A Conversation with Lauren Brennan, Blogger and Recipe Developer Behind Lauren s Latest Q. Lauren, you have three little ones and a business to run thank you so much for making time for this! Your husband Gordon started Lauren s Latest because of a class project. Now, the blog gets up to 3 million visits every month. Did you have any idea it d get this big? A. I didn t! I always thought I d have a couple of readers beyond my mom and motherin-law (laughs), but I never dreamed this big. I had little dreams for Lauren s Latest. Q. You ve become a recipe bank for moms and dads around the world. Have you always loved cooking and making up new dishes? A. One of my earliest memories is actually making rice krispies treats with my mom before my older siblings got home from school. She was always so good about making snacks for everyone every afternoon. I remember her putting an apron on me and telling me to push a chair up to the counter, and then we whipped them up for everyone else. I must have been about three, and I was hooked! I ve always loved to cook. Q. It s one thing to have a gift for developing recipes, but it s another thing to write as well as you do. When did you discover writing? A. I think maybe it works in my favor that I m not educated as a writer I m college educated, just in a different field. I write what comes to mind. I am who I am, and I write how I talk. It s definitely developed over the years. For example, I ve gotten a little more sarcastic. I actually think the rise in sarcasm has corresponded to the number of children I have. The more kids I have, the crazier it all becomes. It s madness here 95% of the time. I always make a point to be real and never write something I don t mean. If I wouldn t say it in a conversation, I won t write it. I am just documenting and reflecting on what s happening in my life. Q. Those are great instincts. Many trained writers are trying to develop a more authentic voice something you ve already mastered. A. Well thank you. A handful of readers and my mother-in-law have told me my writing is super entertaining (laughs). Q. You re raising a family in New York City. What is the best part of that experience? A. The best part is all of the culture. For example, my daughter is learning. She s at a public school, and that is one of the options for her. Just the languages we hear walking to and from school are eye-opening. My kids see different races, and my daughter is
going to school with a rainbow of kids. That s actually how I grew up in Canada I never really thought about race as an issue until I moved to the States. I got my bachelor s degree here, and I ve lived in many predominantly white areas. Race issues became more obvious. Then, we moved here, and I was so happy because I knew my daughter was going to realize that all of these kids who don t look just like her are just like her on the inside. That s the best education for my kids. Even when someone doesn t speak the same language as you do or celebrates different holidays, we re all the same, just trying to get by. Q. What s the most challenging aspect of raising kids in New York City? A. There are a couple of challenges. It s not bad, necessarily, it s just different. We came to New York with our van, but we sold it a couple of weeks ago because we walk everywhere. Everything is so close. That s a blessing and a curse. I have three kids, so when we go somewhere, we all go. The other tough part is how expensive it is. We were trying to save money for college for our kids, but then we moved here. So now we say, Oh, shoot. Maybe they ll go to community college. (laughs) People warned me, and I knew it before we actually moved here. But holy moly it s pricey. Q. What s a tip you have for other visitors or even other families living in the city about how to experience it without draining your bank account? A. There is actually so much to do here that is free or cheap. Find just one or two, and go! Everything doesn t have to be a fancy, big adventure. New York City can be so family friendly if you re looking for the right things. I take my kids to a big, paved area near our home. We bring sidewalk chalk, our scooter, and a football or soccer ball, and they love it. All the parks and recreational areas here are protected by large fences, so I know they re safe they re not going to run into the street. There are so many great parks here that s free. Also, some of the museums here have a recommended entry fee, so if you don t have all the money, you can still get in. Really, one of our favorite things to do is just sightsee and window shop especially at Christmas time. The displays and decorations are incredible, and that is all free. Q. You have so much going on. What are some recent and upcoming projects you re really excited about?
A. My biggest project this year was probably moving my family across the country (laughs). But I did get my first holiday e-magazine out, and people have responded so well to it. It took a lot of time and effort, so I m especially happy my readers are enjoying it. I m really interested in building the community here at Lauren s Latest. One way I m doing that is through live social media events I just did a Facebook and Instagram live event last night. It was so much fun. I had a blast talking with the people who leave comments, email me, or send me direct messages. Connecting in real time and letting them know I m a real person was great. (laughs) Like, this isn t an act. My life really is insane. My kids screamed through half of my Instagram live session. In all seriousness, I want to create a community where people know that my life isn t perfect and neither is theirs, but together, we can build each other up and have fun while we do it. We can be happy even when it s hard and ridiculous. I d also love to write a book someday. Q. This wasn t your first e-zine, was it? A. It s my first holiday e-zine, but I have another e-cookbook that went on sale the day I gave birth to my second child. I wasn t planning on giving birth on his due date, but there he came. My book went live the morning I had my baby and it was actually really successful. Maybe people felt sorry for me! (laughs) Q. It doesn t get any more real than that! A. Right? My first baby came on her due date, and I thought, What are the odds my second one will too? Well, he did. Then my third, I thought, Seriously, what are the odds? And while he wasn t born on his due date, he was born four hours afterwards. It s like my body is an oven. Ding! Done. Eject! Q. When you re brainstorming, where do your ideas for new recipes come from? A. Anywhere! I can be watching a commercial or looking through a magazine, and boom, it hits. If I m looking through a food magazine, I never look at the actual recipes. I like to just look at the pictures. If something looks good, I think, Hmmm, it looks like there is this, this, and this in it. I could probably make that. Or sometimes I think of pieces of recipes I d like to replace. Honestly, ideas are coming to me all the time. I m not good at decorating, I m not a Pinterest mom, but I m really good at looking in the pantry and realizing, I can make
this, this, and this without having to go to the grocery store. I know my strengths. (laughs) It s all actually quite selfish. I just make food that I would eat and that I know my family would eat, and that s what I share. Q. One of those recipes landed you on Good Morning America, right? A. Yes! A couple of years ago. It s actually a funny story: the recipe that got their attention came to me in a dream. I literally had a dream, woke up, wrote the recipe down, went back to bed, and in the morning, I thought, Huh. Okay, I guess I ll make this: brownie cheesecake peppermint bars. They re pretty tasty. The producer asked, How d you come up with this recipe? I said, You re going to laugh at me, but I had a dream about it. He said, Oh. I ve never heard that one before. I said, I know. I sound like a crazy person. Q. So many families look to you for recipes. What is the most important thing for moms and dads to remember when trying to come up with kid-friendly meals? A. Number one: food is almost secondary. It s all about eating dinner together. My husband s work schedule does not always allow him to get home for dinner, and he hates that so much because he knows how special dinner time is. So good for you for wanting to make dinner for your family. That s important time to spend together. The second part is about the meal itself, which does not have to be complicated. I like to hit all the major food groups: I always make sure there is a protein, a grain, and a fruit. The fruit usually isn t in the main dish, but on the side. Then I add a vegetable or two or three or four if I can swing it. You get bonus points if you can hide your vegetables in a dinner your kids will like and eat. If I m feeling particularly sneaky I ll do that. Dairy is good, but most of the time if you re adding dairy, it s cheese. I don t like adding too much cheese to everything, so instead, I ll just serve the meal with a cup of milk or a small side of yogurt. You don t have to serve a brilliant casserole with everything in it. It can be as simple as a sandwich with some meat and lettuce, some strawberries on the side, and a glass of milk. It doesn t have to be fancy to be nourishing and for you to enjoy your time together as a family.
Q. You have almost one million likes on Facebook and up to three million visits a month on your blog. Why do you think Lauren s Latest is resonating so strongly with so many people? A. I think a big part of the success of Lauren s Latest is just that I don t try to be perfect. I don t pretend to know everything. I talk about stuff other bloggers don t want to talk about like kids screaming. It s like, You think you re a bad mom? Check this out! Moments like my kids screaming during the Instagram live event bring our community closer. Every mom has those moments, those stories, that make you want to scream into a pillow. I try my best to make people realize they re not alone. All of my readers and I we totally know where you re coming from. You ll have a bad day. Be sarcastic, laugh about it. Tomorrow will be better. And by the way here s a delicious new recipe to make for dinner. About Lauren Brennan Lauren Brennan is a the creator and writer behind Lauren s Latest, the hit blog featuring original recipes, vivid photos, and relatable often hilarious stories about raising a family in New York City that draw millions of visitors monthly. Lauren s kid- friendly, delicious recipes have been featured in Bon Appetit, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Rachel Ray Every Day, and on Good Morning America. Wife to Gordon and mom to three little ones, Lauren is building a supportive community of moms who laugh together, encourage one another, and eat well. For more information, please visit http://laurenslatest.com.