gimme some oven

Hey everyone!  Ok, I know I totally fell off the boat with “Mailbox Mondays” these past few months.  Life has been c-c-c-crazy.  But, I have saved up all of your questions and am ready and stoked to dive back in this summer!  Whoo!

To kick things off, though, I am going to play “catch-up” and do some mega Q&A posts to answer a bunch of questions at once.  It seems like most of the emails I receive with questions fall into one of five categories:

• cooking/recipes
• blogging
• entertaining
• about ali
• kansas city

So if you have any questions to add in any of these five categories, bring them on! Whatever comes to mind — the more the merrier!  Feel free to send them in an email (go to the Contact button in the top right-hand corner), leave a comment below, Twitter, or Facebook.  Then check back on Mondays this summer for some A’s for your Q’s.  :)

Can’t wait to hear what’s on your minds!

Dear Ali,

Have you ever done an explanation on your site about the differences between cooking oils?  I always tend to default to using olive oil, but I’ve heard it’s not always the best to use since it has a lower smoke point.  But I’m really don’t know much about the other oils out there.  (My eyes get crossed staring at all of the options at the grocery store!!!)  Any advice you can offer would be great!  Thanks again for this site.

~Cindy

see recipe for mailbox monday: which cooking oils to use?

Hey Ali,

Do you have any advice on what kinds of apples are best for baking?  There are so many recipes out there I want to try this fall, but it seems like most of them don’t specify which kind of apples to use.  Any quick tips would be really great!

Thanks,
Amy

see recipe for mailbox mondays: apples for baking

Hi Ali!  I absolutely love your food blog and all your hard work. I especially come here when I need some tips on photography. Anyway, you mentioned that your set up was a foam board and fabric. I was just wondering that when you photograph with fabric, how do you lay it out? Does it hang on the foam board or do you just lay it out on the table and let the board reflect the light? And when there isn’t any natural light handy, what do you do? Sorry for all the questions, but your blog has been a favorite with me, and I come to it when I’m looking for recipes and tips. It’s proven so helpful!

Thanks so much,
Isabel

see recipe for mailbox monday: photographing backgrounds

Hey Ali!

My name is Jessica and I just found your blog through Foodgawker.  I really love it!

Whenever you have time, I wondered if you might answer a quick question.  I’m a total beginner when it comes to cooking, and still don’t have many spices in my pantry to cook with.  At this point I probably can’t afford to buy all of the spices that a lot of recipes call for.  But if I were to try and stock my spice cabinet with some basics, what would you recommend?

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Jessica

see recipe for mailbox monday: “stocking a spice cabinet”