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