Other People's Kitchens Q&A with Nicki Sizemore
Other People's Kitchens Q&A with Nicki Sizemore
Nicki lives in the Hudson Valley of New York and renovated her kitchen a few years ago. There's a great renovation video to watch. *Post contains affiliate links.
Q: Hello Nicki. Can you please tell us a little about yourself, where you live and your substack publication?
A: Hi there! I live in a small town in the Hudson Valley of New York. Our house is nestled up in the woods, which I love, but we’re also about an hour and a half train ride from New York City, which is nice (although I go to the city less and less these days). I’ve been in the food industry for over twenty years, starting when I went to culinary school in my early twenties. I’ve worked in many different capacities (recipe developer, culinary instructor, food stylist, video producer, blogger) and have written three cookbooks, but I feel like I’ve found my soul’s calling with my Mind, Body, Spirit, FOOD newsletter and podcast.
In the newsletter and podcast (and in a forthcoming cookbook, coming out in January 2026), I explore how we can find more presence, ease and freedom as cooks and eaters. We all need to eat to live, but food is far more than just an element of our survival. It’s a representation of cultural norms and power structures, it’s a source of pleasure and comfort, it’s a source of fear and stress, it’s how we connect with our bodies (and also how we sometimes shame or deprive our bodies), it’s fuel, it’s a driver for connection. In other words, food is insanely nuanced, and my mission is to help us (re-)discover the inherent pleasure in feeding ourselves. In my newsletter I also feature weekly new recipes, all of which just happen to be gluten-free, as my kids and I can’t eat gluten.
Q: Can you please describe the layout of your kitchen, how much of a role it plays with your family, and when writing for your publication ‘Mind, Body, Spirit, Food?
A: When we decided to move to the Hudson Valley in 2011, I looked at close to forty-five (!) houses, but when I stepped into the kitchen of our current house, I knew I finally found our home. The kitchen is truly the heart of the house—it opens to the living room and dining room and is where we spend the majority of our time as a family. We lived in the house for nine years before we finally decided to renovate the space (while it looked okay from the outside, the kitchen had a ton of issues—you can actually watch the renovation process and see the before and after in this video!).
Since we had lived in the space for so long, when it came time to renovate, I knew exactly what I wanted, down to which drawers would hold what, which made the process so much easier.
I do my writing and host my podcast in a little office in our attic, but the rest of my work happens in the kitchen. It’s where you can find me experimenting and testing new recipes, and it’s where I shoot all my recipe photos and videos, including my cookbooks (in fact, we just wrapped the final photo shoot for my next book!). It’s also the official “homework zone” for the kids, and it’s where our guests gather when they come over, inevitably nibbling on this marinated feta around the kitchen island.
Q: What are your most used kitchen gadgets that you cannot live without?
A: My chef’s knife is hands-down my favorite kitchen tool. While I used to be a die-hard Wusthof girl, I was gifted a Misen knife about five years ago and surprisingly it quickly became my favorite everyday knife. It’s just the right weight for my wrist and holds a fabulous edge (it also has a great price point). Another tool I couldn’t live without is my inexpensive kitchen scale, which not only makes baking so much easier (no messing with measuring cups!), but it’s also far more accurate, which is especially important for gluten-free flours. I also have a strange adoration for my mini liquid tablespoon measuring cup, which I use almost daily to measure things like olive oil, vinegar, citrus juices, honey, etc (again, no messing with measuring spoons!). Finally, I have to give a shout-out to my slow cooker and my food processor since I wrote entire books about them!
Q: You had a successful blog for many years and like some other food writers, you moved over to substack. Can you tell us what made you do this and what it was like to leave a website behind at a time when it was making its highest revenue from ads?
A: I have a blog called FromScratchFast which was my primary business for close to five years. While the recipes were “free” (and still are—the blog continues to live on, although with minimal attention), they were flooded with ads to fund the content. In relying upon ad dollars, however, I had to make sure that viewership was high (you only make money off of ads that people see), which in turn meant that search engines such as Google had to like my content.
But search engines have become increasingly specific about what kind of content they rank, and each blog post took an immense amount of research into SEO (search engine optimization) strategy and keyword placement. Eventually, it got to the point where my posts were written using a specific structure with specific words, and I started to feel like a robot. It wasn’t until I had a full-body shutdown, getting inexplicably sick for several months, that I realized how truly unhappy I was. I took some time off to heal, during which I realized that I needed a change.
Ironically, I had saved the term “Mind, Body, Spirit, FOOD” in a doc on my computer the year before, not knowing what I would ever do with it. During that healing stage I had a conversation with my husband, and that title came up again—it felt like a lightbulb going off. I instantly knew it was meant to be the seed for my next venture. Instead of going the blog route, however, I decided to move to a subscriber-based newsletter on Substack, which took a lot of courage, as I had never asked my readers for direct support before! I officially launched the newsletter in January 2023 and am so grateful I took the risk. Substack has become an incredible ecosystem to create meaningful, authentic content, as well as to connect much more deeply with my readers and with other writers.
Q: You have a podcast series which you started in early 2023, can you please tell us about that and what prompted you set this up? How do you find such interesting guests?
A: When I decided to launch my newsletter I also decided to launch a podcast, almost on a whim, as I was craving human connection and engaging conversations (blogging often felt like a one-sided exchange). A friend recommended an audio engineer, my husband (who’s a musician) helped me set up a microphone, and I pretty much just got started without much thought! My first guests were people I knew, then I slowly started to expand to writers, thinkers, recipe developers, and chefs that I admire (I find my guests right here on Substack or through direct inquiry via email or social media).
In the show, we explore cultural influences around food, and how food connects us (and sometimes disconnects us) to our minds, bodies, spirits, food, and our communities. We also talk about recipes, cooking, entertaining, and more. I’ve been blown away by the generosity of my guests and the conversations we’ve had. The podcast has helped me to grow in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and it’s now one of the most fulfilling aspects of my work.
Q: How would you describe the regional cuisine where you live? Are there fresh food markets or farmers’ markets available?
A: The Hudson Valley is bountiful with family-owned farms, and I feel incredibly lucky to have ample access to local produce, meats and fish. There’s a fabulous farmer’s market every Saturday in Cold Spring (where I live), and we’re also part of a local farm share (Laughing Fork Farm). We have our own garden as well, so in the summer we’re veritably over-run with fresh vegetables (it’s a challenge I actually love, as it forces me to get creative in order to reduce waste—tonight my mission is to use up a head of broccoli, Napa cabbage and a honeynut squash… let the cooking games begin).
Our friends own a butcher shop down the road called Marbled Meat Shop, which sells locally raised meats (and makes killer sandwiches), and we’re near Glynwood Farm, which has a beautiful farm store. We’re also within a few miles of a great fish store (Cold Spring Fish) and an ice cream shop (Sweet E’s), so I’m totally spoiled.
Q: Is there anything about your kitchen that you would like to change or improve on?
A: When we renovated the kitchen we kept the general layout the same in order to save on costs, but since we opted for a larger stove, it meant that we had to go for a smaller refrigerator. While the fridge looks big from the outside, the shelving space inside is actually super tight. We therefore had to buy a second cheap fridge for the basement storage room in order to have enough space, and I’m constantly running up and down the stairs for ingredients or beverages. I try to look on the bright side (it keeps me active!) but there are times when I wish I had a dumbwaiter (or, perhaps a butler?) to ferry me up ingredients.
Q: What tips can you give us that will help keep our kitchens neat and tidy and easy to manage?
A: One of my favorite things about my kitchen is my “appliance garage.” It’s basically a cubby on the counter that holds my Vitamix, food processor, and stand mixer, the three appliances that I use most. Each appliance is plugged in, and I just need to open the door and slide it out. When I’m done, I can slide the appliances back into the “garage” and shut the door, giving the counter a clean, uncluttered feel (you can see it in the video).
*Note from Lynn: Nicki’s, must watch, video is an interesting before and after viewing of her kitchen renovation. The “appliance garage” is a wonderful storage idea. So too are the idea of using glass jars and storage containers
From a cooking standpoint, my biggest tip is to clean as you go! I’ve found that if my cutting board is tidy, then my head feels twice as calm—cooking then feels less chaotic and more pleasurable. I try to wash dishes as I cook (or at least pile them in the sink) and keep my cutting board clean of scraps. I have a ton of little mise-en-place glass bowls, where I’ll arrange prepped ingredients so that once it’s time to get cooking, everything is ready to go.
Also, when we renovated our kitchen, I finally invested in some large glass jars and storage containers for my dry goods and flours (as a gluten-free cook, I use several different GF and nut flours). They used to be piled in their bags in the pantry, where they would occasionally rain down on everything, making a mess. The jars make it far easier to access what I need and help keep the pantry clean (and they look lovely!).
Finally—and this is an important one—if you live with other people, put them to work!! My husband is the master dish washer in my house since I do most of the cooking, and the kids are responsible for cleaning the dinner plates and helping to tidy up after we eat.
Q: How many cookbooks do you have and do you have any favourites? Can you tell us something about the cookbooks you have written?
A: I have three cookbooks, and, as I mentioned, my fourth baby is on its way! Each book was written as a direct reflection of a particular time in my life. Build-a-Bowl, my second book, was written when my youngest was a toddler and we found ourselves eating down to her palate and preferences. I was craving more dynamic flavors, so starting serving build-your-own-bowl dinners, featuring a whole grain, vegetable, protein, and a flavor-packed sauce. Everybody could build their own bowls (or, in the case of my toddler, get little piles on a plate), and my husband and I were able to enjoy vibrant, beautiful dinners again.
My next book, Fresh Flavors for the Slow Cooker was written when the kids were a bit older and started to get involved in a lot of different activities. Suddenly, the dinner hour was tight, and I turned to my dusty old slow cooker in the basement for help. I was initially skeptical of the slow cooker, having grown up on mushy crockpot meals that were mostly made with canned ingredients, so I challenged myself to create recipes using fresh foods and vibrant flavors. I fell in love, and the book was born! With school and fall in full swing I’ve actually been cooking from the book a ton recently (this week I made the Thai style massaman curry and the slow cooker applesauce after an apple picking haul).
My first book was The Food Processor Family Cookbook, which features recipes that rely on the food processor for ease and efficiency. I wrote this book when I had a new baby and five-year-old, and was constantly using the food processor (including for making baby food). While I love the recipes in the book, I have to be honest in that the publisher was a disaster to work with (they were recently bought out), so the layout is not what I would have chosen (although, thankfully the book has still sold well).
Q: Do you have a favourite recipe that you would like to share with us?
A: We still make build-your-own bowl dinners several times a week, and these Spicy Salmon Rice Bowls are probably the family favorite. They feature tender tamari roasted salmon, sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, and not one but two killer sauces.
Q: Have you had any kitchen disasters that you can share with us?
A: When I was just out of culinary school my husband and I had some musician colleagues of his over for dinner at our Brookly apartment, and I cooked up a feast. As I was finishing up the meal prep I nicked my finger and put on a band-aid. When dinnertime rolled around, the last things I had to do was toss together the watermelon and arugula salad and carve the steaks. Once we sat to eat, I realized with HORROR that my band-aid was missing. I fled into the kitchen to try to find it, but it wasn’t anywhere. I was way too embarrassed to say anything, so just kept eyeing people’s plates throughout dinner to see if it ended up in the food. I still have no idea if somebody found it in their salad and was just too nice to say anything… (oh, the mortification!). My husband and I have had many good laughs about this over the years (although, we’ve never invited those colleagues back…).
Thank you so much for sharing your kitchen with us
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Thank you. Lynn H. (FSL)
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Your kitchen is stunning Nicki! The renovation is incredible. As a food blogger, I related to everything you said about blogging and, while I haven't given up my blogs, being here on Substack is breathing new life into me. Also, thanks to this article, I discovered your podcast. I've only listened to two episodes so far, but it's fantastic.
so love the work Nicki does in her podcast & recipes!