Jeanne Kelley is a food writer, recipe developer and food stylist based in Los Angeles and the author of Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden. You can find some of her recipes here. Find out more about Jeanne on her website, Jeanne Kelley Kitchen.

Sweet or salty?

Both, and at the same time.

Which ingredient(s) do you use most?

Olive oil, onions, garlic, sea salt, fresh herbs, mild chili flakes

What’s the cooking sound you most love?

Something sizzling in a skillet or on the griddle of my very old black Viking.

What’s your favorite cooking smell?

Chocolate-chip cookies, baking in the oven.

What are the qualities you most admire in a dish?

Flavor, freshness, balance.

What is your most treasured possession in the kitchen?

The view. My kitchen, dining and living room occupy one open space. The large window on the south wall looks out at an undeveloped hillside, with oaks, an olive tree and climbing roses — this is what I see when I’m at the sink or cutting boards. The window above the range looks out to more trees and a few houses on the hill across our little street. When I stand at the center island in the kitchen and look across my dining table and piano, I can see mountains with the 134 freeway carved into the slope with cars zooming in both directions. Seeing the freeway always reminds me how lucky I am to be home in the kitchen and not out battling traffic.

What is a dirty word in your kitchen?

Artificial.

What are afraid to do in the kitchen?

Deep-fry.

What won’t you eat?

Fast foods, processed foods.

Have you ever lost your appetite for a food you once loved?

Cheesecake!

Have you ever had a change of heart involving a food you once disliked?

Cheesecake!

If you could choose one historical or living cook to make you a meal right now, who and what would it be?

I can read about important cooks, and I met Julia Child, so I’d have to say that I would like to cook for my paternal great grandfather who had a bakery in Chino, California. I know only that he emigrated from Germany alone at age 14 and was taken on by a baker. I think he would have a good story to tell, but he might find my food too spicy.

Which living cook do you most admire/despise?

I admire even the cooks who I think are phony because at least they get people interested in cooking.

Which food website/blog would you be lost without?

Although I think the web is an extremely valuable tool, and I know it’s the future, I was a food writer before it existed, so I know that I could live and work without it.

Who are your favorite cookbook authors/food writers?

Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Harold McGee, Paula Wolfert, Deborah Madison, Judy Rodgers, Molly Stevens, Jonathan Gold, Bruce Aidells.

What is your favorite food-related word?

More?

What is your favorite food-related scene from literature or the movies?

The Japanese movie Tampopo is styled like a western with a truck driver coming into town and helping a widow make perfect noodles and broth. The whole movie is one great food scene after another — and it’s funny.

What’s your favorite food-shopping errand or journey?

Walking to the garden to pick a salad for dinner.

To which country would you move for the food?

None. When I lived in France, I missed Mexican food too much. When I travel in Mexico, I miss a good glass of wine and aged cheeses. In Spain, I’d miss Vietnamese food. In Indonesia, I missed stone fruit and chocolate. And what about good pasta and Middle Eastern food? I can get it all right at home.

To seduce someone, what would you cook?

A freshly baked blackberry pie tends to get you what you want, even if it’s just a piece of pie.

What’s your poison?

A really hoppy IPA beer, preferably on tap — I could drink it for breakfast, but I don’t.

What’s your standard outfit in the kitchen?

Winter: t-shirt, jeans and clogs. Summer: t-shirt, skirt and flip-flops.

You wish to die with what in your stomach?

A fried egg sandwich from my backyard eggs on homemade sourdough bread with a few garden greens on the side.

If heaven exists, what do you hope they have on the menu?

Fermented foods, especially beer, wine, coffee, aged and blue cheeses and sourdough bread.

If you came back as a fruit or a vegetable, which one would it be (and why)?

I’d come back as a Santa Rosa plum because they’re sweet and juicy, but sort of sour and tart and vibrant — sort of like me?

What are you craving right now?

Bittersweet chocolate.

(Image created at Wordle.)

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