Interview : Lynn Eva Barber from Scissors & Spice

 

I’ve know Lynn since my Philly days–circa 2002. She’s a hardcore devotee to good taste. Her newest venture–Scissors & Spice–has been up and running with great success for just the last few months. Lynn is an inspiration to me and I hope you enjoy the interview. And her impeccable use of the semicolon. She offers great tips on what to serve at vegetarian parties for kids (will now be referring all inquiries on that topic to this post), how to run a spic and span household yet still do things, and shares her favorite spots in both Delaware and on the web.

 

This is not your first blog, but I do feel this one encompasses your range of interest and gives you a space to show off your talents. What prompted you to register your URL and get Scissors & Spice up and running?

I had been wanting to start a blog that cataloged my everyday life. The food I cook, the design I like, the crafts I make, the thrifting I do; basically a blog about me without a care for how marketable it was or who was reading it. A repository of my mind. People are always calling me Martha and my husband is always encouraging me to foster my creative side more and to make recipes for my off the cuff dishes, so my blog of multiple topics, Scissors & Spice just happened. I wanted to start it a year or so prior, but couldn’t settle on a name that I both liked and was also available as a url, so I procrastinated. Then, when you asked for my gluten-free chocolate chip recipe for your blog, I figured I should cash in on some site traffic and get the blog finally rolling.

 

Your cooking seems influenced by the restaurants you visit. What is the intersection? What’s your eating/cooking style of the moment?

The biggest influences on my cooking style are time, past cooking experiences and health. I don’t have much time to cook. Each meal has to be under 30-minutes from start to finish (that’s about the time my children can entertain themselves without needing me to intervene). I cut my vegetarian cooking teeth preparing meals in an ashram setting, so Indian cooking has had a big influence on what I like to prepare, which is great, because it got me away from that notion that you need a meat substitute in a meal in order for it to be satisfying. Also, the more I mature and the more I know about nutrition, I have realized just because you can eat it, doesn’t mean you should. Things I could eat and not gain weight dining on in my early 20s are a no-no in my mid-30s. I try to focus on whole foods while trying to avoid an overabundance of soy and/or wheat. I love one dish meals filled with a little bit of everything (give me five unrelated ingredients and I can make a one bowl meal out of it!). I am super into greens right now. They are so tasty and I feel great when I eat them.

 

Isa or terry?

Can’t I love them both? I like Isa’s sassiness and I like Terry’s demure style. I like that they have a balance of healthy meals and fun food in their cookbooks. They are every cheffy girl’s dream; to have a friend that you can cook and have a great time with, all the while making a name for yourself and a successful business based on that.

 

I get a lot of email asking for suggestions for kid friendly vegetarian food or what to serve at a vegetarian kid’s birthday party. What are your recommendations?

First off, kids don’t go to parties wondering what’s on the menu. They want to play and then they want cake. Actually they don’t want cake, they want to eat frosting in a flash and then zoom off again to play.

My most successfully catered kids’ party just involved finger foods. Things they could eat quickly before they dashed off to play. For apps, I had fruit cut up into bite-sized pieces (pineapple, strawberries, grapes and kiwi), cheese and crackers, baby carrots and celery with dipping sauces and and a huge bowl of Pirate Booty with small tongs so they could serve themselves. The kids loved it.

For entreés, some fun ideas based on parties I have been to: tofu dogs in a blanket with honey mustard dipping sauce, baked mac and cheese with salad, calzones, make your own pizza, and PB&Js. Vegan Dad’s vegan hot wings were a big hit at another kid party. The best advice is to ask the birthday boy or girl what they what at their party. It’s for them after all!

 

You live in the magical state of Delaware, a small wonder to us all. What are some of the best kept secrets upping the cool factor of Delaware?

Aw, come on! You don’t what me to give up my secrets do you?

First off, Delaware is awesome; I wish more people knew that, so more awesome people would move here and I’d have more awesomeness surrounding me. It’s proximity to everything ups it cool factor. We’re in Philadelphia’s backyard. We’re less than 2 hours form NYC and from DC. You get the joys of suburban life without having to deal with the literal and figurative messes of living in the city, but the city is at your beck and call if you need it. There are beaches and a wonderful state/county park system. There is so much land donated by the DuPont family that has been turned into beautiful public space. The other very cool thing about Delaware is that it is relatively cheap to live here! Home of tax free shopping!

There is a very strong yard sale presence here which is the very best place to find treasure. Tag sales too are always a great find. Some other great find in the First State are:

• Delaware places to thrift:
• New Castle County Farmer’s Market and Flea Market
• Annex Marketplace
• Family Thrift

• Delaware vegetarian-friendly places to eat:
• Pizza by Elizabeths
• Woodside Creamery
• Capriotti’s (veggie turkey sub!)
• Planet X
• Hobos

• Delaware places to visit:
• Lewes Beach (Quaint village with a nice beach for kids. More quiet than Rehoboth Beach.)
• Old New Castle, DE (An early US settlement with cute cobblestone streets on the DE river.)
• Wintherthur (Fairy garden for kids! Stuffy museum for grandams!)
• Bellevue State Park (Frisbee golf, anyone? Horses? Du Pont mansions? Tennis? Playgrounds? Beautiful walking trail? Community gardens? Yes!)

 

I know you run a very creative family. Your husband is a designer. Your daughter is a budding art director. Your son, I’m sure, is talented in his own way and you are always producing masterpieces in the kitchen, at the craft table and in the sewing room. How do you manage to keep a clean house amidst all this creativity?

Clean as you go! Cooking means cleaning! And all sort of things you parents tell you when you are a teenager. Really, I think that having 1) a great system of home organization (places for everything, lots of shelving, closets that are well organized) and 2) a morning a week set aside, when you stay off Facebook, and you just clean everything that you didn’t have time for during the rest of the week. Honestly, I think the reasons my house is relatively clean and organized is I can’t concentrate when there is clutter. It drives me crazy. Even when I was in high school, before I would work on a term paper, I would have to clean my room so I could focus. So, be crazy like me and your house will be spotless!

 

You and your husband exchange handmade cards. How did this sweet family tradition get started and where do you source your inspiration?

Back when we were in a long-distance romance, back in the days before email was not something you checked more than once a day, we would send letters and packages back and forth to one another and they were always decorated. Since I was child, I always delighted in drawing and making cards (I’m sure my mom still has some). Once I won an art award or two, I deemed myself a true artiste and decided that was the way to go. In high school, I was really into environmentalism and would make stationary sets for my friends out of used grocery bags (I would even make my own envelopes!). Then when I was in college, decorating the envelopes of letters to my friends, who were now scattered across the country, in the most creative way possible was probably one of my favorite ways to express my creativity. So, all this leads up to why I make cards for my husband, its just me. And he’s a designer, so it’s just what he does. We’re meant to be!

My current source of inspiration is folk design from India, Scandanavia, Russia and the Pennsylvania Dutch and bold graphic prints, like Marimekko, Rex Ray and Vera Neumann. I also am not shy of cuteness. Put a bird on it!

 

Years ago I had the good fortune of visiting your lovely home. This was before you remodeled your kitchen. As I recall, you have a defined kitchen space as opposed to the increasingly popular open floorplan. How does that work for you? Was there ever any thought or desire to change that?

Yes, we have a very awkward kitchen with not much room to change anything about. That coupled with the fact that we have a very solid brick house lined with with cinder blocks did not leave much room in our budget to expand without it being a more than major redo. There are 4 doors and a window in about a 12×12 space. Not super tiny, but not very spacious.

There is much I would change about my kitchen now that I have the experience of going through a remodel, but I think overall, it works for what we had to work with. It’s understated and clean. We maximized as much counter space as possible and were able to add an eat in nook that also doubles as counter space. This nook one of the most used surfaces in our house, so it was well worth sacrificing floor space. My favorite part of my kitchen is my super deep and wide sink. It make doing dishes and filling large pans so much easier.

 

How would you define your personal style?

Clean, modern, classic and comfortable with a little bit of flair/trend/kitsch/boho. I think this applies to both my interior choices and sense of fashion. It’s always easy to update a couch with solid upholstery by dressing it up with pillows and a throw than it is to reupholster dated pattern. I know, that’s a very safe way of looking at things, but it works. There should always be accessories of who you are in home design and in fashion. Pictures of family and friends, artwork that you create, always wearing a signature pair of sneakers; it all makes it your own. Trends are great for inspiration, but head-to-toe or front-to-back door trendiness makes you look like you or your home are in costume. Did that make sense? My kids are playing the loudest pretend game in the background right now and all I can think of is that the style I am about to give them is a badly needed nap.

 

I know you are an expert thrifter. Can you give some tips for mining tag sales and thrift shops in the age of Ebay? Are there any bargains or hidden traesures left out there?

Yard sales are really the last bastion of hope for finding treasure. Professionally run tag sales have people organizing them who know the worth of the house’s contents. If you can find an old couple having a yard sale, they just want to clear out their houses before they move to Florida and don’t care about that Dansk ice bucket. They just what it gone.

You have to be diligent; that really is key. Check your local newspapers for yard sale listings and make it your job to “go yard saling” early every Saturday morning. Go through boxes, you never know what will be on the bottom. Know what you are looking for and don’t collect junk or things you are only half in love with!

 

Favorite collectibles?

I love collecting anything Scandinavian, mid-century modern, vintage fabric and linens from any era and vintage children’s and craft books.

 

What blogs are you reading these days?

I’ll admit, I am a blog whore and I love bloggers that update every day. Some of my favs, besides yours of course, are Vegan Crunk, Joy the Baker, Post Punk Kitchen, Have Cake Will Travel, I Still Love You, Twig and Thistle, House Industires, Photo Lettering, How About Orange, The Dieline, Creature Comforts, Bluebird and the biggies, Oh Happy Day!, Design Sponge and Apartment Therapy. There are so many more, but I don’t what to be hoggish. I would read my husband’s blog, Type and Lettering if he’d update it more! Hint, hint…

 

If you could have a lunch date with one blogger, who would it be and what would you cook?

I can’t chose just one! Well, Isa and Terry, because they’d be fun and would probably bring something yummy. Joy the Baker because not only would she bring something good to eat, but that girl’s mind works like mine and she cracks me up. And Melissa from I Still Love You because she seems like a sweetheart. I want to invite more, but that is probably enough because I don’t want to overextend myself getting ready for my imaginary party. Wait, not sure if they blog, but could I invite Marty Moss-Coane, Tina Fey and Amy Pohler over too?

What would I serve? Something yummy and fun, like vegan Cubanos and fried plantains with a spicy dipping sauce. Some sort of fusion-style cilantro-y coleslaw type salad. For drinks, how about a mojito-style iced tea? And for dessert, churos con chocolate and fresh strawberries. This is making me hungry!

 

I know you spent a year perfecting your vegan baking. What are you working on mastering now?

Honestly, I have been perfecting my baking skills since right before my daughter was born, so for almost 6 years. I couldn’t sleep past 4 am in the last month or so of my pregnancy, so I would wake up and teach myself to bake to entertain myself (this was long before you could log on to Facebook to see which of your friends were also having problems with insomnia). Since we are lacto vegetarians, when I bake at home, my creations are just eggless. Making for a crowd, I go vegan. I’m not doing so much baking right now, simply for the fact that I am trying my hardest to end up like a ton-o-lard (its true what they say, when you hit 30, your metabolism screeches to a halt), but when I do bake I have to say I am always searching for the best cookies. I still haven’t found the best vegan chocolate chip cookie, so I am always trying new recipes.

 

You and your husband collaborated on the design of your blog header. It must be nice to have such a talent on call! Any plans for future collaborations?

The Scissors and Spice logo has brought so much traffic to my blog! It is really nice to have a designer at my beck and call! I make you dinner, you supply me with logos. Fair trade. I’m sure at some point, I will ask him for another one to keep things exciting on the blog front.

We do plan on doing some silk screening together, but I don’t want to add more tote bags to a clogged up market, so possibly our own printed fabric. When our kids are in school full-time and are a bit more independent, I am sure we’ll be putting lots of products out there for sale. Save your pennies now!