When did you first get in to cooking and do you remember the first recipe you tried?
Lucy really only started getting in the kitchen after we started the blog, but she remembers making Bloody Mary's for her grown up relatives during the holidays when she was little.
Rachel has been cooking since she could reach the stove. The first recipe she mastered was Chocolate Fudge Brownies from some big, shiny cook book her mom got at Sam's Club that only used "name brand" ingredients. It was basically one giant advertisement-- but those brownies were LEGIT.
What's your kitchen like and how do you keep organized when cooking?
Living in Chicago, our kitchens are pretty small. Lucy's is adorable and well decorated; Rachel's is more utilitarian with lots of cobbled together kitchen islands taking up too much space and a big, old, green utility cabinet-- but it has a dishwasher!
We always start cooking by cleaning and pulling out our mis-en-place. Which is a fancy French way of saying "shit that you'll need." We do a lot of vertical storage in both kitchens, and have binder clips attached to our spice racks to hold recipes while we work.
What tips would you give to someone wanting to become a better cook?
Practice. The only way to get better at cooking is to be really bad at cooking. Try new things, get familiar with your ingredients-- don't be afraid to get your hands dirty!
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party and what would you cook for them?
Our dream dinner party is definitely just our closest friends-- we all work such different schedules (between the 9-5ers, freelancers, and night owls) that neither of us can remember the last time we've been in the same room! The menu for any dinner party at Rachel's is always the same: the world's most perfect fried chicken, still-warm buttermilk biscuits, and a bunch of wine, with pecan pie for dessert!
Do you do any other crafts and what are your hobbies?
Lucy is a photographer, graphic designer and used to dabble in letterpress-- everything in her apartment has that special hand made touch. Rachel, on the other hand, doesn't have a DIY bone in her body and mostly reads books in her spare time.
Which cooking blogs do you love to read?
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Photo by Julia Stotz.
Cakes
