From Ina Garten's Kitchen to Yours! A conversation with Cassandra Schultz, Owner of Cassandra's Kitchen

So many of us have fallen in love with Ina Garten. Whether it be her recipes or all that she embodies, she has made her way into our hearts. 

Well, if you don't know already, there's another very special person who is helping us bring a touch of Ina in our home.

In this episode, Anne is joined by Cassandra Schultz, owner of Cassandra's Kitchen. 

Growing up in East Hampton, New York, Cassandra worked for the Barefoot Contessa.  One of her roles was filling glassine bags with Ina's home baked cookies and serving fresh brewed coffee to their customers.  Her mother, Barbara, is Ina's longtime kitchen assistant and friend.

With two incredible women as inspiration, Cassandra created a business concept that would sell all of Ina's favorites in one place. Cassandra's Kitchen plays host to simple and beautiful kitchenware.  It is a curated collection that is easy and approachable in both use and design. 

You will find yourself shopping and excited for your next cooking adventure - all because of Ina and Cassandra!

In this epsiode Anne and Cassandra discuss:

• How Ina Garten and her Mom inspired Cassandra’s Kitchen
• Cassandra’s favorite Ina Garten recipes
• Must have Kitchen Essentials from Cassandra’s Kitchen
• Pantry Items to stock in your home from Cassandra’s Kitchen
• Their common love for what a kitchen means to them

You can shop Cassandra's Kitchen at cassandraskitchen.com

You can find complete show notes on styledbyark.com.  

More from Anne & Styled by A.R.K.

• Schedule your design Mini! Sometimes you need a little advice - a quick conversation to support your design needs. We are here for you! 

What is Classic & Curious?

Welcome to Classic & Curious! A podcast dedicated to exploring today’s classic-styled life.

Each month, we’ll be sharing conversations with some of our favorite personalities in travel, entertaining, fashion and design. We’ll discuss how they elevate their everyday with timeless classics – reimagined for today’s modern lifestyle

So grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine, whatever suits your fancy. We hope to inspire you, make you laugh a little and look forward to every engagement.

Cheers!

anne: 00:04

Welcome to Classic and Curious. A podcast dedicated to exploring today's classic style of life. I'm your host, Anne Kikosky. And each month, I'll be sharing conversations with some of my favorite personalities in travel, entertaining, fashion, and decor. We will explore how they elevate their everyday with timeless classics reimagined with a modern sensibility.

anne: 00:27

So grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine, whatever suits your fancy. We hope to inspire you, make you laugh a little, and look forward to every engagement. So many of us have fallen in love with Ina Garten, whether it be her recipes or all that she embodies, she has made her way into our hearts. Well, if you don't know already, there's another very special person who has helped us bring to life a sense of ina in our home. In this episode, I am joined by Cassandra Schultz, owner of Cassandra's Kitchen.

anne: 01:01

Growing up in East Hampton, New York, Cassandra worked for the Barefoot Contessa, filling glassine bags with Ina's home baked cookies and serve fresh brewed coffee to our customers. Her mother, Barbara is Ina's longtime kitchen assistant and friend With 2 incredible women as inspiration, Cassandra created a business concept that would sell all of Ina's favorites in one place. Cassandra's kitchen plays host to simple, beautiful classic kitchenware. It is a curated collection that is easy and approachable in both use and design. Together, we discuss our favorite Ina recipes must have Cassandra kitchen products and pantry items.

anne: 01:43

And of course, we laugh a little about some of our family favorites and share our common love for all that a kitchen means to us. Cheers to Cassandra. Let's chat. Hi, Cassandra. So excited to have you join us today.

cassandra: 02:01

Thank you. I'm so excited to be a part of this.

anne: 02:03

You know what? I feel like I'm pinching myself because truth be told, I owe you a big thank you. And if you wouldn't have started Cassandra's kitchen, I would still be looking for plastic containers to store my stock in. You know, I would watch Ina's show, and I would be like, I have to get those containers. And then the backdrop had hotel silver.

anne: 02:27

You started to sell it. I have to say it created a love affair for hotel silver in me. I hosted Hillary a couple episodes earlier, And in my introduction, I actually credited you for finding my way to Hillary and Hotel Silver. And I thought to myself, at the end of that episode, when we were done recording, I said, oh my gosh. You know what?

anne: 02:50

I have to go invite Cassandra on the podcast because it would bring it all full circle. So here we are today. Tell us your story of how Cassandra's Kitchen evolved and how you brought it to life. Would just love for the listeners to hear.

cassandra: 03:08

Sure. I guess my story goes back really far because Ina Garten has been a part of my family for over 40 years. We moved to East Hampton in 1981, and my dad started working for Ina right away. And he would do things like go into New York City for her and pick up things that, you know, that whether it was, like, the condiments and that sort of thing on the shelves or the cheeses. And he would actually take one of each of us kids.

cassandra: 03:35

There were 3 at the time, and we'd take turns to get to go into the city with him, which was a really fun experience because we lived out in East Hampton. And so this is our exposure to New York City, and we would stop at all the places. And I remember people thinking I was cute, and I would get a cookie at every stop or whatever. So there's a lot of really good memories attached to that. And then if you fast forward, each of the kids in my family worked at the Bear Creek Contessa, and that's really a very funny story.

cassandra: 04:03

I'm 6 feet tall, and I was probably almost 6 foot tall at 12 years old. I was very tall. And so my dad said to Ina, how is it time for Cassandra to start working at ERCOTESSA? And Ina was like, of course. So then Ina went to go or her bookkeeper went to go pay me, and it's like, well, how are we gonna pay Cassandra?

cassandra: 04:22

And I was like, yeah. Just like we pay everybody else, but she didn't know I was 12. So I was 12 years old working at the cash register at Grand Theft Auto. So I turned 13 shortly after, I think, when we could start working there. You know, so I spent a lot of time working at Grand Theft Auto.

cassandra: 04:39

I started at the cash register, and we were ringing up people like Steve Martin and Kate Capshaw. You know, you would see some of these people on a regular basis. And I had my eyes on the bakery. I'm like, I'm gonna work towards getting over there. And so, eventually, I worked at the bakery for many, many, many years.

cassandra: 04:54

So I really probably created a a love of good food at that time. As a teenager, obviously, we're eyeing up the brownies versus the salmon that's on the island. But, yeah, it was such an intro to good food, and I think that's probably where all of this ultimately comes from me. Shortly after Ina wrote her first book, I had gone up to college and was still in college. And when Ina wrote her first book and it turned out to be a hit.

cassandra: 05:23

And so she needed some help, so she hired my mom who had not really worked for Aina at this point officially, and she hired my mom to basically do the food shopping to test recipes and that sort of thing. And then over those years, it transformed into a full time assistance job for my mom. She would do whatever Aina needed. She responded to emails, helped with photoshoots or filming the show, and then my mom started testing the recipes with Ina. And I think one of the things that Ina realized in all of that is that if she watched my mom cook, who is just a cook to feed her family, she wasn't doing anything extravagant.

cassandra: 06:04

So I learned a lot from watching my mom because the way my mom would read the recipe might not be the way any author really meant for the person to create it. So I think there were a few things there that my mom would do, and I would be like, oh, gosh. That's not what I meant. You know? And so they would kind of fix the recipes based on that.

cassandra: 06:23

And so now my mom has tested, I think, every recipe that Ina has ever done. So I was the recipient of a lot of that food during that time too. So they would test something at Ina's, and my mom would bring it home at the end of the day because they might test it 2, 3, 4 time whatever it is. So what are they gonna do with all this? I remember Ina's summer garden pasta.

cassandra: 06:44

It's one of my favorite, and it's amazing that it's one of my favorites because I ate it so many times one summer. It just they didn't think it was right. There was not one of them that I didn't think was perfect, but we might had it on Monday night, and then they test it Tuesday. That should be brings it home again. And so it's those sort of things that I got to experience.

cassandra: 07:01

And one of the things my mom and I were talking about through all this is how people were looking for things that Ina was using, whether they saw it on the show or in a book, specifically, the containers that you mentioned. It seems like they're the containers that you get from takeout, and they are, but the ones that Cassandra's Kitchen sells are a step up. You know, they're a good quality container, so you can stick it in the freezer and have it for a longer period of time than you would something you got taken home. And we have, like, 3 sizes, and they all have the same lid, which if anybody's stealing a Tupperware, having the same lid for 3 different sizes is, like, amazing.

anne: 07:39

I know. It is. It's perfect.

cassandra: 07:41

Yeah. So my mom kind of put a bug in my ear of, like, this is the things that people are looking for. And so I thought I could sell this. This is, what, 17 years ago or something like that. And so I thought, I'll make a little website, and I'll sell these things.

cassandra: 07:59

And then then at least there's a place to get all the things that Ina uses, like her pepper mill, the olive oil, things that just were just the regular things that you see over and over and over again. And that's what we can love about Ina. Right? Is that there's not all these gadgets and you need this to do this and it's like you need these couple things. Your knife is really handy and that kind of thing.

cassandra: 08:21

So Yeah. So then I Over time, the website just grew and grew and grew, and I would take also her tips and tricks. And so would it maybe be exactly what Ina you saw Ina using or, like, she recommends using white tableware and serveware and dinnerware and that kind of thing. And so for me, it's like, okay. Pillow v is a great quality line, and so I can carry that line and all the pieces that I love to use.

cassandra: 08:48

So, yeah, I think that kind of puts Cassandra's Kitchen story into a nutshell.

anne: 08:52

It's awesome. I I have to comment on a couple things. First of all, I'm so glad your mom and Ina work together because your mom kind of influenced, right, Ina, and Ina influences all of us. Right? Right.

anne: 09:06

It made it easy. And I think the reason why I go to Ina's recipes and why I am attracted to her style of cooking is because it really is easy, and it's easy to understand her cookbooks. I would read them and not be intimidated, and I think that's so key when you're starting off. And truth be told, I really didn't start cooking till I was in my forties. There were stories that my children could share that I couldn't even make a grilled cheese.

anne: 09:35

I really evolved as my life experiences evolved. My love for cooking evolved, and Ina really was the person that I think gave me the confidence. On your Instagram, I always love that you share some of Ina's recipes and the tools and all of those things. But the other thing that I really do adore is you cooking with your mother on Instagram and watching that and seeing that connection. And I think, for me, it just kind of brings up memory.

anne: 10:05

It brings up for me that love for cooking. I love to cook with my daughter. I love to cook with my friends. I love that whole connection. And my kitchen has really grown to become, like, the hub for some of my favorite memories and favorite connections.

anne: 10:21

So what does the kitchen mean to you?

cassandra: 10:25

Mhmm. Well, on a day to day basis, maybe similar to you or kind of what you've experienced is you're trying to feed your family for the most part. And so that sometimes, that can be a little chaotic or when it's every day, it just feels there's not as much energy coming from it, maybe. Yeah. But I think for the most part, the parts that bring in the most joy is when you're getting together with a family for a holiday or those sort of things, and there's just so much joy in the kitchen.

cassandra: 10:54

And I'm sure every so many people say it that you can have the most grand plan of where everyone's gonna hang out in your house and generally and everybody ends up around the island or so for me, there's so much joy and happiness in the kitchen, and I think it's, especially now for me, like, the with great rooms and not having the kitchen be so separate from everything that's going on. It's just a place where everybody can hang out. You can share your favorite foods and be with all the people that you love. So I think for me, beyond the day to day, those holidays, those that family time, probably the most joy is being in my mom's kitchen, hanging out with everybody and cooking and creating these things together.

anne: 11:36

Yeah. And I totally agree, and I love when you said the day to day because I think my kitchen too takes on a different personality depending on the time. It could be the morning hustle, and it's like, everybody get out of my way and stuff like that before I have a party, and I set everything up. And I always say, 30 minutes before the party, do not walk in the kitchen. My son will laugh because I have to have everything right, and so there's that anxiety time that might come out in my kitchen.

anne: 12:03

Absolutely. But it it is where we have the best memories. And even with my friends, I always invite them to come over early before a dinner party. And it's so funny. I will set up a nibble board, and, ironically, I just got 8 nibble boards from your site because I set up a nibble board and a bottle of wine that goes with whatever's on the nibble board.

anne: 12:25

And I throw an apron on a chair, and I say, if you wanna show up at 5 o'clock and come early and cook with me, you're welcome. I would say 90% of the time, they knock on the door at 5 or just walk in. And, really, it's one of my favorite things to do because I think the kitchen just brings us so close. So all said, when we think about your Instagram from another perspective, and it's not just your Instagram, it's your site as well, I love all the elements that you bring into play that kind of parlay back to what I just mentioned about the easy factor. And there's all of your tools at your fingertips on your site, whether it be for your pantry or cooking essentials.

anne: 13:12

And I thought what would be really fun right now is to hear a little bit about your favorite pantry items that you carry on your site.

cassandra: 13:23

So as you were mentioning before, like the Florida sale and the Malden sea salt, I feel like I myself, have been using them more. And it's you don't realize what it can bring to a dish or the crunch, the flavor, what across the board. There's so many things that you can add the finishing salts to, whether it's vegetables or cookie. So I think those are 2 must haves, and I think having both of them is wonderful, not just one or the other. And what else do I have?

cassandra: 13:51

I recently started carrying a Vidalia onion and peppercorn dressing for a salad, and that's like it's my new favorite. It's so fun to kind of add something new in there, and that's made by the Southern Conserv, which is my connection to Savannah here. It's just a a nice little thing to have on hand. It's always good to have a really good balsamic vinaigrette, and so it's great to use the olive oil that Ina uses, grape balsamic for a salad dressing. I think that that would be my everyday kind of uses.

anne: 14:24

I love that. And those are what I think are perfect staples for everybody's pantry, especially the Fleur de Sole. I love it too. I love to put it on a cheese board actually with a little tiny salt spoon so that as people have a little piece, sprinkle it on because it just brings such a different profile to food, and I do love it out of chocolate chip cookies too. So talk a little bit about the cooking essentials.

anne: 14:48

What do you think are your favorites that you carry?

cassandra: 14:53

So, of course, I have the credit, Ina, for all of this because without her intro to these things, I wouldn't know how necessary these things are. And part of me knowing this too is that I I think I've been married 2,006. What is that? 18 years or something? Okay.

cassandra: 15:12

I was

anne: 15:12

like, it sounds good. Yeah.

cassandra: 15:14

We'll just round up to 20. So when I got married, my mom and people said, oh, you're so lucky. My mom came to Williams Sonoma with me to register. She knew what I was gonna need where I may have not known that being young and not have spent so much time cooking. So for me, that was like a great intro, not even knowing how great it was at the time.

cassandra: 15:37

And then fast forward just a year or so later is when I started the website. So the reason I know all this is because of Ina. So I just wanted to mention that. So I think it's critical to have a big salad bowl for tossing things. So we carry a stainless steel bowl, 8 quart.

cassandra: 15:54

It's just a must have for me because I can't stand when I take a little bowl, and then I realize when I go to toss this, everything goes everywhere. So big bowl is a must. And then the glass nesting bowls, Aina's been using those forever, and that's just something that every day it comes in. I think there's 10 sizes in the nesting kit. So it it's just a must have.

cassandra: 16:14

You must have these little things to make everything easy in the kitchen. Something that's a little bit fun and different than what Ina does, I sell a salad dressing bottle, and it's one of our best sellers. It's so simple. It has, I think, 8 different recipes on it, and it tells what line to put the olive oil or the vinegar and all and then all the dry ingredients, salt, pepper, garlic. And it's just so easy to make, stick it in your fridge, and you're good.

cassandra: 16:39

So you have a homemade salad dressing just at your fingertips. So I say it's a must have for me. And then, of course, the pepper mill that Aina's been using forever. I have the pepper mill, the salt, and a little box or cellar right at the my fingertips right with the olive oil, with a spoon rest, and a garlic keeper. And then I have a little cute butter dish that we just got with the the bees on it.

cassandra: 17:04

It's glass butter dish, and I have it right there. So I would say that right there is right at my fingertips at all times along with the wooden spoons, the stainless steel spoons, and the crocs to grab. Sometimes I think these days people are trying to just clear the countertop, and they get all clean and simple. And I really I appreciate that because I love that too. But if you're gonna cook all the time daily, family, breakfast, lunch, dinner, you just need it to be easy.

cassandra: 17:32

So and then the other is probably having, like I mentioned before, having the white platters and bowls and dishes. It's so easy to mix different tablecloths and napkins and placemats as opposed to having to have all these dishes that kind of blend. And I mean, really, when you're making a beautiful salad or a beautiful entree, it looks so nice when the colors pop off of the white. And maybe because I have to photograph so many things that, for me, that's super important, but it just looks so nice and you can use the white platters all year round for any holiday. So they those are my top essentials in the kitchen.

anne: 18:09

I I have to say, I have the glass bowls. And part of the process in my mind, I try to prep the food before I have to start to cook it because if I have it prepped, it just makes it a little bit easier for me to remember and not to get overwhelmed, and so those glass bowls are perfect for that. And white dinnerware, by far, is the most elegant of all tables because the color shows up in so many different ways. The floral pops, like, it just gives permission for everything else around it to play its story and just let the white be the platform, and I just love that you mentioned that. There's so many things that I go to on your site for things that I don't think of.

anne: 18:49

One of the things lately was a candy thermometer, and I, believe it or not, after all these years of cooking, have never had it. And every time I'd go to make a recipe that had it, I would skip the recipe because I didn't have the tool. So there's no reason, and it's so approach able. So thank you for creating that hub for all of us. We appreciate it.

cassandra: 19:10

Thank you. Thank you.

anne: 19:12

We wouldn't have a fun episode if we didn't talk about recipes and favorite ones, and I'm sure because your family has had this exposure, right, to ina, and even your own personal family recipes, I'd love for you to share with the listeners, what are some of your favorite recipes, your favorite aina recipes, and maybe a few of your mom's. Sure.

cassandra: 19:36

This is an area as you can imagine that I could go on forever, especially with Aina's recipes. I would say in her book, I always say, like, you go with your crustiest book. That's how you know which is your favorite book. And so My Barefoot Contessa Parties has no cover anymore. The binding's going, and it's just so crusty on the inside.

cassandra: 19:54

So there are so many recipes in there, and I could have them wrong as what's in there. But my go tos are for Ina's guacamole, definitely her chocolate chip cookies, the roasted potatoes that garlic crisp potatoes that are red, and, actually, they sold that in Barefoot Contessa store many moons ago. Her linguine was shir shrimp scampi. Mhmm. I made her pizzas over and over and over and over again.

cassandra: 20:18

My kids love it because they can make their own just the way they want it. And then her baby's chocolate cake, best chocolate cake, hands down ever. Totally. Ina has made it into a cupcake recipe, so you can do either. And I mentioned before her summer garden pasta that there's a couple that you have to make every year.

cassandra: 20:37

Right? Like, just make sure you do that. Another one that's great for the winter is the meatloaf from the 17/70 house in East Hampton. Yes. The first time I made that, I just couldn't believe it.

cassandra: 20:49

I couldn't believe that I hadn't had it before. And so every year I make it, it has a wonderful sauce that you put on top of it. It's just that winter comfort food. And she has a couple soups, like the chicken chili. Oh, my gosh.

cassandra: 21:03

The see, you have me, like

anne: 21:06

No. It's okay. It's I know. It's like, where do you end it? Right?

anne: 21:10

Yeah. Exactly.

cassandra: 21:11

Her it's the soup with grilled cheese, croutons, the tomato soup with grilled I mean

anne: 21:16

Oh, yeah. Delicious.

cassandra: 21:18

You just have to have it over and over again. And then as far as, like, my mom and the food that I was raised on, it's sort of funny because I just shared this on Instagram. My mom made Swedish meatballs growing up. I think it was just from the joy of cooking. This is how my mom cooked to just trying to feed the family.

cassandra: 21:35

It's made from Campbell Soup, can of cream of celery. And I was raised on that and it was a week, like, you come home from college, it's like you just want your mom to make spruce meatballs. So that was, like, that's just up there for us and it's probably just because it tastes like home. But now my kids, it's my middle child that if you ask them favorite meal, it's Swedish meatballs. That's what he wants on his birthday.

cassandra: 21:57

And he would have it once a week. I mean, it's funny. And I waited so long to make it to share because it doesn't look great. It doesn't. It's hard to make it look like it tastes, but, hopefully, I made it look pretty enough for To to share with you guys.

cassandra: 22:13

And another one that actually goes back to my grandma is the corn pudding, which again is just basic Yeah. From the Jiffy boxes and, you know, cook it with some cream of corn and but, again, it's that we would have it every Thanksgiving, and it just tastes like home or family. Those you get the smell in the kitchen. As soon as it goes in the oven, it just brings you joy. And so those couple of recipes that I've shared, people just have gone crazy for, which I just it makes me so happy because it's bringing other people joy.

cassandra: 22:46

And, like, it it just makes you feel like, how does I can't even imagine how much joy Ina gets out of all this because

anne: 22:52

Oh, I know.

cassandra: 22:52

She created this, and she's bringing so much joy to every household and party and holiday. But I would say I'm trying to think if there's another cookbook author that I just really enjoy. And Leidy, who worked for Ina for many years with my mom, she just came out with a cookbook. So I've started to dive into that. She has some great salads that I think are just great for every day.

cassandra: 23:16

So I'm diving currently diving into that, and I'm sure I'm gonna have a few faves that are go to.

anne: 23:22

And they'll be on your Instagram, which will be fun. Because I have to tell you, everybody, that I did request the Swedish meatball recipe, and that is something that it kinda brings me back to how you make a connection to a memory through food, and Campbell's Soup was part of my growing up. And then it's so funny. We learn how to make ina soup, and then it's so hard to go back to Campbell's, but then every now and then, when it's in a recipe, you do. I mean, it comes back so naturally, so I love that.

anne: 23:50

But if I were to share with the listeners some of my favorite aina recipes, it would definitely be the shrimp scampi with La Guinea. The turkey meatloaf, I actually went to 17 1770 House because I was so obsessed. It's one of my favorite restaurants now in the Hamptons, so if not my favorite. And then I love the crab cakes that came out of her first book as well, and sometimes just for a meal because they're so delicious. And my children love her fillet with mustard sauce.

anne: 24:22

And I think just bringing in that cognac, it's just my daughter-in-law will always say, could you just make the sauce separate? And let me just take that home. So we just love it. And her coconut cake and Betty's chocolate cake is always my request for my birthday. She probably doesn't realize just how much an impact she's had on so many of us.

anne: 24:43

And now you're making that impact, and people are going to say, thank goodness for Cassandra that she started this idea because you're just making everybody's life so easy. So thank you for that. So I wanna hear what's all on the horizon for your brand. What can we expect that's coming around the corner?

cassandra: 25:04

Well, I recently, a year and a half ago, opened a retail store down in Bluffton. And so for me, that was really new. I had never been in retail, so it's been a wonderful experience for me. As far as outside of what I've been doing at the retail store, I really want because there's so much that I don't even know how to do. Like, I I've never made sourdough bread, so I'm gonna go down that path a little bit.

cassandra: 25:28

So my hope is for me to start doing things that I haven't done and being able to show everybody how possible or how easy or how simple it could be to kind of do like, it seems overwhelming, but just dive into it. And I think one of the interesting things is I'm down in the south, and we don't have the breads and the those sort of things that probably you even have better access to. There's a lot of people in New York that why would they even make a sourdough when they can go down the block to get, you know, from Eli's or even out in in the Hamptons. There's so many wonderful places to get those other things. But down in the south, I don't have access to that really good New York bread.

cassandra: 26:11

So I would love to go down that path and dive into that, which probably is a little bit outside of what Ina normally does because she does need to. She always recommends keeping it easy. Store bought is fine, which is like a funny phrase that is caught on. So I think for me, I wanna really go down that path of the things that I haven't done before and show everybody else, you know, how simple it can be

anne: 26:34

Oh, I love that.

cassandra: 26:35

On the day to day.

anne: 26:36

And I love that it's bread, you know, because people don't explore bread enough.

cassandra: 26:40

I know.

anne: 26:42

And so I think that's genius. I love that idea. That's so great. And I'm so glad you opened a retail shop. I mean, I was in retail for 25 years, and what you learn by the people that come into your store every single day, they actually become your influencers too.

anne: 26:58

Absolutely. And so you really have an audience right there to kind of guide you in the moment.

cassandra: 27:05

Absolutely. Yep.

anne: 27:07

Yeah. So fun for that and so excited. And I noticed that you posted that Ina's memoir can be purchased through your site, which I think is lovely as well.

cassandra: 27:17

And that was just released today, actually. I know this is airing later. But so yeah. That's another really exciting thing because I think we do know a lot about Ina and, like, what she did and what got her to this point and all that, but I think the readers are just gonna really enjoy how the story goes into depth. And I think me yeah.

cassandra: 27:38

It's just so fun because I've kind of been there kind of for the last 4 years since she opened her stores.

anne: 27:45

Yeah. You've had front row seats. And one of the things I just wanted to kinda circle back on and I don't wanna forget to share is one of the things I really love on your Instagram. And listeners, when you go on Cassandra Kitchen Instagram, when you're watching Cassandra cook, she uses a lot of the tools that are on her site. Keep doing it for people like me, and I'm sure there's many people out there nodding their head as they're listening to this is, I love when you use your products when you cook because it just makes the connection.

anne: 28:16

There's still many of us that we know the product. We love the product. We wanna go buy the product, but then seeing how it's used, it's awesome. And I just wanna con just say thanks for doing that for us.

cassandra: 28:27

Uh-huh. Yeah. And it's so it's so true too. Like, we were I was listening before my kitchen essentials. They're all right there.

cassandra: 28:34

And, again, I learned it from Ida. I learned to have these things accessible and easy, but I've found products that I thought were pretty to have right there to to be grabbing it quickly or whatever to make things simple. So, yeah, I I wouldn't feel good about it if I wasn't using it.

anne: 28:51

Right. Exactly. Which kinda seems like a no kidding, but it does make it even easier. And I do love the background music that you choose for some of your reels, so kudos to whoever's picking your music. So it's great.

cassandra: 29:06

You. I'll send that message along.

anne: 29:08

Yes. That's great. Alright. So here's where we get to have a little fun. It's where we connect all the listeners with all the guests' favorite classics.

anne: 29:17

And so to go through these 5 questions just to have a little bit of fun. So who's influenced your style the most?

cassandra: 29:25

You know, I think if I'm being a little bit different from you, as far as the interior design goes, it's not my area. It's not and we've talked about a little bit what you want the kitchen to feel like. It's like, I want my home to feel like peace and be very not minimalistic, but just very simple. So if I say Ina influenced me at all, it's because of the simplicity of it, not so much the look. So down in South Carolina, I've got a little bit of a coastal look going on, which is not Aina or other.

cassandra: 29:57

So I'm just gonna say Aina because of the simplicity, I think, without that. And, really, I let my strong desires play a huge role maybe without even being influenced that much of just being, like, this is what I want my house to feel like when I walk in.

anne: 30:11

Yeah.

cassandra: 30:12

And I go with that. Blue and white seems to be my favorite.

anne: 30:15

I love that.

cassandra: 30:16

So I go with what brings me peace. That's really what inspires me the most.

anne: 30:21

I love that. You know, it's really funny. For me, a house should not be a museum. It should be very easy because if the house is fussy, then people will not relax. I might get a little wound up before people come over because I want everything so nice.

cassandra: 30:37

Right.

anne: 30:38

But I'm in slippers when they come over.

cassandra: 30:40

Okay. I can just pretend that I'm in my slippers too now instead of, like, I want people to put their feet up and relax, and I yeah. I don't want

anne: 30:48

totally agree.

cassandra: 30:50

Yeah. So I love that about you because I feel like I'd be the same way.

anne: 30:53

So favorite classic item in your closet?

cassandra: 30:57

It has to be a a denim shirt. I mean, I think I have 4 or 5. Like, I just denim shirt and white jeans. You know, we can wear white jeans in the South a lot. So I would say that's my classic outfit.

anne: 31:08

That's awesome.

cassandra: 31:09

But I love just a simple sweater to put over when it gets a little chilly down here.

anne: 31:14

I know. It's it's like easy house, easy wardrobe. Right?

cassandra: 31:17

Mhmm. A 100%.

anne: 31:19

Favorite classic cocktail?

cassandra: 31:22

I I have to go with the margarita. I mean, I just love a really good margarita that has lime juice, just no fuss, good ingredients to make a really good margarita. Great.

anne: 31:34

Do you have a favorite tequila?

cassandra: 31:37

I don't, actually. I don't.

anne: 31:39

Are you salt or no salt?

cassandra: 31:41

Salt.

anne: 31:42

Okay. Great. So it's funny. I I will do salt, but only can only do it on the first sip. You know, after that, I don't want salt.

anne: 31:50

Isn't that funny? It's weird. Nobody understands it, and I don't either.

cassandra: 31:54

Yeah. Try it in it, even. I wonder if you would, like, just put a little bit in because sometimes I do that. I just kinda, like, flip the salt on the rim right into it. So just try it once and see if you like it throughout.

anne: 32:07

Memorable dining experience. What was your most memorable one?

cassandra: 32:12

You know, growing up in East Hampton, there's a lot of person. I love to be outdoors when I'm eating. And but I person. I love to be outdoors when I'm eating. And but I another really good one was Flora Farms out near Cabo San Lucas.

cassandra: 32:31

Oh my gosh. That experience

anne: 32:33

heard all about that. Yeah.

cassandra: 32:35

Yes. So just really good food. And to go into further depth of what I really enjoy when I go out is I love to try a bunch of little things. I don't like to have, like, this one entree. And so to give a little shout out to a local restaurant, I love the farm, which I guess farm is a b m, my favorite restaurant, but you get to go and order a few

anne: 32:52

things and try

cassandra: 32:52

a bunch of things, and they change the menu every day. And so that's a really fun experience. And beyond that, I sometimes, I think I forget favorite experiences like that because I know I can't go back right away. And so I don't wanna really hang on to that because I can't have it again maybe. So I'm sure there's many more that I've just kind of put on the back of my brain so I don't think about it too much.

anne: 33:18

Yeah. It's funny. Like, I think about that too, and then I also am on the quest. I always put my mindset in a place of, oh, I'm on the quest for a one. Right.

anne: 33:26

Because I think the best is yet to come. Yeah. So destination for travel. Do you have a fun place that you love to go besides living in one of the best parts of the country?

cassandra: 33:38

Right. Yeah. I know. Growing up to in East Hampton, it makes it hard. I love going back there.

cassandra: 33:43

But, really, like I said, since I'm a nature person, my new favorite being down south is going out into the mountains. There is so much peace, and I think growing up a beach girl, you kinda put yourself in that category like I'm a beach girl. And then when I moved down south and got to experience the mountains, there's just so much peace out there. There's so much beauty. And, really, as I've mentioned, I have kids.

cassandra: 34:07

I have 3 kids. We go and we have just the best time for a long weekend. So right now, it's really anything that involves nature and my family and us getting away to the day to day. I'm sure I have a long, long bucket list of things I wanna do and visit. But right now, I'm sure as you experience, when you have kids that are a little bit younger and you're busier, it's harder to get away.

cassandra: 34:29

So it's really those weekends out in the mountains that Yeah. We love.

anne: 34:33

Have you been to Blackberry Farm ever?

cassandra: 34:37

No. I don't think so.

anne: 34:38

Okay. So you'll have to look it up. They have the best hiking, and they have everything to do. Like, their whole surround is nature. In fact, when I stayed there, and I don't know what prompted me to do this, but I signed up for fly fishing in the morning, and I didn't even know what I was doing.

anne: 34:58

But I had this great guy from Orvis that helped me through the whole experience, but

cassandra: 35:04

Yep.

anne: 35:04

I love that location. It is a aspirational place to go for sure. There's so many other places you can go, but it is a bucket list item I would highly recommend, and I love it.

cassandra: 35:15

Thank you.

anne: 35:16

You're welcome. But no. Thank you. I mean, what a lovely conversation. So everybody go to Cassandra's website, Cassandra's kitchen.

anne: 35:24

I'll leave all the information in the outro, but most importantly, thank you. Thank your mom. Thanks to Ina. Thanks for everything because my family thanks you because I became a cook because of all of you. So thank you.

cassandra: 35:37

Oh my gosh. That's so sweet and just lovely to hear, So thank you for sharing that.

anne: 35:42

Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode of Classic and Curious. You can find Cassandra's Kitchen on Instagram at Cassandra's Kitchen and at Cassandra's Kitchen dot com. Take a peek at the classic and curious podcast page on styledbyark.com to find a listing of all of my favorite items on Cassandra's kitchen. Should you need a little design advice, be sure to book the mini for a 1 hour discussion filled with resources and guidance.

anne: 36:13

We have helped design enthusiasts from LA to Boston. Looking forward to our next time together. Tata for now.