Apron Anxiety

by:
March 17, 2010

 

Alyssa Shelasky, the writer behind the hilarious blog Apron Anxiety, used to be a celebrity writer and Manhattan "It" girl. But after she met and fell in love with former Top Cheffer, Spike Mendelsohn, she went from living on brown rice, Zone bars and Pinkberry to learning to cook and appreciate food. Shelasky dreamed up Apron Anxiety almost two years ago but kept it to herself: "I wasn’t sure anyone would care about my cold feet in the kitchen, or my life with a chef." She got serious a few months ago, and we’re glad she did, in part because of lines like this: [My fiancé] comes home starving...too sweet to complain about my overcooked chicken du jour–prepared with reluctance, red wine and a push-up bra."

Shelasky breathes life into the food blog medium, and Apron Anxiety, still in its infancy, reads a bit like a juicy, tell-all diary entry written after a little too much wine. It is personal, and always fun to read. And the food isn’t half bad either. When Shelasky and Mendelsohn moved in together in Washington, D.C., Shelasky’s life slowed down. She stopped eating "fake food" and started thinking seriously about groceries, good knives and copper pots. She also began baking: "I could eat cake all day, every day."
 
Shelasky cooks and blogs about foods she can’t screw up – Rainy Day Rigatoni with Eggplant and Killer Chocolate Chip Cookies that Make You Feel Talented. It's still easier for her to write about Zooey Deschanel and cheap massages, but that’s the charm of Apron Anxiety – Shelasky's authenticity and naivete as she feels her way around the food world and her own apartment kitchen. We can laugh with Shelasky when she screws up a recipe because we know what it feels like to burn a tray of brownies. We can even chuckle at her expense. She doesn’t mind: "I want to communicate what it's like to be the partner of a chef, because it's both enviable and impossible. I also want non-cooks to get over themselves and try a few things.’’

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • dymnyno
    dymnyno
  • sloan nichols
    sloan nichols
  • suitablegirl
    suitablegirl
  • MangiaVita
    MangiaVita
  • fieldnotesonfoodstuffs
    fieldnotesonfoodstuffs
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7 Comments

dymnyno March 19, 2010
What a fun blog!!
 
sloan N. March 19, 2010
This blog is great! I hope she keeps it up and we see her improve. Could be a lifetime of funny moments for all of us. I'd like to say I've met Alyssa Shelasky at a few food events and she always seemed warm and down--to-earth. Good to see her writing captures her realness. She and Spike M are certainly one of the "celebrity couple's" of the food industry, and it's fun to look into their private lives this way!!!! Thanks, SN
 
suitablegirl March 17, 2010
Ditto what MangiaVita wrote. :) Alyssa is a sweetheart and a wonderful writer, too.
 
MangiaVita March 17, 2010
I can say from personal experience, this girl is a sassy and fabulous in real life as she comes across on her blog. Love it!
 
This is such a great blog. So intimate and tongue-in-cheek. Thanks for sharing this guys.
 
Loves F. March 17, 2010
Fantastic blog! And... I love Spike! What an amazing couple! =)
 
NakedBeet March 17, 2010
A scream! Love the attitude and the Rigatoni looks good, too.