10 Questions With Natalie Herr Of Tickled Pink Cupcakery

Natalie Herr is a very talented woman. She makes beautiful cupcakes! Owner and baker of a gourmet cupcake business "Tickled Pink Cupcakery", Natalie’s passion for baking shines through in her gorgeous creations. I find the witty and whimsy names that she gives her creations equally fascinating and if I wouldn’t be so far away in Australia, I would have tried every single one of her cupcakes, they look so good! Natalie is one of the chosen food bloggers to be interviewed this month, nominated by her fans on Twitter where she tweets as @natalieherr Go check her blog out and stalk her on twitter!

Thank You Natalie for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this fun interview for us. We appreciate it.

1. Your latest food discovery?
Whole chickens.  Apparently I’ve been hiding under a rock where people only cook chicken breasts.  My newest challenge is to see how many meals I can get out of the 8lb chicken in my fridge.  I’m shooting for at least four or five.

2. What cookbook has inspired you the most?
Tough one!  I’d have to say most recently, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.  Making bread has become such a joy for me.  I love seeing and tasting the final loaf and knowing that my hands had a part in it.

3. Your fondest food memory?
There are so many.. making the first meal for my husband in our first apartment (Sauteed Chicken with Tomatoes), watching my Dad bake sunflower bread as a girl, listening to my grandparents chatter in their tiny kitchen while my grandpa made his famous mashed potatoes, seeing people enjoy my cupcakes, and just being lucky enough to be in a kitchen with my mom and my sister-in-law.

4. Your most trusty kitchen companion?
It has to be a toss up between my Kitchen Aid mixer and chef’s knives.  I use the mixer constantly for my bakery business, but I would be nothing without my knives.  Never under estimate the power of a good knife!

5. Quick, tell us 10 things that are in your fridge right now!

1. the 8lb chicken
2. a huge stalk of fresh tarragon
   
3. Trader Joe’s SunButter
   
4. the last few bites of the anniversary tier from our wedding cake (just had our 1st anniversary!)
   
5. three half-full bottles of wine (I swear, I’ll finish them.. or probably end up cooking with them.)
   
6. my husband’s home-brewed beers
   
7. 2 dozen eggs
   
8. maraschino cherries
   
9. 5 lbs bulk cream cheese (for the cupcake business, of course)
   
10. mayonnaise, but I don’t know why. (gross!)
    

6. One ingredient that frightens you the most? Why?
I’m not really into cooking living things, so I’m going to have to say live sea creatures of any kind, including eels, octopus, crustaceans, etc.  If it might attack, I don’t want to cook it.

7. What are you doing food wise to be more ecologically responsible?
I try my best to buy local, fresh, and organic if possible, but I draw the line if it’s too expensive.  I’m a big fan of reusable bags and I compost in my veggie garden.  I also really dislike preservatives and HFCS, so I tend to make a lot of prepared items from scratch.  And I don’t buy too much red meat.  Hold on, am I a tree hugger?

8. Which celebrity chef would you invite to dinner? What would you cook for them?
So it’s a toss up between Dorie Greenspan and Martha Stewart.  Many of my beloved recipes come from Martha, and Dorie is just an amazing baker with a world of experience.  But it would also be a hoot to invite Paula Deen- she’s just nuts.  And I don’t think I’d cook for them- I’d ask them to come help me cook!

9. What vegetable are you?
I’m going to say garlic, which gets sweeter with time in the oven (in the kitchen, in my case.  it’s my happy place.)

10. Comfort Food?
My grandmother’s macaroni and cheese.  It’s the greatest recipe on earth, and I’ve only shared it with a trusted few.  It just makes people happy. 
 
Thanks for the interview Sneh.

And Thank You Natalie. We wish you the very best with your lovely cupcake business!
[All Personal/Food Photos are Copyright of Natalie Herr and were reproduced here with permission]