The amazing food blogger: Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest
How Gerard got where she is today and how she makes eating healthy fun!
Who is the woman behind Half Baked Harvest?
Tieghan Gerard is a 29 year old chef who has created the beloved cooking blog Half Baked Harvest. Since she was 15, Gerard has been cooking for her family, and at 19 she began posting on her blog, which has grown to inspire many to try her creative and delicious recipes. Since the advent of her blog, Half Baked Harvest has grown into a cooking empire, with a YouTube channel, TikTok account, and 3 best-selling cookbooks. She has been featured on cooking channels such as The Cooking Channel and the Food Network, and has been granted many awards such as the 2016 Bloglovin’ Best Food Blog Award. Gerard demonstrates hard work and consistency. She grew her blog on her own and is responsible for the cooking, photographing, filming, cleaning, and writing. Gerard proves that anyone can learn to cook, and that healthy foods do not have to be boring.
Anyone can start cooking!
A fascinating part of Gerard’s cooking career is that she is fully self taught. In an interview with Good Fronds, we discover that at 13 she began reading food blogs to get inspiration, and without attending any cooking classes, she has learned to develop interesting and creative recipes. Now that she is more comfortable with cooking, she does not read blogs or cookbooks.
Although it is common in 2023 for anyone, without cooking experience, to start a blog or a TikTok channel, when Half Baked Harvest was introduced in 2012, the chefs dominating the food blog game all had previous experience. PBS Food outlines the most popular food bloggers of 2012. These bloggers either had experience at fancy cooking schools (like Julia Child at Le Cordon Bleu) or learned to cook in some of the best restaurants (like Vivian Howard in New York). When Gerard entered the field, she was able to fully train themselves, surrounded by individuals with much more experience, and she has managed to successfully grow her empire since then.
Her recipes are great at inspiring people to start cooking. Half Baked harvest is my favourite cooking blog, and through her recipes, I have grown a love for cooking. If you are new to cooking, or want to try great recipes with creative food combinations, I suggest you try some of her recipes. Gerard gives advice to beginners in cooking. In an interview with Camille Styles, she explains that cooking is a fun experience, and as with anything the hardest part is starting. I relate to this. I was extremely overwhelmed when I started my cooking journey. Once I began to learn recipes I realized that it is easier than it seems!
Healthy food does not need to be plain and boring
Not only does Gerard prove that cooking is something that is easy to learn, but she demonstrates that healthy foods can actually taste really good. On the blog, there are many subsections for different types of food, such as “healthy-ish”, “easy-bowls”, “salads”, and “cupcakes”. The emphasis on the “ish” in “healthy-ish” exemplifies her views on eating healthy. Gerard explains that people should attempt to cook and eat healthy, but should do this in a balanced manner. Some recipes that I have loved from her “healthy-ish” section is the Crunchy Baked Hot Honey Cauliflower and the Cauliflower Tzatziki Bowls with Sweet Potato Fries. Many of her recipes are admittedly time consuming, however she has many that are easy and quick to make. Examples of these easy recipes that I love are the 15 Minute Soy Sauce Butter Fried Rice and the 20 Minute Korean Beef Sesame Noodles. In addition to the quick and healthy aspect of many of Gerard’s recipes, the blogger comes up with insanely creative food combinations, inspiring readers to try something new with their cooking. I am eager to try her Baked Crunchy Pretzel Honey Balsamic Chicken, which combines some of my favourite foods, Pretzels and Chicken, which I have never thought to pair!
Tieghan Gerard has proved that cooking is something that can be learned by anyone with practice and consistency, and that healthy foods do not have to be simple and boring. Half Baked harvest has helped me fall in love with cooking and by reading blogs like hers, I have learned so man new and great recipes. I recommend trying some!
I love Half Baked Harvest - first cookbook I ever bought as a paper copy (I loved the design of the cookbook and the presentation of the dishes)! I am a regular user of her recipes and think they’re the perfect elevated everyday recipes for people who may not have a ton of time or experience with cooking!