Sites We Love: Sippity Sup

Live since: November 21, 2008

Posting rate: I'm committed to 3 or 4 posts a week, rain or shine. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do us part.

Geographic location: Hollywood, CA

** Why is the site called Sippity Sup?** Sup? It's a nursery rhyme about food and drink. I like nursery rhymes. They have a comforting cadence. Besides, alliteration is like soup to me. I slurp it up.

"Sippity sup, sippity sup, Bread and milk from a china cup. Bread and milk from a bright silver spoon. Made of a piece of the bright silver moon. Sippity sup, sippity sup. Sippity, sippity sup."

What's been your most popular post? Well that depends on which criteria you use. Comments? Traffic? Longevity? Google rank? But I think the most popular post for me, thanks to Pinterest is Good Looking Prosciutto-Wrapped Halibut.

What's your favorite post? That's a hard question. But today my favorite post ever is Fuyu Persimmons Make Great Neighbors. Probably because it's persimmon season and I have persimmons on my mind.

Credit: Greg Henry

What's something great that you've learned or that's happened to you since starting your blog? I learned that HTML means Hyper Text Markup Language. I'm serious, I never imagined I could grasp new technology with such vigor. I didn't start using a computer until I was in my 20's. Even then I resisted it diligently. But the world wide web has opened up my life to so many new experiences, and not just virtual experiences either. My blog has led to new friends (at my age), travel opportunities, and a lot more surprises.
I say surprises because on its face blogging seems to be a rather solitary activity. In fact, that's one of the things that drew me to blogging. I often sit alone in my underpants or bathrobe and "work." The cloistered aspect still appeals to me. But the more involved I get in blogging the more I begin to see how deeply communal it really is. Embracing new technology has opened that door for me.

What's the usual process for developing one of your posts? It starts with a faint growl in my tummy. I usually check the refrigerator first. Then the pantry. If I can't find something that quells my appetite I'll head to the Hollywood Farmers Market. I'm guaranteed to come home with something that inspires me. I like to develop my own recipes or at least try to copy something I ate in a restaurant. So I tinker through the cooking process, keeping notes as I go. If I get something good I'll photograph it immediately. Then we'll have it for a late lunch. The light in my kitchen is best from about 1 to 4 PM so we eat our most inspired meals during those hours. After lunch I'll think about what worked and what didn't. What could be better and what I can change. That's when I actually write the recipe. Which explains why sometimes my recipes might say "tarragon" when you can plainly see "basil" in the photo. People like to bust me on it. But I don't care. Everyone's got their creative process and that's mine.

Credit: Greg Henry

What are your favorite ingredients and tools? I'm happy with my chef's knife, my cutting board and my iPod. I like to keep it simple.

What are your favorite food and cooking resources? I hate to be such asuck up. But really, magazines like Saveur are a tremendous inspiration to me. They are far more "of the moment" than most cookbooks.

What photography equipment do you use? I have a professional photography background. But the thing about being "professionally creative" is sometimes you have to compromise your creativity just to fulfill the assignment. To balance that bit of irony, I started a blog. A blog with certain rules. Rules designed to balance my time and keep me focused on the food. Which is why I was determined to use a point and shoot camera, and a point and shoot camera only for my blog. I bought a $100 Canon and went to work. I like the freedom of using simple tools. I think it forces you to connect with a level of creativity that too much technology can stifle. However, in April of this year I caved to peer pressure. I now use a Canon 7D most of the time. But I use the cheap kit lens that came with the camera. I am determined to use the kit lensand the kit lens only...

Where else can we find your work? Well I guess I'd be amiss if I didn't mention that I have a cookbook coming out on Ulysses Press November, 2012. It's about Savory Pies, and I'm pretty proud of it. I also write a weekly column on boozing for The Back Burner at Key Ingredient. But I am perhaps most proud of the podcast I do with Nathan Hazard (The Chocolate of Meats) and Andy Windak (The Wind Attack). It's called The Table Set. It's produced by Joy The Baker's podcast network Homefries and we talk about parties. Your parties, our parties&emdash;parties we've been to. Parties we'd like to throw. In fact, the LA Weekly called us "lighthearted hipster entertainment" when they picked their 5 favorite podcasts for food lovers.

Credit: Greg Henry

What food blogs do you follow? I read a lot of food blogs. A lot! I lurk though. I prefer a bit of anonymity because I'm very fickle. My must reads change with the seasons. But the wickedly funny blogs keep me coming back again and again. Blogs like: sis. boom. [blog!], Salty Seattle, and Evil Shenanigans. Though I bet they'd be surprised to hear how loyal I am, because I lurk!

What is one thing that sets your site apart from others (please be as specific as possible)? I'm a geek for food and I think I'm honest about it too. Still, I try be funny. Because I find that people connect to humor. But I have to admit, I'm not always funny. That's how honest I am...

Do you know a blog or blogger who deserves to be featured in this space? Email a nomination—including a link to the site and a few sentences on why they're worthy of love—to__siteswelove@saveur.com.