Meet Alice from Hip Foodie Mom

07/21/2014

Looking for some inspiration, delicious recipes and beautiful food photography? Look no further! Alice serves that up, plus a side dish of mom moments that will melt your heart on her blog Hip Foodie Mom.

Alice grew up surrounded by delicious food in a house where cooking and meals meant bonding time for her family. So it may come as a surprise that she didn’t become a kitchen maven until after she was married. As her family grew, cooking became even more important because it allowed her to provide her two beautiful daughters with nutritious and yummy cuisine.

At Hip Foodie Mom, you’ll see that Alice’s passion for food goes beyond the kitchen and straight to the garden. She and her family are a part of a local community garden where they are growing their own fruits and vegetables.

We recently had a chance to chat with Alice and saw first-hand how she lives by the motto of her blog, “joyful in life and cooking.”

What inspired you to become a blogger?
After the birth of my first daughter, I started cooking a lot more. I was determined to cook with fresh ingredients and wanted to expose my child to all kinds of different foods. I also wanted to teach her the importance of eating the right foods and cooking. I started the blog as a way to document my cooking, recipes and stories. I also wanted to encourage more people to get into their kitchens and cook.

Favorite food to eat:
Korean food and roasted vegetables. I could probably live off of rice, kimchi and other Korean veggies.

Favorite food to make:
Vegetarian dishes! I love experimenting with different vegetables, seeing how I can mix things up and cook foods in a new way. For example, raw cauliflower pesto is one of my favorite things to snack on!

Favorite trick of the trade when it comes to cooking/baking:
I was a part of a Bundt cake baking group so I have baked probably 40+ different Bundt cake recipes. Trick and tip when baking and trying to remove Bundt cakes from the pan: if making a chocolate Bundt cake, spray your Bundt cake pan with non-stick baking spray and lightly dust with cocoa powder. If you use regular all-purpose flour, this will sometimes leave white streaks on the cake. Using cocoa powder fixes that and helps you to safely remove your Bundt cake from the pan in one piece! One of my favorite Bundt cake recipes is an Olive Oil and Thyme Bundt Cake.

Favorite food substitute when cooking/baking:
I’ve been experimenting with different flavors of cakes and I now use homemade strawberry jam, instead of red food coloring, to give the cake batter and/or frosting, a little pink hue. Plus, it tastes delicious!

One piece of advice you would give to novice cooks:
When using a recipe, read the recipe twice and then re-read it again. Make sure you have ingredients and cooking times down. Have all of your ingredients measured out and ready to go before starting. This makes things much easier. And if a recipe flops for whatever reason, keep trying. You learn from your mistakes.

Favorite kitchen gadget:
My microplane citrus zester or my grater. I use these daily.

What’s your biggest food splurge?
Sushi-grade fish or filet mignons.

Biggest food flop:
Cheesecake. When I made cheesecake for the first time, I also attempted my first water bath. I didn’t secure the foil tight enough around my Springform pan and water seeped into my cheesecake while it was baking. I also dropped it when removing it from the oven and had bits of cheesecake everywhere. I have since mastered the water bath method.

Favorite recipe you’ve posted:
My Baked Veggie Wontons. I love these because I finally found an easy way to fold and wrap wontons and this is one of my favorites because the recipe is so versatile!