Katie-Rose Watson
North Texas food blogger Katie-Rose Watson will be the first person to tell you she isn’t perfect when it comes to trying out new recipes in the kitchen. To her, this is just the first step in perfecting an idea. In fact, Watson has come a long way since she started making no-bake recipes in her TCU dormitory. Today, she has amassed nearly 300,000 followers on various social media platforms, has had over 30 million video views, and authored a best-selling cookbook titled “The Rose Table”, which is currently available on paperback.
Outside of the cookbook realm, Watson is probably best known for hosting her Disney Dinners, a series for which she creates menus inspired by movies like "101 Dalmatians," "Mulan," and "Maleficent" and films the dinner party for her social platforms. She's also done paid partnerships with Disney, as well as other companies like Brawny, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, and more. But would you believe this is just her side hustle? That’s right. Outside of her foodie persona, Watson is also an independent publicist.
Fort Worth Magazine recently had a chance to chat with Watson about her first experiences in the kitchen, possible new book ideas and how to get your confidence back after making a less than stellar meal.
FM: Is it true you started cooking for the first time in college?
KW: Yes. Well, I loved baking as a kid. I was always, quote unquote helping my mom, a.k.a. slowing her down terribly in the kitchen. But she was
Katie-Rose Watson
always so good about letting me stir things and letting me help out from a very young age. And I used to sit on the counter right in front of the stove to do my homework every night. I learned so much from my mom. She cooked dinner every single night of my childhood pretty much. And she's a wonderful cook. I definitely grew up with that idea of the home cooked meal and the whole family eating together and watching her cook. I think I actually started baking before anything, and I loved to bake. I was always baking treats for my brother and his friends. And if I would bake for them, you know, cookies or brownies or something, then they would let me play video games with them. So that was sort of my ticket to hang out with my older brother and his friends. When I got to college, I really was a huge foodie by then but a broke college student. I realized very quickly that I could not afford to go out and get delicious food, but I could afford to make it myself. I don't think people realize, who eat out all the time, how incredibly inexpensive it is to cook the same meal for yourself for dinner. Even in my early twenties I soon discovered it was literally cheaper for me to have four people over for dinner and make a nice meal than it was for me to go out to a nice dinner. It really kind of came from that. And yeah, I started cooking even in my dorm room at TCU — go frogs. I was the queen of like, no cook college cuisine. We did have a little kitchen in the dorm, so I would go and occasionally bake brownies or something, but I would always do these epic snacks. I love making tabouli because you really just need to boil water for the vulgar. So, I've been making tabouli since college because I had a little microwave, and I could easily boil water. And then it's just a bunch of, you know, chopping stuff up.
FM: What’s a good starter plate you would suggest as a confidence booster for a culinary novice?
KW: I would say any sort of like chilled salad dish is a huge confidence booster. I think things I have very easy, like my perfect grilled chicken breast is very, very easy. So many people who think they can't cook have told me that they’ve made it and it turned out perfectly. But even if you're too nervous to cook like meat or seafood, start out with a lot of these delicious vegetable dishes. I have so many amazing vegetable recipes in the “Rose Table” that help boost anyone’s confidence in the kitchen.
Katie-Rose Watson
FM: I know “The Rose Table” came out nearly two years ago and is now available on paperback. How long did it take you to put all 70 of those recipes together and finish the book in the first place?
KW: That's kind of a hard question to answer because the actual cookbook process, I think was like two months. However, I have been blogging for almost nine years, and almost all those recipes were already on my website. So, you could say two months. But you could also say at that point, I think the cookbook came out at like year seven. So, a little bit of both kind of seven years, kind of two months. It would've of course been a lot longer of a process if I was creating new recipes, you know, specifically for the cookbook. It was hard for me to narrow down the recipes in the book though. I mean, I have 1100 posts on my website. Not all of those are recipes. But I would say at least half are recipes. So, it was more challenging for me to kind of narrow it down and decide a theme for the cookbook. What I wanted to do, and I decided it made the most sense for a debut cookbook, was to consider my tried-and-true recipes. The recipes that I just can't live without, that I make all the time. And I love how many people especially my own friends who come over and eat my food all the time. When the cookbook came out, they were flipping through it going, “Oh my gosh, I've eaten most of these things.”
FM: How do you pep talk yourself back into the kitchen after maybe not making something so good? Or do you learn from that and that's what makes you a better cook?
KW: Absolutely. I like to call myself out on social media every now and then as well. There's a hilarious TikTok video where I was grating an orange, while I'm drinking my coffee and I actually drop the entire orange into my coffee cup. [The] coffee splashed everywhere. It was a complete mess. I thought it was hilarious. But you know, I tell people all the time, if you think that Ina Garten never over bakes cookies because someone rang her doorbell and she got caught at the door, you are completely mistaken. Stuff happens when you're cooking at home for sure.
Katie-Rose Watson
I think the best way to handle that is to cook something that you've made again and again. Make something that you know is going to turn out great. That always boosts my confidence. I do a lot of recipe testing and so you're going to fail if you're coming up with original recipes, especially some of my crazier stuff that I do for like my Disney Dinners. Yeah, I fail all the time and I consider that such a valuable experience because you learn from it at least. I don't mind failing in the kitchen at all because that means that I'm constantly working and improving all the time.
FM: Do you have any other cookbook ideas or anything that's in the till right now that you can talk about maybe coming out in the near future?
KW: I do hope to come out with future cookbooks. It would be such a dream for me to do a cookbook about entertaining and all my themed party ideas. I would love to do a Christmas season cookbook and a spooky season cookbook. I would even love to do like a whole cookbook dedicated to picnicking because that's a whole different beast is making food that is delicious when it has to be packed away for several hours. It has to be portable friendly. There are a couple things I would love to do, and I could certainly see myself doing like a whole dessert cookbook or you know, a whole breakfast cookbook or something. I just love those kinds of seasons and themes.
