July 24, 2024 • 19 mins
Preppy Kitchen is back to celebrate his new book, "Preppy Kitchen Super Easy: 100 Simple and Versatile Recipes." In this episode, you'll learn how to navigate a busy lifestyle while still whipping up delicious meals that accommodate your schedule. John’s innovative tips for customizing recipes with different spices, proteins, and cooking methods will empower you to make mealtime efficient and enjoyable.
Join us on a heartwarming culinary journey as John recounts nostalgic moments of recipe testing with his mother in LA, sharing standout dishes like his favorite birthday cake and more.
In this episode, we will cover:
- The efforts that go into writing a book
- What desserts John enjoys the most
- The motivation behind his new release and so much more.
To top it off, get the inside scoop on John's upcoming book tour, offering a unique opportunity to meet the man behind the magic. Don’t miss this episode brimming with valuable cooking tips, heartwarming stories, and a chance to connect with Preppy Kitchen himself!
Two ways I help my students earn $2-10k monthly👇?
1.) Grow your home bakery business inside The Entrepreneur Community by clicking here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg.
I started my baking businesswith a bottle of DeSerono and
one Bundt cake pan.
Fast forward to today, fromnews to magazines, speaking on
national stages and more.
I can truly say that baking haschanged my life.
So now, as a bakery businesscoach, I get to help others have
the same success.
I've helped hundreds of mystudents across the world in my
(00:24):
global membership programsix-figure businesses, mainly
from home.
The Baking for Business podcastis an extension of that, from
actionable tips to valuabletools and resources that can
impact you as a business owner.
I truly believe y'all.
We would never have been givena gift if we couldn't profit and
prosper from it.
So come on, darling.
What are you waiting for?
(00:45):
Hey, what's going on?
You guys?
And welcome back to the Bakingfor Business podcast.
I'm super excited because todaywe have a returning guest,
which is cool.
I'm pretty sure you sold allout of his first book and here
today he's going to talk abouthis second book, mr John, also
(01:09):
known as Preppy Kitchen.
Welcome to the Baking forBusiness podcast.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm great.
Thanks so much for having meback.
It's nice to see you again.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It's nice to see you as well, darling, and so Preppy
Kitchen super easy.
Tell us all about this book.
What was the inspiration behindyou writing this one?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
the second one, Well, as you might remember, I have
twin boys, lachlan and George,and they're just turned seven.
As they get older, life hasonly gotten busier, y'all.
It does get better, but it getsbusier too, and I have so
little time to put something onthe table, and I know this is a
(01:50):
struggle that a lot of peoplehave at home too.
So I met people on the booktour and they were really
requesting for book one, andthey were talking about some
simple recipes, some easyrecipes, and I'm like you know
what, I'm totally down with this.
This is what I need in my lifetoo.
So Preppy Kitchen, super easy,was born.
They're just really fast andeasy recipes and wherever
(02:13):
possible, I let you know how touse the air fryer, how to use a
slow cooker, how to use theInstant Pot all the time savers.
And I also took a lot of likethe favorite recipes from Preppy
Kitchen, like the chocolatecake, took a lot of like the
favorite recipes from preppykitchen, like the chocolate cake
, the roast chicken cookies, andpared them down.
So we're using less ingredients, less trips to the grocery
(02:33):
store and simplify the recipestoo.
So you have those fan favorites, but you're taking less time in
the kitchen, so you have moretime for those moments that
matter.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I love that.
And you talk about the bookPreppy Kitchen Super Easy 100
Simple and Versatile Recipes.
So I know you spoke just alittle bit on it.
But in your opinion, what makesa recipe versatile?
Are there any tips or tricksyou have there?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, versatile.
Are there any tips or tricksyou have there?
Yeah, so, like you know, I grewup and my mom was one of those
ladies that just poof, poof,poof, like throws things into a
bowl and it all comes out.
She does not measure at all.
So whenever I'm trying to getone of her recipes to share, I'm
standing behind her andstopping her and measuring out
amounts so I can like replicateit, and I think that people
(03:24):
should have that freedom in thekitchen.
Yes, we follow recipes, but Iwant people to not feel
pigeonholed, like they have todo it exactly this way, because
everyone's different.
We all like different things.
So take my recipe, use it as abaseline and I want to teach you
different ways to kind of riffoff of it and really make it
your own so that you truly loveit and your like request it
(03:45):
again and again.
Almost every recipe has tons ofvariations.
I say different spices youcould use, different proteins
you could use for dinner,different sauces you could try
out.
There's a whole chapter in whichwe talk about sauces and
dressings so that you can usethose and, you know, dress up
different meats, veggies, salads, like, use dips and just make
(04:06):
something your own.
I'm also gonna give you tons ofvariations for how you make
things.
A cake could be a layer cake ora sheet cake, or cupcakes.
You can have a quick bread loafor muffins, and the list goes
on.
I wanted people to come back tothe book again and again, try
things out in different ways andfind out what their favorite is
and what works best for theirfamily.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I love that.
Come back to it again and againfor sure.
That definitely gives us themost usage of something.
And you included 100 recipes,so how did you go about picking
exact 100?
Like, how many did you startwith?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
so I have two columns , one.
There's like this massive listin my head of recipes that I'm
like kind of noodling on andthinking about like a lot of
family favorites that we make athome that I grew up with.
One example is the.
It's like a spicy tomato orzoand it's like for me it's the
(05:07):
perfect side dish.
It could go well with a salad,you could have it with some lamb
or chicken or whatever, andit's going to be delicious.
It's one of my like grandparentsSunday dinner staples, but they
took it the slow way.
Like everything was like someasured and the flavor was
amazing.
But I don't have the time.
(05:27):
So the hack I made for thatrecipe was to get that spicy
tomato base with Bloody Mary mixand you have like all that
tomato spicy goodness but yousave like half an hour of prep
time and instead of cooking iton the stovetop and minding it,
you'll get it started there andthen pop it into the oven and it
just bakes away.
(05:48):
So you can do other things andlike have that half hour free
Time for the moment that mattersabsolutely, that is a really
good hack.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I don't think I ever would have thought of that that
in the chiapina recipe too.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's like a spicy tomato um seafood stew.
And once again I was like, ohmy god, I love this recipe, I'd
love to share it.
But the premise of the book issuper easy.
So it's like kind of a drawnout afternoon of you know
chopping and doing things and Iwas like, but let's, how can we
pare this down?
And the secret was to use theBloody Mary mix as the tomato
base and it worked so well.
(06:21):
I was really happy with it.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Okay, you guys so you heard it here first lots of
cool secrets, lots of cool hacks.
So we definitely see howeverything is really becoming
versatile.
During the whole process of youwriting the book, john, what
were some of your favoritememories?
Did you have any bloopers orany fun memories come up for you
?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Whenever I'm involved there is a blooper, because I
am a walking disaster.
You know, if you're looking forthat perfect moment in the
kitchen, it's not me.
I'm here to tell you that, inspite of your mistakes, you can
make it delicious.
Moment in the kitchen it's notme.
I'm here to tell you that, inspite of your mistakes, you can
make it delicious.
But the favorite moments I hadwere actually when my mom came
to Connecticut to visit us, andwhenever she comes to visit she
(07:03):
goes and makes a beeline for ourkitchen garden with a basket
and shears and the boys in handand they all do a big harvest
and then they get togetherchopping and the kids have their
little kid knives and my momwas like I work as well chop all
the vegetables up and they makea really simple but delicious
vegetable soup and the boys diefor it.
They love this vegetable soup.
They'll have it every singleday for a week until it's all
(07:24):
gone, and I was able to putnana's vegetable soup in the
book.
So that was one that was reallyfun because we all did it
together.
And then I was on a big trip toLA.
I was there for a few weeks andI stayed with my mom and we
recipe tested a ton of recipestogether and it was just so fun.
Some of them were like recipesI grew up with, like took from
her and I'm like redoing, andsome of them were my recipes.
(07:47):
Like there was a.
There's a pear fritter in thebook and it is astonishingly
delicious.
It has a light, a beautifullight lemon glaze on it, but the
pears with this like softbatter that is fried and golden.
It's like just pears heldtogether with a little bit of
golden batter and with this thislemon icing it's.
(08:08):
I mean, it's dazzlinglydelicious and I made that with
my mom and she's like oh my gosh, this is so good.
So it was like it was a nicemoment with my mom.
There was a lot of.
Those are my favorites from thebook.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Creating memories with our relatives.
Those are always just one ofthe things that light us up, and
I love how you're always goingto your garden.
I remember the first book youtalked about the pansies.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Do you still grow pansies in your garden?
I love using edible flowers, soyou can use so many different
kinds, but they really dress updesserts and even salads in a
ways and make them so much morespecial and elevated.
But it's super easy.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Absolutely.
And speaking of desserts,desserts are definitely a
favorite here.
So what are some of yourfavorite desserts from this book
?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Oh, that is a difficult question.
But, like, if you look on theback cover, you have a special
cake.
In the book there's the perfectbirthday cake and that is a
beautiful vanilla cake and ithas sprinkles.
It just looks like a birth cake, fan, birthday cake, fantasy,
and it's delicious and easy.
But what I make for my birthdayis totally different.
(09:19):
It's a lemony olive oil cake,if you do.
You love olive oil cakes yesbecause they're so like moist
and dense, but melt in yourmouth like a souffle.
It's like almost impossible.
There's like this dissolves onyour palate.
And then my love language iswhipped cream.
So I wanted to cover this in awhipped cream, but you know,
(09:42):
it's like so delicate and softthat it'll just like I'll squish
out and fall apart.
So you take that simple whippedcream and you fold in some
mascarpone, which you can get atany grocery store now, if you
haven't had it.
It's like cream cheese, but ittastes like heavy cream, so it's
perfect for frosting.
So you just fold that into thewhipped cream and you toss in
all your favorite summer berries.
(10:02):
And it is so light, sorefreshing, perfectly sweet, and
you could eat like a quarter ofthe cake and feel fine, like
hmm, that was so satisfying,I'll have some more.
Not feel like, oh, I shouldn'thave done that.
It's so rich, it's perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
It sounds decadent.
We're definitely going to haveto give it a try.
What savory recipes would yourecommend?
If you had to recommend someonetry one thing first, what would
it be?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Oh dear, Is it really just one?
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Okay, three.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh man.
So the sweet and spicy cornpudding Uh, I love a cornbread
pudding.
Cornbread's not my favorite.
Like it's fine, it has thisplace.
I like it as a side, but Icould eat a corn pudding like
all day and night.
And this, this has candiedjalapenos in it which just bring
that little bit of like sweetand spiciness to it.
So it's really versatile.
(10:59):
And then, um, a favorite recipeof mine that I took some
flavors like I remixed someflavors from my childhood was,
uh, salmon steaks that arefilled with a cream cheese
caraway filling and so easy tomake, really fast you can meal
(11:19):
prep it like the day ahead andjust have them ready to bake off
.
It was so good.
I ate the entire four servings,so I was just powered through
it and I love the flavor thatthe caraway seeds give with the
cream cheese and it's like alittle bit of spiciness from the
onions and it's it's likealmost, it's like devastatingly
(11:40):
easy to make, but it's so good.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
That combination sounds really.
It definitely sounds reallyunique, so I'm going to have to
get it a try, cause I'm a hugesalmon lover too.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
I love it too, and you get kind of bored with your
favorites Like you have likeyour favorite preparation and
you'll have that all day and allnight until you're sick of it
and you can't have it anymore.
So this is like a new way oftrying and this folding
something different in.
There's a really easy summergazpacho that I love because you
know, when it's like boilingand hot, you have that feeling
(12:15):
where you're hungry but youcan't eat because it's too hot.
That's where the gazpacho comesin and it's like cool and
refreshing and you're going toadd some beautiful croutons on
top to get like that crunchiness.
But it, uh, it's somethingthat's like a perfect, like
really hot day dish, which is.
It's something that's like aperfect, like really hot day
dish, which is.
It's in Connecticut.
It's boiling in pure humiditytoday.
(12:35):
Don't know how it is for you,but that's this thing I'd be
craving right now.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Oh yeah, the same.
I'm in Louisiana and it's it'sdefinitely been hot every single
day, so that definitely soundsvery cool and refreshing.
What was the writing processlike for this?
Like, how long did it take youto put this together?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
It takes.
It takes about two years.
I was working on this when thefirst book was almost out.
That's when I started.
So one of the things that Ireally take my time with is the
recipe development, but then therecipe testing too.
It's so important to send thatrecipe out to other people and
have them test it, especially indifferent parts of the country,
(13:16):
because you find out justrandom things you'd have never
suspected.
Like in the North versus theSouth versus the West Coast, we
have different brands of flourthat we use.
So if you have a recipe withself-rising flour, the amount of
baking soda in each version isdifferent.
(13:36):
So like it'll come out foreverybody in the South just fine
, but in the North your cake iscollapsed.
You're like I followed therecipe perfectly, so you have to
like have people test thingsout when they have different
ingredients at hand.
That takes a while.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Okay, definitely sounds like a book for us to
check out, because it soundslike a lot went into it, so I'm
sure we will enjoy it.
Do you have any plans for thisbook?
Do you have a book tour?
Are you doing anything withthis one too?
We?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
have a book tour starting August 20th and if you
go onto the website there's alist of venues.
You can grab tickets or reserveyour space.
I'm so excited to meet people.
That's one of my favoriteexperiences from the first book
coming out was just meetingpeople in person and hearing all
the lovely stories about foodand family and the cookbook in
(14:27):
general.
I didn't.
I get to interact with a lot ofpeople online, but it's totally
different from meeting someonein person and just getting to
know them for a few minutes.
I really valued that time andit was very special to me.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Absolutely.
And you guys, we will have thelink in the show notes to John's
website where you can get allthe information about that book
tour, as well as where you canget his new book, from which I'm
sure you guys are going to love.
And, john, before I let you go,thank you so much for sharing
about the book and everythingwith me.
Today I am going to play a gameof lightning round, but this
(15:03):
game of lightning round isdifferent because you are
actually I realized that afteralmost 100 episodes and we're
blessed to be one of the toprated podcasts you're actually
my first returning visitor.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So I had to think about it.
I was like, wait, he did allthe lightning round questions on
the first one, so we kind ofremixed your lightning round, so
you ready.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, I'm ready All right, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So what is, or who is , a current baker crush that you
have?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
My answer will never change.
It'll always be Ina.
I don't know.
No one knew the only person I'dbe like.
Oh my gosh, that's Ina.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Okay, we'll stick with Ina.
We'll stick with Ina.
What is so far between both twobooks?
What is your?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
favorite dessert out of both?
Oh, my gosh, only because it'stop of mind, I think, that
birthday cake that I mentioned.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
That's like it is what I make for my birthday.
It's my special treats tomyself.
Sounds delicious.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
What is one song you cannot get out of your head
right now?
Oh my gosh, it's Kesha's newsong.
I don't even know the name ofit, but it has like this.
It's so weird.
It's like it's like Kesha's newsong of the summer and there's
like a car honking in thebackground.
It's bizarre, but it's liketotal brainworm.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Okay, If or when you step out of the kitchen, what
does a perfect day look like?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
that does not involve baking or cooking oh, it would
be spending some time with mykids.
I would get to have a little metime.
Maybe do some exercising, maybego for a walk and have some
really delicious food thatsomeone else has made for me.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I know that's right Absolutely From the bottom of my
heart.
John, thank you so much forplaying your remixed lightning
round with us and thank you somuch for sharing all about the
book Preppy Kitchen super easy.
We really appreciate youstopping by and cannot wait for
all of our listeners to check itout.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Thank you so much for having me over again.
I feel blessed and I hope tosee you again soon.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
All right, you guys.
Thanks so much for tuning in tothis week's episode and special
thanks to our guest, John ofPreppy Kitchen.
His new book, preppy KitchenSuper Easy, is out, so be sure
you go check it out.
I have a link to it in the shownotes as well, and also on his
website you can find a full listof his book tour.
(17:36):
Be sure to tell him that youheard him on baking for business
If you want to give him a shoutout and meet him IRL, in real
life.
Thanks so much, you guys, fortuning into this week's episode.
I cannot wait to spend somemore time with you again in the
future and, as always, Iappreciate you so much for
listening.
Let me know what you thought.
(17:58):
If you have any thoughts, youcan always tag me at
bakingforbusinesscom.
Until then, take care and byefor now, thank you, thank you.
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg.
I started my baking businesswith a bottle of DeSerono and
one Bundt cake pan.
Fast forward to today, fromnews to magazines, speaking on
national stages and more.
I can truly say that baking haschanged my life.
So now, as a bakery businesscoach, I get to help others have
the same success.
I've helped hundreds of mystudents across the world in my
(00:24):
global membership programsix-figure businesses, mainly
from home.
The Baking for Business podcastis an extension of that, from
actionable tips to valuabletools and resources that can
impact you as a business owner.
I truly believe y'all.
We would never have been givena gift if we couldn't profit and
prosper from it.
So come on, darling.
What are you waiting for?
(00:45):
Hey, what's going on?
You guys?
And welcome back to the Bakingfor Business podcast.
I'm super excited because todaywe have a returning guest,
which is cool.
I'm pretty sure you sold allout of his first book and here
today he's going to talk abouthis second book, mr John, also
(01:09):
known as Preppy Kitchen.
Welcome to the Baking forBusiness podcast.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm great.
Thanks so much for having meback.
It's nice to see you again.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It's nice to see you as well, darling, and so Preppy
Kitchen super easy.
Tell us all about this book.
What was the inspiration behindyou writing this one?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
the second one, Well, as you might remember, I have
twin boys, lachlan and George,and they're just turned seven.
As they get older, life hasonly gotten busier, y'all.
It does get better, but it getsbusier too, and I have so
little time to put something onthe table, and I know this is a
(01:50):
struggle that a lot of peoplehave at home too.
So I met people on the booktour and they were really
requesting for book one, andthey were talking about some
simple recipes, some easyrecipes, and I'm like you know
what, I'm totally down with this.
This is what I need in my lifetoo.
So Preppy Kitchen, super easy,was born.
They're just really fast andeasy recipes and wherever
(02:13):
possible, I let you know how touse the air fryer, how to use a
slow cooker, how to use theInstant Pot all the time savers.
And I also took a lot of likethe favorite recipes from Preppy
Kitchen, like the chocolatecake, took a lot of like the
favorite recipes from preppykitchen, like the chocolate cake
, the roast chicken cookies, andpared them down.
So we're using less ingredients, less trips to the grocery
(02:33):
store and simplify the recipestoo.
So you have those fan favorites, but you're taking less time in
the kitchen, so you have moretime for those moments that
matter.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I love that.
And you talk about the bookPreppy Kitchen Super Easy 100
Simple and Versatile Recipes.
So I know you spoke just alittle bit on it.
But in your opinion, what makesa recipe versatile?
Are there any tips or tricksyou have there?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, versatile.
Are there any tips or tricksyou have there?
Yeah, so, like you know, I grewup and my mom was one of those
ladies that just poof, poof,poof, like throws things into a
bowl and it all comes out.
She does not measure at all.
So whenever I'm trying to getone of her recipes to share, I'm
standing behind her andstopping her and measuring out
amounts so I can like replicateit, and I think that people
(03:24):
should have that freedom in thekitchen.
Yes, we follow recipes, but Iwant people to not feel
pigeonholed, like they have todo it exactly this way, because
everyone's different.
We all like different things.
So take my recipe, use it as abaseline and I want to teach you
different ways to kind of riffoff of it and really make it
your own so that you truly loveit and your like request it
(03:45):
again and again.
Almost every recipe has tons ofvariations.
I say different spices youcould use, different proteins
you could use for dinner,different sauces you could try
out.
There's a whole chapter in whichwe talk about sauces and
dressings so that you can usethose and, you know, dress up
different meats, veggies, salads, like, use dips and just make
(04:06):
something your own.
I'm also gonna give you tons ofvariations for how you make
things.
A cake could be a layer cake ora sheet cake, or cupcakes.
You can have a quick bread loafor muffins, and the list goes
on.
I wanted people to come back tothe book again and again, try
things out in different ways andfind out what their favorite is
and what works best for theirfamily.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I love that.
Come back to it again and againfor sure.
That definitely gives us themost usage of something.
And you included 100 recipes,so how did you go about picking
exact 100?
Like, how many did you startwith?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
so I have two columns , one.
There's like this massive listin my head of recipes that I'm
like kind of noodling on andthinking about like a lot of
family favorites that we make athome that I grew up with.
One example is the.
It's like a spicy tomato orzoand it's like for me it's the
(05:07):
perfect side dish.
It could go well with a salad,you could have it with some lamb
or chicken or whatever, andit's going to be delicious.
It's one of my like grandparentsSunday dinner staples, but they
took it the slow way.
Like everything was like someasured and the flavor was
amazing.
But I don't have the time.
(05:27):
So the hack I made for thatrecipe was to get that spicy
tomato base with Bloody Mary mixand you have like all that
tomato spicy goodness but yousave like half an hour of prep
time and instead of cooking iton the stovetop and minding it,
you'll get it started there andthen pop it into the oven and it
just bakes away.
(05:48):
So you can do other things andlike have that half hour free
Time for the moment that mattersabsolutely, that is a really
good hack.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I don't think I ever would have thought of that that
in the chiapina recipe too.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's like a spicy tomato um seafood stew.
And once again I was like, ohmy god, I love this recipe, I'd
love to share it.
But the premise of the book issuper easy.
So it's like kind of a drawnout afternoon of you know
chopping and doing things and Iwas like, but let's, how can we
pare this down?
And the secret was to use theBloody Mary mix as the tomato
base and it worked so well.
(06:21):
I was really happy with it.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Okay, you guys so you heard it here first lots of
cool secrets, lots of cool hacks.
So we definitely see howeverything is really becoming
versatile.
During the whole process of youwriting the book, john, what
were some of your favoritememories?
Did you have any bloopers orany fun memories come up for you
?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Whenever I'm involved there is a blooper, because I
am a walking disaster.
You know, if you're looking forthat perfect moment in the
kitchen, it's not me.
I'm here to tell you that, inspite of your mistakes, you can
make it delicious.
Moment in the kitchen it's notme.
I'm here to tell you that, inspite of your mistakes, you can
make it delicious.
But the favorite moments I hadwere actually when my mom came
to Connecticut to visit us, andwhenever she comes to visit she
(07:03):
goes and makes a beeline for ourkitchen garden with a basket
and shears and the boys in handand they all do a big harvest
and then they get togetherchopping and the kids have their
little kid knives and my momwas like I work as well chop all
the vegetables up and they makea really simple but delicious
vegetable soup and the boys diefor it.
They love this vegetable soup.
They'll have it every singleday for a week until it's all
(07:24):
gone, and I was able to putnana's vegetable soup in the
book.
So that was one that was reallyfun because we all did it
together.
And then I was on a big trip toLA.
I was there for a few weeks andI stayed with my mom and we
recipe tested a ton of recipestogether and it was just so fun.
Some of them were like recipesI grew up with, like took from
her and I'm like redoing, andsome of them were my recipes.
(07:47):
Like there was a.
There's a pear fritter in thebook and it is astonishingly
delicious.
It has a light, a beautifullight lemon glaze on it, but the
pears with this like softbatter that is fried and golden.
It's like just pears heldtogether with a little bit of
golden batter and with this thislemon icing it's.
(08:08):
I mean, it's dazzlinglydelicious and I made that with
my mom and she's like oh my gosh, this is so good.
So it was like it was a nicemoment with my mom.
There was a lot of.
Those are my favorites from thebook.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Creating memories with our relatives.
Those are always just one ofthe things that light us up, and
I love how you're always goingto your garden.
I remember the first book youtalked about the pansies.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Do you still grow pansies in your garden?
I love using edible flowers, soyou can use so many different
kinds, but they really dress updesserts and even salads in a
ways and make them so much morespecial and elevated.
But it's super easy.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Absolutely.
And speaking of desserts,desserts are definitely a
favorite here.
So what are some of yourfavorite desserts from this book
?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Oh, that is a difficult question.
But, like, if you look on theback cover, you have a special
cake.
In the book there's the perfectbirthday cake and that is a
beautiful vanilla cake and ithas sprinkles.
It just looks like a birth cake, fan, birthday cake, fantasy,
and it's delicious and easy.
But what I make for my birthdayis totally different.
(09:19):
It's a lemony olive oil cake,if you do.
You love olive oil cakes yesbecause they're so like moist
and dense, but melt in yourmouth like a souffle.
It's like almost impossible.
There's like this dissolves onyour palate.
And then my love language iswhipped cream.
So I wanted to cover this in awhipped cream, but you know,
(09:42):
it's like so delicate and softthat it'll just like I'll squish
out and fall apart.
So you take that simple whippedcream and you fold in some
mascarpone, which you can get atany grocery store now, if you
haven't had it.
It's like cream cheese, but ittastes like heavy cream, so it's
perfect for frosting.
So you just fold that into thewhipped cream and you toss in
all your favorite summer berries.
(10:02):
And it is so light, sorefreshing, perfectly sweet, and
you could eat like a quarter ofthe cake and feel fine, like
hmm, that was so satisfying,I'll have some more.
Not feel like, oh, I shouldn'thave done that.
It's so rich, it's perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
It sounds decadent.
We're definitely going to haveto give it a try.
What savory recipes would yourecommend?
If you had to recommend someonetry one thing first, what would
it be?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Oh dear, Is it really just one?
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Okay, three.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh man.
So the sweet and spicy cornpudding Uh, I love a cornbread
pudding.
Cornbread's not my favorite.
Like it's fine, it has thisplace.
I like it as a side, but Icould eat a corn pudding like
all day and night.
And this, this has candiedjalapenos in it which just bring
that little bit of like sweetand spiciness to it.
So it's really versatile.
(10:59):
And then, um, a favorite recipeof mine that I took some
flavors like I remixed someflavors from my childhood was,
uh, salmon steaks that arefilled with a cream cheese
caraway filling and so easy tomake, really fast you can meal
(11:19):
prep it like the day ahead andjust have them ready to bake off
.
It was so good.
I ate the entire four servings,so I was just powered through
it and I love the flavor thatthe caraway seeds give with the
cream cheese and it's like alittle bit of spiciness from the
onions and it's it's likealmost, it's like devastatingly
(11:40):
easy to make, but it's so good.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
That combination sounds really.
It definitely sounds reallyunique, so I'm going to have to
get it a try, cause I'm a hugesalmon lover too.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
I love it too, and you get kind of bored with your
favorites Like you have likeyour favorite preparation and
you'll have that all day and allnight until you're sick of it
and you can't have it anymore.
So this is like a new way oftrying and this folding
something different in.
There's a really easy summergazpacho that I love because you
know, when it's like boilingand hot, you have that feeling
(12:15):
where you're hungry but youcan't eat because it's too hot.
That's where the gazpacho comesin and it's like cool and
refreshing and you're going toadd some beautiful croutons on
top to get like that crunchiness.
But it, uh, it's somethingthat's like a perfect, like
really hot day dish, which is.
It's something that's like aperfect, like really hot day
dish, which is.
It's in Connecticut.
It's boiling in pure humiditytoday.
(12:35):
Don't know how it is for you,but that's this thing I'd be
craving right now.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Oh yeah, the same.
I'm in Louisiana and it's it'sdefinitely been hot every single
day, so that definitely soundsvery cool and refreshing.
What was the writing processlike for this?
Like, how long did it take youto put this together?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
It takes.
It takes about two years.
I was working on this when thefirst book was almost out.
That's when I started.
So one of the things that Ireally take my time with is the
recipe development, but then therecipe testing too.
It's so important to send thatrecipe out to other people and
have them test it, especially indifferent parts of the country,
(13:16):
because you find out justrandom things you'd have never
suspected.
Like in the North versus theSouth versus the West Coast, we
have different brands of flourthat we use.
So if you have a recipe withself-rising flour, the amount of
baking soda in each version isdifferent.
(13:36):
So like it'll come out foreverybody in the South just fine
, but in the North your cake iscollapsed.
You're like I followed therecipe perfectly, so you have to
like have people test thingsout when they have different
ingredients at hand.
That takes a while.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Okay, definitely sounds like a book for us to
check out, because it soundslike a lot went into it, so I'm
sure we will enjoy it.
Do you have any plans for thisbook?
Do you have a book tour?
Are you doing anything withthis one too?
We?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
have a book tour starting August 20th and if you
go onto the website there's alist of venues.
You can grab tickets or reserveyour space.
I'm so excited to meet people.
That's one of my favoriteexperiences from the first book
coming out was just meetingpeople in person and hearing all
the lovely stories about foodand family and the cookbook in
(14:27):
general.
I didn't.
I get to interact with a lot ofpeople online, but it's totally
different from meeting someonein person and just getting to
know them for a few minutes.
I really valued that time andit was very special to me.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Absolutely.
And you guys, we will have thelink in the show notes to John's
website where you can get allthe information about that book
tour, as well as where you canget his new book, from which I'm
sure you guys are going to love.
And, john, before I let you go,thank you so much for sharing
about the book and everythingwith me.
Today I am going to play a gameof lightning round, but this
(15:03):
game of lightning round isdifferent because you are
actually I realized that afteralmost 100 episodes and we're
blessed to be one of the toprated podcasts you're actually
my first returning visitor.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So I had to think about it.
I was like, wait, he did allthe lightning round questions on
the first one, so we kind ofremixed your lightning round, so
you ready.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, I'm ready All right, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So what is, or who is , a current baker crush that you
have?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
My answer will never change.
It'll always be Ina.
I don't know.
No one knew the only person I'dbe like.
Oh my gosh, that's Ina.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Okay, we'll stick with Ina.
We'll stick with Ina.
What is so far between both twobooks?
What is your?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
favorite dessert out of both?
Oh, my gosh, only because it'stop of mind, I think, that
birthday cake that I mentioned.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
That's like it is what I make for my birthday.
It's my special treats tomyself.
Sounds delicious.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
What is one song you cannot get out of your head
right now?
Oh my gosh, it's Kesha's newsong.
I don't even know the name ofit, but it has like this.
It's so weird.
It's like it's like Kesha's newsong of the summer and there's
like a car honking in thebackground.
It's bizarre, but it's liketotal brainworm.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Okay, If or when you step out of the kitchen, what
does a perfect day look like?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
that does not involve baking or cooking oh, it would
be spending some time with mykids.
I would get to have a little metime.
Maybe do some exercising, maybego for a walk and have some
really delicious food thatsomeone else has made for me.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I know that's right Absolutely From the bottom of my
heart.
John, thank you so much forplaying your remixed lightning
round with us and thank you somuch for sharing all about the
book Preppy Kitchen super easy.
We really appreciate youstopping by and cannot wait for
all of our listeners to check itout.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Thank you so much for having me over again.
I feel blessed and I hope tosee you again soon.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
All right, you guys.
Thanks so much for tuning in tothis week's episode and special
thanks to our guest, John ofPreppy Kitchen.
His new book, preppy KitchenSuper Easy, is out, so be sure
you go check it out.
I have a link to it in the shownotes as well, and also on his
website you can find a full listof his book tour.
(17:36):
Be sure to tell him that youheard him on baking for business
If you want to give him a shoutout and meet him IRL, in real
life.
Thanks so much, you guys, fortuning into this week's episode.
I cannot wait to spend somemore time with you again in the
future and, as always, Iappreciate you so much for
listening.
Let me know what you thought.
(17:58):
If you have any thoughts, youcan always tag me at
bakingforbusinesscom.
Until then, take care and byefor now, thank you, thank you.
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