Member Spotlight: Katie Lewis

Katie Lewis writes Slow Down & Savor and is a featured guest on Mystery Meet’s Fine Dinning Podcasts.

2013_AFBA_KatieL

Tell us about yourself! Where are you from? Why do you blog? What is your focus?

My name is Katie, and I’m (still, ugh) a senior at Texas State University, majoring in mass communication and minoring in art history. I can’t wait to graduate this spring! I am a public relations intern at The Hays County Food Bank and I’m also the sole contributor of Slow Down & Savor.

Slow Down & Savor is a place where I can freely explore my passion in life: food. When I started this blog, it was basically a showcase for my love of food, the memories associated with food, the people who cook food, and the history of food.

I have taken it a step further. No longer am I just reminiscing, and researching, and sharing wonderful facts about why we eat what we eat or cook the way we do. SD&S has become much more than that.

SD&S has taken cooking and eating to the streets, so to speak. By exploring the small town that I live in and the surrounding cities around me, I have discovered so many amazing little eateries right in my own backyard. The Texas Hill Country is brimming with restaurants from fine dining to true hole-in-the-walls. My eating adventure isn’t limited to brick and mortar either. SD&S has given me the passion for those chefs who are on wheels or hitched at a food trailer park. Food trucks tend to produce the most interesting food from the most passionate of chefs.

But it doesn’t stop there. SD&S Has taken me to my very own kitchen, too. I’ve become bold and brazen with my approach to cooking. With my weekly potluck dinner I attend, I am faced with the challenge of making something interesting, beautiful and delicious, every single week for twenty or more people. Using recipes as platforms, I have learned that it’s OK to step out of the box and tweak this and change that. Before I even know it, I’ve created something with my own hands that will make your mouth water and make you come back for more.

I hail from Southern New Jersey. However, I currently live in the Hill Country in Texas. I spend a lot of time in San Marcos, Wimberley and Austin.

By sharing my experiences with food, whether at the eateries I visit or giving you a peek into the fun I have in the kitchen creating this or that, I hope that something you read sparks your interest into making the leap to go somewhere new or become a daring cook and whip up a dish you didn’t think you could. My hope is that you use SD&S as a launching pad in creating experiences of your own. I hope my experiences with food lead you to your own experiences with food.

How did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I love to write. Writing is a passion that I hold deep in my heart, and when I started to have a love affair with food (mostly eating, but now cooking, too), I figured that documenting it would be fun. And it is!

What items are always in your fridge or pantry?

Sriracha, pickles, ramen noodles (whatever, I love them), Doritos, pasta and pasta sauce (homemade and Classico).

What is your favorite AFBA memory?

Getting accepted into AFBA in 2011 was a really exciting moment for me. And each year since that.

What is your most popular post?

My most popular post was a giveaway I did for Cooking Planit, but my most popular NON-giveaway post was for Way South Philly, a food trailer in Austin. The post was Pat’s V. Geno’s? No … Way South Philly takes the crown!

 

Leave a Reply