Latest / Cookbook Love Podcast / Episode 387: From Restaurant Legacy to Published Cookbook: Nina Greipel and Gasthaus Cookbook

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Episode 387: From Restaurant Legacy to Published Cookbook: Nina Greipel and Gasthaus Cookbook · Cookbook Love Podcast

0:02
You are listening to the Cookbook Love podcast with Maggie
0:05
Green, episode number 3 87.
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Welcome to the Cookbook Love Podcast, a podcast that celebrates cookbook readers,
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buyers, collectors, writers and clubs.
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And now your host cookbook author, culinary dietician, and cookbook
0:23
writing Coach Maggie Green.
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Hi, everybody.
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Welcome back to another episode of the Cookbook Love podcast.
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How's everybody doing today?
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We have emerged from the winter storm here in Northern Kentucky.
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Largely unscathed because we just had a large volume of snow.
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There was no freezing rain or ice here.
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And so a large volume of snow can definitely be dealt with.
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We're grateful to have it shoveled and to be out and about.
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Roads are pretty good shape, and we've had power and food and heat, I think.
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My mind today is on those people who suffered from the ice storm,
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which as we know hangs on trees, weighs down power lines, causes
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power outages, and in a cold week in February, a power outage in no heat.
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Is, uh, pretty devastating.
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So, um, thinking about everyone related to the winter storm and hoping that
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everyone is safe and warm as we spread more cookbook love today here on the show.
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The second thing I want to do is welcome new listeners.
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Those of you who are tuning in, perhaps for the first, second, or third time.
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Welcome to the show.
1:44
Welcome to, uh, our cookbook Love.
1:48
Stories that we tell here all about cookbook, reading,
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writing, and collecting.
1:53
It is, uh, terrific to be here with you and I'm so glad that you are here.
1:59
Next thing I wanna announce is that I'm having a very special new
2:02
masterclass for 2026 if you are interested in writing a cookbook of
2:07
your own, if you're a food, nutrition, or culinary professional or expert or
2:12
passionate home cook, food blogger.
2:14
Uh, food business owner, I would love to have you join me for an on
2:18
demand masterclass called Get Paid to Write a Cookbook, and you will
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be able to enjoy the masterclass in the comfort of your own home.
2:29
At the time of your convenience, where I'm going to help you discover what
2:33
traditional publishers are looking for in 2026, together, I'm gonna teach you how
2:39
to craft a viable cookbook concept that attracts publishers, build the essentials
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that make you stand out to publishers.
2:47
And help to demystify book advances so that you are positioned to
2:51
potentially earn in advance while you are writing your book.
2:56
This masterclass again is going to be offered for free.
3:00
It's on demand, and you can register by heading on over to
3:04
www.cookbookwritersacademy.com/get paid masterclass.
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The link is in the show notes below, and that again is
3:14
cookbook writers academy.com.
3:17
Slash get paid masterclass.
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I can't wait to share this masterclass with you.
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And as always, can't wait to see you enrolled, signed up and enjoying
3:29
learning all about how to position yourself for a publishing deal.
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So today on the show, I have former student and now published
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cookbook author Nina Gripple.
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Nina is the author of Guest House Cookbook and Memories.
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This book is a welcome to the Guest House, a German culinary
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legacy, and for three decades, a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky.
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The guest house stood like a warm flickering candle, a hidden gem,
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where authentic German flavors met the spirit of gamut, Leki.
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Founded in 1993 by Anna Marie and Michael Gripple.
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This family owned restaurant became more than a local favorite.
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It became a cherished tradition.
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Now, in this full color German cookbook, Nina, the daughter of
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the founders, invites you into her kitchen where the guest house spirit
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has been kept alive with 80 recipes passed down through generations
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and lovingly served to thousands.
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The Guest House cookbook offers a rare opportunity to recreate
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the soul warming dishes that made the restaurant unforgettable.
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Nina brings to life all of the recipes through her own
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experience being a photojournalist.
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She captured them in her home kitchen and tested the recipes to be sure
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that you would experience success in detailed instructions and helpful tips.
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In your cooking experience.
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Nina also talks all about her journey from cookbook idea to publication,
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what it was like to be part of an experience of working with other
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students in the publishing process.
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She talks about testing, developing, and photographing the recipes all on the way
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to publishing her beautiful new book.
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So without further delay, let's dive into this interview with Nina Gripe.
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Hi, Nina.
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Welcome to the Cookbook Love Podcast.
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Hey, how's it going?
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Hi, it's great to have you here.
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So excited that you're here.
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Tell us all about your brand new book.
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But before we dive into that, why don't you tell everybody a little bit
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about who you are and what you do?
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All right.
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Well, thank you for having me on the podcast.
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Um, I, um, I am a, um.
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Daughter of a family who moved from Germany to Louisville,
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Kentucky back in the nineties and opened a German restaurant.
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Um, my parents moved here before I did because I was still finishing
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high school, but I came shortly after.
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And then, um, the O restaurant opened in December of 93 and officially closed
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in, uh, around May of two, 2000, um, 23.
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Mm-hmm.
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And my parents, you know.
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Ran the restaurant, uh, operated it, um, themselves with the family.
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Um, I worked in the restaurant off and on, um, myself and helped out.
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In the beginning I was a server and then, uh, eventually I was able to get
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my own career going, um, working at newspapers as a photographer after my
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college degree in photo journalism.
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And eventually I came back home after leaving the newspaper business and
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worked in the business with my family.
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Until I was more of a full-time employee towards the end, um,
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doing just about everything.
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Yeah.
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Um, baking all the desserts, um, managing staff, managing social
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media, um, serving, managing whatever.
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And, um, did that until the end and.
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It was a great time.
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I, um, really enjoyed it.
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Um, it was, uh, definitely our passion.
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We really enjoyed having the restaurant and, um, serving the
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people the food that we would eat at, um, our dinner table in Germany.
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And sadly, my parents just kind of started the restaurant a little bit later in life.
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My mom was 52 when she started and she always jokes that I am still under the
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age of 52 and I've got a little bit more time before I can start my own restaurant.
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Um.
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We won't do that.
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Yeah.
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Um, but yeah, so the restaurant was family operated and, um, we served authentic
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German, uh, food desserts, beer, wine in a small cozy space in Mobile, Kentucky,
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in a, like a strip mall kind of setting.
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But, uh, you know, we definitely loved doing it and we definitely all miss it.
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Yes.
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But it was time for my parents to retire.
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Yes.
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Yes.
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'cause it is restaurant.
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The restaurant business is hard work.
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It's, uh, something that you definitely put your heart and soul into.
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And so this restaurant wasn't just around for a few years.
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It had a long tradition in Louisville.
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You all had a very devoted, steady clientele.
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Of course, new people would discover it, but tell us a little bit about being in
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business for 30 years and what happens with your customers as a result of that.
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Well.
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We've made lifelong friends.
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You know, we've, um, some of our guests were, are now friends like that we still
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have contact with, that we still celebrate holidays with, or we hang out with, or my
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sister's traveled with some of our guests.
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Um, we've been to their, um, weddings, birthday parties, um, funerals.
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I mean, it's just intertwined now.
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We're just, you know, the restaurant business is basically.
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Something that, um, provided us more than just, you know, an income.
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It was, um, a base where people gathered to celebrate German food and German
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traditions and, and everything German.
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They came to our restaurant to, you know, ask us about German things,
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translations, anything about any questions they might might have about Germany.
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You know, we were like the, the source for a few people for, um.
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German related issues.
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So, um, but it definitely made, um, it definitely gave us a lot of new
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friendships and some of my closest friends are ex customers of ours.
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And, you know, I'm still in touch with many of them.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And I think that, uh, when you run a business like that and your parents had
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the goal to make this feel like people were in your home, even though you said it
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was in a strip mall, it was a cozy space.
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And I know a lot of things, um, transpired in that restaurant other than just meals.
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Tell us a story about maybe a couple of things that happened in the
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restaurant that really connected you to the people who came to eat there.
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Oh, there's so many.
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Um, one in particular I highlight in the cookbook.
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Um, we had a wedding.
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We had a wedding where the, uh, the bride was being walked down the, the
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aisle, basically the center part of the restaurant, past all the tables to the
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front of the restaurant where we had a little hut and little house, little
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cottage, um, that, that was built in the restaurant that served as the chap chapel.
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And so they got married in this little cozy cottage.
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My mom made the wedding cake.
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Um, they celebrated the reception, obviously, at the
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restaurant, so that was cute.
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Uh, we've been, um, on TV many times.
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We've had wave three come to the restaurant and do a, uh, Christmas special
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where we would, um, you know, offer a lunch special that would, um, offer,
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um, donations for certain charities.
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Um.
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And, um, also a way of getting the name out and talk about, um, German
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Christmas traditions and such.
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Um, we've had many customers come like on a regular basis once a year for
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any like, conventions that were in town that we would, you know, welcome
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once a year as same time of year.
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Um, I mean, we've had a lot of staff that stuck around for decades.
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Or at least several years.
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You know, staff was usually pretty steady.
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There was not a lot, not a lot of, um, turnover.
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We treated our staff fairly, you know, everybody, um, got treated fairly.
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We got some staff meals, you know, decent pay.
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Um, um, full-time staff, got health insurance benefits.
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Um, the chefs usually made a staff meal at the end of the night, and, um, we
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all generally got along pretty well.
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Um, I mean, we've seen it all.
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There's, and then there's of course, you know, certain things
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that happen in the restaurant that happen in every restaurant business.
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Like no shows of customers, no shows of staff, um,
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just, um, yeah, you know, all kinds of things.
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But yeah, in general.
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In general, we had a great time.
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Yeah.
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I mean, and I love the stories about you and how you all would
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celebrate these occasions with people.
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The wedding is the one thing that did stick out to me and something
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that, um, you were able to, uh, talk about in the cookbook.
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So as the restaurant though, wound down and when you all ultimately
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close the doors, you lose the connection to these people that you
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care about and you lose your like.
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Sense of Maureen, like a place where you went to work every day, right?
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Where you connected with your employees, you connected with the people who worked
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at the restaurant and with the customers.
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So tell us about the evolution of the cookbook in your all's mind.
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Like when did, who started thinking about the book first?
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Was it you or was it your parents?
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And tell us a little bit about, um, what you all thought might happen
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in terms of publishing this book.
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Um, we first came up with the idea we're not either one of us.
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It was more, I guess a guest came to us over the years and kept
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pushing us, you know, even 10 years ago, you should write a cookbook.
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I mean, my dad's been asked, my mom's been asked, uh, Frank Falco would ask
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my dad, and Mrs. Kaufman would ask my mom, you should write a cookbook.
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You should write a cookbook.
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And mom's like, yeah, yeah, I will.
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I will.
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But then.
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My mom says she never knew how to.
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And then of course I have a background in photojournalism.
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I went to Western.
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And um, so the photography part for me was something that was already in my
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back pocket and I'm a creative person and anyway, and, um, I figured, you know,
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if I'm not doing the restaurant work anymore, which was like my life, yes.
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You know, it was my everything.
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Um, and the demand was there for a cookbook.
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I figured I'm just gonna go out and do it and figure it out.
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And the thing is.
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I didn't know how, yeah, I knew a little bit about photo.
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I mean, I knew enough about photography to know how to operate a camera, but food
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photography is a whole different beast.
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Um, I, I'm used to photographing people and weddings and fast moving things and,
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you know, instead of play the food in front of you, it's not going anywhere.
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I can take my time to photograph this.
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I can style it, I can make it more glossy.
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I can make it, you know, saucy and cheesy and cheese full.
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Make the sauce, like, listen again.
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And I mean, I really enjoyed like being able to, um, work on that
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little bit, um, at a slower pace.
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And, um, yeah, so I, I mean, I took your course and I figured,
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okay, maybe I'll just submit to a publisher, a manuscript with all the
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recipes, just no formatting, just.
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Boring typed up recipes, right?
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And then I'll submit my photographs and then have them work the
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magic and put together a book.
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But the more I got into your course, and the more I kind of thought about
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it and the more I kind of realized that this book is so personal, it's,
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it's just so unique that I honestly didn't wanna give up the control.
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Somebody else.
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And I figured that if anything, if I can like do it myself and have all the
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control over how it should look, um, I'm just gonna go ahead and at least try.
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And I did speak to, um, a local publisher here in town, um, Butler
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Publishing, Carol Butler, uh, nice lady.
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And I spoke on the phone and, you know, she was offering to maybe
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help me publish it, but then I was already halfway through.
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It.
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And I remember her specifically saying, you know what, you're
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already halfway through.
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Just finish it.
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Just, yeah, do it the way you feel it should be done and just make it
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your own and, and just don't worry about what other people say or think.
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Just make it the way you would like to see it.
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And I'm.
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That's really all I needed to hear.
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Yes.
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Thanks Carol.
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Yes.
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Yes.
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And I just kind of figured now, you know, I'm not a chef.
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Um, I'm not a, I've not, I have no culinary background, um,
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like professionally speaking, or no culinary schooling.
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Um, I basically, I'm, I'm self-taught.
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Yep.
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It's like my parents are, and, you know, I've always, in the restaurant,
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I've always looked over the shoulders of our chefs and be like,
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you know, Hey, how'd you do this?
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How'd you make that?
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Why'd you do that?
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How long you cook that?
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I'm just curious.
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You know, I just like cooking and I love cooking actually.
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And, um, I asked my dad a lot of questions during the cookbook making process
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and basically I taught myself how to cook while I was making the cookbook.
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Um, I already knew how to bake, um, 'cause I was the pastry chef at the restaurant,
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so that was pretty easy for me, um, to write down those recipes and to, you know,
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bake those recipes and photograph 'em.
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But the cooking part.
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I was completely new and, um, I consulted my dad many times.
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I had him on speed dial because a lot of times I made mistakes
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and, um, those mistakes.
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I tried to work into the cookbook and tell people like, okay, don't
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do this and this is why, you know?
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Um, but I wanted the cookbook to be approachable to an average home cook and.
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Like I am a, I'm an average home cook.
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I like to cook and I would like people to look at the book and pick it up
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and see, okay, follow the instructions and you can make sour rotten.
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Because like I remember the first time I made sour rotten and my dad gave
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me the recipe with the instructions.
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I made it the first time.
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I've never made it before, and it turned out perfectly, and
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I was just like, mind blown.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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I thought if I can make soot just by following the instructions.
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You know, I mean, why couldn't anybody else do it?
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It's not, not rocket signs, you know, it's all the instructions and you
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should be able to make a delicious meal.
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And I wanna share that with our, with our guests, with the readers.
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Yes.
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Your guests were asking for these recipes, but I think the vision you
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had for the book, and when you closed your eyes, you kind of knew in your
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mind what you wanted it to look like.
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Like, and when you talk about control, I think that's what you mean, the,
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the art direction of the book and the way you wanted it to appear.
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You, you did have a vision for this, so tell us about that.
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Book what you envisioned it might be and um, how you were able to
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accomplish achieving that vision through self-publishing rather than
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going the traditional publishing route.
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Well, I, um, like I said, I wanted to include in the book specific instructions
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I wanted to include in the book.
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Um, 'cause I mean, my target audience were mostly people.
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Here in Louisville, um, that have been to the guest house.
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So I wanted to include like, where can you source the ingredients?
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Where can you get the tools?
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Like what tools do you need?
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You know, I've had a, got a whole page that has, you know, tools and equipment
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listed, um, mentioning like what the request that we use looks like, um, of
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what an offset specialist was used for.
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And I referenced to that page from the recipes, from the recipe pages.
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You know, for people to understand like, okay, this is what I need,
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this is where I can buy it.
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Um, I also was able to, uh, involve my, um, cousin in England, her daughter Laura.
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Um, she's a, an illustrator and I've asked her to help me illustrate some of the.
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You know, like the tools.
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I had her sketch some of the tools and I used those sketches in the book.
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I had her illustrate, um, a pig Yeah.
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That I used in, uh, one of the recipes for hu and so I involved her and that
20:03
was, I'm so glad that worked out.
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'cause you know, she lives in England and I lived here.
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So we work together like that on an international basis even.
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Um, but, you know, I. I think I went at it pretty methodical.
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Like I pretty much knew, like I wanted to have the section of the tools, the section
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of where to buy the ingredients, and then also, um, the headlines of each recipe.
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Um, I wanted to have my mom's handwriting.
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My mom has a nice first of handwriting.
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She's always had nice handwriting, and I just always knew from the
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very beginning that I wanted to have her handwriting be the headline.
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For each recipe.
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So she worked really hard on that.
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She did a great job as many times.
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So tell me how you, what did she write with and how were you able to get it?
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I mean, the, the resolution and everything of those, the recipe titles
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with her handwriting looked really good.
20:58
Yeah.
20:58
Um, tell me what you all did to achieve that.
21:01
Well, in the beginning, I, I. I'll tell you the short story.
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I just had her, I just had her write with the same kind of sharpie, like a medium
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sized Sharpie on a white piece of paper.
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Um, the names of the recipes.
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And then I would then she would scan them in and email them.
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Mm-hmm.
21:20
And I would, you know, look them over and be like, okay, can you, can you
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try doing it a little bit more clean, a little bit less slanted, a little bit
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more, you know, don't forget to, to.
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Dot the I and cross the T and just make it look nice.
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And, you know, she would sometimes try it over and over until her hand heard.
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But you know, there's been, um, recipe names that have
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been rewritten so many times.
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Um, eventually I figured out a way in Photoshop to, um, scan in the, the letters
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or scan in the word and make the word make the writing thicker or thinner.
21:58
There's a way of doing that.
21:59
Mm-hmm.
21:59
I forgot exactly how to explain it now, but you can do that,
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you can do that in Photoshop.
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You can scan in handwritten material and make it thicker or thinner.
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And so I did that for the, the whole book.
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I went through every handwritten piece, every handwritten title, and
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just, um, made it look consistent.
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'cause sometimes she would use a thinner sharpie and then a thicker
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sharpie, and then just like, you know, it wasn't consistent.
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So I tried my best to make it consistent in Photoshop.
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Yeah, I think that makes it really personal.
22:28
And then of course, um, there's a nice head note usually
22:31
in every recipe that Yes.
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Talks about the recipe, maybe some history or a story behind it.
22:37
Yes.
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And, um, what was it like writing that part of the recipe?
22:40
Because that's different than the ingredients in the instructions.
22:43
Yeah.
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Special.
22:45
I, I mean, that was my favorite part about the recipe.
22:49
Yeah.
22:50
Is, um, there's sometimes, you know, I would talk to my dad just casually,
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um, like one, one summer, um, I think it was 2024, we're sitting out in my
23:00
parents' backyard having like a Sunday family dinner in the summer and sitting
23:06
next to my dad and we're just talking and we're talking about my grandma.
23:11
Or no, my, his grandma's, my great-grandmother, how she would make
23:17
saut and she would, you know, cut the cabbage, put in a big oak barrel and
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put a lid on it, and then get a big rock from the creek and just put that on top
23:27
of the lid and weigh it down and keep it in the cellar and make from scratch.
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And he was telling me that story and I was like, wow, man, that's
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such a cool story, you know?
23:36
And he goes.
23:37
Well, she was the SRT queen of the, the town, like everybody
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came to her for her srt and I'm, oh man, that's such a cool story.
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Yeah, I have got to include that in the cookbook, you know?
23:49
Yeah.
23:50
And, uh, just like the little tidbits from just talking to my parents, you
23:55
know, like throughout the time I was working on the cookbook, it's kind of.
23:58
Spotting them and asking them more questions about the recipes and
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the background and the stories, and anything I can get out of them that
24:06
I could use in the cookbook to share.
24:09
It was just so valuable to me.
24:11
You know, um, some of the recipes don't really have much of a backstory
24:15
because honestly, some of the recipes I got from the, the chefs that we,
24:21
you know, that work for us, um.
24:24
And, uh, included them because they were part of the guest house.
24:27
They were on the menu and they were popular.
24:31
So, but then some of the recipes that are like true family recipes,
24:36
like the dumplings, you know, the different types of dumplings.
24:40
My, my mom's side of the family, my mom's mom had a dumping recipe that was
24:45
completely different to my dad's mom.
24:48
And just like the story that my dad would tell me that he would
24:50
eat like 16 or 17 dumplings in one sitting, um, when he was like a
24:55
young boy, young teenage, hungry boy.
24:58
And his, his grandma was watching him just scarf down one
25:03
dumpling after the other in awe.
25:06
And it is like those stories just, yeah.
25:09
And I don't know that you maybe some new stories you wouldn't have heard.
25:13
At all had you not embarked on this project and got your parents
25:17
talking about food outside of the restaurant environment?
25:19
'cause when they're running a restaurant, they're probably not
25:21
talking about these kinds of things.
25:22
You're talking about the business you're talking about.
25:25
You know, the day-to-day operation, things that are going on in the restaurant.
25:27
Right?
25:27
So cookbooks really do give you a chance to talk to people and think
25:31
about things in a different way.
25:33
So as a self-published author, then you were responsible for wearing all
25:37
the hats of the publishing process.
25:39
Yes.
25:39
You, uh, developed and wrote down the recipes.
25:43
I know you had them tested, you, uh, worked, you took the photos, uh.
25:49
The layout of the book, you worked with someone to lay out the book
25:53
and then the actual, um, printing of the book through a company that, you
25:59
know, you upload the files to print it and then the books are sent to you.
26:03
Um, if there's someone listening to this today that would like to
26:07
self-publish a book, maybe they own a restaurant and they're thinking
26:10
about doing the same thing, um.
26:14
You have a lot of experience with this now 'cause you've been through it.
26:17
What would your advice be to someone who is thinking about this?
26:23
Well, I mean, first of all, let me go back just a little bit.
26:27
The only design help I had was the cover.
26:30
Um, my friend John Mahoney did the cover and I did all the design inside the book.
26:35
So what did you use some software to lay the pages of the book out?
26:38
Yes, I use Canva.
26:40
Nice.
26:40
Very good.
26:41
Okay.
26:41
Yeah.
26:41
Excellent.
26:42
Yep.
26:42
Yep.
26:42
Um, Canva, I mean, like I said, I design, I, I wasn't sure exactly how
26:48
I wanted it to look, um, exactly where the elements should fall, but then all I
26:53
knew I wanted it to look clean and easy to read, and I think I achieved that.
26:59
Um, but like, if some, if some, if you wanted to, like, if you were somebody
27:03
who would like to write a book, um.
27:07
Don't be scared.
27:08
Um, I mean, it's a, it's a lot of work and it's not just like
27:13
work, putting it together.
27:14
It's also a lot of critical time management.
27:17
Um, there's a lot of.
27:19
Balls in the air when you're working on a big project like that.
27:22
I mean, I still had to, you know, run a household and, um, work, um, have
27:28
a life and work with other people that were helping me with the book,
27:32
like my recipe testers, my parents.
27:33
And so scheduling all that and playing all that was a little difficult.
27:37
And then of course I was, um.
27:41
Crazy enough to adopt or foster a puppy.
27:44
Um, in the early stages of the cookbook, because I was home a lot
27:47
and my friend needed somebody to watch a dog, and I was like, sure, fine.
27:50
Bring her over.
27:51
And of course, I fell in love with my dog and kept her.
27:54
But, um, she oftentimes was pulling on my, um, attention span.
28:00
Yeah, very much so.
28:01
So that was difficult.
28:02
But yeah, if you ha, if you're somebody who's thinking about
28:04
writing a cookbook, um, like let's say you have a lot of family, um.
28:09
Recipes gathered, um, on pieces of paper or a notepad or even on
28:14
a, a document online or something.
28:16
Um, don't be shy.
28:19
There's so many tools out there these days that you can use.
28:22
I mean, I use Canva.
28:23
Um, InDesign is a software you could use, but it's a steep learning curve.
28:28
I didn't wanna try that On top of everything else,
28:31
him was very user friendly.
28:33
Um, even WordPress might work, but, um.
28:37
Just putting it together and having it in one, in one place is so satisfying.
28:42
It's even to me when I'm cooking at home, you know, if I like wanna
28:47
cook some of my recipes, sometimes I refer to my own cookbook.
28:50
Yes.
28:50
I pull it off the shelf and look at it and go, how do I do this again?
28:54
Oh, okay.
28:54
Yeah.
28:54
I'm actually making a dish this weekend, having a friend over some,
28:59
making a dish from the cookbook.
29:01
And, um, it's just, it's just nice having everything in one spot, you know?
29:06
A hundred percent.
29:06
Yeah.
29:07
Yeah.
29:08
Yeah.
29:08
That's very much true.
29:09
Even with photography.
29:10
If you were to do your own photography, I mean, you can just look things up online.
29:15
You know, you can just, I mean, you can Google so many things.
29:17
You can even Google recipes, you know, you can just get
29:20
inspired and, um, put something together that's all your own, um.
29:27
And just, you know, just be open to learning a lot.
29:30
Yeah.
29:31
Because I mean, I learned so much in this process.
29:34
I learned so much about myself.
29:35
I learned so much about my time management skills, which are not always the greatest,
29:39
but, um, I managed and um, I honestly enjoyed listening to your podcasts.
29:45
Well, I was in my little studio.
29:47
Oh, that's nice.
29:48
Taking pictures of the food I had you running in the background.
29:52
Listening to your podcast while I was shooting my pictures?
29:55
Yes.
29:55
Because I think one thing about listening to this podcast, uh, for people who
30:00
are working on books is, or have, have published a book or are thinking about
30:05
it, is everyone that comes on the show is somehow, uh, connected to cookbook writing
30:10
or has written a book of their own.
30:12
Mm-hmm.
30:13
And I think that everyone that's.
30:14
Done it.
30:15
You're right.
30:15
You don't just change on the outside and you don't just produce a book.
30:18
A lot of things happen internally when we do this.
30:22
Yes.
30:22
What's different about Nina now inside that wasn't like this
30:27
before you wrote your book?
30:29
You mean the 20 pounds that I gained from making?
30:32
Well, it's, it's always a possibility too.
30:34
People, yeah.
30:35
You know, it's kind of funny that you, it's not funny that you
30:37
mention that, but when we're te developing and testing recipes, uh.
30:42
Gaining weight is a very real thing.
30:45
Yeah.
30:46
Well, it's a lot of sitting too.
30:47
That's, it's not necessarily, it's a lot of sitting eating more.
30:49
It was just like, I wasn't exercising as much.
30:52
I'm a cyclist and I love, you know, cycling with my friends, but I
30:55
just didn't have time because Yes.
30:58
Too many days as I'm working on a cookbook, I'm working on a cookbook.
31:01
Right.
31:02
You know, just had to put off a lot of social time and, um, stay focused.
31:07
Um.
31:09
Yeah, I, uh, different about me.
31:12
Um, well, I mean, now that the book is published, what's different
31:16
is the fact that I had no idea how, how needed the book was.
31:22
Um, I had no idea back then how much people wanted the book.
31:27
And, you know, now that it's published, I've been hearing from so many
31:30
people how much they enjoy the book.
31:33
Um, I love seeing people's results.
31:38
Bake results, cook results, made the results, and they shoot
31:42
me a photo and I just, oh man.
31:45
Feeling ever.
31:46
It's a great feeling.
31:47
And your, your effort now is being like multiplied, like all the food Yes.
31:51
Of the restaurant is being produced in people's homes now.
31:55
Yes.
31:55
And it just, I mean, it makes me teary-eyed.
31:57
It's, it's the best feeling ever.
32:00
Yeah.
32:00
Yeah.
32:01
Also, some neat things have happened to you kind of professionally,
32:03
like the places you're getting to go, to talk about the books, the
32:07
opportunities that you're having.
32:08
Yes.
32:08
Uh, tell us a little bit about some of the things that have transpired in that arena.
32:14
I've been on TV twice now.
32:16
Um, first time was like a short interview.
32:19
Um, and then the second time was an actual cooking presentation, um, early
32:23
in the morning for a morning show, and I was worried about more worried about
32:28
being awake and getting up early than actually cooking in front of a camera.
32:32
Um, but yeah, it's been great.
32:34
Um, I'm teaching cooking classes.
32:36
Um, that's just something I chose to do because I felt like it was.
32:41
Something that could be fun.
32:44
Um, just, you know, like I've been taught, um, everything from my parents.
32:50
Like my mom taught me how to bake.
32:52
Um, my dad, you know, showed me how to cook and I've just been
32:57
taught by others by show and tell.
32:59
This is how you do it.
33:00
You know?
33:02
I feel like if I were, if I can help somebody, you know, successfully
33:07
cook something by showing them, then.
33:10
That's great.
33:11
Then, then we've got another person who can successfully make a pretzel or
33:15
successfully roll the lemon roll properly.
33:18
'cause that's, you know, kind of a tricky technique.
33:20
And, um, I've taught, I think I've taught now almost 10 classes total.
33:26
You know, six, yeah, I think like 10 or 12 classes.
33:29
Um, some at the German American Club, um, some at people's
33:33
homes, like private classes.
33:35
That's been fun.
33:37
And, um, now I'm currently enrolled in a, um, program at the library.
33:42
There's a new library in town.
33:44
It's a pretty big modern library, and they, um, built a kitchen and I'm their
33:50
first, um, chef in residence, so to speak.
33:53
Um, teaching classes for free, um, classes are free.
33:58
Um.
33:59
I'm being paid by the library and then I'm offering whatever, you
34:04
know, courses or whatever recipes I feel like are important to teach.
34:07
And so the first class I taught pretzel making and I figured, figured like,
34:12
you know, pretzel making is, um, not completely difficult or complicated,
34:18
but I figured out this like special trick of how to make them better and
34:21
easier and more successful and make them rise and, you know, look better.
34:26
I've learned that trick by just making pretzels over the years and just refining
34:31
the recipe and just working on the recipe and just figuring out something that, um,
34:37
makes them, it's like a foolproof method.
34:40
So I shared that method and I wanted to share spec specifically with kids
34:44
as well, because I love watching kids, you know, work on dough and
34:48
rolling pretzels is just great.
34:49
And, um, it was a, it was a great class.
34:53
Um, it was, um.
34:55
Very successful.
34:55
I had about, um, a hundred people in the, in the room and about four
35:00
50 people in the overflow room.
35:02
Wow.
35:04
And so, um, next class will be tomorrow, um, teaching baked apples
35:09
with vanilla sauce, easy recipe as well.
35:12
Great winter activity.
35:13
And then the last class will be how make schnitzel and schpeel.
35:18
Wonderful.
35:18
And that's amazing.
35:19
And, um, pretty sure it sounds like that this opportunity came
35:23
as a result of the book coming out and you sharing these guest house
35:27
recipes now through the cookbook.
35:29
Yes, yes.
35:30
And your name, I mean, you all, you all's name was out in Louisville,
35:32
but the book kind of allowed you to reemerge in the community with a whole
35:36
new, uh, product and a whole new way that you can reach not just your former
35:40
customers, but brand, but new people.
35:44
Yes.
35:44
Yes.
35:44
Um, yeah, it's been great.
35:46
I mean, I'm really looking forward to maybe teaching more classes.
35:49
It's just a little bit difficult right now to find locations,
35:52
um, where I can do that.
35:54
Yeah.
35:54
Um, I've offered people to do it at their homes.
35:57
If I can have like a, you know, little space where maybe a kitchen counter
36:01
where I can cook, and then on the other side people can sit and watch me.
36:05
Um, yes, prepare the food.
36:07
Be a great, uh, learning opportunity.
36:09
Yeah.
36:10
Yeah.
36:10
I think, um, and 'cause when you're cooking, um, you know this, but
36:14
it's important to have like the, a counter that's maybe the right height.
36:17
Have the equipment that you need, the cooking space that you need, the
36:21
stove or the oven or whatever it is.
36:24
And um, yeah, I think that, um, who knows?
36:29
People ask, but you've gotta have the right space.
36:32
It's gotta be the right kind of thing.
36:34
Yeah, right.
36:34
Tell us, um, there's might be some recipes in this book that are not.
36:38
That are specific to the restaurant, like things that were specials at
36:42
the restaurant that you all served.
36:44
Um, I noticed a couple of salads maybe that you mentioned that that
36:48
was kind of like your house salad, a special way that you did things.
36:52
So talk a little bit about what it's like to know that these are recipes
36:56
that are truly unique, uh, for the restaurant now published in a book.
37:02
Well, I mean, um.
37:03
There's, there's, most of the recipes in the cookbook are recipes we had
37:08
at the Gastos, and then there's a few that were not served at the Gastos,
37:13
but were served at, um, you know, a family dinner table that were worthy
37:17
of showing, um, in the cookbook worthy of sharing in the cookbook.
37:22
Um, like all the salads we serve at the restaurants.
37:26
And then, um, we have.
37:29
Um, like a soup that we served at home that I wanted to include, which
37:33
is the, uh, the beef noodle soup.
37:35
It's just a soup that my mom would make on Sundays.
37:37
Big pot that would feed a lot of people.
37:40
Um, there's a, an egg recipe in there that is, um, an Easter
37:44
tradition in our family that we never eat, served at the gas halls.
37:48
Um, dad would make those eggs in the kitchen.
37:51
Sometimes the staff would be able to eat them, but it was kind of something you
37:54
couldn't really serve in a restaurant.
37:56
Um, they're basically marinated eggs.
37:58
Boiled and then marinated in a, like a salt onion, uh, careway brine.
38:04
Delicious, very traditional for us during the Easter time.
38:08
Um, but yeah, most of the recipes in the cookbook had
38:12
been served at the restaurant.
38:13
Mm-hmm.
38:13
It's just that some recipes are really, honestly felt like they had to be included
38:17
because they're just too good not to me.
38:20
Um, one example would be my mom's potato salad.
38:25
So my dad's potato salad was in the cookbook because the potato salad,
38:28
we served at the GU halls and I had laid out the page with a vertical
38:32
photo of my dad's potato salad.
38:34
And then my mom made her potato salad one summer and we took her to my sister's
38:39
barbecue and I tried her potato salad, which, you know, I'm tired before,
38:42
obviously, and I just thought to myself, oh my God, a potato salad is so good.
38:49
It just has to be in the cookbook.
38:51
But at that point I was already almost finished with the layout and
38:55
didn't have any extra pages to spare.
38:57
And I just figured, okay, we'll just take the the page with dads potato salad and
39:02
split it up and make his potato salad a horizontal photo, and then I'm gonna
39:07
shoot her potato salad horizontal, and then just stack the two recipes on top
39:12
of each other on on the opposite page and have both recipes on the same page.
39:16
And it worked out and it's like.
39:18
That was the best thing ever.
39:21
You have.
39:21
Now we have both.
39:21
That worked out.
39:22
Yeah.
39:22
Now you have both of them.
39:24
Yes.
39:25
Yes.
39:26
All right.
39:27
So as we're starting to kind of wrap up, one thing that I love to, uh, think about
39:33
is how cookbooks connect us to people.
39:37
I always say at the bottom, at the end of the day, uh, the work that
39:40
we often do with cookbooks is about.
39:43
It's about the people.
39:44
Yes, absolutely.
39:45
You can, you've been reflecting about the people you worked with in the restaurant,
39:49
your parents, the people who provided the restaurant, I mean the recipes,
39:53
uh, people that helped you get the book together and then of course, yourself as
39:58
the person that really literally drove the project from, uh, beginning to end.
40:03
Um, talk a little bit about, talk a little bit about that because it's now
40:09
just not your restaurant customers.
40:12
Yes.
40:13
Yeah.
40:13
Well, I mean, I, uh, I still cook our recipes with my recipe tester, Abby.
40:22
Oh, nice.
40:22
At her house a lot.
40:24
We just share that now.
40:26
Um, cooking our recipes.
40:27
Um, I, I just enjoy, like hearing from others, um, specifically, uh, restaurant.
40:37
Restaurant customers.
40:38
We've made our recipes and, you know, who've cooked them and
40:42
shown me their, their results.
40:44
I've, I've met up with customers to, um, share tools like a spa
40:49
press, so that's Maribo Press.
40:52
Um, I've been to people's homes.
40:56
I've had one of the families, the, the crepes family, um, invite me
41:00
to their house for Father's Day, which I brought my dad along.
41:05
And um, they were regulars at the gas house for many, many years.
41:09
It's a large family and they invited me over to cook for them and of course shared
41:13
dinner with them and that was great.
41:15
'cause you know, just seeing everybody again, people that have used to come
41:20
to the gas house for many years and we've seen their kids grow up over the
41:25
years and, you know, it's just great that we can keep that connection going.
41:29
Right.
41:30
And, you know, I hope to keep the connection going in the future.
41:34
Even after most of it has died down, I'd love to like talk to people more
41:41
about the times at the GU house and maybe the times that they've shared at
41:46
their own dinner table with our recipes.
41:50
Mm-hmm.
41:50
Yeah.
41:50
It's very important to me.
41:52
Yeah.
41:52
And I know that through the, um, coaching program, the cookbook coaching
41:56
program you were in when we worked together, you even met other cookbook.
42:02
Writers that are working on projects through the community that we built there.
42:07
Um, what was it like getting to know other cookbook writers and
42:10
what kinds of things have you all been able to do for each other as a
42:13
result of meeting in the community?
42:17
Well, one of them, um, I've asked be my recipe testers, so test that
42:22
worked out and, um, I haven't met.
42:27
Too many cookbook authors in person yet, um, locally, but, um, through
42:34
your program, um, we shared some, some of the struggles and some of
42:40
the, the things that, you know, we needed to do to finish the cookbook.
42:45
Of course, everybody's cookbook is different.
42:47
Um, some people also had a different timeline of working on the cookbook.
42:51
Um, I personally knew that I had to finish it fairly quickly.
42:56
Just to kind of keep the momentum going, um, of, you know, having the
43:00
restaurants be close and, you know, close.
43:03
Just recently cookbook comes out within the timeframe of maybe two or three years,
43:09
and I, I think I achieved that goal.
43:11
Um, but yeah, I'd love to meet more cookbook writers.
43:16
I'd, I'd love to share my experience with more people.
43:19
I, I mean, I would even love to share my, um.
43:23
The lessons that I've made, um, of my mistakes or, um, tips that I could give
43:29
people of how to proceed, um, with a cookbook project, and I've learned so
43:34
much that I would be happy to share it.
43:36
I mean, I'd be happy to share.
43:38
Anything about, um, our recipes and I've offered them, that's the thing.
43:42
It's like, I don't think there's too many cookbook authors that you can
43:46
like email from the, you know, email address that's inside the cookbook
43:50
and say, Hey, how do you make this?
43:51
Or Hey, where do you get, where do I get this ingredient?
43:54
And have the cookbook author actually respond and be like, Hey.
43:57
You can buy this spice locally at this and the store.
44:00
Yeah.
44:00
Yeah.
44:01
I think that it, um, it, it does, it is nice.
44:05
Then when you meet people who are working on the same thing, um,
44:08
like you said, they're not just out running around in Louisville.
44:11
And I think if you get to go to a book fair or go to a book signing where there's
44:15
a larger group of people, there's usually a section of cookbook writers, cookbook
44:19
authors there signing their books.
44:21
And that's always very fun also to see the different types
44:24
of books that people are, uh.
44:25
Writing and publishing.
44:27
So when it comes to cookbooks, did your, did you have a cookbook that influenced
44:31
you or did you have a favorite cookbook or did anything, um, influence your parents?
44:35
Was there ever a cookbook like laying around in the
44:37
kitchen, uh, that you all used?
44:40
I asked my parents that question and my mom said that
44:42
we never really used a cookbook.
44:44
Yeah.
44:44
Um, it's just family recipes.
44:47
Uh, there's two cookbooks that come to mind.
44:50
Um, one is a Paul Cookbook that my dad.
44:54
Picked up.
44:55
And, um, he used that book to create the, uh, gusto seasoning, which is a,
45:02
um, special seasoning that we would use on any of the, um, the foods.
45:07
Uh, we would season, like the meats, um, the soups and whatnot.
45:11
And then, um, another cookbook that was influential to us
45:14
was, um, a Dr. Baking book.
45:17
Mm-hmm.
45:18
Um, so my mom.
45:21
Actually, this is a long story.
45:22
I'll keep it short, but my mom grew up, grew up in Germany, moved to
45:25
England with her family and her stepdad opened a bakery and she learned how
45:30
to bake rolls and um, donuts and those kinds of things, but never learned
45:36
how to bake desserts and cakes.
45:39
When we opened the restaurant, um, she still didn't know how to bake.
45:44
She didn't know how to bake desserts, and she would order desserts from
45:47
other bakers and resell them until she eventually figured it out herself.
45:52
And she figured it out herself by, you know, trial and error, but also by
45:56
calling her sister in Germany asking for recipe, um, help or taking help.
46:03
A lot of times my Aunt Yvonne in Germany would say, just refer
46:08
to the, uh, Dr. Cher Bookbook.
46:10
It's a Dr. Cher German baking today.
46:14
Um, got it in my hand right here.
46:16
It's, um, nice.
46:18
It's, uh, a book that is actually, um, I, I own both versions.
46:22
I own the German version and the English version.
46:25
They're the exact same book.
46:27
Um, would you believe it?
46:28
The German version is thicker.
46:30
Yeah.
46:31
Um, isn't it?
46:33
Yeah.
46:33
Is it, does the translation for that, do you think it takes more
46:35
characters or more explanation, or is there more recipes, do you think?
46:41
I don't know.
46:41
I don't think there's more recipes.
46:42
I think it's just the word.
46:43
The wordings, German wording is longer.
46:45
Yeah.
46:46
Yeah.
46:47
But, um, yeah, we refer to that cookbook, uh, to that baking book a
46:51
lot, just because it was so simply written and, uh, clearly written.
46:57
Yeah.
46:57
And I think that's one thing that's neat about your all's book with the
47:00
restaurant is, um, there are quite a few, uh, baked goods as well.
47:04
Cakes and Yes, uh, special things that you all made, um, in the.
47:08
In the pastry or cake department.
47:10
Yeah.
47:10
Yeah.
47:11
I had at one point considered doing two separate books,
47:14
one main course, one dessert.
47:16
I couldn't throw both.
47:18
Yeah.
47:19
Yeah.
47:19
I glad you did 'em together.
47:21
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
47:22
Did you, did you use the breadth of the recipes that the restaurant had, or do you
47:25
feel like you had more, oh, I have more.
47:29
Yeah, I, um, I mean I, it was in the beginning it was kind of
47:33
like, okay, I had like 15 recipes and then the just kept appearing.
47:38
I just kept remembering, oh yeah, we have this too.
47:40
Oh yeah, we should put this in.
47:41
And that just, you know, they grew and then before you knew it, I had 80 recipes
47:46
and I'm just like, oh my God, 80 recipes.
47:49
That's a lot of recipes.
47:50
Um, but there's still a few recipes I would've liked to have included, like the
47:55
HA and Pepper and a few other desserts.
47:58
Mm-hmm.
48:00
I just, um, I needed to draw the line.
48:02
That's right.
48:03
And I think that's true with every project.
48:04
You, you, at some point you do have to draw the line.
48:07
Yeah.
48:08
Yeah.
48:08
Whether you're doing self-publishing or traditional publishing.
48:11
Otherwise, you never get to the finish line.
48:13
Now, with traditional publishing, of course, you're under, uh.
48:15
Yeah, probably that you would propose how many recipes you might put in it.
48:20
You would have a deadline for your manuscript and when you
48:22
self-publish, you could just keep writing recipes, but Right.
48:26
You were smart to give, give it an end point because if you don't give
48:29
it an end point, you never actually get to the publication of it.
48:32
Yes.
48:32
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:33
Beautiful.
48:34
Yeah.
48:34
Well the book turned out great.
48:36
Um, I can't.
48:38
Congratulate you enough.
48:39
Why don't you tell everybody how they can connect with you and, uh, looking at your
48:44
events and more about your book online?
48:47
Okay.
48:48
Well, um, I have a website right now.
48:50
It's, uh, guha louisville.com.
48:54
So that's G-A-S-T-H-A-U-S, Louisville, LOU.
49:01
I-S-V-I-L-L e.com.
49:04
Um, that's basically the best way to connect with us and, um, I'll put any
49:09
other events on there, uh, cooking classes or anything else, plus, um, a
49:15
link to where you can buy the cookbook.
49:17
Wonderful.
49:17
Very good.
49:18
Well link to that in the show notes.
49:20
Well, I can't thank you enough, uh, Nina, for coming on the show again,
49:24
uh, my heartfelt congratulations.
49:27
There's nothing more.
49:29
Gratifying then to see people like you dreaming about a cookbook,
49:34
doing the work of it, and then actually getting it published.
49:38
Um, we've had a banner year with, uh, traditional and self-published books.
49:43
For my, for the programs.
49:45
It's been very exciting to see, uh, very proud of the work that you did.
49:49
I hope that you feel proud also.
49:51
I'm sure your parents do.
49:52
And, um, I cant wait to, um, connect with you in person and get to see,
49:57
uh, have you sign a book for me.
49:59
Um, make my way down to Louisville, so.
50:03
Book signing on February 12th at Carmichaels on Frankfurt
50:07
Avenue, if you, very good.
50:08
So I will, um, that, that will be, uh, perfect for me to put in the notes here
50:13
and, um, if anybody's in the Louisville area, you can go head on over to
50:17
Carmichaels and get a signed book also.
50:20
Thank you.
50:21
Yeah.
50:21
Well thank you so much for coming on the show and I hope you
50:23
have a great rest of your day.
50:24
Thanks having me.
50:25
You're welcome.
50:25
You're welcome.
50:26
Thanks Maggie.
50:26
You too.
50:26
Have a good one.
50:27
Good to see you.
50:28
Bye-Bye.
50:29
Thank you so much for joining us today for this episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast.
50:34
Again, all the links can be found in the show notes@www.cookbooklove.co.
50:39
And if you are interested in writing a cookbook of your own, please check out the
50:44
free cookbook writing masterclass called How to Get Paid to Write a Cookbook.
50:49
It is designed specifically for food or nutrition experts,
50:54
and you can check that out at www.cookbookwritersacademy.com/free.
51:01
So that's it for today's episode of the Cookbook Love podcast.
51:04
This is your host, Maggie Green, and until next time, have a great day.
51:08
And keep loving your cookbooks.
51:15
Thanks for listening to the Cookbook Love podcast.
51:17
You can find out more information@www.cookbooklove.co.