[00:00:01] Hey, everyone, this is Lynn Vartan and you are listening to the A.P.E.X Hour on K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. In this show, you get more personal time with the guests who visit Southern Utah University from all over, learning more about their stories and opinions beyond their presentations on stage. We will also give you some new music to listen to and hope to turn you on to some new sounds and new genres. You can find us here every Thursday at 3 p.m. or on the web at suu.edu/apex. But for now, welcome to this week's show here on Thunder 91.1.
[00:00:46] OK. Well, welcome, everyone. This is a little bit of an unusual day for us. So for those of you listening live, this is the A.P.E.X Hour. I'm Lynn Vartan. And one of the cool things is that I get to bring amazing people into the studio who are visiting campus and I get to talk to them about their lives and about what they do. And this week is another great week with A.P.E.X. We're just about ready to head into spring break. But before we do, we are celebrating the business of Tara Bench. So I'd love to welcome to the studio, Tara Bench!
[00:01:20] Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:22] It's great to have you here. I just totally want to tell everybody about your blog and about your website and about everything because it is so cool. So let's start with that. Who is Tara Bench and what do you do?
[00:01:34] Oh, that's it. That's a big one. I am a former magazine food editor and now blogger, food blogger. And that's about where I, where I am. I, along with running my food blog, I develop recipes for companies and brands. I do food styling, which is making food look good for photography and video for different clients and produce content creation, jobs, things like that. So kind of a variety.
[00:02:09] That's amazing. And you have a book coming out?
[00:02:12] I do. I will soon be a published author.
[00:02:15] That's so cool.
[00:02:16] Yeah. It comes out this fall. Thank you.
[00:02:18] And tell me the title again, because it was a super cool title.
[00:02:20] It's "Live Life Deliciously". So that that's my tagline, sort of my brand message and the name of my new cookbook.
[00:02:28] And so if anybody wants to come find you right now as they're listening and they're like, "She sounds so cool. I want to find out about her recipes." Where should they go?
[00:02:37] Tarateaspoon.com. One word. And @tarateaspoon on Instagram.
[00:02:42] And you were just so good with social media. I mean, you respond to people, you're just so present on it. Maybe that's kind of a great place to start. Your talk today talked a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit and how you've built your business and how you've built your brand. So maybe if you could talk a little bit about that component of it, because I know that's something I even, you know, struggle with. It's like getting on top of the brand and the social media. How do you do that?
[00:03:09] I did have to sort of change my perspective on it and move from sort of that consumer of social media high to a producer and somebody more active and engaging for my business. And I still, it is, it's an aspect of my business that I know is necessary to engage with people who are following me or want to be a part of my food world. And I love that. And it's also still a bit of a challenge, too. It's some people's full time jobs to maintain social media, to put fun content up and to engage with the people that are there. And so it is just one aspect of my business and I have to balance that. So it's fun to be there and great to be there. And I can share things in a different way than I can on my website. And it's it's also a challenge to balance that.
[00:04:06] Yeah. I mean, you do it so well. And one of the things is is related to that is the photography and the food styling. And I know that that's something you've been doing for a long time. And so I'd love to kind of just get into a little bit about what what it what it means to be a food stylist. And I mean, you're the photographs on your site are so gorgeous. How do you I mean, you must wear so many different hats. Art director, I mean, whether or not you're taking the pictures yourself, you're styling them. How does it all work? You have a home studio. Could you take me through it a bit?
[00:04:38] Oh, thanks for asking. I, yes, I started out as a magazine food editor at Martha Stewart magazine and learned food styling on the job. I, you know, didn't go to school for that. And food styling, is it for editorial purposes and and publishing it, you are learning to cook recipes and use real food and make them look good in in a photograph and in front of the camera and there are tricks to that. For the most part, I learned the type of food styling and do the type of food styling that uses all real food. And the actual recipe, however, part of my career, I have done some advertorial food.
[00:05:26] OK.
[00:05:26] And that's a little bit different where the food maybe needs to sit on, sat longer.
[00:05:31] Oh, right.
[00:05:31] Under really heavy lights. And so that's the type of food styling that you might have heard about where they use Crisco for ice cream or different effects to get the look of steam. Or glistening, you know, burgers with Vaseline, et cetera. So those are some tricks that I have used and I do, but I really love food styling, using real food and making it look approachable and like something that you can recreate in your kitchen.
[00:06:01] Yeah. That's just a whole new world for me. Wow.
[00:06:04] Yeah. And and it's it's great. I often people have said, "oh, you're an artist" and I've never thought of myself as an artist. I think. Well, I'm a cook. But there is an aspect to that where you are looking at food as if you're the lens of a camera. And what is this going to look like and does it look better overhead or coming in low and looking at all the details? So there is something very visual about that that I deal with.
[00:06:35] Are there any like simple tricks that you can share? I don't mean trade secrets or anything, but you know, everybody. I mean, people are constantly pulling other phones in restaurants and things like that or or want to style food that they make. I mean, do you have any home kind of tips?
[00:06:49] A few, I would say. So the whole restaurant taking a photo in the restaurant where you get served, this beautiful plate of food and you're like, "I need to document this." It's the lighting. So have everyone with a phone, put their flashlights on that dish and then you can take your picture. Yeah. And that definitely always just makes it look more beautiful and just like your eye sees it. But at home, there is something to be said for. If something looks good, you're going to enjoy it a little bit more.
[00:07:19] Right.
[00:07:20] So those slow cooker meals that have been simmering, getting all delicious for hours are usually pretty brown. And, you know, not super appealing.
[00:07:29] Right.
[00:07:29] Even if they're delicious. So things like that, some food styling tricks that maybe aren't super technical is throw some fresh herbs on top.
[00:07:38] Oh, yeah.
[00:07:39] Or, you know, serve it over rice or next to beautiful crusty piece of bread or something like that. That makes it look more inviting.
[00:07:49] Yeah.
[00:07:49] And that's a simple, simple thing to do at something at home and something that I do professionally is you think, "OK, I've got this hot lasagna with melted cheese and I'm going to serve it on this plate. It's going to look delicious." And you try to serve it melts and falls.
[00:08:06] Right.
[00:08:07] So things like that. The tricks are to let that rest for almost 20 minutes, even though you think, well, it's going to get cold. It doesn't really. And I food style cold food a lot.
[00:08:19] Yeah.
[00:08:20] And so there are those aspects of I'm not serving it right out of the dish like you do at home. So it does look like that even though tastes the same.
[00:08:30] That's so fun. I mean and I wonder, it's probably something that's a lot of experience, face work and maybe tricks kind of shared among professionals because I mean, are there books on food styling? Is it something you can research?
[00:08:44] There are. There are a lot of books and trade publications and things like that from professional food sales that have been in the business for years. And they've wrote these amazing books with all these secrets and tricks. And honestly, I would say as fun and interesting as those books are to pull out and read and learn about it's practice, you got to get your hands in there and and see what it looks like. And I love the trend of sharing pictures of food, whether it's whether you're a blogger and a professional food blogger or it's just you and you're sharing your new recipe, your mom's favorite recipe, and everyone's looking at food differently.
[00:09:28] Yeah. And so we are like you mentioned, we're all wearing a lot of hats.
[00:09:33] Yeah.
[00:09:33] And I have sort of taken a few of those hats off because I know I'm good at certain things and not others.
[00:09:40] Right.
[00:09:40] So I am so happy when I can hire a great photographer or work on a job with an amazing photographer, an artist, because I'm not good at photography.
[00:09:51] Right.
[00:09:52] And most of the photos that I take of my food are with my iPhone.
[00:09:55] Yeah.
[00:09:56] And thank goodness it does the work for me.
[00:09:57] Yeah.
[00:09:59] But yeah, I focus on other things, whereas some people are talented and all those things and can take amazing pictures and make beautiful food. And it's just different for everyone.
[00:10:10] Yeah.
[00:10:10] So you don't have to. I just think you don't have to feel like you have to do it all.
[00:10:15] Thank goodness.
[00:10:16] Some aspect of how you like to share food and do it.
[00:10:21] Oh, that's really inspiring. What are the other huge aspects of your job that I want to get? We talked a little bit about lunches, recipe development. And I mean, these are these are more that the craft themselves rather than the business seven. I'd love to ask you more about that later as we go in, but I'm sure you get us a lot about recipe development and how you know, how does that. That work, does it, does the inspiration strike, does the muse strike, do you have a notebook? Do you, you know, craft things over times? How does rep recipe development work for you as you develop this this massive database of things that you've created? All of that?
[00:11:02] Yes. Oh, yeah. And it's different for every every recipe, every approach, every job. Like freelance job that I take. I will go about it. Yes. I'm always collecting inspiration, whether I'm eating out or flipping through beautiful magazines in my cookbook collection. I'll see something and say without looking at the recipe, say, "oh, that looks good." And "could I make something up and create my own flavors?" Because I'm drawn to that in a visual way. Now, let me make something that might taste good that that looks like that or or maybe it's the opposite. I'll have a bite of something and I'll say, "oh, my goodness, this is great. I'm going to recreate this and maybe add a different flavor or make it differently in some way." And so that is definitely part of the process. There's also an aspect to just coming up with something out of the thin air. You know, I often cook by cleaning out my fridge. What have I got in here and come up with something new?
[00:12:08] Right.
[00:12:09] And just out of things that are in the fridge. And it's one of my favorite things. We've got wavers in here.
[00:12:16] I know. It's so fun.
[00:12:17] I love it. But yeah, I, for clients and brands, often it's a very unique process because each company will have their own requirements or style or audience. They do share recipes.
[00:12:32] Cause you do brand consulting and that kind of thing. So you work with a company and they say, "all right, we want these recipes for maybe this season" and then you, how do you, what considerations do you take there?
[00:12:45] Exactly. I take into account the trends that are in the industry, what might be coming up in a year. So what I'm seeing at trade shows, how can I implement new ingredients and fun flavors into recipes for myself or for clients? Maybe they're a company that their audience loves healthy recipes. Or maybe their audience loves baking and sweets and rich things and whatever it is or whatever the product is. Or like you said, the season.
[00:13:19] Right.
[00:13:19] I'll use seasonal ingredients, but it is fun just to say, "hey, I'm inspired by this. I want to try this new ingredient and I want to make it accessible for someone at home." All of those things just come into into play when I'm in the kitchen.
[00:13:36] It sounds so fun. Oh, my gosh. Well, it's already time for our first little musical plate break. As usual, I have a few little songs to play for you. Gosh, these three are not related necessarily to each other at all. They're just three songs that I've had in my maybe play on the A.P.E.X Hour list and just a reminder if you're interested in of the music that you hear and we do have a Spotify playlist that's a totally open playlist that's called Played on A.P.E.X Hour. And you can also find that on our website, which is suu.edu/apex. The first song that I have for you is "Empress of the Lake" by Ed Hardcourt. You're listening to K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1.
[00:17:42] All right. Well, welcome back. That was "Empress of the Lake," Ed Hardcourt. Nice and relaxing. Again, this is K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. If you want to check out the music, just check out the playlist that's called Played On A.P.E.X Hour. And that's on our website, suu.edu/apex. In the studio with me is Tara Bench of the website, Tara Teaspoon at tarateaspoom.com. Is that right?
[00:18:08] Exactly.
[00:18:09] Cool. Welcome back, Tara.
[00:18:11] Thanks.
[00:18:11] I would love to talk to you about some of your work in magazines. I still love, love, love magazines. And you've worked on in a wide variety of magazines and in a wide variety of positions. And particularly I'm kind of interested in the time that you were at Ladies Home Journal and some of the changes and modernizations with the look and everything that you were involved in. I wonder if you could share some of that with us.
[00:18:37] Oh, absolutely. And to start off, I am, I am a such a sentimentalist. And so working at Ladies Home Journal was really fun for me. It was over 130 years old when I started working there. And I loved the history of that. It was a women's service magazine and had started in the eighteen hundreds. And we had the archives. I would love to go look at the archives and see those old magazines and how they helped women run their households and see the world through the ages.
[00:19:11] Right. Right. Right.
[00:19:12] And so the other thing was, is because it was that old, you know, all of our grandmas probably had it on their, you know, coffee tables. And it's in every doctor's office.
[00:19:22] Totally.
[00:19:24] And it had a definite feel and persona to it. And, you know, a history, a sort of a historical stance and amazing articles, amazing writers would, would appear in its pages. And a few of those pages were food pages. So that's what I was in charge of in and overseeing. And as I was there, the magazine industry was changing. You know, many magazines over the last several years have closed and things are going digital. There's definitely still a place for magazines in the world. And we as a company and Ladies Home Journal, we were trying to stay relevant and stay important to those readers, the millions of readers that read that magazine. And so while I was there, we sort of made some some shifts and changes to become more relevant and incorporate social media and engaging with our audience rather than being the experts that we're just telling people something. Within the magazine pages, we were able to sort of start a conversation and get other other voices in there and readers to sort of participate in the topics that we were talking about. And that fell into the food pages as well. So rather than me just being there, sort of waving my hand, saying "this is the best recipe and this is how you make banana bread and this is what you should do for Christmas cookies." And I was able to sort of go on to social media and create a conversation and modernize those food pages. It was so fun. It was, it was a real challenge and learning experience and branding and repositioning. And we did it several times over those years that I was there.
[00:21:15] Was it difficult or well-received? I mean, was that tough growing pains or was everybody, like on board? What was that transition like?
[00:21:24] What was interesting is it was very well-received. You know, in the magazine industry, you're always very concerned with your median age of reader.
[00:21:35] Right.
[00:21:36] Because the advertising companies are looking at that.
[00:21:38] Right. Right.
[00:21:39] And something that I learned there was that process of how a magazine is staying afloat because of those ads that you flip by and they're paying for those pages. And so I would go on sales calls and and go to these advertising agencies. And even they were saying, "man, this magazine looks amazing.".
[00:21:58] Oh, that's great.
[00:21:59] "Wow. This is an amazing change. And this is so fun. And, oh, we're trying to reach a younger audience and your audience is a little bit older." So even though everyone loved that, that's sort of the beginning of that transition out of publication is we had so many readers, but they were older and these advertisers wanted younger readers. So it was appealing and it was fun and it just wasn't sustainable.
[00:22:23] But before that, you worked for Martha Stewart Living. And that is a brand that is built on. I know the best way to do things. And I think that's why a lot of people, you know, go to her stuff is because, like, this is the best banana bread. So what was that like a little bit and what was the aesthetic? Well, you know what? What was that scene like?
[00:22:44] Perfection.
[00:22:45] Yeah.
[00:22:46] You know, it was all about perfection and doing the best of whatever you were doing and teaching. There was a hue. I loved the aspect of teaching in that magazine. And Martha has always been a teacher. Whether it's her TV show or magazine, she always is like, "hey, I'm gonna make a turkey for Thanksgiving. So what is the best way out to make a turkey?" And so, you know, if you remember many years ago, she had a column called 101. Banana bread 101. Chocolate cake 101. Roasting turkey 101. And you were, as editors and recipe developers, it was so fun. We were eight. We were tasked with creating the best of what we were showcasing those pages. And sometimes they were a little esoteric and, you know, new and crazy flavors and maybe a mushroom. You would never even be able to get at your grocery store. But we were creating recipes with it. So part of the pages of Martha Stewart when I was there were about aspiration and inspiration.
[00:23:50] Yeah.
[00:23:51] And some were very useable and approachable. And it was a fun mix. And I think that magazine is still almost a reference book.
[00:23:59] Yeah, totally.
[00:24:00] In every you know, whether it's the craft section or the gardening section or home keeping. She appeals to so many people and it's kind of that aspirational like "I am going to try to be like this."
[00:24:15] I know, I love the calendar at the beginning of each issue. You just, I was like, each episode, oh my God. Each issue, you know, where you would kind of see, "oh, she's planting her bulbs now. She's doing this now," you know. Would you, is there any, I know you learned a ton from all of these experiences, but I was curious if there was because you were still I mean, that was the first sort of big company that you worked for. And you were really in on the ground up with Martha Stewart Living. Are there any standout lessons or standout things that you really learned from that particular experience?
[00:24:50] That's a great question. And I have always said, like you said, it was the beginning of my career. I started there as an intern and became a food editor and sort of worked my way up. But I learned, I always say I learned everything there.
[00:25:05] Right.
[00:25:05] Even though I had gone to culinary school and I had some journalism education, I learned how to develop a recipe there. I learned how to food style. I learned how to work with a team of art directors and photographers. I learned how magazines are published and what goes into it and how far in advance you plan and how to plan. And so, yeah, I learned a lot and I took a lot away from those years of experience into my other jobs and into my business now.
[00:25:44] Yeah.
[00:25:44] So it was a big thing. Yeah.
[00:25:47] And you've also done a lot of TV and I'm a huge fan of some of these competition shows. And you've been a judge on them and you've participated on them. We were talking a bit at lunch about what those are like. And I wondered if you could share with our audience things that are exactly the way we think they are and things that might be a little different than how we would think watching the show with however you want to share.
[00:26:13] Of course. Yeah, exactly. Whatever. I didn't sign away my rights, of course. No, those, those shows are fun. I, like you said, I have been a judge on a Food Network cooking competition show. It was several years ago. It was a Thanksgiving challenge. Oh, how fun. And most recently, a few years ago, I was a contestant on the Christmas Cookie Challenge.
[00:26:36] I love that show we watch, we like binge watch that in the holidays.
[00:26:39] I mean, what is wrong with watching people bake? It's the best thing ever.
[00:26:45] So good. Especially at the holidays.
[00:26:47] Yeah. Yeah. When I was a judge and and then again when I was a competitor on these shows, it was sort of my first experience with reality TV. And I was, I was surprised and interested to learn how much the producers play in that. So there is a huge aspect of reality and you are given a certain amount of time to perform this cooking task and make it your best. And it's not a lot of time. And so there is that drama of the rush that you see in all these cooking shows and "knives down" and "stop the ovens!" And they do it, obviously, to create some drama.
[00:27:33] Of course.
[00:27:33] But it is a lot of fun at the same time. But the producers know what it takes to make a good show. And so they will ask me as a judge or a contestant certain questions that make for good TV, really.
[00:27:46] Right.
[00:27:47] And I was surprised at how involved they are in how curated that is because they have to edit it into an hour show. And, you know, both those times I'm there for a day or two days of filming. And so they're very thoughtful about these pointed questions they ask you and and what they encourage you to see as a judge. They would, you know, point things out that maybe I didn't see so I could comment on camera about it there.
[00:28:17] Right, they're just helping the situation, you know, along a bit. And so that you guys can give your expertise as judges and give your input. How cool!
[00:28:25] And I have to say, after that last being a contestant, I'm not sure I want to be on reality TV anymore.
[00:28:32] You're like, "That's it. I'm done. I'm checked out.".
[00:28:34] Some people get a rush from it. But I, I like to have my time to make the food that I love to make.
[00:28:40] Cool.
[00:28:40] I'll do it not on a reality TV show.
[00:28:42] Right. Just in the home competition.
[00:28:45] Yeah.
[00:28:46] That's awesome. All right. Well, it's time for another song. Let's see what to play next. This is a song by ChessBoxer. I don't know how this song came to me. People make suggestions and I run across things on all kinds of different playlists. But this artist is ChessBoxer and the song is "Calon Lan". Two words. Check it out. See what you think. K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1.
[00:33:10] OK. Well, that is a song called "Calon"- I think it's "Calon Lan", it's C-A-L-O-N. And then second word, L-A-N. And the artist is ChessBoxer. And you're back listening to the A.P.E.X Hour on K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. I am Lynn Vartan and I'm in the studio with Tara Bench. Tara's website, which we have been enjoying. I mean, the pictures are amazing. You guys gotta go check it out. It's tarateaspoon.com. There are recipes. There's a store. There's all kinds of things. And we're going to talk a little bit more about her book coming out and some of the recipes. Maybe she'll share a couple of titles of recipes that are coming out with it. So welcome back, Tara.
[00:33:50] Thank you. Thanks for having me.
[00:33:51] Well, we've been talking a lot about all of your incredible successes in big companies and now with your own company and the book. That's coming up. But I know so many people who, you know, say, "wow, well, that just sounds amazing. But I have a blog or I have a small business or I am trying to get started in things." And it's just hard, you know, and I'm sure that you have plenty of that side of things, too. And I know in your talk today, I really appreciated your discussion about resilience, you shared your brother's story and the workout. You know, you gotta just keep doing it again and again. And I would love for you to sort of talk about maybe some of the challenges, you know, and or some of the fears and perhaps some of your defense mechanisms, if you will, because I think they'd be really inspiring to anyone out there with a business that they're looking to expand or keep going.
[00:34:48] Thanks. I'm, yeah, I'm very open about talking about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur and running your own business, whether it is a blog or something that you run from home and and produce and sell or, you know, create courses and and teach people whatever it is that your business is. And if you're owning it and running it, you're wearing a lot of hats.
[00:35:16] Yeah.
[00:35:17] And things are constantly changing. Your clientele might be changing, technologies might be changing, and even in the course of the last five or six years that I've been starting this business and growing it, things have changed. You know, the the way I was building my website at the very beginning, things are very different now. Google has new algorithms that I need to deal with and think about. And so I'm constantly learning and switching gears, and I think that's one of the challenges of running your own business. And I have found that it sometimes gets me down.
[00:35:56] Yeah.
[00:35:56] You know, I'm constantly having to change or learn something new. And so often I'm I'm very real about this. So often you think, "oh, my gosh, I'm not enough. I'm not smart enough to do this. I can't keep doing this. This is too I'm trying to do too many things or manage too many people or run", you know, do too much. And it does get overwhelming. And I, like you said, sort of my process in that is that, you know, as as great of a day as I'm having today and the opportunities that I have in front of me in a week, I might be saying, "oh, my gosh, I'm done. I can't do this anymore." It comes and goes and it always will as you're owning your business or running something. There are challenges and but there are lots of successes and achievements. And for me, I have been a I have tried to break it down and say, "OK, I'm not going to do all of it today. I'm not going to finish like get to all of these needs or deadlines or website changes or fixes or rewrites or, you know, recipes today or tomorrow or this week. What can I do right now? What can I get help with? What can I hire?".
[00:37:11] Right, right, right.
[00:37:13] "What can I take off my plate and just break it into smaller pieces?" And that's been a real help for me as I've gone through this process. And it is, speaking of hiring help.
[00:37:24] Yeah, you were talking about that.
[00:37:26] Taking off your plate. I have had to make choices, financial choices to say, you know, I'm not making a ton of money or the money that I would like to be making right now. But I need to invest in some help in order to grow.
[00:37:39] Right.
[00:37:39] And I think that's an important aspect for, you know, startups or small businesses or somebody who's looking to make a change in their career. You should probably be open to those investments of time and money and sort of look forward and say, "what will this take? What's my threshold?" And just kind of figure that out a little at a time. It's not all going to come at once. But that's that's helped me.
[00:38:06] Yeah, I'm so, I want to even go further and ask you more, because I mean, I relate to that so much. I mean, those days where, you know, you have so many successes with what you're doing and then, and then the next week it just feels like, "wow, I'm doing so much and it's hard." Do you, do you journal? Do you just stop and go one thing at a time? I'm just going to tunnel in and not look at the big picture. I mean, what are some maybe really practical, like I'm just curious, like what you do on a day when you're not feeling great?
[00:38:39] Recently, my new thing is making sure I'm taking care of myself. I have spent years not doing that. And, you know, maybe it's it's taking quiet time or, you know, doing that meditation or workout or something, even if it's a few minutes a day. That is my new thing is saying, "I'm going to be a bit better business owner. I'm gonna be able to accomplish more in this day if I take care of myself.".
[00:39:08] Yeah. Yeah.
[00:39:09] And it is still a challenge for me. It is hard not to wake up, get going on my business, know that I have ten deadlines that day, jump right on them. You know, I am trying to restructure my work life balance.
[00:39:23] Right.
[00:39:23] To do that because it has helped a lot in my business, surprisingly. And yes, another thing is just creating new systems.
[00:39:34] Oh, my God. You're speaking my language! I love me my systems.
[00:39:37] Yes! And they change and morph as your business changes and morphs. Yeah. But I've loved it. I get summer interns every summer.
[00:39:45] Oh, cool.
[00:39:46] They work with me on my business. They're college students. And I love their new ideas and what they're bringing to the table. And I've created systems in my business based on their ideas. And somebody from the outside kind of coming in and saying, ""hey, let's try this or "let's organize your data, your files this way." So just being open to things and and saying, "hey, what change can I make this month or week or year that will move me in in a new or different direction?"
[00:40:18] Oh, I love it. And do you sort of plan? Do you have a five year plan, a ten year plan, or you just kind of go like, "OK, what can I accomplish this year," you know?
[00:40:28] Great question. I never really have. Yeah. I feel like things are changing so much.
[00:40:33] Right.
[00:40:34] I sort of have a few sort of pots of gold at the end of the rainbow that I worked towards, but I don't know if that's going to take two years or five years.
[00:40:44] Right.
[00:40:46] You know, something that I've learned this year is, my business slowed down a little bit because I took on the project of writing a cookbook.
[00:40:55] Yeah.
[00:40:55] And so had I had this five year plan, I would have had to shift it anyway because this new opportunity came in place. But I still know how I want to grow my business and where I want to get to. But I'm okay with those little turns happening every once in a while.
[00:41:10] Well, speaking of that book, let's talk about it a little more. Do you have a month to do you know? Do you have an exact date? Do you know when it's coming out? Tell me all about it. Tell tell me more.
[00:41:21] Yes. If you follow me, you are going to start seeing some exciting announcements about pre-sales this summer. And so you can buy it early and know that right when it's published or landing on your doorstep. So that's exciting. And the on sale date is early October.
[00:41:36] Oh, my gosh, that's awesome!
[00:41:38] So, yes, it will be on bookstore shelves. And it is, it's been a bit of a dream of mine. I didn't know when writing a cookbook would happen. But it's also been a challenge that I didn't expect.
[00:41:54] Right. And tell me, you were you were saying earlier kind of what style of recipes? It's sort of things we can make all the time and then some special occasion stuff. What type of recipes are in it?
[00:42:07] It is a mix. So it's recipes for busy week nights and leisurely weekends. And I love that because it kind of covers everything and all the ways that I like to cook.
[00:42:16] Yeah.
[00:42:17] Where I will cook or share recipes that are, you know, easy enough for a 30 minute or now or preparation. So you can get dinner on the table on Wednesday.
[00:42:27] Yeah.
[00:42:27] But also recipes like a fun layer cake or a great breakfast or you know, a slow cooker meal where you have time on the weekend to sort of say "I want to just cook" or "get this in the oven" or something like that. So it's a little of everything. And that's the way I love to cook. I love to share food. That's very much like my Web site. You'll find a little of all of that.
[00:42:50] Is there a recipe? I don't know if you can share, but if you can share a recipe from the new cookbook, kind of a title just to maybe a special one that comes to mind or one that comes to mind that you're particularly excited about.
[00:43:02] Good question. I haven't picked favorites yet.
[00:43:05] Yeah, right.
[00:43:05] And you know, it's it's fun to see as I've had help with family and friends who have tested my recipes before they go in the book because I want to make sure they work really well. So it's been fun to see what their favorites are. And for instance, my Chicken Chili Verde soup has already been made countless times and I'm so excited to share that recipe with the cookbook readers. But there's a mix. I've got some fun appetizers that, oh my gosh, some of my favorite dips in it, spreads, and snack boards and all the way to breakfasts and desserts and like very flavorful, ethnic meals that I've created and that are my favorites.
[00:43:51] Oh, my gosh, it sounds awesome. Well, I'd like to, we've had just a few minutes left and I have a couple more questions that I want to ask you. One is, is there a cookbook that is tattered and worn, you know? Well loved, well read in your own collection or cook that particularly inspires you. Do you have a favorite cookbook?
[00:44:15] Oh, there's so many. And I'm trying to think. I'm a collector of cookbooks.
[00:44:19] Oh my gosh.
[00:44:20] Often times I have so many. I can't even get through them. But I love them. I will grab and love and reference and use cookbooks anywhere from Maida Heatter, who is this amazing baker and cake maker and to Cook's Illustrated. I love their technical recipes and the explanation behind them. I reference all of my old Martha Stewart cookbooks. I love Ottolenghi. He is, you know, a chef from the U.K. that-
[00:44:57] Yeah, I don't know him.
[00:44:59] Just beautiful food with with veggie heavy and flavors and, you know, very Middle Eastern Israeli based flavors as well. And so he's inspiring. And I've always loved Jamie Oliver.
[00:45:14] Yeah.
[00:45:14] Just the, his personality comes through his recipes and his food. And those are always fun. But really I could go on.
[00:45:23] So that's amazing. I mean those are a lot of cool ones to check out some. I'm familiar with some I'm going to have to totally check out on my own. Well, that is amazing. I can't believe I mean, we've just like eaten up the hour, which is so awesome. I love talking to you and I cannot wait for the new cookbook. I do have one more question, which is our sort of playful, fun question. And it's the question is, what's turning you on this week so you can start thinking about that. And it could be anything. It could be a book or a movie or a TV show or your favorite lipstick or, you know, it could be anything. We've had everything from The Real Housewives to some, you know, incredibly, you know, intense book of poetry. So it's it's totally just a fun question for our listeners to get a little more insight to you. So, Tara Bench, what is this turning you on this week? Oh, that's a great question. That was not enough time to think about that.
[00:46:19] What's turning me on is, you know, I, I love to travel. And I, you know, this scare with health around the world is crazy. But what's turning me on is still just looking forward to vacations. I want to take and I've been very into looking into food vacations and where I can go and learn to cook and whether it's Thailand or Mexico and. And so that's just a passion that I've recently been into. So that's fun.
[00:46:52] Oh, my gosh, that sounds amazing. Cooking. I mean, you know, I never really thought about that. But like going to Thailand and learning how to cook Thai food.
[00:46:59] Right?
[00:47:00] Right.
[00:47:01] I mean, pretty dreamy.
[00:47:02] All right. Well, the website is tarateaspoon.com. And then your Instagram is?
[00:47:07] @tarateaspoon.
[00:47:08] Great. Perfect. And the book is coming out. There'll be presales in the summer. So definitely get on her social media and check out all the beautiful, beautiful food that's there and the beautiful photos. So. Tara, thanks so much for your time today. I really enjoy talking to you.
[00:47:23] Thanks, Lynn. It was great.
[00:47:25] Thanks so much for listening to the A.P.E.X Hour here on K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. Come find us again next Thursday at 3:00 p.m. for more conversations with the visiting guests at Southern Utah University and new music to discover for your next playlist. And in the meantime, we would love to see you at our events on campus to find out more. Check out suu.edu/apex. Until next week, this is Lynn Vartan saying goodbye from the A.P.E.X Hour, here on Thunder 91.1.
