Meet Our Guest 'Grammer of the Week: @Cookingwithcocktailrings
Each week we’re teaming up with a popular food-stagrammer who will take over our Instagram feed and fill it with their own delicious pics. This weekend on #TastyTakeovers, LA food photographer Kylie Mazon of the recipe blog Cooking With Cocktail Rings is our guest. Learn her secret for taking delicious photos in the Q&A below and head over to Yahoo Food on Instagram to watch her foodie adventures unfold all weekend long.
Kylie Mazon of the blog Cooking with Cocktail Rings. (Photo: Kylie Mazon)
Name/Instagram Handle: Kylie Mazon/ @cookingwithcocktailrings
Tell us a bit about yourself!
I grew up in New Jersey, but I now live in Santa Monica, Calif. I had to get away from the cold! I have two dogs and two cats at my parents’ house, but my boyfriend and I are getting a silver Bengal kitten next month! I used to work in fashion but decided it wasn’t for me so I followed my passion of cooking, started my blog, “Cooking with Cocktail Rings” and started working as a freelance food photographer.
(Photo: Instagram/cookingwithcocktailrings)
What first got you interested in food and photography? Where do you draw inspiration from?
My mom loves photography, and is very good at it; it is so special that she captured many candid moments from my childhood. I definitely got my interest in photography from her. As for food, my uncle is a chef so I learned a lot from watching him in the kitchen. My mom doesn’t like to cook so I often made dinner for my family.
Most of my inspiration comes from traveling and eating at various restaurants. I love finding an amazing dish at a restaurant and reinventing it my own way. Since I live in Santa Monica I usually go to the farmer’s market down the street on Wednesday mornings. I draw so much inspiration walking around the different stands, seeing what is fresh, and finding different ingredients to experiment with.
Heirloom Tomato Salad. (Photo: Kylie Mazon)
What have been some of your favorite places you’ve traveled? Where have you tried the best food?
It is so hard to narrow it down! I was just in Japan this past December and I already want to go back. It was my first time traveling to Asia and Japan has some really great food; I think I could live off of just sushi, ramen and udon! I also love Italy and France for food. There is something to be said for classic French and Italian cooking. In college I studied abroad in Lausanne, Switzerland, and that will always be one of my favorite places as well.
Who are three of your favorite Instagrammers? What do you like about them?
@halfbakedharvest – I have so much respect for her as a young food blogger. I think her photography is absolutely stunning. Whenever I am on Pinterest, and I find something that inspires me, I feel like it is always something from her blog! I feel like she could make just about anything look appetizing.
@danielkrieger – It is so impressive that he can go from photographing food to people so well. I like to photograph things that will hold still for me so that I can get that perfect shot. I have so much respect for people who can do both.
@iamafoodblog – Her photography is so bright and crisp. She also seems like such a fun person, and I think we could be friends.
Grilled Shrimp Tacos. (Photo: Kylie Mazon)
What are some of your favorite places to eat out in California?
Gjelina for dinner, ROC for dumplings, Gjusta for breakfast, Taverna Tony in Malibu for Greek food, Aestus for date night — sharing a bottle of wine and a charcuterie plate.
What do you enjoy about Instagram compared to other online communities?
I am a very visual person and I love how that is really at the forefront with Instagram. I enjoy these virtual friends, people that I have never met but that I have connected with over food. You can tell a group of people to make a simple dish and they will all come up with something that is visually different and you can see that happen on Instagram.
Lamb and Tumeric Rice Bowl with Yogurt. (Photo: Kylie Mazon)
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently?
Creamy crab udon in Osaka, Japan! It was similar to crab bisque with udon noodles added. Unconventional, but so good!
If you could throw a dream dinner party for any three people — living or dead — who would they be and what would you cook for them?
This is definitely a tough one but Jackie Kennedy is definitely at the top of my list. I have always been so intrigued by her and the Kennedy family. She was such a smart woman; she spoke three languages, and had a great historical and literary knowledge. Not only did she influence styles in fashion, food, and art, she also helped the president with foreign policy in dealing with both Charles de Gaulle and Nikita Kruschev. Next would be my great great Grandfather Furniss. He served as ambassador to Haiti, appointed by Teddy Roosevelt and was also a physician, writer, world traveler, and a gourmet cook (I like to think there might be something genetic there.) I think it would be so interesting to learn more about this time in my family history. Lastly I would invite Jiro Ono, the sushi chef because it is so impressive that he can elevate something so simple and make it a masterpiece. I would probably cook something French for them, Jackie Kennedy was a Francophile and I definitely wouldn’t make sushi for a sushi master!
Fig Jam Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza. (Photo: Kylie Mazon)
What’s the best dish you’ve ever made or the dish that you’re known for?
Creamy lobster pasta or shrimp scampi risotto — my friends and family always ask me to make those dishes for them whenever I visit.
And last but not least — what’s your favorite food (if you had to pick one)?
If I had to pick one I would have to say salmon sushi (at least right now).
Sashimi Bowl. (Photo: Kylie Mazon)
Looking for more food-stagrammers to follow? Check out our past guests from #TastyTakeovers:
Jessica Fiorillo of @feedmedearly
