Food blogger Emma Galloway is our food inspiration. Born in New Zealand, she moved to Australia to enjoy her new role of motherhood, soak up the Aussie sun and enjoy the incredible produce. Having children totally changed her life, but having children with undiagnosed food allergies turned her world upside down. Now she's cooking up delicious gluten-free and dairy-free fare for her family and taking gorgeous photos for her blog, My Darling Lemon Thyme. She shares beautiful stories and priceless tips for organic gardening. Emma's site has become a must-read for ideas for our family dinners.
Website or blog: My Darling Lemon Thyme
Blogging since: July 2010
Where you call home: Currently Perth, Western Australia. Although I am originally from Raglan, New Zealand.
What’s your earliest cooking memory? Standing in the kitchen, licking the mixing bowl after Mum had made her infamous banana cake with carob icing.
How would you characterize or describe your cooking style today? Simple, real food that is both delicious and good for you.
What’s your favorite thing to cook at home? Why? I love making curries, as I'm a sucker for all things spicy and hot.
What are three things you have in the pantry at all times? Brown rice flour, almond meal, quinoa.
What’s your “There’s Nothing in the Fridge" dinner? The one thing you often whip up with very few ingredients or, perhaps, very little inspiration? Sweetcorn fritters, which I serve with salad and boiled potatoes. (The recipe is in my cookbook).
What are some of your kitchen goals—skills you want to improve on or recipes you want to try or master? I would really love to master a proper gluten-free waffle recipe, that lives up to my memory of the real thing!
How has becoming a mother changed your experience as a home cook? Before having children, I worked professionally as a chef, so cooking at home was usually a pretty quick and easy affair. After cooking for 8-10 hours a day, the last thing I felt like doing when I got home was more cooking. So I lived off quick stir-frys and salads. Since having kids, whilst I do still tend to cook quick and easy things, I now put much more effort into everything I make. I also now make most of what we eat from scratch: bread, yogurt, crackers, cookies, tomato sauce, almond milk etc. It's the safest way I've found to know exactly what my little family and I are eating. An especially important thing when you have family members with food intolerances (like us).
What are some of your favorite cookbooks and/or food blogs? Heidi Swanson's blog www.101cookbook.com and her cookbooks are always a huge inspiration, as is Shauna James Ahern (www.glutenfreegirl.com) and her gluten-free cookbooks. Bryant Terry's new book "Afro-Vegan" is amazing and his drive and passion inspire, always. I adore the healthy recipes and stunning photos on www.thefirstmess.com, www.thevanillabeanblog.com moves me with her beautiful imagery and exciting flavour combinations and Molly Yeh from www.mynameisyeh.com, continues to inspire with her photos, recipes and fun personality. There's many more … but I'd be here all day!
Besides other cookbooks or food blogs, where do you draw inspiration for your cooking? I draw most of my inspiration from our local farmers markets and the beautiful sesonal produce on offer. My travels throughout India and Southeast Asia are always influential too, as is my husband's Vietnamese heritage (and his mum's amazing cooking!).
Where else can we find you? Occasionally you'll find me sharing recipes over on Food52. Other than that you can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for glimpses into my daily life.
UP NEXT IN THE SERIES: Bree Hester
All images via My Darling Lemon Thyme
