A Quick Bite With Alice Currah

As much as I love the weight, tactility and glowy photography that comes with owning a solid cookbook, I’m a serial food blog cruiser, often fixating on one and pouring through recipes and previous past posts for weeks on end. I can’t remember when I first landed on Alice Currah’s Savory Sweet Life blog—all I can remember were the moans that erupted from the kitchen after I served her Spinach Bacon Penne Pasta, which became an instant classic in my kitchen. And since then I’ve grown to appreciate for her ability to develop relatively easy recipes that yield mouth-watering results. As a mom of three (Abbi-10, Mimi-8, and Eli-2), Alice started her career working in the food industry, then at the helm of her own wedding cake company. Her cooking and baking philosophy is to “keep it simple, approachable, yet wonderful to eat and enjoy with others.” Last spring Forbes.com named her one of the “Eight Of The Very Best Bloggers” and shortly after, won Saveur.com’s first ever “Photo Cover Contest.” So I’m not missing out on my glossy cookbook photos here, since Alice is a whiz behind the lens (check out Exhibit A, last week’s Rocky Road Pops). We chatted with her about her daily staple, cooking out of necessity and backwards dinners.

SPC: How did Savory Sweet Life come about?
AC: After my third child was born I wanted to have a hobby I could have maintain outside of my daily job as a caretaker to my kids. So one night I just went for it and started it and have never looked back.

SPC: What is your earliest food memory?
AC: Earliest food memory is of my father giving me a Hershey bar when I was a toddler. Don’t ask me why I remember this but it has always stayed with me.

SPC: What was your favourite food as a child?
AC: Rice has always been a staple in our family and I still continue to eat it almost every day.

SPC: How did you learn to cook?
AC: I grew up with two working parents and five siblings. I learned to cook out of necessity. If I wanted to eat, I had to prepare the food myself. I used what we had on hand and just winged it. I still cook the same way today.

SPC: Was there a food you hated as a child but have learned to love? Or maybe you still can’t stand it?
AC: I have yet to meet a Korean person who doesn’t love kimchee but this wasn’t always the case for me. I used to hate eating and smelling it. But it is definitely something you grow into and I love it now, just not too spicy.

SPC: Salty or sweet? We know this is a tricky one, especially for you!
AC: I love sweets, I am definitely a sugar addict. However, I love baking sweet treats with a hint of salt – the best of both worlds.

SPC: What’s your favourite way to involve your children with the cooking process?
AC: When I bake, I usually ask for helpers and they are always eager to join me. My daughters are old enough to cook and bake some recipes on thier own so that’s nice. I only wish they would learn to clean up after themselves.

SPC: What’s your go-to meal for a busy, getting home late kind of evening?
AC: We have a couple go-to meals we’ll make on a busy night. Backwards breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon. My kids love this when it happens.

SPC: What do you love most about cooking?
AC: I always wanted to be an inventor growing up. I suppose this is why I love cooking. I’m constantly coming up with different ideas on what to cook and the creative aspect is always what drives me.