About Me

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Welcome to Hello Savory Kitchen About Me Page, where you will find delicious savory recipes that are familiar and easy to make!

Who is behind Hello Savory Kitchen?

I cooked all my life for family and friends. Everyone always encouraged me to open my own restaurant, food truck, or blog to share my recipes instead of posting pictures of my food on Facebook.

Hi, I am Gabriela, the author, recipe developer, and food writer for this blog.

I am the one behind this blog and also behind The Bossy Kitchen website. I wear many hats every day, which I never thought I would be able to do. I am the cook, writer, photographer, blog designer, and social media manager.

When I get stuck, I use trained help because as much as I think I can do everything, there are times when things get overwhelming.

Why do I blog?

• I chose to blog because I always liked writing. I am also good in the kitchen. This was the best opportunity for me to combine my two passions into one place and become a full-time blogger .

• I like the fact that I can manage my own time, do what I love the best, and earn money from it.

• I believe that cooking and baking are survival skills that everyone should have, therefore I want to offer practical, easy recipes made from fresh, natural ingredients that are not processed, so more and more people discover the benefits of eating healthier.

• I would love to create a community of people who love to cook from scratch and enjoy being in the kitchen. I think the world would be more peaceful if we would gather often around good food.

What is my background in food

• I am a self taught cook and a trained pastry and confectionery baker.
• My cooking and baking style is mostly Eastern-European, but I was also exposed and very interested in all kind of cuisines.
• I read and do a lot of research before I post a recipe on my blog. I like to learn techniques, methods and tricks to cook and bake professionally and I will share that with you as much as possible.

Do I follow a particular diet

No, I do not. I aim for balanced meals and do eat meat, lots of vegetables, and fruits. We enjoy baked goods, but we do not eat a lot of them. This is one of the reasons I chose not to share desserts on this blog. I don’t make a lot of them.

Believe it or not, when I make a cake, it is usually not for us. I like baking easy bread recipes at home and sometimes make yogurt from scratch.  

I am not a nutritionist, but I do read a lot about nutrition. I believe in the way our ancestors ate. Therefore, I have real butter, cream, whole milk, and sometimes, yes, lard in my refrigerator and pantry.

What do I do with all the food I cook for the blog

We eat it, or we share it. We are lucky to love leftovers. However, there are times when I test multiple recipes, and I end up with too much food. This is the time when I share with family and friends. I hate throwing food away, so I always find a way to go around this part of my business.

Why my recipes did not work for you

I am not sure. I do my best to explain how to make the recipe so it is easy to follow.

There is not a lot of room for error if you measure the ingredients correctly and follow instructions. The truth is that I cannot take responsibility for what you do in the kitchen when I am not looking.

After so many years of blogging and receiving all kinds of messages from readers, I know that some of you will try to become creative with the recipes, which I cannot control.

Most of the time, this is not about me or my recipes, it is about you and your ability to follow instructions.

Changing a recipe is good when you know what you are doing, but if you do not have enough experience, the best advice is to follow what the blogger tells you. The most successful bloggers will test the recipe multiple times to make sure it is a good recipe.

However, sometimes the recipes can contain a typo or need clarification, so the best way to correct it is to use the comment area to ask questions. I will do the best I can to answer as soon as possible.

Where do I get my inspiration for my recipes

• Most of the recipes you will find on my blog are recipes I cook for many years.
• I am in love with culinary books and have a big collection of them in different languages.
• The way people used to eat in the past before the industrial revolution arrived fascinates me. I love old cookbooks, read magazines, other blogs and go to the library for research.
• I create my own recipes with ingredients I find in the pantry and fridge. Most of the time, even if I make a recipe from somewhere else, I put my personal stamp on it.

How many times do I make each recipe before I post it on the blog

It depends on how difficult the recipe is. I try to make it at least two times, if not more if there are some challenges. I do feel a huge responsibility for posting accurate recipes that use correct techniques.

Is it cost free to run a food blog?

No, it is not.

Some of the expenses you have to consider:

• Server hosting and domain– The blog needs a hosting company and a domain to exist before anything else. An annual payment is required for both of them.
• Theme and plugins– the frame of the blog is called a “theme”, which makes the pages run and look pretty. Most of the time, the theme needs to be purchased, because free themes are very limited in their capacity to do different things. Then there are plugins, some of them are free but some of them are not.
• Security services– you need to make sure that the site is protected from the evil. You have no idea how many people are trying to hack the site on a daily basis and steal your hard work.
• Camera, lenses and photography gear– In order to take beautiful pictures, you need a good camera. At the beginning of my blogging career I was taking most pictures with my Iphone. Unfortunately, this might work for a while, until you learn more about photography, but in the end, if you want quality, you need to invest in a good camera. You also need lenses for the camera, which are probably the most expensive. If you live like me in a cold climate(Minnesota), the natural light is not very good. The days are short and nights are long and cold. I had to find photography lamps to use after 4pm, so I can cook during the day and take pictures of the food at night, when I need to.
• Plates, pots and pans, cast iron cookware, silverware, furniture etc. All these, as you can imagine are not cheap. I use the basics from my kitchen, but I always look for more things to add to my collection (I love antique or thrift stores).
• Technical services cost lots of money. As much as I try to avoid the cost for many of these services, I sometimes feel like things are too difficult or time consuming for me to learn, so I pay to solve the issues. I like to use my creativity in the kitchen, and not behind the computer screen.
• Ingredients for the recipes– We usually eat what we make, but we still spend a considerable amount of money on ingredients and food for the blog.
• Internet, computer, electricity, gas, my personal time– there is no need to comment on those, but you get the idea.
• Classes – to learn how to do new things, as blogging is changing constantly and you need to keep up with the new stuff.

Comment policy

I thank you for your nice, polite, constructive, and on-topic comments. I love all your comments, and I will try to respond to as many of them as fast as possible.

However, I reserve the right to remove any rude, inappropriate, or offensive comment. 

I would love to create a community of food lovers, people who enjoy being in the kitchen or would like to learn how to cook.

Let’s learn from each other and be nice.

Thank you all!

If you have any other questions, please contact me at [email protected]