We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Courtney Hill. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Courtney below.

Courtney, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The cookbook has always been a dream of mine and I guess I’ve been writing it as long as I’ve had my blog. It was always a distant dream of “some day I’ll write a cookbook.” I actually sat down and wrote the context a couple years ago and in the early stages of the COVID shut down I just decided to send it to any publisher that was accepting unsolicited cookbook proposals. I got a lot of no’s but then I got one yes. That was the motivation I needed to really give it a shot. I knew I wanted it to have a vintage feel and the shut down actually gave my husband and I time to try out a few photos. I wanted them to have a 1940’s 1950’s and after the first 2 photos, I knew it was going to be awesome and so unlike anything on the market today. It’s out now I’m also having a book signing on 10/1. It is truly a dream come true, now people just a have to buy it, lol. A couple of my passions are family and good food. This cookbook celebrates both.

“Bringing back the family dinner with simples recipes, using real ingredients, that you’ll actually make.” www.cookhomemade.net

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Courtney Hill. I grew up in a smaller in Joplin and Webb City, MO, then moved to the city in my adult years. I learned most of what I know about cooking from my mother, who learned from her mother. I didn’t grow up on the farm, but I have relatives who are farmers and, well, let’s just say we know a thing or two about good food! I learned the rest of my cooking knowledge from my formal education.

I have a master’s degree in family and consumer sciences (FCS), and I taught high school FCS for four years. I decided to stay home when my twins were born, and I loved being home with them. I still love teaching and the FCS umbrella of subjects. I think they are essential and teach us how to become functioning adults and members of society. I approach my recipes with an educator’s mindset. Hopefully you find them easy to follow and easy to prepare.

I am married to my love. We have been married since 2005. He is a very talented commercial photographer. We own 8183 Productions in downtown KC where we produce outstanding stills and motion adverting content for business and agencies. I work at the photography studio as the chief financial officer. We have two children—fraternal twins. Being twins has its unique joys and challenges, and we love them very much!

I am a very crafty person, and I love to create and work with my hands. My hobbies include knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch and embroidery, sewing, quilting, canning, gardening, cooking, baking, and cookie and cake decorating. I also love to throw pottery but haven’t found the time in the last few years. I am a mid-century girl at heart. I love the fifties and anything vintage. Some of my favorite pastimes are thrifting and antiquing and listening to my record collection. The theme of my cookbook definitely has the mid-century vintage vibe that I love, and so do a lot of my recipes! My husband styled and took all of the photos for the book. I found all the vintage dishware for the photos on my thrifting and antiquing treasure hunts.

While I was a stay-at-home mom, I found myself slipping away a bit. I was knee-deep in dirty diapers and schedules. I needed to do something for myself as a creative outlet. So I created a video cooking blog to share my recipes and teach people how to cook simple and delicious meals for their families. I started it in January 2015 and have enjoyed every minute of it. This cookbook is a companion to the blog. I hope you enjoy the recipes and check out the how-to videos on my blog: www.cookhomemade.net.
I want to inspire and teach a new generation how to cook great meals at home for themselves and their families. I want to bring back family meals and time spend together with mom or dad in the kitchen preparing them. I bring a modern spin to classic vintage-style recipes.

I love being from the Midwest. It’s the heart of the country, and there is so much wide-open space, even in the city. A lot of my recipes are inspired by my Midwest roots. I hope this cookbook gives you some staple recipes you will share
with your families. Enjoy the food and the time together!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The book had several hiccups and delays. Every time I thought the finish line was in sight around the next corner it was met with another twist in the road. But I learned that any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for. God gave me the comfort and resilience to continue and persevere. There were several times I felt like giving up but miracles happened to keep me moving forward.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

I love family and good food. I want to help give people the confidence to cook at home more for their families and experience really good food and time together around the table. I want to be the “Bob Ross” of cooking. To teach people and have them leave thinking “I can do this.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cookhomemade.net
• Instagram: homemadeamerican
• Facebook: Homemade Cooking With Courtney
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/courtney-hill-135450103
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/courtneyhill05
• Others: https://mascotbooks.com/mascot-marketplace/buy-books/cookbooks/all/homemade-the-american-family-cookbook/

Image Credits
Ryan Hill