Hillary Mickell, CMO of Foodily
With the HubPages Cookbook Contest underway, it’s a great time to introduce your amazing judging panel. We’re kicking off this blog interview series with a judge whose familiarity with recipes is unparalleled — Hillary Mickell, the CMO and Chief Tastemaker of popular recipe discovery site (and awesome mobile app) Foodily.com.
I sent Hillary some questions to help us all get to know her a little better, as well as some great advice for writing contest-winning recipes.
Maddie: Tell us a little bit about Foodily and the inspiration behind it.
Hillary: Foodily stands for “Food, I Love You.” And I do. I love cooking for my family, but at 4:30, it’s a chore to figure out what I want to cook. Searching is painful, I want recommendations from my friends, then there’s what’s in my fridge and what time the kids are coming home etc. The list goes on and on. So my co-founder Andrea and I decided we need to fix the problem. We created Foodily so people could easily find great recipes from across the web, save them in collections, and see what their friends like. Cooking is fun again!
Maddie: What’s your favorite thing to cook at home?
Hillary: I make a mean pureed vegetable soup. Take whatever vegetables I get at the farmers market, potato leek base, then puree the whole thing. Different spices can take it any direction – ginger, cumin, coriander etc.
Maddie: What one piece of kitchen equipment could you never, ever live without?
Hillary: My micro-plane: I use it for zesting, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, chocolate.
Maddie: What key elements do you look for in a good recipe?
Hillary: Fresh fresh fresh! As long as I’m using seasonal, fresh ingredients, (not too many and not too complicated) I’m good.
Maddie: Any other final tips for Hubbers participating in the contest?
Hillary: People eat with their eyes. Nothing replaces a good photo.
Great advice from a judge who knows recipes inside and out! To learn more about Hillary and her favorite recipes, head on over to her Tastemaker blog on Foodily, and be sure to check out their awesome tools for easier recipe discovery!
Many thanks to Hillary for sharing her time and expertise with us. It’s going to be a great contest!
