Karly Campbell is the mama of two behind Buns In My Oven, the sweetest food blog on the Internet. The mom.me team fell in love with how great the name was, and then, when we tried a few of her recipes, we were completely hooked. Her style of cooking is real, and like ours, her main priority is making sure she makes delicious food her kids will love to eat.
Website or blog: Buns In My Oven
Blogging since: 2008
Where you call home: I'm currently living in Nebraska, but I'll always call Illinois home.
What’s your earliest cooking memory? I remember baking gingerbread men cookies with my mom one Christmas. I would roll over the cookies with a rolling pin and shout "Oh no, Mr. Bill!" Apparently that's from an old TV show? I don't even know. I was a weird kid.
How would you characterize or describe your cooking style today? I would say that my cooking style is "approachable." I don't cook things that are over the top or too difficult most of the time. I cook from scratch when it's convenient, but I'm not afraid of using store bought products either. My goal is to make food my kids will eat.
What’s your favorite thing to cook at home? Why? Carnitas! They're surprisingly easy to make, my whole family loves them, and I just think it's kind of magical the way the pork fries itself in its own fat.
What are three things you have in the pantry at all times? Ro*Tel tomatoes and chiles, peanut butter, and baking supplies like flour, sugar, etc.
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? Breakfast! We fall back on breakfast foods a lot.
What are some of your kitchen goals—i.e., skills you want to improve on or recipes you want to master? I would like to try my hand at croissants sometime. I haven't worked up the courage or patience yet, though.
How has becoming a mother changed your experience as a home cook? Honestly, I had my first baby when I was a baby myself, so I never experienced the home cook role before being a mother.
What are some of your favorite cookbooks and/or food blogs? I love the cookbook "Flour," by Joanne Chang. It's loaded with baking recipes and every one turns out amazing. As for food blogs, I'm always making recipes from Foodie with Family, Mel's Kitchen Cafe and How Sweet Eats.
Besides other cookbooks or food blogs, where do you draw inspiration for your cooking? The grocery store, for sure. I can wander around there for hours. I focus on one ingredient and try to think of different ways to use it.
Where else can we find you? I just wrote my first book, "Stack Happy," featuring 70 pancake recipes for breakfast, dinner and dessert! It's due out in February 2015 and available for pre-order on Amazon right now. I'm also found over on Tablespoon a couple of times a month.
Images via Buns In My Oven
