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The reasons Molly Baz wishes she could create magic using her wand to make cooking enjoyable to everyone

Molly Baz, recipe developer and proprietor of mollybaz.com Molly Baz has big dreams. "When I was younger, I was always dreaming of becoming an astronaut," she states "Then I had an interest in becoming a United Nations translator. After this, I was considering whether I wanted to operate the art galleries in New York City." Therefore, it was logical that she was able to take a course in art historical studies at Skidmore College, the liberal arts school.

In the course of a year living in Italy and studying Renaissance art that her love for food quickly took over other passions: "I was living with an old lady named Graziella and she was my"grandma" in my housestay. The lady spoke only English - she couldn't even be able to understand me when I asked"thank you. But she was an incredible cook."

Her main pastime was to head to the market, purchase certain ingredients, then prepare Molly dinner. "She was a foodie and lived only for meals," Molly continues. "I had never eaten the same way as she did. I wasn't exposed to the seasonality of food and the Italian reverence for food ingredients. It was like"oh what a wonderful idea! I'm in love! !'." Molly says that this kind of cooking didn't come out of the blue the same idea, but she's sure that it's true to all people who live in the world. "My parents were not looking for top-quality ricotta or the finest tomatoes. This wasn't the thing they wanted to do."

Molly shares with me her "mind-bending "whoa'-moments" throughout her time in Italy that led her to come home wanting to work with food. The way that Graziella shop at the market for groceries was very different from Molly's experiences. Molly describes: "Instead of going to the market every Sunday during the week, Graziella would go to the market each day. The reason was the fact that  you don't know what vendors are most likely to be present at the market and also the peaches might look better today than they did the previous day'. This was about respect."

Molly tells me that, with the typical Italian fashion the Graziella's Tuscan meals were both easy, rustic and delicious. "Her tomato sauce is sure to remain forever in my memory," she continues. "It's delicious, especially during winter, because it's made with cherry tomatoes which I believe are is the only tomato that's fresh and worth the effort even in the summer months."

It's clear by how Molly discusses food that, for her, cooking is about more than mixing flavours. It's all about the whole method of looking through all the ingredients you can find and evaluating what's appealing and also cooking a dish using your own ideas. "That's the way my mind worked. I was not thinking about eating that way. However, now that this is all I can consider." Molly smiles. Maybe this is why Molly says she is an ingredient designer, rather than as a cook.

Food, recipes and a good time

In order to further explore the realm of food, following her departure from Italy, Molly worked in the kitchens of restaurants in which she learned to cook. However, it wasn't her desired goal "I stopped being interested in certain places and decided that I wasn't interested in running the restaurant of my choice. However, I was certain that I would like to cook and needed to figure out the route that would be the best for me."

Molly began her journey into food styling as "the following logical progression of art, which included colors and composition, was the art of creating food that looks tasty". Because her father is artist and food stylist, she decided that it was the ideal way to engage with food , in light of her talents, knowledge, and the way she was brought up.

"It was a good idea for a couple of days and I really enjoyed it." she says "But in the end I got the feeling that I was in the kitchen and making food items for people else. You're like, 'Cool that tastes delicious'. You're somehow responsible for the photograph and the food, however it's not the food you cook. It's someone other's. I had hoped to cook, from my own brain and heart."

So the next step was to start making the recipes magazines utilize. Her experience was employed in the field of food through stylists at Bon Appetit magazine. She was also exposed to the role of food editor. It was a job she could take on. "I was a bit unsure of the word "food editor" prior to this!" She laughs "But the term refers to someone who composes and designs recipes and spends 75% of their working time cooking. This was an opportunity for me to be back in the food industry while working with food throughout the course of the day." It was the perfect job. "I thought, 'This is all I will ever do for the rest of my life,'" she smiles. Molly was promoted to the position of senior associate food editor, then was elevated to senior food editor . She made use of the period to improve her ability to develop recipes over the next four years.

The transition from food lover to food stylist to food editor was complete, however there was another phase to go through. "It was never in my plans to become an actor, or be featured in videos," she continues. "The Bon Appetit YouTube channel was already present when I first signed up, and was already gaining some traction however it was not popular like we see today. Within a couple of weeksof being employed, and one of the editors asked me, "Do you want to make a video? Then I thought"Holy sh*t!. I don't know. I'm not an actor. I believed that I was an 'An Actor Behind the Scenes Person'. And then I obviously f*cking was in love with this."

Molly confesses that she was worried her first visit present in the test kitchen. "I thought "Can I see shakes Is that what they were doing? Then I saw the video which made me like"Wow! Wow. This video was not part of my plans, but it was directly from the Bon Appetit's plan and I embraced the plan." The organic evolution to foodie personality the task of "figuring out exactly what it will be to be Molly" was accomplished.

Cook this Book How to become an author

Working at the restaurant Bon Appetit the editor who was from Clarkson Potter, part of Penguin Random House publishing group called Molly and requested meetings. "The aim is to get an email with a Penguin Random House email address," she remembers. "I realized this was a book related event. I went to the party but then one thing led to another and suddenly I received an offer for a book."

"It's fascinating to come up with recipes for my first book," she adds "Because it's simultaneously thinking about dishes that represent what I am in the world as well as the meals that others prepare. What dishes will be accessible? The question isn't 'How difficult is it to make Molly be flexible in her job and what's the best way to do it?' It's more about the things I can do in order to make dishes that are my own. But, they don't appear intimidating or overwhelming which makes them not suitable to cooks on a daily basis. This is a meal I'd make at home, but only anytime I'm feeling extra-extra."

Molly says: "75% of what I do is to become an amateur chef and to eliminate all I've experienced about cooking. I approach this as though it's just the second time that I've had the privilege of cooking. Molly has come to understand what it feels like to become a beginner cook, as well as "to be overwhelmed by the amount of food you have in in front of your face". She confirms "My task as a recipe designer is to organize those who need it so that they feel comfortable and enjoy it, isn't a pain to the person who cooks it. **."

"My greatest fear is that people of my generation and the ones that are younger than me are going to have spent all their lives acquiring the app that provides food Caviar. They'll awake next morning and find a newborn baby sitting on their lap with an active toddler with a chore to finish and not think of what they should put on the table -- not just pasta and tomato sauce, and just think, 'F*ck it. I'm going to order from Caviar yet again!. My goal in the world is to stop the likelihood of such a thing happening in the best efficient way."

I want to ask Molly what she thinks of an idea to make a follow-up to the novel. "I am supposed to start creating it as early as three days from now!" she says with a smile. She reveals that she was offered a second book deal a several months ago with that same publishing house. The book is planned to function as a sequel and expand on the fundamental knowledge that was taught in the first book. Watch out for.

Food that's fun to eat, Caesar salad and Tuna the dog

The most well-known recipe from Cook this book is Molly's Caesar salad. The self-professed 'Queen Of Cae Sal' Molly smiles when asked why she is a fan of the dish. "I don't really have one sentence of the answer!" she says "I consider it to be one of the finest salads on the planet. When I'm at a restaurant when I see caesar salad listed in the menu, it's nearly certain that I'll not order it. I've become infatuated with caesar salad over the years. I've spoken about it a lot, and make caesar salad regularly. Everyone is aware of this. I'm in love with it!"

Perhaps it's because Caesar salad fits with Molly's beliefs in the sense that food should be fun. It's accessible, easy to prepare and full of flavors. This is how food preparation should be, in the opinion of Molly. Her belief in this comes from her experience with culinary professionals, rather than from eating food and having fun doing it "I've been able to find such joy in the kitchen working at eateries. There were highs as well as the adrenaline when you were in the kitchen and working off food while thinking"F*ck, yeah that's what we did'.

Molly knows the joy in cooking, as well as the fear that it can bring: "I hate that I cannot just flick an magic wand to make it fun for everyone. If I tell you that cooking needs to be enjoyable , that's because I'm striving to always have fun, and not just when I cook. If I the husband asked me "Does you want him to go on an evening bowling excursion?' I would be able to tell him no. I'd reply, "You don't want to have fun!'" My mission in this world is to make cooking enjoyable to people all over the world so they will be able to experience the pleasure too.

If Molly's passion for food wasn't evident enough inside her kitchen, her love for food is now element of her life. In addition to posting on Instagram on her Instagram page, she owns her very own dog named Tuna. If you ask her what she thinks about tuna as a dull choice to have as food which you love she claims that it's not "I do not find tuna boring! The water-packed canned tuna cans that we used growing up are dry and boring. The high-quality tuna packed with oil like the ones you see in Portugal is an absolute pleasure. Its flavor is distinctive from place, don't you think? !"

Molly along with her spouse Ben had been living in Portugal during the time they were born of Tuna. In the swimming pool during their honeymoon, they were not having a baby and deciding to have an awning puppy. "We had a great time eating a lot of fish that was tinned and we are considering the tuna. The tuna we consume is probably at least four times in a week!" She concludes laughing.

It seems that, from Italy across the USA then to Portugal Molly's love for easy yummy, tasty, and healthy food is stronger than ever.

Additional details on Molly and the significance of "flipping the customer's"

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