Vallery Lomas shares how she made the career pivot from lawyer to baking superstar. Vallery, also known as the Foodie in New York, reveals her go-to spots in the city and her definition of a “foodie.” She talks about her earliest food memories growing up in Baton Rouge and the first delightful dessert she learned to make. Vallery talks about how the recession and loss of a promised job after law school sparked her move to Paris to explore the culture and pastries. She talks about learning through failure and how the work ethic and communication skills she learned in law school have helped her as a baker. She talks about the recipes that inspired her latest cookbook, the experience of filming her own Food Network series, and what’s next for her.
Vallery Lomas shares how she made the career pivot from lawyer to baking superstar. Vallery, also known as the Foodie in New York, reveals her go-to spots in the city and her definition of a “foodie.” She talks about her earliest food memories growing up in Baton Rouge and the first delightful dessert she learned to make. Vallery talks about how the recession and loss of a promised job after law school sparked her move to Paris to explore the culture and pastries. She talks about learning through failure and how the work ethic and communication skills she learned in law school have helped her as a baker. She talks about the recipes that inspired her latest cookbook, the experience of filming her own Food Network series, and what’s next for her.
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Find episode transcript here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/vallery-lomas-on-how-she-went-from-lawyer-to-full-time-baker
[MUSIC PLAYING] JAYMEE SIRE: Hello, and welcome to Food Network Obsessed. This is the podcast where we dish on all things Food Network with your favorite Food Network stars. I'm your host Jaymee Sire. And today, we have a fresh face, or should I say voice on the podcast. She has a brand new cookbook out called Life Is What You Bake It-- Recipes, Stories, and Inspiration to Bake Your Way to the Top. We chat all about that, when and why she first started baking, and her Food Network digital series.
She is a lawyer turned baker, cookbook author, and the host of Vallery Bakes Your Questions on foodnetwork.com. Let's welcome Vallery Lomas.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Vallery, welcome to Food Network Obsessed. And more importantly, congrats on the release of your cookbook. So exciting.
VALLERY LOMAS: Thank you so much, Jaymee. I'm super pumped.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, I think it's fair to say you've been very busy. In addition to the new cookbook, you also have your digital series on Food Network. And I can't wait to talk to you about both of those things. But as the Foodie in New York, which is the name of your blog and your Instagram handle, I have to start off by talking to you about some of your go-to New York spots. I'm always on the lookout for new places to eat in the city, so let's start with, what's your favorite dinner spot in your neighborhood?
VALLERY LOMAS: So to be honest, I used to go out to dinner so much more.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
VALLERY LOMAS: But you know I still like going to-- there's a spot called Lido in Harlem.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: Love going to that. And Settepani.
JAYMEE SIRE: What do you like to get at those places?
VALLERY LOMAS: I like to get pasta.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
VALLERY LOMAS: I recently went to Ledo. I got gnocchi. I'm obsessed with gnocchi. It was so good.
JAYMEE SIRE: You have a favorite bakery in the neighborhood or takeout? Or are you doing all of your own baking if you're eating bakery items?
VALLERY LOMAS: Oh, no. I'm definitely partaking in stuff other people have prepared. Gin Gin Cafe is really my go-to spot. It's a coffee shop, but they also sell wraps and salad bowls. And everything is West African inspired and those ingredients. So I'm a huge fan of Gin Gin Cafe.
JAYMEE SIRE: And I'm curious, just your personal definition of a foodie.
VALLERY LOMAS: I think a foodie is just someone that likes food. Really appreciates food, also drinks wine. The whole shebang. Because there are so many of us out there who enjoy the whole process of food, whether it's eating with friends or cooking, exploring different wines. I think it's just people who love and appreciate food.
JAYMEE SIRE: I couldn't agree more. And as we mentioned, you live in New York City now. But you grew up in Louisiana. And as I understand, a family of bakers as well. So what are some of your earliest food memories from childhood?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah. So I grew up in Baton Rouge, born and raised till I left for college. My earliest food memories, it was all about stuff like growing. So my grandmother had these beautiful fig trees. And she would give me these warm, juicy, straight plucked from the tree figs. I was just so enamored by it all. And I have a cousin whose name is Jocteau, and he had strawberry fields. And he's actually still alive. He's 103 now.
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow.
VALLERY LOMAS: Which is crazy. But yeah, so every strawberry season, my dad and I would go and we would pick strawberries and fill them with boxes and crates of strawberries. And we'd go home and my parents would make preserves.
JAYMEE SIRE: What was the first thing you ever learned to bake yourself?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah, I would say it was my Grandma Leona's strawberry delight. We called it strawberry delight. But it's like a no-bake cheesecake.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: And it's so simple to make because the crust, it's a press-in crust. Just flour, butter, sugar, the normal things. Press it in a casserole dish. And then you whip up the cream cheese and the whipped cream. And then you top it with strawberry pie filling. And you could add some fresh strawberries to it. That was what I was assigned to growing up for the holidays. That was my dish. It's pretty cool, because it's actually my grandmother's birthday today. And--
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, wow.
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah. So she would have been 103 today. It felt really special that my book happened to be publishing on her birthday. And I do share that recipe in the book. It's a variation of another no-bake cheesecake recipe. But that same press-end crust, it's in so many of my recipes. I've been making it literally for 30-something years.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that. And such an amazing way to honor her memory. And I'm so glad to hear it's in the cookbook. That was going to be my next question. But I know you started blogging. You started doing this while you were in your third year of law school. And anyone I know that has been in law school, they don't have a lot of free time on their hands. So I'm curious what inspired you to use that precious free time to bake and also blog about it.
VALLERY LOMAS: I mean, I was inspired by the recession, honestly. My feelings were hurt, because I didn't have a job lined up. It was shocking, because it just wasn't something I expected. It wasn't due to anything I had done. It was just because of what the economy-- where the economy was at the time. I was 24, and I was just like, how is it that I put in all the work but I don't have a job lined up?
And looking back, I think I would have reacted differently. I would have put myself out there and hustled. Instead, I was just like, I want to do something that just makes me happy that's simple and meditative and makes me feel good. And for me, that was baking. And I started blogging about it because I just wanted to share what I was doing with other people. And I had a little flip phone and I was taking these really crappy pictures.
But I was documenting the process. And that's what it was about at the time. It was about documenting the process, being able to write something outside of a law brief or something very like technical legal writing. So it was like an artistic expression kind of outlet. I always had that love for baking and cooking. But I was able to tap into it in a way of that putting the hours in. Because a lot of us have interests and passion.
But until you do the work and you put the time in, it's different. But that last year of law school, I put the time in.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. And I'm sure you really honed your skills as well. Even though, as we've mentioned, you grew up baking in that kitchen a lot. But it's its own unique beast. I mean, I personally am not a baker. I love to cook. I love to be in the kitchen. But I think there's just too much precision and science and chemistry involved for me. So I'm curious if there's any funny baking fails you can share from that time in your life when you were really putting the time in, as you said.
VALLERY LOMAS: Oh, gosh. There are just so many. Here's the thing. Yes, I grew up baking family recipes. But during that time, I had been collecting cookbooks. I didn't really put two and two together. It took me a long time to realize, this is something I actually want to do. But all those cookbooks I had been collecting, I started actually cooking and baking my way through them. And I learned by failing. Honestly, it's the best teacher.
Because if you really give a good college try and you put the effort in and there's a mistake and you end up with a flaw, you're going to know what happened, why it happened, and you're not going to make that same mistake the next time. When I was learning French macarons, they can be tricky little things. And I had actually decided I was going to start a business selling them. And I didn't even know how to make them.
I moved from France to New York, and I just started this process of making batch after batch. And I can't tell you how many botched batches of macaroons I made. Eventually, I figured out all of the things that were giving me wrinkled macarons, no footed macaroons. And it was little things. And in that instance, it was about precision because the apartment I was renting, the oven was not calibrated correctly.
But making those things over and over again, I swear, any kind of circumstance, it doesn't matter if it's humid, I could be outside, which I actually was, because we made them on The Great American Baking Show outside in a tent during a thunderstorm. But all of those little things, I can adjust for them because I made them so many times and I messed up so many times.
JAYMEE SIRE: What would your advice be to somebody who is maybe just getting started with their baking journey.
VALLERY LOMAS: Just go for it. I think a lot of people can be intimidated by baking. And I really tried to break it down in my book so that there are a variety of recipes. And I wanted the majority of the recipes to be stuffed that it's like you can bake and you can feel good about. And they're not something where you need some advanced amount of skill. But I also talk in the book about baking being a practice. And I use this term, "practice bakes perfect."
Because I played piano growing up. Anyone who's played piano knows, practice makes perfect. Your piano teacher drills it in your head, right. And it's the same thing with baking. And there are just so many different recipes in my book that I share that you're going to nail the first time. You've got all the tips, you've got all the-- everything that you need. I made tutorial videos on various techniques that you can watch. There's a QR code in the book that links you right to these videos.
Because I want people to have success. Because when you have success, that's how you build your confidence. And the more confidence that you get, then the more excited you're going to be to try those intermediate level recipes.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, I love the QR code idea. Because obviously, that is a place that we are all moving to very, very quickly over the last year and a half. So I think people are very adept in using those. And it's fun that you get to see you in action making those recipes. But I want to talk a little bit more about your time in France. Because you finished law school, you spent a year in Paris experiencing the pastries and the cuisine. So first of all, just what was your motivation for deciding to pick up and move your life to France for a year?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah. I mean, my motivation was the same motivation of starting a blog. It was like, I did not have a job lined up. I was like, OK, well, I'm going to graduate, and I want something to be excited about. I was a French major in college, and I had already studied abroad in France a couple of times. And I was like, I want to go to where I will be happy. So I went back to France. And I found a job teaching English 12 hours a week. I had no money. I had less than no money.
So during that time, I had this school year of freedom. It was during that time I had French roommates, and we would just cook dinner together every night. And it was actually one of my French roommates, her name was Sophie, and she came home with this macaron cookbook by Pierre Herme. And she was not a baker, but she made them. And I was like, you know what? She's on to something. And I was like, if she can do it, I can do it.
And that's how I want other people to feel when they read my book. Because I didn't go to culinary school, I just decided I want to make this stuff.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. I mean, and as we discussed, you grew up in Louisiana, which obviously has a very heavy French influence as well. So when you were there in Paris, what parallels did you observe during your time there?
VALLERY LOMAS: One thing is the names of the streets in New Orleans are all a hyper-anglicized version of cities and streets in Paris. And their architecture. But the food is actually vastly different. Yeah, in Louisiana, we like dessert. We like pecan pie and bread pudding and pecan pralines and bananas foster. But dessert in Louisiana is so different than pastries in Paris. There's a reason that it's not called a pie, it's called a tart. And it's because tarts are tart. There's not a huge emphasis on sweetness. It's so many other different factors.
And with the food as well. French food is really about simplicity these days. Where Louisiana food has a lot of sauces and a lot of rice. In a way, it was great, because I appreciate both so much. And in many ways, I've been able to refine my own baking and food aesthetic. And it's definitely a combination of the two. So my desserts, yes, I have pecan pie in my book, and it is really good. But a lot of my desserts, they aren't going to be overly sweet. The focus is on textures and making sure you can taste all the flavors. And they're sweet enough, but they're not going to be that kind of sickly sweet.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, after your year in Paris, you still came back to New York to start your career as a lawyer, as a public defender. At what moment did you decide, you know what, this is not what I want to do, I want to do baking full time?
VALLERY LOMAS: I moved to New York, and I ended up working as a public defender. And during that time, I was getting my macaron business off the ground. And I actually was able to get some traction and some momentum building. And people, they loved my product. But at the time, at this time, I was 25. I didn't have the business savvy. It became a money pit, my business. Just because it's like, if you don't have a brick and mortar, you have to worry about turnover. And I was making this very finicky little product that doesn't ship well or anything.
I actually just shut the door on that chapter. I worked for eight years as a lawyer before I then fully took the plunge and transitioned to being a full-time food person.
JAYMEE SIRE: So were you still doing a lot of baking as a hobby during that time?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah. I would say I was doing some baking as a hobby, and I would blog like every month or two. But it wasn't until maybe five years ago that I picked it up again with gusto when I started my Instagram account, @foodieinnewyork. And that was when I was back in the swing of things. All right, we're baking every day. We're taking pictures. We're sharing recipes. I was fully back into it in 2016.
JAYMEE SIRE: Were there any skills that you were able to build upon and take from the courtroom and your training there into the kitchen?
VALLERY LOMAS: Writing a cookbook is such a massive endeavor, especially if you don't have a lot of experience with writing one. It's a really steep learning curve. And I think the process of going to law school and studying for the bar exam, I was up for the challenge. So I do think just that work ethic that you pick up by being a lawyer-- you have to, it requires it-- I think that work ethic has really helped me. Also, I did a lot of writing as a lawyer. So I was able to do a lot of writing now. It's different writing, but it's still writing. It's still about being able to effectively communicate. I do think overall, though, I'm just a more well-rounded individual thanks to all the different experiences I've had.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. We actually had Erica Blaire on the podcast, who is also a former attorney who just won Barbecue Brawl. What would you say to someone who maybe is thinking about making a career change but they're already so deep, so far along one particular career path that they're scared to make that leap?
VALLERY LOMAS: I think it just-- you have to look at your life and ask yourself, what's working for me? What isn't working for me? When you're in a job and you're making a lot of money, like if you're at a law firm, it can be tough to walk away if you've got people in your family who depend on you and that kind of thing. I think if you have a passion that you want to pursue as a career, the thing that you need to do is just get started.
I think a lot of people, they want to build up all the infrastructure around them first. And I'm like, you might not even like doing this. See if this is something that you want to spend your weekends doing and you want to spend your evenings and your early mornings doing. Because these creative endeavor careers, they can be all consuming just as much as any corporate career can be. So I think the first thing is just start. Do what you say you want to do on the weekends. Do it in the evenings, do it in the mornings.
And if you like it and you want to do it more, then that's a really good sign. Come up with a plan so that you can take the plunge and go all in.
JAYMEE SIRE: When we come back, Vallery shares more details about her new cookbook and tells us about her Food Network digital series, Vallery Bakes Your Questions.
You were the winner of The Great American Baking Show. Unfortunately, your season didn't fully air due to a controversy with one of the hosts. So being able to use that public victory as the springboard for this career that you love so much-- not really an option. How did you handle just that disappointment and continue to press forward anyways?
VALLERY LOMAS: I was like, this isn't going to stop what it is that I'm trying to do. That's what I believed. And I knew it was just going to take a lot more work and a lot more connecting with the right people. And I will say by that controversy, I was able to get mentors in the food media space. And I was able to meet people in food media, and that has been instrumental in everything that I've done since. So even though I didn't get the show airing and the public support and following, I was able to tap into a part of the industry that had been closed to me before.
JAYMEE SIRE: And it's so important in this business to have those mentors and people that you can trust and people that are in your corner rooting for you and advocating for you. And I imagine you still learned a lot throughout the course of the competition. Through the competitions, you mentioned baking the macaroons in a rainstorm under a tent. What are some of your most valuable takeaways from filming that show?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah, I would say one take away is just having confidence in my baking and trusting my baker's intuition. Because when you are baking for friends and family, you don't really know how you would stack up against other people, or even just getting that real critical feedback. And I think if you go to culinary school, you get that actual critical feedback of, this worked, this didn't, do this better.
And so on the show, I was able to get valuable feedback. And I had to rely on my own instincts. And that's something that, now, I think when we're in the kitchen and we're cooking or baking, if you have a question, you go to Google, or I call my mom. But I didn't have that option there. So I learned to trust myself. And I met a lot of awesome people. One guy, Hector, he taught me how to make caramel without burning it. A woman, Molly Brodack, she-- I called her my baker bestie. She was a cookie queen and she was tasting my cookies and telling me, all right, I think it needs a little more of this, or, oh, that's perfect.
So just being able to connect with other bakers who were so similar. Hector was a lawyer, Molly was an English professor. It felt like these were my people. That was definitely a very huge positive. That I took with me and still carry to this day.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. And I think the title of your cookbook, Life Is What You Bake It, is so appropriate, so authentic, based on everything you've just talked about. Can you share just the process of creating the cookbook and where you drew all of your inspiration for your recipes?
VALLERY LOMAS: I started working on the proposal fall 2017. Honestly, right after I got back from London from filming, I started working on the proposal. The inspiration from the recipes is I think deep down, even though I had not admitted it to myself, I knew I wanted to write a cookbook. So even though I had this blog, those most valued family recipes or recipes I picked up along the way, I knew I was saving them for something where I could tell a more robust story surrounding these recipes.
The process of writing the book was just updating some of these recipes, tapping into feelings, my own feelings, and trying to write from this really honest place. Which was actually really hard, and I would be all up in my feelings at a coffee shop, in tears as I'm trying to tell this story because I'm trying to go to that place so that I can just share that most authentic part of myself. So, I mean, the process, it was long, it was hard. And I'm just really proud that I was able to accomplish it in a way that I'm just really excited for people to get to see and to read and to bake from.
JAYMEE SIRE: Did you lean on any of those mentors that you talked about while you were writing this book?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah, I did, when I was writing the proposal. This was honestly a year into the proposal process. And I had just left my job a few months prior. And I was just sitting at home like, why can't I finish this proposal? I had major writer's block. And I reached out to Dana Cowin, who, she had connected with me earlier and I was on her podcast, Speaking Broadly. I know she was really busy, because she was like, oh, let me check my schedule. And she was like, well, I can meet you at 8:00 AM in the East Village at this little shop. And she was like, I can meet you there for an hour.
And I was like, oh, she's putting me at the top of her day, which is really nice. That's really early. But we met and we talked. And she was just like, all right, you have a plan. Now go do it. Go finish it this weekend. She was like, you're fast, just go finish it. And I did. This whole cookbook process took so many amazing people, so many amazing women who have just been so generous with their time and their talent and their resources.
It is not lost on me. This was basically a group project in many ways, right.
JAYMEE SIRE: If someone could try one recipe from your book or maybe the first recipe they should try, what would you say is the one?
VALLERY LOMAS: I'm a breakfast girl, so I like most of the things in the Morning Treats chapter. But I like the crispy ridged pancakes, just because a good pancake is really important. I think because fall is coming, the pumpkin bread is super good. I've recently made the banoffee pie for my little sister and her fiancee and his family. And it was a huge hit, and it was really fun to make. So any of those would be great.
JAYMEE SIRE: And now you have a Food Network digital series, as we mentioned at the top of this interview. Vallery Bakes Your Questions. So basically you guide viewers through recipes, really break down baking basics. So can you just describe what it feels like to be part of the network and have your own series like this?
VALLERY LOMAS: Food Network, they are amazing. Ever since I became a freelancer, it can be like the freelance life. And managing a business and having clients, it's like a bag of, what am I about to get? And the whole Food Network team, it really does feel like part of a family. And they came behind me on this vision that I had, and they helped me execute it so beautifully. And filming the show was just such a joy. I'm obsessed with some of the recipes that we did, like the lemon pound cake.
It's just so good. And I love it because I'm talking about my dad. He's a self-identified proclaimed, I'm just a country boy. He's telling me about, every Southern woman knows how to make a good pound cake. I'm like--
JAYMEE SIRE: Is that true?
VALLERY LOMAS: Listen, it's true if you follow my recipe.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: So that lemon pound cake recipe, and so many people have made it. And they've just told me how much they love it. So it was really fun to get to share those recipes and also get to share the context behind the recipes. So the lemon pound cake I love. The Valentine's Day red velvet heart cookies that I got shipped to my two-year-old niece was just so special. I call her the star of the cookbook, because she's in so many of the photos. And we love baking together, so it was really special to have her make a cameo on Vallery Bakes Your Questions.
And then the sweet potato pie. Going over like how to make pie crust and how to make this really classic quintessential dessert that, you guys should make it this Thanksgiving. Please look it up and make that recipe.
JAYMEE SIRE: What are some of the more common just questions that you address on the show?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah, I think about pound cakes. Because you make it in a Bundt pan. And a lot of people are like, how do you get your pound cake out of the Bundt pan? So we talk about that. And you make this paste with flour and really softened butter, and you brush it all over the pan. Or an even quicker fix is get baking spray with flour, give it a good spraying. And then the number of minutes from once you remove it from the oven to when you flip it over.
And it's really not a mystery. There's steps and there's a science to getting your Bundt cake cleanly out of the pan. We got lots of questions about holiday cookies-- how to keep them fresh, how to ship them. And we go over all of that.
JAYMEE SIRE: What's the biggest baking mistake that you often see?
VALLERY LOMAS: People probably overhandle and overmix things. A lot of baking, it just can't tolerate that. You have to be a little bit more gentle with things. So whether it's a cake batter, you don't want to overdo it. You don't want to overmix it. Or even a cookie dough. You don't want to crank the mixer up so high that it's beating the life out of the eggs. Same thing with pie crust. You don't want to overhandle it. And biscuits. So just have a light touch.
JAYMEE SIRE: What about must-have pantry staples for baking?
VALLERY LOMAS: I like my baking spray with flour. So growing up, when I would flour a cake pan, it's like, all right, you got to take the softened butter and then add the flour. And a regular cake pan really does not need all of that. So just giving that a quick spray down. I have a stock pantry. Flour, baking powder, sugar. If you like your yeast raised breads, have some yeast on hand. I have a whole chapter on bread in my cookbook, a lot of which is yeast raised. Some isn't, some it's like, I have cornbread and I have hush puppies, which is little fried rounds of cornmeal type batter.
JAYMEE SIRE: Deliciousness.
VALLERY LOMAS: So good. They're so good. Honestly, baking, it's alchemy, because you really only have a handful of ingredients. And by how you combine them and how you prepare it and how you cook it, there's a whole world open to you.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. Well as the kids say, I was today years old when I learned that there is baking spray with flour in it. So I need to go get that immediately. I mean, maybe that'll up my baking confidence a little bit more.
VALLERY LOMAS: It will. And the thing is, it is fairly new. But it's everywhere now. And multiple brands make it.
JAYMEE SIRE: I got to go check that out. As someone whose path is obviously constantly evolving, what is next for you, or what do you hope is next for you?
VALLERY LOMAS: Right now, the focus is definitely just getting this book into the hands and kitchens of as many people as possible. I enjoyed making Vallery Bakes Her Questions so much. I definitely want to make another series. I'll be working on my next book soon also, so.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK, so there's going to be a sequel to the first cookbook?
VALLERY LOMAS: There will definitely be another cookbook.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, this has been so much fun. We do want to end with a little rapidfire round, and then we have one final question we ask everybody here on Food Network Obsessed. So if you could only bake one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
VALLERY LOMAS: Carrot cake, for sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: All right. Croissant or biscuit?
VALLERY LOMAS: Biscuits. But I love croissants. But I think biscuits, I can't live without.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's a fair answer. Favorite city you lived in.
VALLERY LOMAS: But you know what? I'm just going to romanticize this and say Paris. Because I just like walking down the street in Paris. It just feels so--
JAYMEE SIRE: Like you're in a movie.
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah. Or you're in some Hemingway novel set and a whole other time period. And the gray clouds and smoke wafting and the little crepe stands. Yeah, give me Paris all the time, every time.
JAYMEE SIRE: All right. What about favorite city you've traveled to?
VALLERY LOMAS: The most interesting experience I had was when I went to Guadeloupe. And it was my first time out of the country. It just opened up my eyes to this whole other culture and language.
JAYMEE SIRE: Do you remember anything that you ate there that really stuck with you?
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah. I remember we went to the beach and there were goats. And then we had goat stew for a feast they had prepared for me. At the beach, they were like, colombo, which I think is the Creole word for it. And then when we were having dinner, they were like, this is colombo. And I was like, what? And I was 16 at the time. And I was just like, colombo? Colombo? Like, what? And because in Louisiana, I didn't know that we ate goat in the world. But I ate it, and it feels good. And you know.
JAYMEE SIRE: And here we are. Go-to comfort food.
VALLERY LOMAS: Mac and cheese.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's a good one. How do you unwind after a long day?
VALLERY LOMAS: I've been going to acupuncture, which I love. But on days where I can't do that, I watch The Office.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
VALLERY LOMAS: I think I've seen the whole series now five or six times. It's getting--
JAYMEE SIRE: Same here. Favorite guilty pleasure.
VALLERY LOMAS: I love getting upgraded on flights. That's the best. Because, yeah, it's just, give me a flight upgrade, please.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, who doesn't love a flight upgrade?
VALLERY LOMAS: Every time.
JAYMEE SIRE: What music do you listen to while you're in the kitchen?
VALLERY LOMAS: I've been listening to a lot of podcasts. And by a lot, I mean one podcast. I'll just tell you, it's called GymCastic. I'm a gymnastics superfan, because I was a gymnast growing up.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, wow.
VALLERY LOMAS: But otherwise, I listen to 90s R&B and also music from the early aughts. Because I just apparently can't get out of the music I listen to in high school and college.
JAYMEE SIRE: I do the same thing. So right there with you. Favorite Food Network show.
VALLERY LOMAS: Of course I love Molly Yeh's show. I mean, she is such an amazing role model. And she created this blueprint for being awesome and just being so herself. And being just so true to her amazingly quirky, wonderful personality. And it's just so-- yeah. I love her show. I love her book. Her book really inspired me to try and weave together a story. Because she's a great storyteller. So Girl Meets Farm is the final answer.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes. And she is a ray of sunshine. We had her on the podcast, and she was just as lovely as what we see on television. So all right, one final question. This is the one that we close out every podcast interview with. We ask everybody the same question. What would be on the menu for your perfect food day? So we want to know your breakfast, we want to know your lunch, your dinner, dessert. You can throw a snack in if you want. It's totally up to you. It is your day. You can travel, time travel. Spend however much money you want.
Basically there's no rules. So this is your day, we want to hear it.
VALLERY LOMAS: All right. So breakfast, the month is April. The location is South Louisiana. And it's the height of strawberry season.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: And I'm having strawberry smash. I think it's the second recipe in my book. It's literally just fresh strawberries that you take a fork and smash them up. And you can put the tiniest sprinkle of sugar. Oh my gosh. Because you have to have them at the height of strawberry season to-- I've tried to make them with supermarket strawberries. No, it doesn't work, because they don't release their juices in the same way. And then you just slurp up the juice. Oh my gosh.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, wow. That sounds delight-- a delightful start to your day.
VALLERY LOMAS: It's so delightful and refreshing. So that's pre-breakfast.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: And then a little bit later, you know what, we're going to indulge and we're going to have brunch. And we'll have a savory souffle. We'll have a cheese souffle. We'll have biscuits. And we will have champagne.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
VALLERY LOMAS: Some people can have mimosas. I'll have my mimosa orange juice free.
JAYMEE SIRE: I do the same thing.
VALLERY LOMAS: And have champagne. And you know what? I might afterwards have a cup of coffee with a shot of Irish cream in it, just one shot, one cup of coffee. Which is my Christmas Day beverage. Because you can't just be spiking your coffee on the regular.
JAYMEE SIRE: You are speaking my language. My sister and I do the same thing. We get so excited. We buy the bottle and we're like, it's time.
VALLERY LOMAS: Yes, exactly. So yeah, so breakfast, I mean, we've got our cheese souffle and our biscuits. And oh, we will have them with jam. It can be strawberry, fig, blackberry. As long as it's homemade. You know what? For dinner, we're going out to eat. Because we're not doing any more dishes.
Honestly, as someone who cooks a lot for other people, I really appreciate when people cook for me. I think people, they get intimidated when they're cooking for a chef. And I'm like, you should not be intimidated at all, because I am so grateful because of just the effort and the love. So I will let whoever I'm with handle all the plans for dinner. But I have things that I love. So like I've said this already, but I love gnocchi.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
VALLERY LOMAS: But a well-made gnocchi that's just so light and so--
JAYMEE SIRE: The potato gnocchi or the ricotta gnocchi, or--
VALLERY LOMAS: Potato.
JAYMEE SIRE: Potato, OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: Look, I'm not mad at ricotta if it happens.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK. What about what kind of sauce do you like on your gnocchi?
VALLERY LOMAS: Some kind of white sauce.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: Yeah, not red sauce. No, save that for spaghetti.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
VALLERY LOMAS: So yeah, if there's gnocchi involved, that would be great. And then for dessert, make me something from my cookbook, whoever is making the dinner.
JAYMEE SIRE: You don't want to make it, but you want--
VALLERY LOMAS: I want to eat it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes, exactly.
VALLERY LOMAS: Something that is really special. I love that I have a chocolate caramel tart in the book. Which is actually nice, because it can be made in advance. You just come home from dinner and have a slice that's really rich. Or chocolate souffle. If you're noticing a souffle theme, yes, I'm a Francophile. Lover of French things. I'm hungry now.
JAYMEE SIRE: I know. Well that sounds like a lovely day. It sounds very on brand. So best of luck with the cookbook release. I'm so excited for you and excited to see what's on the horizon as well. But best of luck with all of that, and thank you for joining us.
VALLERY LOMAS: Thank you so much. It was so lovely speaking with you.
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JAYMEE SIRE: I love her perfect food day, that it includes champagne and also some coffee with some Irish cream. That sounds much like what mine might be. So a huge thank you to Vallery for joining us today. And for more of Vallery, you can check out Vallery Bakes Your Questions on foodnetwork.com. And of course, pick up a copy of her cookbook, Life Is What You Bake It, out now.
Thanks so much for listening, and make sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss a thing. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review. We love it when you do that. That's all for now. We'll catch you foodies next Friday.