

way.

30:06

How did it work in the beginning? How

30:08

frequently did you publish a recipe?

30:11

So I think that's something that's been really

30:13

key for building the business is our consistency.

30:16

I from day one, for whatever

30:18

reason, prioritize consistency,

30:21

and I posted every single day.

30:22

I was very consistent.

30:24

Everyone knew I was going to give them a new recipe,

30:26

and I continued that and I still continue

30:29

that today. So I think it's really been keeping

30:31

up that consistency in building

30:33

the trust and the loyalty with the

30:35

community. And like I said, these people

30:38

really do feel like my friends, and I love

30:41

to be able to help them get dinner on the

30:43

table. And during COVID, I saw so

30:45

many incredible messages I'm

30:47

sure you did too, of how my recipes

30:49

have helped their families.

30:50

You know. Oh, no, it's really nice to get the feedback.

30:53

It really is so nice when it's nice

30:55

feedback.

30:56

Did your following grow gradually or did

30:58

you did you graduate?

31:00

Well? Yeah, there wasn't ever like a celebrity

31:02

shout out or a

31:04

talk show or a Martha Stewart

31:06

mentioned like that wasn't really I was

31:09

very slow and steady, which I think is also really

31:11

key because our community is

31:13

very loyal. I think it's why our email subscription

31:16

list is strong. I think it's why our numbers are

31:18

strong because.

31:19

And what are you doing with your email list?

31:22

We send out a newsletter.

31:23

Well, you can sign up for however many you

31:25

want, but we send out a newsletter every single day with

31:27

the new recipe. We send out a Sunday

31:30

newsletter that is like a recap of everything,

31:32

and it includes some of my Sunday favorites that I

31:34

share.

31:35

You know, it's what you opt in for.

31:37

Well, it's like a magazine subscription. You're doing

31:39

a very nice thing. Without magazines around

31:41

any longer, they're just they're just going

31:44

away quickly. It's

31:46

nice to have a newsletter like that.

31:48

Yeah, and I think people are enjoying being

31:50

off of social media a little bit more and

31:53

kind of viewing the content that they really

31:55

want to be Anyways.

31:56

Yes, so when you started out, you were

31:58

working by yourself, and now you are

32:00

you actually have a real organization.

32:02

Well, it was always my mom and I so

32:05

it was my mom that encouraged me to start

32:07

the website, and from day one, she built

32:09

the back end of the website and she still does

32:12

the back end of the website. So she

32:14

manages all the advertisements on the website

32:17

and you know, like the nitty gritty things

32:19

that I would never want to deal with.

32:20

Who's your biggest advertiser?

32:22

Oh, I mean, we work with an advertisement

32:24

company that puts the ads on.

32:26

We work with this company.

32:27

Called ad Thrive. Incredible.

32:30

It's really the reason that's allowed me

32:32

to not have to work with brands,

32:34

which I love, because when you're working with brands

32:37

in a way where they're paying you and it's sponsored

32:39

content, you're not able to have

32:41

control over what you're really sharing.

32:43

It makes it really difficult.

32:44

So I like to support the brands that I really enjoy,

32:46

and I like to do it in an organic way, and I don't

32:49

really like.

32:49

To be paid for it. Yeah, that's basically.

32:52

I want to do it with the people I

32:54

like. I'm only sharing

32:56

I use.

32:56

And I think that's also to another point.

32:59

Why the things that I recommend they

33:01

sell, and because

33:03

I don't recommend things that I don't enjoy and don't

33:05

use.

33:05

So what's your relationship with Amazon.

33:08

We love Amazon.

33:10

My mom used to be called Amazon Jen because

33:12

she would order from Amazon so consistently.

33:15

I have a friend called Holly. Her name is Holly.

33:17

Her nickname is Holly Overnightly

33:21

instead of Holly go lightly the.

33:23

Queen of an overnight ship. I love an overnight

33:26

shipping. My relationship

33:28

with Amazon is great. They're incredible. They're really close.

33:30

They've been especially incredible to work with this last

33:32

year.

33:33

What do you do with them?

33:35

I honestly, I don't do any sponsor

33:37

content with them. I really just work with them

33:39

through affiliate links, which I guess is sponsored

33:41

in a way.

33:42

Yeah, we're talking more right now about.

33:44

Bigger picture things that how we can work together.

33:46

But I've been doing a lot with Amazon Fashion, which is exciting

33:48

and trying to integrate the worlds of fashion and food.

33:51

So you now have a team of six working

33:53

with you, Yes, and they

33:55

are very supportive and they

33:57

work how many days a week?

34:00

See that is the thing with owning your

34:02

own business, and especially a business

34:04

and social media that is so social media focused.

34:06

It's really a seven day.

34:07

Work week, and they don't mind.

34:09

We have rotating days. So

34:12

but if something is needed on a

34:15

Saturday. They're not saying no,

34:17

you know good.

34:19

I think it is. That's how I feel.

34:21

Yeah, thank you. I think it's important if

34:23

you're passionate about the business and.

34:24

Health, and a creative business like yours

34:26

or mine really requires at least.

34:28

They Yeah,

34:32

the whole Thursday is a new Friday thing.

34:34

I don't know about that one. Guys. Yeah,

34:36

and here we are on Friday working, aren't we.

34:38

Yes, we are, Yes, we are. I'm happy

34:40

to.

34:40

Be doing it. So your family is so

34:42

supportive. What's next for your brand?

34:45

Oh, my gosh, so much. We're so excited.

34:47

We have another cookbook coming that is very

34:49

exciting. People love to enjoy the cookbooks.

34:51

Product is a really large focus.

34:55

I really want to be able to provide people. Honestly,

34:57

it's a beautiful model what you've created and

34:59

you you've been able to be in so many different

35:02

realms under the home housees.

35:04

I love that you've touched on fashion. I love

35:06

that you have tabletop. Tabletop

35:08

is really where I want to go next, because the community

35:11

is constantly asking me.

35:12

Where did you get that plate? Where did you get that dish?

35:14

You know, they want they want to know everything.

35:17

I'd really love to be able to create

35:19

that product with them.

35:20

It's a very hard thing to do.

35:22

Well.

35:22

Good luck with all of that. That's so great.

35:24

Excited, So Tigan, this has

35:27

been a great pleasure to talk to you.

35:28

You are vivacious as I expected

35:31

it. Thank you and thank you for joining me

35:33

on the podcast.

35:34

You can follow at half Baked Harvest

35:37

on Instagram, on TikTok, and

35:40

on her website half baked dot

35:43

com.

35:43

Thank you again, thank you so much.

35:45

Thank you for having me. This was amazing.