SNACK: A bite-sized Q&A-with Erin Gleeson
A California-by-way-of-New York, Wisconsin-based bestselling author/photographer shares her go-to midnight bite, favorite travel escape, and her grandma's favorite brunch spot—in this snack sized Q+A.
This feature is especially close to my heart because I got to chat with my dear friend Erin Gleeson. We’ve been friends since 2003, when we met on the rooftop of our building in New York City. We were both in grad school—Erin at SVA, me at Columbia—trying to figure out our artistic sh*t.
Back then, we’d collaborate on art projects just for fun. We danced to Outkast’s “Hey Ya” with our crew, picnicked at The Met Opera in Central Park, and hosted parties in our apartments (Erin once hosted a ‘ball party’ with all circular foods. I used to host fondue parties with some crazy skewers of stuff. See below). We went to each other’s friends’ parties, including my oldest friend Jonathan’s rooftop screening of The Big Lebowski. Eventually, they got married and moved to California, where she started a little photo project called The Forest Feast, which turned into five best-selling cookbooks, products, and a Substack Forest Feast Supper Club (where she’s posting an interview with me today). Oh, and they had three kids and now live in Wisconsin.
Read the full interview with Erin below. These photos are from my archive!
The Watercolor Feast is Erin’s new book. Pre-order it now.
It’s about making time for creativity through watercolor painting, even if you’ve never painted before. PRE-ORDER here!
While Erin has flourished in her passions, she’s always been the magical person you see with that big smile, creative ideas, and delicious food to share.
1. Favorite meal of the day?
Breakfast! I look forward to my morning coffee, buttered sourdough toast, and fruit!
2. The most versatile vegetable?
If there’s one vegetable we almost always have in the fridge, it’s broccoli. I’ll put it in scrambled eggs, marinara, a Beyond burger brumble for tacos, roast it, steam it, etc. It can fit into many different types of weeknight dinners, and my kids usually eat it!
3. What is your favorite thing to cook or prep?
If I am making dinner for myself, I'll make a sort of antipasto platter. Snacks for dinner are my jam! I'll include roasted slices of eggplant, a good cheese like goat gouda or triple cream brie, cherry tomatoes, quickly sautéed broccoli rabe, baguette and olives.
4. Your kid’s favorite snack?
My kids are always starving when they get home from school at 3 pm, so we look for something substantial. We often do avocado toast, veggie burger sliders on Hawaiian rolls, or a big tray of nachos with cheddar cheese and guacamole.
5. Your parent’s go-to recipe from the orchard?
Growing up on an apple orchard, we made everything imaginable with apples! Dried apple rings, apple butter, apple cinnamon coffee cake... But my favorite was always a simple apple pie with ice cream.
6. The first dish made and posted for Forest Feast?
Love this question! It was Figs and Peppered Honey posted in November 2011.
Do you remember the Short and Sweet (is that what it was called?) personal project we worked on together for a minute in Brooklyn? It reminds me of that. And the watercolor lettering title in this post was very much inspired by you, Sam!! A version of this "recipe" ended up in my first book. Recipes that are not really recipes and more like "ideas" are always my favorite. In my new book, The Watercolor Feast, for each watercolor tutorial, there is an accompanying "recipe idea". So, after you paint that tomato, you can make a pomegranate salsa with it.
7. Hot watercolor tip?
Sprinkle coarse salt on wet paint for a fun effect when it dries! Food + Art = more fun! For the lemon painting tutorial in the book, I used this technique to evoke the dimpled lemon peel texture.
8. Favorite family trip location?
We spent about a month in Portugal a couple of years ago when working on The Forest Feast Mediterranean, and I loved our time there. We were in the city, on farms, and at the beach—everything I needed! I dream of someday living in a house with a colorful tile exterior like the ones we saw there.
9. Midnight Snack?
Dates with peanut butter.
10. What is the best meal to have at a restaurant (brunch, lunch, dinner)?
Well, I'd probably choose dinner these days, but growing up, my family always went out for brunch (and rarely dinner). We had a standing Sunday morning date with whatever relatives were in town (I have a huge family) to go to Hank's Creekside Cafe in Santa Rosa, CA. It was my grandma's favorite spot. We'd often have so many cousins that we'd have to wait an hour for a big table! But they'd give us a cup of coffee, and we'd chat and sit outside with the paper while we waited- it was all part of the experience. Over the years, the restaurant owners became family friends, and it's still a spot I love going back to when I'm home in Sonoma County.