Mom turns love of cooking into blog
When packing for college, many students decide to take a mini-refrigerator. Some might even pack a microwave or a Smokey Joe. But a Kitchen-Aid mixer? For Nicole Kosowski it was simply a necessity.
“I've been cooking since I was old enough to be propped against the countertop!” she laughs. Now a married mother of three living in Libertyville, and food blogger (thegalleygourmet.net), Nicole comes from a Southern family that was uprooted often because her father was in the military.
“Food has always been a large part of my life. We moved around a lot, so we were introduced to many different food cultures. It has brought a lot of joy to my cooking,” she says. “If I hadn't spent time in New Orleans we wouldn't have our traditional post Thanksgiving turkey gumbo.”
Nicole's grandmother also had a big influence on her cooking.
“We would visit her about twice a year and she always had a garden. I'd help her pick the zucchinis, even though I hated them at the time.”
Now Nicole has her own garden, where she grows a variety of vegetables, including the Green Zebra tomatoes her youngest daughter loves, plus blackberries, raspberries and herbs.
“The raspberries are planted in between the house and the garage, so they never make it into the house; we just eat them as we go past,” she laughs.
As a teenager, while other girls were reading Teen magazine she was watching the Food Network and experimenting in the kitchen. She is the proud owner of a first issue Martha Stewart's Living magazine and the last issue of Gourmet. Nicole also has a huge collection of cookbooks, of which she says, “I read cookbooks like they're novels.”
Nicole decided to start her food blog one day when she and her husband were discussing what to have for dinner.
“I have so much food information in my head, and pages and pages of notes from different meals we've enjoyed. I decided this would be a good way to document what I'm doing all day in the kitchen.”
Her favorite quote from Julia Child serves as her philosophy: “Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” The blog helps Nicole express her love of cooking.
“It's introduced me to a whole new world: the art of photography incorporated with my writing. I'm enjoying it tremendously.”
One new feature on her blog is the Sunday Night Dinner Post. “Last Sunday we had fried chicken and made strawberry dream cake. It was so good I told my husband we would have to give most of it away or I would be up at 3 a.m. eating it.”
In fact, the neighbors are often the lucky recipients of Nicole's efforts. “They get excited when they see me coming down the alley with a tray.”
Nicole loves the warmer months because the neighbors are all outdoors and there's more opportunity for spontaneous cookouts.
“Ideally I'd love to own my own bed and breakfast and just entertain people all day long.”
How long before I can book a room?