The Tastemaker Top 10 with Jesi of Pepperminting

The Tastemaker Top 10 is a collection of 10 questions asked by me and answered by some of my favorite bloggers. Here they will tell you a little bit about themselves, their blogs, and of course, their favorite foods and restaurants. Today, I am pleased to introduce you to Jesi of Pepperminting. Jesi considers herself everyone's online 'big sister' and her blog is all about sisterly advice-- from cooking to style to what to do in Chicago, Jesi covers it all. Get to know her here today....

Name: Jesi Kocin

Blog: Pepperminting

Location: Chicago, IL

Now, tell us about your...

1. Favorite meal, food, or cuisine: My favorite cuisine is Colombian! Bandeja Paisa is the ultimate platter of food, it would definitely be my last meal. It's got beans, rice, fried egg, chorizo, plantains, avocado, and other meats. To DIE for!

2. Least favorite meal, food, or cuisine: I'm not really sure I understand the question. I don't think there's any food I won't eat! :) Maybe licorice. Yeah, I hate licorice.

3. Favorite restaurant in your city: Oh that's a tough one, Chicago is an amazing city for food. My favorite restaurant would have to be Au Cheval. The burgers are to die for and I've had some great times there!

4. Favorite restaurant outside of your city: There's a restaurant in Baltimore's Inner Harbor called Miss Shirley's Cafe. I've never waited less than an hour, but the chicken and waffles there are unparalleled! SO good.

5. Favorite food memory: On a trip to Jamaica, we took a little boat like an hour out from shore to an island where locals served freshly-caught fish and Red Stripe beer. It was incredible.

6. Favorite guilty pleasure food: I try to never feel guilty when I eat, it ruins the taste! But my naughty pleasure is definitely pretzels. I literally cannot eat enough pretzels in this lifetime. Add homemade beer cheese? Amazing.

7. Favorite ingredient (something you love to cook with, or something you see on a menu and know you have to order): Goat cheese! I made the switch to goat cheese when I learned about the benefits for your digestive system, and I rarely eat regular cheese at all anymore. It is so creamy and rich, you don't need a lot to add amazing texture and flavor to anything.

8. Favorite kitchen tool, utensil, product, etc.: My Vitamix is the boss of my kitchen! I use it at least twice a day, for smoothies, soups, dressings, you name it, it can do it.

9. Favorite recipe: My favorite dish to make is chicken piccata, it's incredibly fresh and light, and perfect year-round. I use Giada's recipe and I blogged about it in my classic dinner recipes! 

10. Favorite thing about blogging: My favorite part of blogging is the feedback I get from my readers. I love hearing that helped inspire someone to workout that day, or cook a healthy meal. It's the small stuff, but it means a lot to me that my posts can offer something positive to someone that day.

11. BONUS! Five favorite blogs/blogs that A Squared readers should know about:
Last Legs Blog - http://thellblog.com/
Blog - The New Black - http://blogthenewblack.com/
Lion and Maven - http://lionandmaven.com/
Rad Maverix - http://www.radmaverix.com/
The Balanced Babe - http://balancedbabe.com/


Thanks so much for your thoughts, Jesi!

Do you have a blogger that you'd recommend to be featured on the Tastemaker Top 10? Or are you a blogger that would like to participate? Email me at aasquaredblog@gmail.com and let me know!