Dishing with Stephanie's Dish
Dishing with Stephanie's Dish

Dishing with Stephanie's Dish

Stephanie Hansen - @StephaniesDish

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I talk with Cookbook authors and Makers obsessed with food

stephaniehansen.substack.com

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Ashley Russell
NOV 14, 2025
Ashley Russell
<p><strong>Original Episode Transcript Follows:</strong></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space, a lot of cookbook authors, manufacturers, and people who are doing cool things with food. And Ashley Russell came across my desk, and she has a cookbook that’s called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.whatscookinggoodlookingrecipes.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnbtlftyFI1MRXeK7wamiSVgVIMSC8UR-eO5RP3VFXSQt5I7xjOsrrCucJO7Q_aem_0J9g9FbIPayrTYhmNmoWvw">“What’s Cooking Good Looking”.</a> And I was first of all, captured by the illustrations in the book you are working on or have. They were very. How do I describe them? They were like tattoos. They were adorable, and they are original art by @<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/sadpuppytattoo/">sadpuppytattoo</a>. </p><p>When Ashley describes the banana bread of her grandmas, she was generous enough to share the recipe here.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Tell me about the book and how you decided to illustrate it the way you did. And then I wanted to talk to you specifically about self publishing a book, because I think a lot of people think about it, but they’re not sure how to do it. So I just wanted to get your feedback.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Totally. So I started this book inspired by my grandma. She passed away in 2024, summer of 2024. And it was almost immediate, was like, we have to have all the family has to have our recipes. And so she had a really cute little vintage recipe card box, and the whole process just sort of unfolded over the past year and a half. It is definitely a lot of Southern cooking. She’s from Texas, but lived the past 30 years up in northern Washington. And her and my mom and her siblings lived all over the country.</p><p>So there’s just a little bit of everything in there from, like, recipes she got from neighbors or things that she learned from different parts of the country. So it’s a really fun, like, eclectic mix of American cooking. And it’s just so much her. Like, there’s sugar and everything, and it’s just. I’m so happy to have all of the family favorites in one place. Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Did you work with members of the family, or was it primarily. Did it fall on you to compile everything?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>I definitely compiled everything, but my family was there every step of the way. Like, my grandma wrote in cursive, and I couldn’t always read it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>A lot of our grandmas wrote in cursive, and it is hard to read.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>It’s so hard to read. And so we started this text group, and I would be like, does anyone know what this says? And then also things like vegetable oil or sweet milk or, you know, polio olio. Exactly. What is that?</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>It’s shortening. But, I mean, nobody knew.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Nobody knew. And so it was a lot of just, like, you know, there were puzzles to it, and it was funny, and it brought us together and it kept us talking about her. And then, in addition to the community that I reached out to here in Portland, all My family members helped recipe test because it’s like they remembered how it was supposed to taste. So it was almost like, you know, I think that this is missing this because she didn’t write everything down. Like, a lot of things lived in her head.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Did you ever done this before or anything like this? Do you. What’s your background?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>No. So I worked for a decade in costume design. I worked on a lot of small budget indie film and tv. And so I think I’m used to like, okay, we have this big hurdle of a project ahead. But I’ve never, I’ve never written a book. I’ve never written a cookbook. And the whole process was such a journey, but it, it was all so much fun, I think, because I was like learning and uncovering things about my family along the way. Yeah.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>So.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Well, the creative process too, I think, is. Know you talk about being a costume designer. I didn’t really think about writing a cookbook or recipes or being a recipe developer as a creative endeavor until I kind of started doing it more. And then I was like, oh, yeah, this does require creativity. And this is where that, where I scratch that itch.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yes, totally. I agree with that. It is super creative. And I never realized that either. I have a few cookbooks, but in this process, it made me realize, like, what little magical creative books they are and how much, you know, there’s people’s dreams and they nourish us and they’re little windows into different parts of history and people’s lives and they’re just pretty cool. Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And people talk about like, I’m, I’m in the process of. I just released a book in September, so I’m out at bookstores and grocery stores and selling the book everywhere. And a lot of people are like, oh, you know, nobody really needs cookbooks anymore. And I was like, well, actually, you can always look up a recipe on the Internet that’s there, but the narrative, the piece of how that fits into their life, the memory that that recipe brings or that combination of spices that transports you to a place that is what is unique about a cookbook. It’s. It’s so much more than just the recipe. And if you’re not jazzed by any of that, then, yeah, it’s probably not for you.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Totally. Yes. Like, you have to be inspired by it. Right. And like, I don’t know, I get pretty annoyed with recipes online. There’s a ton of pop ups and your phone, you know, has the auto timer and it has to face ID every two minutes. I. It’s just when you have it in a cookbook, it’s almost like the record version of like a Spotify song.</p><p>I don’t know, like, you sure? Yeah, yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Like, and you can get a song but you don’t have it in the context of all the songs in the record and that the artist had. Yeah, it’s very similar, actually.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Totally. And like, people love listening to records and collecting records and I really just think it’s, it’s, it’s a similar. Comes from a similar place.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Okay. So your book, what’s Cooking Good Looking? It is a spiral bound, which I thought was an interesting choice that I want to ask you about. And it’s also got these illustrations. Did you illustrate it or did someone else? They’re real cute. They’re like tattooed inspired and they’re kind of jazzy and it kind of. It had like a hipster core vibe to it.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yes. So my boyfriend’s brother’s sister, so more or less my sister in law. I’ve known her for six years now. She’s a tattoo artist and she does a lot of florals and she did like a food flash at one point. And I’ve always loved her art. And when I was first starting the book, I was in Canva and I was like, oh, clip art’s cute. And I was like, you know, I don’t know if I would ever release a book with clip art in it, you know, And I wasn’t sold on doing photography. I knew how specific and it had to be.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell</strong>:</p><p>Like, people have nailed food photography. If I was going to do it, I wanted to make sure it rocked. And so I asked her one day, I was like, would you want to illustrate this book? And she was like, oh my God, yes. And her tattoos are in black and white already. So it kind of, it transferred pretty easily into print form. And so I was able to use all of her tattoo library, like things she had already drawn. And then she drew things specifically for the book as well. And I just think it looks awesome.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, it really does. It’s real sweet. And what about the choice of spiral bound? And can you talk, can you make that be the introduction of talking about like how you decided to self publish and did you go out and try to find agents or did you go right to self publishing?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Sure. So I in the past couple years have been really inspired by Rizzo prints and graphic novels and a lot of small press publishing and super inspired by vintage cookbooks. And a lot of them are spiral bound or they’re notebook bound. And it’s. It’s kind of like, it gives it this retro feel, and it’s kind of an homage to all of, like, the women’s groups and church groups that did cookbooks over the decades. But I also think it’s super functional in the kitchen. And I had a graphic design friend mention to me that she loves when a spiral bound is a color that totally offsets the book. So my book is, like, very black and white and yellow, and then it has this bright red spiral binding.</p><p>And I just think it makes it pop. Like, it’s. It’s fun and practical. So as far as self publishing. So when I started this, it was really just a project for my family. It was really just, you know, I wanted them to have all the recipes. I. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to print it.</p><p>And as the process unfolded more, I realized more and more that I wanted to make this a book. And I wanted to put my heart in this book. And I wanted to share who Wanda and our family is with the world. And it really was just like a flower slowly blooming. Like, every week would be like, oh, I have to put the ingredients in the order of the method. Oh, you have to do this. Oh, people like, you know, like, you want everything in a recipe on one page. You don’t want to have to, like, go back and forth.</p><p>And it became this really fun project puzzle for me to be like, maybe I can create a cookbook. And so I didn’t reach out to agents or anything, because I think the main important part was for this book to be about my grandma and come from me. And I was worried that having an agent or a publisher might dilute that a little bit.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, they’d have feedback or input or change things. Sure.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah. So I was able to work with a lot of friends, family, and get a lot of feedback throughout the entire process. I hired an editor, and so there was that constructive criticism, but I didn’t feel like the voice or the vision was changing for profit, per se. And so self publishing is what I stuck with. And I think that in order for me to print this book the way I wanted to and for it to look the way it does, I don’t know if I could have convinced a publisher to get on board with that.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>So then you make that decision and you’ve got your book assembled or your PDF pages, essentially. Did you tell me about, like, did you go out and just Google, like, how to self publish? Did you figure out, like, how to print on Demand was there color considerations. Kind of walk me through that process a little bit.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Sure. So I did start looking up print on demand and I started Googling, you know, how to write a cookbook. I listened to Maggie Green’s podcast Cookbook Love, like, religiously. I got books on the subject, and I really just created, like, it was my own research project. And I was learning as I went. What turned me away from doing, like, on demand printing or online publishing was that I really wanted it to be spiral bound. I knew that from the beginning almost. And I really wanted to do a mixture of Rizzo printing.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>And I wanted the paper. I just wanted everything to be really high quality and feel like her note cards, feel like her recipe cards. And I didn’t think I would get that with online printing. So I went and talked with a few print shops here in Portland, Oregon, and Brown Printing, like, got the project right away. And I’ve been working with them for the past several months to get it printed.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Have you. Have you printed, like, X amount and you’re kind of selling stock as you go?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah, So I, you know, budget has been a concern throughout this whole process. Like, anyone who’s made a cookbook knows it gets very expensive between recipe testing. And I did end up doing photography. I did it myself. All of those things really add up. And so I did an initial print run of 300, which is almost gone at this point. I just picked it up in the beginning of the month. And Brown’s doing another run of.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Of, 300 for the 1st of December so I can have more for the holidays.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And then do you package them up and ship them when people make an order? Can you talk a little bit about that? Because people don’t think about that. But you have to buy, like, special envelopes. You have to go to the post office. There is a category for media mail that makes it a little cheaper, but it’s still. It’s a process.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>It is a process. Like, every bit of this has been such a process. And so, yeah, my. My limit, I had about 180 orders to ship out when I got all the books from recipe testers. Order, pre-orders, family, you know, you name it. And our whole. Our whole living room and kitchen was just, like, stacked with boxes and you.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And they’re bigger than you think.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Like, they’re bigger than you think and they’re heavy.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yes. And a box of like, 15 books is, like, a big box. And they’re everywhere.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>They’re everywhere. Yeah. So, you know, it’s kind of like if you’re an Etsy shop owner, you know, kind of our pain, I guess. But, you know, you’re doing. You’re the manual labor and you’re the author and you’re the publisher, you know, so you’re doing everything. And I lugged them all down to the UPS and USPS and shipped them off. Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Where do you go from here with it? Like, you gotta sell through your next 300, obviously. Did this, like, create a pathway for you, or is this where you’ll end this journey and just one and done. And it was great.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah. So when I first started, I had over 300 recipes from the family. And I reached out to my first editor contact and they were like, whoa, that’s a lot of recipes. They’re like, books are usually like 75 to 150. And I was like, oh. And like now seeing this printed and it’s 260 pages, like, I get it. But at the time, I was like, I just wanted to have everything. And so I have at least one other book of Wanda’s on the horizon.</p><p>But for now, I’m really just trying to put myself in. What if I had a publisher? What if I had an agent? What would they be doing? So it’s a lot. Yeah, it’s a lot of reaching out to retail stores, seeing if I can get an interview on a podcast, trying to put my book out there in ways that I know of and seeing where it lands. I have. There’s about seven stores in Portland that are carrying the book right now, and they’re all stores I really love. And that’s super exciting.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>They carry it on consignment or do you sell them to them outright?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>It depends. So a couple are wholesale and a couple are consignment. Wholesale obviously works better for us, but I’m just happy to have the book out there. I think it’s a good time of year. You know, she made all these dishes for Thanksgiving and. And Christmas, so it’s the. It’s the time to have it in your kitchen.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Do you. Can you talk about, like, how much you make per book?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Sure. So if I’m talking just printing costs to do the 300 with the brown printing and the riso printing I did by hand at outlet PDX, we’re looking at about $20 a book. And I have the book priced at 38. So because I’m not splitting this with any publisher or agent, that means technically $20 profit goes back into my pocket. But at this point, we’re still paying off all the production costs, and it also doesn’t include that dollar amount. Doesn’t include, like, my labor. So when you really figure it out, it’s probably. Or food.</p><p>When you really figure out the numbers. This first round probably cost me about $50 a book to make, you know, and then the hope is, over the years, if continuing to sell copies here and there, you break even, or maybe you make a few dollars.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, it’s. It is kind of like that. As you get, like, past Wanda’s story, do you see this being a journey you’ll stay on, or is it really just. I’m curious if it ignited something in you because you seem like a creative person.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Like, I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and it’s been pretty daunting. My grandma always encouraged me to be a writer. This feels like that first step. I also like the idea. I’ve heard a cookbook is, like, the best business card, you know, And I think that’s, like, a great way to look at it, too. It’s something that I’ve made that I can say, you know, I wrote this, I’ve made this. I’d like to do this project.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And fascinating, because that is for. For me personally, I wanted to have agency in the cooking space, and I wasn’t. And I wasn’t a writer, so I was like, how am I going to get that? I wanted to have a television show. I wanted to do more podcasting, specifically about food. I had a radio show about food, but I needed to have more autonomy, and that's how I started.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Totally. That makes sense. Did you. Do you feel like that helped achieve some of the dreams you had?</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Oh, for sure. I have a TV show now, and I wouldn’t have had the TV show if I hadn’t have written the cookbook, I don’t think.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Because even though I’m a home chef or a home cook and not a chef at all, actually having the book gives you some credibility of why this person’s gonna invest in you and put you on television station. 88 markets. I don’t think they would have done that if I wouldn’t have had the book.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Totally. And honestly, like, I think being a home chef, you almost write a better cookbook because you can anticipate what other home chefs are going to be confused by or what they need written down.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Well. And a lot of the best chefs, who I have much admiration and respect for, their books are really challenging or technical and. And that’s great. Like, maybe that’s who they’re writing them for. But some of my favorite chefs, I get their books and I keep them because I love the photography and I just admire so much of the skills and what they bring to the party. But very few of them I actually ever cooked out of.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah, they’re like these beautiful aspirations.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, they’re aspirational books, for sure.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Can you talk a little bit about Wanda? Just your grandma? Like, you just have a real spirit about you that must come from her. And I’m just curious why she was so meaningful to you outside of just being your grandma.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah, totally. So I was raised by my mom. It was just me and my mom and I would spend a lot of time with my grandparents. I think when you’re set up in that sort of one parent system, I was either going with my mom everywhere or I was spending summers at my grandparents, and those summers at my grandparents. I, I feel like as an adult, I’m sort of chasing that feeling, you know, of, of being, you know.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Really? Yeah. Oh, that’s so touching.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah. I mean, it’s true. Whether it’s cooking in the kitchen or laughing with my grandpa. You know, my grandma taught me how to sew, and later on in life, I worked in costumes and I used to bake with her, and now I’m making this cookbook. She meant a lot to me. And I know, I know both of them meant so much to our whole family that I don’t want, I don’t want us to lose that, and I don’t want anyone that comes next in our family to not know about it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Yeah. What a beautiful sentiment. I, I just the I, the what you said, just, I’ve been chasing that feeling is really. I wrote my book for very similar reasons. You know, my mom had died early of breast cancer, and I wanted to document family recipes. Yeah, just the way you said that was really beautiful, so. Oh, that’s so nice.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>I, I, whether or not we’re aware of it, that we’re, we’re kind of doing that right. You know, where’s your happy place? What makes you, what brings you happiness? And those memories really do as, as I’m sure other memories for other people do for them.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. All right. Well, I have loved hearing your story. I knew right away when the book came across my desk and you reached out to me directly, I was like, oh, yeah, I do want to talk to her. I want to figure out, like, what inspired her to take this on. Because it is a labor of love, you. Even if, I mean, I don’t I’ve not read a statistic, but like most cookbooks and most cookbook authors are not getting rich by writing cookbooks. They’re using it to parlayed into other things.</p><p>So it’s usually not actually a money making endeavor. It’s more a creative process and something that you do as a labor of love. And I think a lot of people that love cookbooks may be listening, you know, have wanted to do this. So I wanted to like, really document, like, how did you do it and what did you think about and how did you decide to put it together? When you put your list of recipes together, was it obvious what was going to make it?</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yeah, you know, it started with what are the family favorites? What, what do we have to have? And then it was with, you know, what turned out really well in recipe testing. And from there, like, you know, the, the, the baking section’s over half the book. Yeah. And then it was sort of trying to round out the other sections of the book. Yeah. And they were recipes that could stand the test of time and that people would still want to make and also that my, my grandma would enjoy another favorites. Oh, yeah. So I mean, her banana bread is like, I knew I wanted to start the book with her banana bread and end it with sweet tea.</p><p>That’s my grandma to the core. And then in between, you know, there’s so many great home cooked meals, home cooked desserts. She had a famous chocolate pie, famous pecan pie. Her Italian cream cake is to die for. It’s like a coconut cake. Um, my aunt Angie, her oldest daughter, said that people used to request that she make that. So that was fun to learn and to put in the book.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And now you know how to make all the things too, or a lot of the things.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Yes. My family’s like, well, I guess you’re cooking for Thanksgiving now because you know all of her recipes.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Oh, that’s so great. I really enjoyed talking to you. It is Ashley Russell. The book is I wrote the what’s Cooking Good Looking? Sorry. It is a really beautiful, fun, different way to approach this topic of cookbooks. And I was really. I’m impressed by what you did and I know your grandma would be, she would love it. She’d be real proud of you.</p><p>And it’s really nice to talk with you and share your story. I’ll put a link to the book in the podcast notes and put that all together and hopefully we’ll help you sell through your next 300. Ashley.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Thank you, Stephanie. I really appreciate it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, it was great. To hear your story and to just spend time with you. Good luck.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Thanks. Have a good day.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>All right. Bye.</p><p><strong>Ashley Russell:</strong></p><p>Bye.</p><p><p>Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
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25 MIN
Michael Kenney from Defined Destinations
NOV 7, 2025
Michael Kenney from Defined Destinations
<p></p><p><strong>Original Episode Transcript Follows</strong></p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk about food. A lot of times we talk to cookbook authors and kind of understand their process and what they’re doing. Well, I’m just noticing my hair is real bedhead, but it is what it is. Friends, in this particular episode, I want to talk to my friend Michael Kenney. He is from Defined Destinations. He owns his own business, and it’s a travel company. And. And Michael and I met about three years ago now, and we have done a number of trips together, and we are planning our April trip, which is going to be to Turkey, and we have a lot of different cities that we’re going to visit.</p><p>And one of the things that I’ve heard from a lot of people is they all know we’re going to Turkey and they want to hear about it, and they’re excited to know about the destination, but they’re nervous about signing up for the trip. So said to Michael, let’s just talk. Let’s do a podcast where we give people an idea of what to expect, where we’re going, what kind of things we’re going to see. My friend Todd Walker, coincidentally has. He’s in Turkey right now. And he said. And he’s been. He travels all over.</p><p>He works for the Viking Cruise Lines, doing trips for them and helping to write about them and help people experience them. He sent me a text, and he said, turkey is in his top three places he’s ever been. He’s just super hot on it. He’s like, you are totally going at the exact right time. Because he’s like, people are just starting to learn about it, but there’s so many cool things. He said it’s a trip like nothing has ever experienced before. So, Michael, I’m excited to talk to you about it. And people ask me like, well, why did you pick turkey? And I was like, why not? I have always.</p><p>I met a guy 20 years ago and in Paris that was from Turkey, and first of all, he was gorgeous, so let’s just go there. But second of all, he really, like, he just was telling me about where he lived and what Turkey was like and what the food was like. And he talked to me about the spice Trail and kind of how people came in through Istanbul and then crossed over into Italy and into Spain. And it made me feel like, wow, okay. Turkey is this very Mediterranean feeling place with tons of culture, and I’ve always wanted to go there, so I picked it. Michael, why did you allow me to pick Turkey? Knowing that it would be a destination that would be harder to sell for people.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, I think that’s what’s great. And thanks for having me on, Stephanie. It’s always a blast, you know, to travel with you and with your, your listeners. It just, we’ve built some really great bonds with the people, which has been a fun. So even our latest trip to Sicily. What, what a blast. And great people.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Yes.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>But you going back to why we choose this and with Turkey, and that’s what’s great about you. It’s like you’re willing to try some new areas. And a lot of people are like, well, I’ve heard of Turkey. I don’t know much about it. And I think that’s where we both kind of glammed on. Like, let’s go and let’s have this experience. And we’ve been putting group trips together for 27 years and we have some great partners and some Turkish partners, too, that can really open up the, the eyes. I know several people that have been to, to Istanbul and everyone’s heard of Istanbul, like, oh, it’s a top five city on earth for a lot of people.</p><p>And you’re probably wondering, well, why? So I encourage you to kind of jump in, look at our website, do a little research on that. But Turkey is so, so much more than that. I. They have absolutely stunning beaches, their food culture, their spices, the seaside communities, the, the Roman ruins. They have so much in different little pockets. So Turkey offers. And I think that’s what maybe gravitated you and I both to it. Just the diversity and still a little of that wonder, like what’s, what’s really, what’s in Turkey.</p><p>And I think, you know, we, we talked about a little earlier before the podcast about some of the places, you know, that are kind of overrun with tourists. And definitely Turkey is not there. It will be at some point. So it’s kind of fun to get on maybe the ground level to, to some of these places and not just Istanbul, because it, it is busy, but some of the other places that we’re going to go from Ephesus to Kabukia or Pamuk. There’s so many different places that are on this trip that you’ve never even heard of. So it’s kind of like, well, I haven’t really heard of that. Go, go look at our website. Go do a little research on the Internet and see what.</p><p>It’s so amazing. The Europeans, they know of Turkey really, really well because it’s a, it’s a quick flight and they Absolutely love it. I’m in Europe nine times a year and the folks that I talk with over there, they absolutely love it. So it’s kind of like a discovery trip for Americans. And what’s great about our trip that will, it’s fully guided. We have 31 meals included. We have the inner flight inside, Turkey included. So there’s really no out of pocket expense for that.</p><p>So you can really sit back and relax and take in the best of Turkey with our local guides. And there’s just so much and I think that’s what’s going to be kind of fun to go discover. This place in our group is going to be no more than 15 people. It’s a small group experience so you can really relax and enjoy that. And I know folks that maybe, well, what’s a group tour? You know, I think you even mentioned that too for some people. Like, well, what do you do? It’s again, we’ve kind of handled everything. We’ve taken care of the hotels, the buses, the cooking class that we’re going to do. I mean, you might want to touch on that later.</p><p>But we’ve taken all of that, these best of experiences and put it in one itinerary so you can sit back and relax and know that you’re going to see the best of Turkey.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>I think explaining my husband Kurt’s sort of transformation is good here. My husband is an independent person. He’s owned his own business, he’s a sailor. He would, he, he has no interest really in group travel. Like when I brought it up to him and that I was going to start leading trips, he was like, why would you want to do that? Why would you want to be with people you don’t even know? Like, he is just anti group travel as a rule. And he came on our first trip, he wanted to come with us when we went to Cambodia and we went to Vietnam. He knew that he would never plan a trip to Asia on his own. So he thought, well, I’ll go along on this group travel and I’ll just suck up the group travel part because I get to go to this cool destination.</p><p>Well, what happened is he loved it. He liked group travel. He liked meeting new people. He liked not being the person that had to be in charge of making sure that we got our luggage to the room and that we made it to the right flights and that he had to carry all the stuff and all the itinerary. He kind of liked that he wasn’t responsible for all that. And he liked the food, he liked Meeting the people he liked, not having to be in a city he’d never been in and figure out exactly where we were going to eat every single meal. We had flexibility. Obviously, on these trips, we want it to be your trip.</p><p>In our Sicily experience, you mentioned a couple times, like, if this doesn’t feel like something you want to do, then don’t do it. Do something else for the day. We can help you orchestrate other things. He really loved the idea that he didn’t have to do everything. And in fact, when we did our cooking class in Sicily, which was amazing, by the way, we learned to make arancini, which they call arancino. We made a thing called a pinella, which was a chickpea pancake that they eat in a sandwich, which was kind of different. But Kurt didn’t want to do the cooking class. He was like, you know what? I think I’m just gonna go walk around the city.</p><p>So him and another friend peeled off and, like, that’s the joy of these trips. We plan everything, but if you’re tired or if you just want a day of rest, you can do that too. We really try to make it so that we know it’s your experience. We’re not as interested in you just being forced to come along on things that you’re not interested in. We’re interested in your experience. We want you to have a good time. So if Kurt Johnson can get turned on to group travel, I feel like, seriously, anyone can.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>No, that’s. That’s well said. I would have never guessed that about Kurt initially. You know, and I wouldn’t call him an introvert by any means, but I think we get, you know, a lot of people like that with. With. Kurt. You know, maybe their. Their.</p><p>Their husband or their wife drags them on a trip, and they’re like, you know what? This is actually pretty cool, especially for the person that maybe is doing typically all the planning. And it’s stressful. You know, we do all that for you, but you can really, again, sit back and enjoy. You spend a lot of money to go on these trips, and that’s what we want. So we want you to feel like you. You have that. That freedom, too. When we set up our hotels in nice, central locations and safe areas, too, that you can go out and explore, so we encourage you to do that.</p><p>But honestly, we feel pretty good that the pace of these trips are designed really well, that you have that flexibility, because we want you. Yes, you’re in a group, even a small group, but we want to make it feel like you’re having these experience with, with a friend or a family member that’s with you too, that you, you feel like you’re, you’re having these little exploring trips, but it’s all kind of put together already for you. But again, we, we have time for you to go exploring, to have these other experiences, which is really, really important. Balance is so important. Over 27 years, I think we’ve really, we focus on that so we know that, that people are comfortable having that free time to explore. But again, having the, the framework of an itinerary with, with experiences. Typically, we might do a city tour in the, in the morning and then have the rest of your day free to have your own exploring. Then maybe for, especially for this trip with the 31 meals that will meet up and have dinner in a place.</p><p>And again, they’re all being curated with our local team too, in the area that you’re going to have foods local from the area in great mom PA type of restaurants. So sometimes it’s stressful when you’re trying to figure out where am I going to go eat, what should I do? I want to make sure the dinner is going to be great. We’ve got that taken care of so you can sit back and relax. And again, we know most of you probably have not heard of a lot of these places. Please, we implore you to go and take a look at the itinerary, do a little research, because I guarantee in a few years from now, these are going to be mainstream and you’ll be able to go explore and see these places before they’re overly busy. So take a look at this itinerary.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>I was impressed because when I first was thinking about Turkey, I went on a map and I didn’t realize, like, when I started going to Croatia, I didn’t realize how close Croatia is to Italy. That literally they share a sea and that a lot of Italians use Croatia as their summer vacation spot.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>And I didn’t also realize that Turkey and Italy are very close and that a lot of Europeans, because they’ve got EasyJet there, that’s an Italian airline, they’re going to Turkey like we would be going to Palm Springs. I mean, a lot of Europeans are experiencing Turkey and it’s just not a destination that a lot of Americans are familiar with. But a lot of people are going there and having fun, doing fun things. This. It’s been so fun for me to watch my friend Todd Walker, because he went to Cappadocia, which is a city that we’re going to go to and they have all these fairy houses that are like these stone. They look like dunce caps sort of. They’re these weird structures. And he, like, actually spent the night in one of them.</p><p>He did a hot air balloon r there, which is part of our itinerary. If someone wants to add that on, I know Kurt’s going to do that. It’s like he went and he had all this video of it where there’s 140 hot air balloons going up kind of all at once out of this city. It just looks so completely cool. And then the. The huge market. There’s like, the world’s largest market. So all of these trips, I always end up with a group of great women shoppers.</p><p>And I’m like, okay, bring an extra bag, ladies, because you’re going to come home with a rug and you’re going to come home with all of these spices. There’s 4,000 stalls in the Grand Market in Istanbul. Do you know that?</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, the Grand Bazaar. I didn’t know exactly how many, but, yeah, it’s massive.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>So just that, like, I love getting into a market and just, like, seeing all the different things, feeling all the different spices. In Sicily, we had an opportunity to go to the market, and afterwards we had our. Our local guide that kind of takes you around and shows you where everything is and gives you a sense of maybe what to look for at the market. And then we split up and Kurt and I, he just wanted to drink beer in the market and kind of experience feeling in the market. So we went and got sandwiches. But a bunch of other people, like, shop till they dropped. Like, they had huge shopping bags full of stuff. So if your jam is shopping, great.</p><p>If your jam is just sitting and taking in the culture, great. Like, you can also learn more about a city by spending time with the city guides that are with us. They’re always having lunch with us, and we have a bus driver that we get to know in certain trips. It really just. We just got back from Sicily and we had such a great experience. We had such a great trip. It was probably one of my favorite groups because a lot of the folks had traveled with us before, so we really knew each other, too. It’s group travel is really fun.</p><p>I’m just. I don’t know, I’m really jazzed about it, and I’m jazzed about Turkey, and I want people to come. If you could describe Ephesus, because that’s a place that I haven’t been before and you have what is that like?</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, Ephesus, it was, you know, built by the Romans in the time of Christ, so 2,000 years ago. And it’s. You’re walking through. It’s. It’s unbelievable. It’s not like when you’re at the Roman Coliseum or that area around there that’s actually, it feels like it’s in. More in ruins, if you will. But you’re like in this village, this Roman village that you can think of, the Apostles walk, maybe if you’re, you know, religious.</p><p>Mary, Jesus’s mother, has walked. And the. Still, the stone streets are there. You know, a lot of the buildings are in ruins, but the library, the, the whole front facade is still there. It’s, it’s unreal. It feels like you’re just being brought back in time. And there’s truly nothing like Ephesus, which is just right outside of the, the village of Kusadasi, or city in Turkey. But it’s, it’s like the.</p><p>If, again, if I could have an analogy, like you’re in Rome, but to another level that it’s, it’s much more, I would say intact. Still in ruins, but intact. But this, this, this village that it’s in hibernation. So walking these streets. And we have these local guides as you touched on too, that kind of can bring everything to, to, to life. So, you know, you’re not looking through your, your book and trying to like, well, what is this? You listen to an audio guide or our, our local guide speaking about that. So you’re learning about the history. But Ephesus is, is.</p><p>Is unbelievable. And we’re not going to see. There’s other ruins and more Roman sites and throughout this trip, so you’ll really get, you know, a history. I wouldn’t say a deep dive. They touch on it. So you’re not like, oh, this is so boring. But you even said it’s, it’s a trip like this is great for, for shoppers, if you want to shop. I’m not a shopper.</p><p>I like to do what Kurt does. Sit down, maybe have a beer and take it all in and do nothing. Just take in the people walking around, the smells. There’s. There’s nothing like it. And again, I think this trip to Turkey really offers a potpourri of different experiences. So if you’re a foodie, if you’re into photography, to culture, to history, this trip really ticks all the boxes. And I guarantee it, you’ll love it.</p><p>You’ll love the trip. But then even at the end you. There’s a great chance you’re going to make lifelong friends on, on a trip like this too. So it’s, it really ticks a box of. Of of experiences. So hopefully April is a great time to go to. The temperatures you can expect, you know, low 70s, you know, 50s, 60s at night. So it’s really comfortable.</p><p>Not like in the summer when it’s really busy and it’s busier with the Europeans and the temperatures hotter. This April time is a great time to visit for sure.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Can you talk a little bit about what the food is like? Like, I have an idea, but I don’t really know. Like, is it Mediterranean? Is it like meat and pomegranates and couscous?</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yep, you’re nailing it right now. No, it. It is like that. So I think I encourage again people to. To look online too, to see what some of these are. But you maybe have heard of, you know, baklava or, you know, kebabs, the lamb, the beef, the chicken. They have, you know, the different kebabs, lots of different spices, ganache, as many, you know, like fried dishes too, but then a lot of cooked on open fires. But I would say, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s comfort food, like German, you know, in having, you know, some of the staples that you might know, but still something that’s not too odd.</p><p>It’s probably more closer to home than maybe some of the French food you would see. But you’ll see a lot of lamb, the beef, I said some of the fried foods, lots of, you know, from your Turkish delights and different things like that. So I think even when we’re walking around in the market, you’ll get that. And then we’ll at our dinners have different meals as well that will infuse some of these different experiences. So it won’t be something completely foreign, but it’ll be. It’ll be comfortable enough that I think you’ll enjoy it, but it definitely be a nice array of different experiences with the food.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>I haven’t told you this, but one of the places, and I don’t know where I’m going to do this, but I am going to find. Have you ever been to a hammam or done the spa experience where like, you lay on like hot marble and it’s sort of like a sauna and you get sweaty and then you like, go into a room and they like brush you with salt and scrubby things and like completely clean you. It’s a Muslim tradition and it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. I did this in Athens and I loved it so much. We went three times while we were in Athens.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Wow.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Find a spa that does this there. I don’t know in what city or where we are, but I know a local guide can help me when we get there.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yep.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Both Kurt and I, it was just the most amazing, relaxing experience. Just someone scrubbing you with all these different herbs and salts. And they have weird little brushes that your eyes are closed and. And you can’t even. Like. One of them was this big, puffy, like, pillow feeling that was running across the top of your body. It was so weird, but so great.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, I haven’t done it. I’ve seen them. I’ve done, like, the part that we’re just going in, like, in the. In the sauna or the steam bath. That’s it. I haven’t had the full rub down yet. Maybe on this Turkish.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>We’re going to do it. Yeah, it’s great. I’ll do it.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>No, it’ll be fun, but no, it’s very popular over there. The Turkish amans. To do that. So there definitely will be that opportunity. I will. I’ll give it a shot. You know, it’ll be interesting to have someone scrub me down with salts. But, hey, life’s about to have any experiences and.</p><p>And I’m. And I’m. I’m for it, but I’m glad you enjoyed that. But, yes, they definitely have that. And you’ll have that opportunity if you want again. It’s. Yeah, it’s always. It’s.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>I’m not gonna make anyone go get naked and do this, but if you want to get naked and do this, I’m telling you, it’s amazing. And they probably actually. They wear bathing suits because they’re pretty modest. Or they’ll have, like, a separate women’s area and a separate men’s area. When we did it in Athens, it was men and women together, and we wore bathing suits. And then when you got into the private room, you could take your bathing suit off. And they were very modest and helpful, but.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah. So being comfortable. Yeah, no, that’s. That’s great. Well, that’ll be. Maybe we’ll just get a whole group and do that to get so great.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Yeah, it’s just like. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done. And I. I like spas and massage, and I’ve done a lot of weird things like that. This was, like, just amazing. Well, I’m excited. I hope that people will join us. The way it works is you can find all the itinerary on defined destinations website.</p><p>We’ll link that in the show notes here you can see each particular day and what city you’ll be in and what you’ll be doing and what’s included. I would imagine in most of these breakfast is included because that’s typically a sort of European thing to do. And then as he’s. As Michael said, a lot of the meals are included. I do think when you’re breaking open a new destination, it’s important to kind of give people a sense of what they’re going to be experiencing. And food is obviously a big part of that. And food is a big part of my journey on this trip. Turkish delights, if you’ve never had them, they’re like this beautiful little jelly.</p><p>Turkish coffee is very different. It’s a much more intense coffee experience. So if you’re a coffee drinker, you’ll learn a lot. Also, olive oil is very much present in Turkey. Like again, I keep comparing it to Italy, but it is right across the water. So there’s a lot of different olive oils that are used in Turkey, a lot of different spices. We’re going to have fun. So the way this works is you can go online, you can put your deposit down and full payment is due I think in January for this trip.</p><p>You can book your own travel if you want to, meaning get your airfare to get to where we’re going to meet for the trip. Or you can use Michael’s got a service that can help you book all your airfare. I personally like to control my airfare because I like to have the miles and I like to know exactly how I’m going to set things up on my itinerary. Kurt and I also like to get there like a day or two in advance just to get acclimated a little bit before the rest of you guys come. So that I’m not super jet lagged. I’m on fire by the time you arrive. And yeah, we do. There’s going to be a lot of beautiful wine, I’m assuming too, because that’s something that there’s a great grape destination there.</p><p>You don’t know about Turkish wines yet, but you will. They, they exist. There’s actually quite a lot of them. Yeah. And that’s how it works. Michael, you’ve got a special offer just to get people that may be on the fence a little bit. Yeah.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Well, we’re excited. The trip again is April 9th through the 20th. And again, go online, take it just take a look at the website, look at some of the pictures. You’ll absolutely love it. And then even all the things that we’ve talked about that aren’t even mentioned in the itinerary, there’s so many fun things. But if you’re listening to this and you’re new to register, you’ll get $200 off per person if you register for the trip. Final payment is January 1st, so just think about that. So this would be a great.</p><p>A great gift for a loved one. Hey, let’s. We’re going to go to Turkey. And I hear more and more people are. They want to have a travel experience rather than having tangible things about having experiences, especially with ones you love. So hopefully this trip to Turkey, if you want to try something new and have just an amazing experience about a place you maybe haven’t heard too much about, I think you’ll absolutely love it. So just go to defined destinations.com, like Stephanie said. She’ll have the link there, too.</p><p>Against April 9th through the 20th. You can register right there. If you need help with airfare, we’re happy to do that. So we make it pretty easy for you on that end. So we’re gonna. We’re gonna have a blast with a great group of people and hopefully, you know, you’ll want to join this small group of no more than 15 people.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Is this the time that we tell people that are listening to maybe stay tuned. I mean, we do have a pretty epic October trip planned.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, no, I mean, go for it. We don’t have the. All the dates totally confirmed, but we’re. Yeah, go ahead.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Well, we’re working on one of the trips. So I have taken people to Spain, I’ve taken people to Croatia, I’ve taken people to Cambodia, Thailand, and now Turkey. And the Croatia trip was really magical and people loved it. And I have a huge fondness for Croatia. Obviously, I’ve been there a lot, and there were a lot of people that wanted to go on that trip that didn’t get the opportunity because it’s a luxury experience. It’s a luxury yacht. It’s small rooms or not small rooms. It’s a small ship with actually, the rooms were quite big for a boat.</p><p>And so we had so many people that wanted to do that itinerary again. Michael said, hey, how about we do it again? But I’ll add a couple of new things so that it’s a new experience for you too, Stephanie, because there is. I’ve never been to Zagreb, which seems probably surprising since I’ve been to Croatia so many times and there’s a bunch of these finger lakes. What do they call those? Is it the plastic lakes?</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, the Plaviche Lakes National Park. Yep.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>The national parks in Croatia are legendary. If you. I mean Mijet has one of the most beautiful national parks on it with a monastery in the middle of this lake. So we are going to be taking another small group. It’ll be smallish. I think we had 28 on our last.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah, enough to fill the boat. And the boat only can sleep like 34. So it’s a small experience on that. But yeah, I’m excited to go back to that again. That’s been one of our hot sellers, our Croatia trip. So with the Zagreb and the Blevice lakes and then our seven night cruise, the Croatia trip will be great. So maybe you want to do two trips. Our beautiful Turkey trip in the spring and then come October we’ll have this amazing trip to, to Croatia.</p><p>So go out and have experiences and hopefully you want to join us. I think you’ll find great value, great meals just. And great people that to travel with.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>And if you’re listening and you want to explore Michael’s other trips because he takes trips with other people, not just me. And also he just guides trips himself. Just tell him that you’re a friend of Stephanie’s dish so that he knows that you came from my referral. But just like, yeah, if you want to sign up for a Christmas market or you’re interested in heading to the Amalfi coast, traveling with defined destinations is a really great opportunity. They do it extremely well. I have traveled a lot and so I’ve had some good experiences and some not so good experiences. So I know that when you travel with Michael, you’re in good hands. I’m still just missing our guide Peter, who was with us on our last Sicilian trip, who turns out has been your friend for like 25 years.</p><p>I just miss him. He’s such a character. I loved him so much.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Yeah. And that’s great. Yeah. Peter’s a good friend of mine for. He’s our Austrian guy, but he’s. He’s got family in, in Italy and does some of our, our Central European trips. But again, like you said it too, it’s, it’s. Again, it’s more than just the sights.</p><p>You’re building relationships even if you’re not even looking for that. But it’s fun to recall and all the good people you’ve met and the fun experiences you’ve had along the way. I love what I do, and hopefully it shows in our trips. It’s all about having a great experience with great people, so encourage you. And you’ve been such a great part of the defined destinations family. Thank you, Stephanie.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>I love it.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>Looking forward to more.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>If I didn’t, people know I would have kicked you to the curb long ago. And you even have got. You’ve even converted Kurt.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>So, I mean, yeah, that’s great. So, yeah, it’s about. About having fun and that’s what we do. And we’d love to have you on, on any of our trips.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Yeah. All right, you guys. So I’ll put all that information that you need in the links below. We are going to Turkey and I hope you come. That’s all I can say because I’m gonna probably be talking about it non stop because I’m so excited.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>That’s great.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>I’m.</p><p><strong>Michael Kenney:</strong></p><p>I’m looking forward to it. Thanks again, Steph.</p><p><strong>Stephanie:</strong></p><p>Thanks, Michael. Okay, bye. Bye.</p><p></p><p>Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p><p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
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28 MIN
Live with Stephanie Hansen
NOV 5, 2025
Live with Stephanie Hansen
<p>Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video on Tuesday night! I had a good time making some of my favorite recipes from the <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/43UPAZd">“True North Cabin Cookbook Vol 2” </a> If you missed it you can watch the video above!</p><p>I’ll be signing books at these locations if you want to pick up a signed copy</p><p>Here are the recipes we made!</p><p>Pomegranate Old Fashioned from the <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/43UPAZd">“True North Cabin Cookbook Vol 2”</a></p><p>Pomegranate Old Fashioned </p><p>Ingredients</p><p>* 1 Tbsp Pomegranate seeds</p><p>* 2 oz Pomegranate juice</p><p>* ¼ teaspoon maple syrup</p><p>* 2 ox Bourbon</p><p>* 4 dashes orange butters</p><p>* Orange slice for garnish</p><p>Instructions</p><p>* Muddle the pomegranate seeds with the pomegranate juice, maple syrup and orange bitters</p><p>* Add bourbon and shake in a cocktail shaker to combine</p><p>* Pour over rocks glass with ice and garnish with an orange slice</p><p>Roasted Brussels Sprouts:</p><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><p>* 3-4 Cups Brussels Sprouts, cut in half or quarters</p><p>* Tbsp olive oil</p><p>* Teaspoon kosher salt</p><p>* 1/4 cup Fig Jam, or you can substitute Apricot Jam, Orange Marmalade, or other jam</p><p>* 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar or Pomegranate Molasses</p><p>Instructions</p><p>* Toss Brussels Sprouts in olive oil and salt and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes</p><p>* Toss with the jam and the vinegar and roast for another 10 minutes</p><p>Instant Pot 5 Minute Risotto</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.stephaniesdish.com/instant-pot-5-minute-risotto-recipe/">Get the recipe here!</a></p><p>Scallops With Oven-Baked Risotto</p><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><p><strong>For the Risotto</strong></p><p>* 1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice</p><p>* 4 cups chicken stock</p><p>* 1/2 cup diced onion</p><p>* 1 large garlic cloves minced</p><p>* 3 Tbsp butter diced into 6 chunks</p><p>* 1 teaspoon black pepper</p><p>* 1 teaspoon salt</p><p>* Zest of one lemon</p><p>* 3 Tbsp lemon juice</p><p>* 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese</p><p>* 1 Tbsp chopped parsley</p><p>* 3 Tbsp chopped Dill</p><p><strong>For the Scallops</strong></p><p>* ½ cup flour</p><p>* 1 tsp paprika</p><p>* ½ tsp. Lawry’s seasoned salt</p><p>* ½ tsp. pepper</p><p>* pinch of sugar</p><p>* 1/4 cup butter</p><p>* 1/4 cup dry white wine</p><p>* 4 Tbsp lemon juice</p><p>* 16 large Day Boat Scallops patted dry</p><p></p><p>Instructions</p><p>For The Risotto</p><p>* Preheat oven to 350</p><p>* In a 10-inch oven safe skillet or pot with a lid, add the rice, stock, onion, garlic and butter</p><p>* Cover the pot with tin foil and the lid of the pot and bake for 45 minutes</p><p>* Remove the pot from the oven and start the broiler preheating for the Scallops</p><p>* Add pepper, salt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1/3 cup parmesan cheese to the rice pot and vigorously stir for 3 minutes, combining all the ingredients and blending the risotto until creamy. If the mixture seems dry, you can add additional broth or cream a few Tbsp at a time until you get the consistency and creaminess you desire. Cover the pot and let rest until the scallops are done.</p><p>* Right before serving and plating, stir fresh herbs into the rice</p><p>For The Scallops</p><p>* Preheat the broiler</p><p>* Mix all dry ingredients in a plastic bag.</p><p>* Melt butter in a baking dish under the broiler. Add the wine and lemon juice.</p><p>* Toss scallops in dry ingredients – shake until coated.</p><p>* Put scallops in a buttered baking dish and spoon a teaspoon of butter over each scallop.</p><p>* Broil for 4-6 minutes until no longer opaque and cooked through</p><p>* Serve the scallops alongside the risotto with fresh lemon slices and the broiled butter spooned over both the scallops and drizzled over the risotto</p><p>Pecan Pie Bars</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.stephaniesdish.com/pecan-pie-bars/">Get the recipe here</a></p><p></p><p>Thanks for cooking along! If you like these recipe please share and like by clicking the heart below.</p><p><strong>November 18 5-8 pM </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.duluthkitchen.com/classes-events/author-talk-tasting-event-stephanie-hansen/?srsltid=AfmBOooBeNKaKpvgJ-zaKdq0tp3hhqRKGzPfmJ-js2A_B58FslRpzc_i"><strong>Fitgers Duluth</strong></a></p><p>Author Talk and Recipe Tasting collaborative event between The Bookstore at Fitger’s, Duluth Kitchen & The Boat Club.</p><p>The Boat Club, 600 E Superior Street, Duluth, MN 55802</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.duluthkitchen.com/classes-events/author-talk-tasting-event-stephanie-hansen/?srsltid=AfmBOooBeNKaKpvgJ-zaKdq0tp3hhqRKGzPfmJ-js2A_B58FslRpzc_i">Get your ticket</a></p><p><strong>November 19, 6:30-8 PM Knife Sharpening and </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://vivront.com/pages/fall-cooking-event-in-edina-cookbook-signing-knife-skills-night-at-vivront-knife-shop"><strong>Book Signing Event </strong></a><a target="_blank" href="https://vivront.com/pages/kitchen-knife-sharpening-sharpener-by-mail?gad_source=1&#38;gad_campaignid=16287151860&#38;gbraid=0AAAAAoJsKbi5H9uEfXkNHhWDJs6UPC0Rj&#38;gclid=Cj0KCQjwl5jHBhDHARIsAB0YqjzPC-YV1S2vPVz_PaJIBiPxeCkr8Zz5omNoD6c69AKWKaGcENszmtkaAqK9EALw_wcB"><strong>Vivront</strong></a></p><p>A fall gathering for home cooks, flavor seekers, and anyone who knows the joy of a sharp knife and a good story.</p><p>4948 France Ave S, Edina, MN 55410</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://vivront.com/pages/fall-cooking-event-in-edina-cookbook-signing-knife-skills-night-at-vivront-knife-shop">Get Tickets</a></p><p></p><p><p>Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
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42 MIN
Laura Klynstra is the author and designer of The Homemade Pie Cookbook
OCT 31, 2025
Laura Klynstra is the author and designer of The Homemade Pie Cookbook
<p>On the latest episode of “Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish”, I sit down with accomplished book cover designer, art director, and now, celebrated cookbook author, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/lauraklyn/">@LauraKlyn </a> The episode is a deliciously detailed look into Laura’s new book, <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4pIygA7">“100 Pie, Tart and Galette Recipes for Every Season” </a>and a behind-the-scenes peek into her world of culinary creativity and design.</p><p>From the moment I flipped through the pages, it was clear Laura’s design expertise shines brightly. Laura’s background as a cover designer and art director, paired with hands-on experience working on dozens of cookbooks, comes to life in her visually stunning collection. Each photo in the book tells a story——and is surrounded by thoughtful prop styling, from vintage pie servers to antique dishes discovered at local shops.</p><p>A special treat is Laura’s focus on savory pies—think samosa pie or the show-stopping asparagus tart—beautiful options for every season and palate. The attention to technique continues with creative garnishes, like sugared cranberries and candied herbs, adding sparkle to your holiday spreads and beyond.</p><p>Laura’s cookbook recommendations are rock solid—even non-pie bakers will find plenty to love between these pages.</p><p>Ready to up your pie game? Listen to the full episode for stories, tips, and plenty of seasonal baking inspiration! </p><p>Enjoy these two recipes from Laura, one savory and one sweet, to get a taste of her book!</p><p>Lemon Meringue Tart</p><p><em>Makes 1 10-inch round tart</em></p><p>I love this twist on lemon meringue pie in tart form. For me, the proportion of crust to lemon is perfect, and it’s even better with Swiss meringue instead of French meringue, which is a traditional pairing with lemon. Swiss meringue is cooked on the stove and doesn’t need to go in the oven. It is softer and creamier, adding a beautiful airy sweetness to counter the tart lemon curd. This bright tart comes out looking lovely and tastes even better.</p><p>Press-In Shortbread Tart Dough</p><p><em>Makes 1 10-inch tart crust</em></p><p>I’ve tested a lot of tart crusts over the years, and many of them are so hard, it’s difficult to break off a bite with a fork. This buttery and delicious shortbread crust is delicate enough to easily break apart but strong enough to hold the tart together. Using cake flour is key to getting a nice, cookie-like crumb. This dough is not tough enough to roll out. Press the dough directly into the pan for an easy to pull together, delicious tart base.</p><p>Ingredients</p><p>¾ cup (169 g) unsalted butter, softened</p><p>½ teaspoon fine sea salt</p><p>2 teaspoons vanilla extract</p><p>⅔ cup (73 g) confectioners’ sugar</p><p>2 cups (230 g) cake flour</p><p>Instructions</p><p>In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter, salt, vanilla extract, and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add flour and mix just until combined. Press dough directly into a 10-inch tart pan, starting with the sides and finishing with the bottom. Bake the crust according to the tart recipe’s instructions.</p><p><strong>Lemon Curd</strong></p><p>Ingredients</p><p>8 egg yolks</p><p>zest of 2 lemons</p><p>⅔ cup fresh lemon juice</p><p>1 cup (200g) sugar</p><p>10 tablespoons (141 g) salted butter</p><p>Swiss Meringue</p><p>5 egg whites</p><p>1¼ cups (250 g) sugar</p><p>½ teaspoon cream of tartar</p><p>1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste</p><p>Instructions</p><p><strong>To make the crust: </strong>Preheat oven to 350ºF. Press tart dough into a 10-inch tart pan. Generously dock with a fork and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. While still hot, use a tamper or back of a spoon to lightly press down the center of the crust, leaving a ¾-inch edge.</p><p><strong>To make the lemon curd: </strong>Whisk together egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thick and coats the back of the spoon, about 8 to 10 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature; it should reach 170ºF. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low. Add butter 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing until fully combined before adding the next teaspoon of butter. Strain through a sieve into a medium bowl. Pour while still warm into the tart shell. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.</p><p><strong>To make the Swiss meringue: </strong>Whisk together egg whites and sugar in the top pan of a double boiler until completely incorporated (see note below). Cook, whisking continuously, for about 5 to 6 minutes or until mixture reaches 170ºF. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add cream of tartar. Beat on high for about 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract and continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form. Scoop or pipe onto lemon curd. Toast meringue with a kitchen torch or under the oven broiler. Keep a close watch on meringue while toasting to avoid burning. Remove sides of tart pan and serve.</p><p><strong>Episode Transcript Follows:</strong></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space and a lot of cookbook authors. And this book came across my desk by Laura Klynstra And right away I was like, pie! Laura, your book, <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4pIygA7">“100 Pie, Tart and Galette Recipes for Every Season” </a> is extremely beautiful. And, and I, it kind of, when I read through the whole book and I read through your bio, I was like, oh, well, she's like in the design field because honestly, this is probably one of the most beautiful books on pie I've ever seen.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>It's so incredible, like just the way that the pies are decorated, the color choices that you used for the intros, everything is laid out so it feels easy, accessible. And even like the whole rolling out the pie dough section, there's tons of pictures, the decorating of the lattice work, It's a really well done book. Congratulations.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Oh, thank you so much.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>What's your background and how did you come to be the pie aficionado?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>My background is actually cover design. I'm a book cover designer and art director. But I also, during all the time that I've been an art director, I've also worked on a lot of cookbooks. So I gotten to go on a lot of photo shoots, work with food stylists and photographers. And during that whole time I learned, I just kind of sat back and watched and learned all the bits and it took time. I'm a self taught photographer. It took me a long time to really figure out how to capture light correctly. And light is really the key to getting a good photo.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>So yeah, it was a lot of trial and error, but eventually I figured out a system to get my camera mounted correctly. I shoot manually and get that light, but I also, I consider every photo similar to what the way I look at a cover design. It's not just here's your pie or whatever it is you're shooting. There's a lot of things going on around it. And so it's telling a story. The photograph is telling a story. It's giving you a sense of the time. Especially like the fall ones are a lot of fun to shoot.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>So many great things to props that you can put in with the photos for the fall shots. And it's just, it's a lot of fun.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Did you amass a large library of props and did you have things already or were you always on the lookout?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>This is my third book, so I had a lot of props already. I have like all these Storage shelves downstairs have the weirdest things. You know, I go to antique stores and I'm always looking for old boxes and just everything. Pretty much everything that could possibly have anything to do with baking. If I go to an antique store, I'm always like, I need that. Especially pie servers. Old, old silverware.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yes.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I hate, I hate photographing with a shiny silver, you know, piece of silver or a new one that it never, you know, for one thing, you can end up reflecting your camera in that. So these old patina silverware and things like that are just fabulous to have. Like, you just gotta have a ton of those in your.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>In your Agreed, agree. Thus my sort of background of stuff from my cookbook styling myself in. Can we talk about pie crust? Do you have, like, what you would say is your definitive pie crust that you mostly use.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>For sweet pies? There's a recipe in there called a maple pie crust, and that's actually my favorite crust to use. It's very similar to a regular crust, except for a lot of the liquid is made with a pure maple syrup. And when you roll that crust out, that syrup gives it like a pliability that just. It doesn't crack the way sometimes you can get with the regular all butter pie crust. And it's just so easy. And so it's just supple. It's, it's. It's my favorite one.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>But again, I'd only use it for sweets. Even though you don't really taste the maple, it's like, you know how when you add maple to something, it doesn't have a strong flavor, as strong as what you would expect it to be, but it' if you're beginning. That would be my press recommendation for somebody who's just beginning because it does make a really easy to roll out.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>I love this because I use vodka in my pie crust to kind of do the same thing. It gives you that moisture when you're putting the assembly together and the roll, but then it bakes out in the final product, so you get kind of a crispier situation. Maple. I've never thought of that. I wonder, have you ever tried honey? Would it do the same thing?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I haven't tried it. I would expect it would. And it would just add a little bit of sweetness. The other thing is buttermilk. You can add a little buttermilk that I don't know if you've ever made pie dough, and then put it in your refrigerator and left it in there for two days and it started to turn kind of like a gray Color, Yes. When you add some acid from the buttermilk keeps it from doing that. I'm not sure. I can't.</p><p>I don't know what the science is behind that, but a little. A little. I think the vodka might, too. I'm not sure. I.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>That's a great.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>I know what you're talking about, and I'm trying to think if I've noticed it with or without vodka. And I can't say. Truthfully, I have, but, like, a lot of times for Christmas or Thanksgiving or any of the. The special holidays, you're making your crust in advance because you've got so much to do, so. So that's a really great tip. I love it.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yep. Yep. And you can also freeze pie dough. So you can make. If you're having Thanksgiving and you're. You're. You can do it a week ahead, just wrap each one individually and then put it inside a freezer as a black bag and then throw it in the freezer. And that way you're just.</p><p>You've got something that's totally done, even a week in advance.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>One thing that I really liked about this book, too, was you took pie into not just sweet places, but also savory. So there's a lot of galette and, like, savory forward dishes, like a potato bacon, gruyere galette. You've got quiche. Do you eat a lot of savory pies? Because that's actually kind of one of my favorite ways to do it. This samosa pie looks amazing.</p><p></p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>The samosa pie is so popular at my house. So popular. We love that one. So, yeah, we do eat that one quite a bit. The quiches, we do a lot. Some of the other ones, not as often, but, like, the. The asparagus one is kind of just more of something that I would bring to a party.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Spring or Easter.</p><p>Yeah. You know, like, that first time when you. Asparagus is one of the first things that comes out. And in this. In the spring. And so you're just, like, dying to get something fresh. We talked. before I started the podcast that. She's in Michigan, I'm in Minnesota. And literally, like, when you see anything green at the store. And we always jump the gun. Right. Because.</p><p>Get produce from the coast before we get our own, but there's nothing better than, like, your own homemade asparagus.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yes. And the rhubarb is the other thing that comes up the soonest. And again, I love rhubarb. It's.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>So do I think that's My next book, actually.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>The whole rhubarb book.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yes, because I just. I'm obsessed with it, and I have, like, 60 recipes, so I'm like, you know, I'm. I'm about way there.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>What kinds of recipes are they? Like cakes and.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Yes. Like bars and cakes and pies and custards, but also chutneys and pork dishes and breads, cookies.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>That's a fabulous idea. I'm on board with that one.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>I think I might have to, like, submit that as my next proposal. We'll see. Another thing that happened this year about pies, I guess it was maybe last year, but it created quite a kerfuffle, and you address it in this book, is the loss of the chocolate wafer cookie. The company that makes the chocolate wafer cookie, I believe it was Nabisco, stopped making that chocolate wafer cookie. And it was the base for a lot of people's, like, mud pies or chocolate pie crust or the press in crusts or the cookie crusts. And people were really freaked out, and people were, you know, we need a recipe to make this cookie. So in here, you have your own chocolate cookie recipe.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Yep. It's got the black cocoa in it. Like, it's actually like an Oreo, but without the. And if you do end up using Oreos, do take out that middle part. I always scrape out the. If you don't, you're gonna end up with kind of like a too much butter and it's not gonna work. But, yeah, you can make your own so that you're not adding all these preservatives and yucky things into your pies, but sometimes people don't have time.</p><p>I mean, I totally understand that you can't always.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And I guess maybe depending on your audience too, like, if you're making something for a kid's birthday party, maybe that will be fine. Not that we feed our kids less delicious things than we feed ourselves, but come on, we kind of do times. I do love to. There's a lot of detail in this book about garnishes and sauces. And the white chocolate cranberry tart is just a beautiful photograph, but it also has these sugared cranberries. Tell me about those. And. And obviously, putting them on a tart is delightful, but what else could we do with those? Because those were just gorgeous.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I've used them on cakes. And just even, like, even if you're doing a spread, like a holiday spread, they look beautiful in a little bowl. And that same method, the method to make Those is you create a simple syrup and then you dunk the cranberries in the simple syrup and then you let it dry and they become really sticky. And then you roll them in sugar so they look really beautiful. But you can do that same process with mint leaves, rose petals, rosemary. And it's just a beautiful garnish, especially in the winter, because it has that sparkle to it. It just makes it look more special than if you were just going to, you know, lay a sprig of rosemary next to something.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>When you started making pies, do you remember how old you were? And what is it about pies that captured your imagination?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Well, I really like the handmade nature of it. The fact that, I mean, before I made pies, I was a cookie baker. Cookies were my. Because that's the easiest thing when you're a little. When you're a kid. And I baked since I was basically able to. My mom was a wedding cake baker, so we had all the supplies and all.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Wow.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>All the inspiration was there, but I didn't start making. And my mom, she always, she loved pie too, but she always used the pie crust from the box, which I kind of hate, but same, same. She just didn't like rolling out dough. So she just, she just used the, the rolled. The rolled up version. But you can buy better versions than the red box. There are.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Joe's is surprisingly good.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I think that, yeah, Whole Foods has one too. That's butter instead of like the other weird oils that are in the. The other one. But I think maybe all of my love of like rolling out cookies and then you kind of turn that into rolling out dough. I learned it was a learning curve. I don't think that we just all naturally can know how to make a pie crust and how to roll it out. And you have to practice a little bit. But the lovely part of, of a pie versus a cake or a cookie is that there's just more of your hands involved.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>And because I make so many things electronically and digitally, because I'm a book cover designer. So to have to be able to make something physically with your hands is both relaxing and satisfying. And I think it makes like a more special finished product. It makes a great gift or something to share with people, to bring to the office or a party or a potluck, and it just feels like it. A pie has a slightly more personal touch to it than maybe a cookie does or a bar. Even though I love cooking bars, don't get me wrong.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yes. Tell me about your other books.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>So this is The Homemade Pie Cookbook is the first book I've written by myself. My book just before this one was called <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4nNUzCt">“Gather & Graze”</a> and I wrote with my former colleague who is also an art director. She, she does the, she works at HarperCollins. Sure. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/mumtazmustafadesigns">Mumtaz Mustafa</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/spiceandsugartable"> @spiceandsugartable </a>and I have it right here. This is <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4nNUzCt">“Gather & Graze”</a> </p><p></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>That's beautiful.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>So this is more of like a party table spread book. So Mumtaz is brilliant with savory food and I'm more, more of a baker. She's from Pakistan, so she's got this really broad sense of spice and she's just brilliant with the savory. So we split this book up by anything that was baked in the oven I've made and then pretty much anything that was cooked on stove she made. And it's divided by country. So it's a really fun international style party book.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>I love that. I'm glad you brought it to my attention. I'll for sure put that in the notes.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's quite fat. It's, it's a, it's, it's, there's over like 170 recipes in it. It's not a, not a lightweight book. And then the book before that I wrote with my mother. Oh, look at that cute <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/3VE0oqo">“Christmas Baking”</a>. And this one is it, it does well every, every holiday season. And it's kind of, it's been out for I think five years. And so it's kind of a perennial, hopefully at this point.</p><p></p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>And it's just, you know, all my favorite. But Christmas baked goods. There's a, there's a breakfast chapter in there for Christmas morning.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Holiday high points. What's next?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I got my way. And who knows if I will. I would like to do a fall baking book.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>What would that look like? I'm thinking apple. You have quite a, like pumpkin chapter in here.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Yep. They would have all of those, those, those cozy. It would just be all the cozy, cozy recipes. And I just love the styling of fall too. Fall is one of my favorite seasons. So. Yeah, that would be, that would be super fun.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>But I also have another idea for, called like, I want to call it Paradise Baking or Baking paradise, which would be all tropical recipes.</p><p>S<strong>tephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>That's a great idea. And that's not something we've seen before.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I don't, I haven't seen it. No. I have a second home in Guatemala so I could do a lot of the photography there, which would be fun. Yeah. The first few recipes in the Homemade Pie Cookbook were Shot in Guatemala. The line Mango and the hummingbird pie. So I got all of those props while I was down there.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. In the. And beautiful colors. You also dedicate, like a whole spread to apples for pie. And we just talked about this on our TV show that I'm on. And Honeycrisp is obviously an apple I use a lot because it's Minnesota. Granny Smith is an apple that I think works really well for pies. Do you mix your types of apples? Apples when you're making apple pie?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Sometimes I do. The Pink lady is actually one of my favorite ones now that I've been, you know, baking so many apple pies. It's got, like, a tartness to it. But yeah, there you can mix them for sure. Just don't ever use them. Macintosh.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Or like the Red Delicious, which is now. Oh, yeah, that's the worst selling apple.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>They aren't very delicious.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>They're not. And it's kind of funny that, like, that was like our lunchbox apple for basically our whole lives. Like, why did we have to eat such terrible apples? I'm so glad they've gotten better.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yes. There's some. I mean, pretty much every variety is better.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yes, Pretty much. When you make a galette or a tart, let's just say savory, do you adjust that dough at all or do you use your same basic pie dough?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I use the same. Well, the. The tart is a totally different dough, but the galette is the same pie dough as the regular pies.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And just.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>You could use them. Yeah, you could use the maple pie. You could make the maple crust for a galette as well. If you. If it's a sweet, I wouldn't put it on a savory.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>When would you ever make, like. I love the idea of slab pies because I think they're kind of cool looking, but they seem like they're just not great. Like, I don't know who's gonna get the middle piece. And then it's just always, like, so messy and kind of falls apart. I love the idea of like, everyone getting a little bit of crust on the edge and then having their perfect little triangle. Do you serve slab pies a lot? And am I missing the boat here?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Oh, not a lot, but I would bring them to more of like a potluck or something. The same thing that I would bring bars to. Although you. You really can't pick it up and eat it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Because it's going to be kind of a more gooey center than A. Than a. And then a bar. But it's just. It's. You get a little bit more. It's going to go farther than a. Than a pie.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>So if you just want to bring one thing and it needs to cover more people, I would bring a slab pie for that. Like a. Like a potluck summer potluck.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>People always ask me what my favorite recipe is in my book, and I always have the dumbest answers. So if I ask you what's your favorite recipe in your book, do you, like, have a answer that you're set on?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Well, the lemon meringue tart on the COVID is one of my favorite recipes in the book, and I've never been a big lemon meringue pie person, and I don't know why. It's. This is a. Has a Swiss meringue, and it's a little bit different than the lemon meringue pies that, you know, we all grew up eating. And I also feel like lemon meringue pie has too much lemon to, like, the crust is too little to the lemon. Like, the ratio.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>The big, like, meringue.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Yeah. So this, I feel like, is the perfect ratio of meringue to lemon to crust. It's got a thick shortbread crust on it. So it's. It's actually kind of reminiscent of those lemon bars. And you're from the Midwest, so you probably had those lemon bars that everybody likes to crust. Yep.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>It's. It's kind of like an elevated version of one of those lemon bars.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Okay. I'm going to have to try it, because I always make something with lemon for Easter. It's sort of just something I do for the big Easter brunch. So maybe I'll use this as my recipe this year.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>How long does it take you to work on a book?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Well, I mean, it's hard to give a full, like, because there's a lot of time thinking about it and planning. Like, my first step to doing a book is to. Is writing the table of contents.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Is that what you do, too?</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yes.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah, I do it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>So spreadsheet of all the recipes I think I want, then I sort of, like, try to organize them in some way, and then I start, like, thinking about the narrative and where I'm going to.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Right.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>I'm going to start.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Right. And so there's, like, this long, like, thinking period that you're not. It's just. I don't know. So it's. It's hard to put a time on how long it takes, but Once the. Once everything is set and I've gotten a few shots done and a few recipes tested, I can. I can do a book in a year and a half or a year if I'm really focused on it.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>But I'm also doing all the photography and the design. So it's. It's a pretty intense process.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Because I just submit my photographs and my word docs and, you know, the designer makes it look pretty, and, gosh, you have to do the whole thing. That is harder.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>And I don't have to, but, you know, you've done this much, and I am a designer. It's kind of hard to hand the design off somebody else when you're. That's like what I do. So.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, of course, when you think about other books that. Cookbooks that you love, whether from a design feature or from just like that, you go back to them and use them a lot. Give me, like, a couple of your favorites.</p><p></p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/3VzmNVE">Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook</a>. I don't know if you have that. It's got an orange spine. It's kind of like a go to, like, oh, I want to make banana bread. It's just so reliable. So that one is always in my kitchen. I also really like the <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/3VsHUcf">Bake From Scratch</a> series. Have you seen those? Big.</p><p></p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>They're really huge. I think they're. They're not written all by the same person. I think there's an editor that collects recipes. It's based on the magazine, I believe. But the thing I love about those is there's so many recipes in those books. They're just loaded with recipes, and then you can just kind of page through and get all kinds of inspiration and ideas. So I love those.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I'm a big fan of <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/3Vwr2RW">Erin Jean McDowell</a>, who is also a pie person. I like watching her on, like, her videos and stuff.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Do you watch a lot of people, like, on YouTube?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Not a lot, no. I mean, mostly on Instagram. I'm. I'm watching, you know, the quicker reels that come through. And, yeah, one of the. One of the things that made me so inspired to want to do the fall thing is, is when you. When the fall baking stuff starts coming out on Instagram and all these beautiful baked goods and this. This wonderful mood of cozy comes through, it's like, people are.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Creators are just amazing at how they. They put this mood out there, and I just. I love it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, it's pretty. Pretty delightful. I was just gonna think of another question I had for you, but it totally just fell out of my brain right As I thought about it, do you, have you ever had the chance to meet like any other bakers in any of your cookbook travels?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Specifically bakers. It seems like most of the books I've worked on have been more chef related. Like cooks like Melissa Clark. I worked on some of her cookbooks. I did the photography for <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4ntf9bu">Bri McCoy</a>. She. I don't know if you've seen her book. It's called the<a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4ntf9bu"> Cook's Book.</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yep, I did her photography for that book, so I've that kind of stuff, but I haven't done any specifically for bakers.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>So if in your, in your work life, do you like, like when someone gives you a recipe and you're like the person that photographs it and does the final like, is that an appealing piece of work for you?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Oh yeah. I love to do that too. Yeah. Yeah. Actually got a couple of them in the works right now that are coming down the pipeline.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>There's a lot of creators that do that and I didn't realize that, but that they, they maybe have a favorite recipe or they have recipes but they don't have the time or they don't want to be the one who puts it together for the book. So they hire all that out. Do you get any jobs like that that are one offs or do you mostly just do like a whole project?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Mostly a whole project.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen</strong>:</p><p>Yeah. It's, it's interesting. There's a lot of people out there that will cook your stuff if you find the right person. And I didn't realize that that was such a robust business, but apparently it is. Do you keep like a food blog yourself or is it mostly just the book?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Mostly I'm mostly in the book. But we have, I have. My friend who wrote Gathering Grace with me have a. We. We have an Instagram that's called Spice and Sugar. Oh, she's the spice and sugar table. Because spicy sugar was taken and she's the spice and I'm the sugar. Of course that's sweet.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>And you guys share it. So you just post when you're inspired?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah, yeah. And we don't. We, we haven't posted.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Sometimes like what sounds good and feels good just falls away, right? It's no reason or rhyme. Just all of a sudden you're like not as interested in that anymore.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Well, I think we're, and we're so, both of us are so focused in the book world and our career. Careers are very busy. So it's like I feel, I feel like to really maintain one of those robust social media sites you have to be pretty much focused on it.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah. Some people post, like, on Facebook, like, 12 times a day. I don't know. They manage it all. But do you watch any baking shows? Like, are you a great British Bake off aficionado or.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>I don't. I watch almost no tv.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Okay, So I love that. And you have chickens too, right?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>And I have chickens and duck.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Okay. And do you eat the duck eggs and the chicken eggs?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Obviously, yeah. Usually the duck eggs I use in baking. I don't. You know, it has a slightly different flavor, and if you're not used to it, it's kind of like. It feels a little weird. But they're. They're actually have a higher fat content in a duck egg, and they're really great for baking, especially for cakes and.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Oh, I love that. I don't think I ever thought about duck eggs in context of baking. That's so neat.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>They're a little larger, so you might. Sometimes you have to be a little, like, careful because.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>You know, they might end up being too much egg in here, depending on how many eggs are in the. Like, if there's four eggs, you would probably only put three.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, you can kind of see it, too, when you have the egg, like, the size. All right. The book is the Homemade pie Cookbook. It's 100 pie, tart, and galette recipes for every season. Like I said, it's beautiful. But even if you're, like, not thinking you're a pie person, I really think people would like this book because there's ice cream pies, there is icebox pies. Again, there's a lot of savory. There's tarts, there's little.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>There's some cookies in here, some sauces. There's just a lot of different things. When I started to go through the book, I was pleasantly surprised that there's a lot to offer here. There's whoopie pies. Your whoopie pie recipe looked great. Yeah. Everybody loves a good whoopee pie, don't they?</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Yeah. I thought I might be stretching it a little bit with that one, but I'm like, it's called pie, so it's a pie.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>That's right. It's Laura Kleinstra, <a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/3W2iXV4">The Homemade Pie Cookbook</a>. Thanks for being with me today, Laura.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Thank you so much for having me.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Yeah, for sure. And when you get your. When you get your next book ready, give me a call anytime. I love talking to you.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Okay, great.</p><p><strong>Stephanie Hansen:</strong></p><p>Okay. All right. Bye. Bye.</p><p><strong>Laura Klynstra:</strong></p><p>Bye.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
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26 MIN