With some 3 million followers on Instagram, we might as well crown food stylist, recipe developer, and author, Tieghan Gerard, as the queen of Instagram foodies. Based in Colorado, Gerard rose to prominence thanks to her down-to-earth approach to cooking which she promoted on her blog Half Baked Harvest.
A foodie through and through, the secret ingredient to Gerard’s cooking (as cliche as it may sound) is love. According to the seasoned blogger, her recipes are inspired by the people and places she loves most, with the goal to make mealtime a happier time.
Seeing as she comes from a large family, this makes perfect sense. “I am one of seven kids, so my parents had their hands full with my brothers and me,” Gerard told All Sorts Of. “We wouldn’t eat until nine or ten at night.” Wanting to tame some of these chaotic meals, Gerard took to cooking by the age of 14.
“One night I just decided I was making dinner,” she recalls. “I think I made a Rachel Ray recipe and everyone loved it. I’ve been cooking for friends and family ever since.” The love of cooking was hence tied with this positive experience, and seeing other people’s hearty reactions made the hard work worthwhile. “I love to cook for people, seeing their reactions is so rewarding!” says Gerard.
These days, her cooking and recipes are still very much tied to family mealtimes. Gerard’s house—a converted horse barn that was designed entirely around her lifestyle—provides the perfect backdrop to her passion-turned-full-time job. “It’s where I shot my first cookbook, and where I spend my days experimenting with new recipes, photographing my creations, feeding my family, and making one giant mess in the process,” she explains.
Recent recipe highlights we’re dying to recreate include her Strawberry Pink Drink. “When everyone around me was carrying a pretty pink drink, an idea hit and the homemade ‘pink drink’ was created,” writes Gerard on her Instagram page, explaining that the drink is a version of the Starbucks favorite, but healthier and made with double the strawberry, açaí, and extra creaminess. “It’s so creamy, it’s almost milkshake-like,” she writes. “This is good you guys. trust me, make it a home.” Oh, we shall!
