Pass The Pen: Gaby Dalkin
Happy Placers, I am so excited about our July Boss Babe! Meet, Gaby Dalkin! Master of California cool cooking and making it look effortless while she does it. I have seen Gaby whip up chocolate chip cookies on a late night whim, create insanely gorgeous meals out of the most simple ingredients, and I’m the newest addict to her legendary carrot cake. But what I love about Gaby is that her cooking feels attainable.
When I flip through the pages of ‘What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Food’ the recipes make my mouth water because it’s all so beautiful. But I also love that her recipes are FOOLPROOF. She created them knowing that no matter how skilled a chef you are; if you follow her steps, you will have success! That’s my kind of cooking!
She also has an incredible line of products sold at Williams Sonoma that are a must for your kitchen arsenal. From spices and salsas to infused oils and her famous guacamole starter...Gaby has got you covered! I sprinkle her ‘go to’ blend on everything and could drink her salsas!
This month I asked Gaby if she would help me with some quick, crowd-pleasing recipes for all of the 4th of July BBQ’s we will be attending. And tomorrow I will be sharing those! But first, I sat down with Gaby and asked her some Boss Babe questions so you all could get to know her better. You are sure to fall in love as quickly as I did!
Xx,
Jo
How did you fall in love with cooking and what advice would you give to the beginner cook who is excited to learn but overwhelmed in the kitchen? I was honestly the pickiest eater EVER as a kid. I had grilled cheese and buttered noodles until I turned 13. It's shocking that I even made it to culinary school let along built a career out of food! My whole family is like where did you come from!! But I learned to love food and cooking in college. I always wanted to host dinner parties and cook for my friends and tennis team. I knew how to make one thing... chicken parmesan. It was always the same menu for those few college years, but the act of feeding people and bringing your friends around the table for a meal was what really pulled me in. I just love hearing everyones reaction to the food and seeing them come together for a meal. It's all about starting small like I did! Cooking, in my opinion, is all about confidence so I always tell people to start with something simple. Make something easy and learn how to crush it! Then expand from there so you build your confidence in the kitchen and get to eat all sorts of incredible things while doing so!
Top 3: This month we are starting to ask our Boss Babes what their Top 3 essentials are. From kitchen and cooking tools to beauty and lifestyle, what are your ‘can’t get enough’ products? I'm obsessed with my Vitamix - it's the one thing in my kitchen that I couldn't live without (and my knives!!) And my Gaby's Go To Seasoning - I use that stuff on everything and it makes my life so easy!! Outside of the kitchen, I live for my gym. It's the 90 minutes a day that I can totally turn off from my phone, social media, email etc and just focus on me. It's my favorite part of the day and keeps me sane!
I am obsessed with your cookbook, Williams Sonoma products, and whatsgabycooking.com. If there is one takeaway you hope for your fans (OG and new), what would it be? Thank you!!! I want everyone to walk away from any What's Gaby Cooking experience (my blog, my products, my book etc) and not take cooking too seriously. It should be fun and casual. And it's all about balance... you can have a piece or two of carrot cake for lunch, a big loaded salad for dinner and that's okay! Life is too short to be so restrictive about what you're eating, so do it all in balance so you can enjoy the best of what food has to offer! Salads, brownies, pasta, pizza, vegetables, fruit... you name it!
What’s next on the horizon for you? I'm working on my next cookbook as we speak!! That will come out in Spring 2020 and we have some fun new product launches with Williams Sonoma in the coming months too! From there - who knows! I feel like this digital world we live in is constantly changing so skies the limit!
Who is your dream dinner guest and what would you make? Michelle Obama. I don't even know what I'd make I'd be so nervous but whatever it would be, would come from the farmers market! And I'd probably invite Ellen Degeneres too... because I feel like they’re bff's in real life.