Making Cooking Fun: Fake Cooking Shows and Blue Apron Meals

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Confession: Occasionally when I cook, I talk to an imaginary camera in my cooking show host voice which is sometimes a British accent, sometimes a sweet southern lady and sometimes a warbly Julia Childs impersonation. Whatever the case, it’s fun. And funny. Especially when you actually videotape your fake segment and send it to your sister and cousins. Also, where are the real life cooking shows? The ones where the cook is scooting open bags of pretzels and crusty bottles out of the way to make room on her counter to chop. The ones where she’s madly stashing lids into random cupboards before the camera starts rolling. “Hang on, let me clean this up. So sorry. Kids had soccer today.” The ones where she opens a drawer to get a spoon and instead pulls out the naked Barbie her two-year-old shoved in there. Or reaches into her vegetable drawer to fetch an onion only to find some slimey grapes and a wrinkled tomato because someone needs to go grocery shopping.

Guess what happened this week? I had the best imaginary cooking show ever. So much, I forgot about the imaginary camera man because I was chopping and simmering and marveling at the beauty of the food and the fact that I had everything I needed! Even fun ingredients like bagoong and bird’s eye chili.

My fake cooking show savior? Our Blue Apron Meal.

For me, Blue Apron is to motherhood and busy family life as luxurious baths are or Saturday mornings at a coffee shop, a babysitter and movie date night or a call to a housekeeping company to come deep clean your home. These aren’t every day spending habits for us, but they are certainly valued gifts that we invest in for our family when things get crazy, we need a break or convenience becomes a higher priority.

What is Blue Apron?  Blue Apron is a meal delivery service that gives you the joy of cooking in your home with all the hard work done for you. You get farm-fresh ingredients delivered to your doorstep in a refrigerated box, and in exactly the right proportions–no trips to the grocery store and no waste from unused ingredients. Recipes are included as well as everything you need to make chef-designed meals.

My cousin’s here from out of town, and we spent the day at one of my dad’s rental properties (hint hint: this service is great for cooking meals in vacation rentals!). We took a Blue Apron meal and had so much fun cooking away from home–sipping wine, listening to Christmas carols, chopping, stirring and enjoying our meal on the patio.

Look at those multi-hued potatoes! Their produce is so fresh and beautiful, and I make it a point to use fancy words to describe their beauty when I’m talking on my fake cooking show.

This photo also works well for another fake show we’re filming, Kitchen Killers. Put the knife down.

We made Beef on Weck Sandwiches with a potato & arugala salad, and they were quick and easy to make and so delicious (more free Blue Apron recipes).

Other favorites–last week’s Shrimp and Mustard Green Laing, a dish inspired by Philippines cuisine. I love anything with chilis and coconut milk, and Brett loved the addition of the greens. We’ll definitely be making this one again.

Blue Apron sends you three meals per week–for two or four people–at $9.99 a person with free shipping, and you can skip or cancel the service at any time. Ingredients are sourced from quality local suppliers and artisans and delivered fresh to your door.

I just introduced Blue Apron to a friend who’s having a cooking date night New Year’s Eve, and she’s ordering Blue Apron for it. Another friend who was looking for a baby gift just ordered a week of Blue Apron meals for a new mom. Point being? Blue Apron makes a great gift for couples, new moms or anyone who loves to cook. (Psssst. Christmas is two weeks away!)