Hi! I’m Ali, and I am so happy that you found your way here.
I created Gimme Some Oven to celebrate life around the table, with recipes that are simple, fresh, and full of flavor. With two littles underfoot these days, I know how relentless the dinner grind can feel. My hope is that this space can offer a bit of inspiration for everyone — and make everyday cooking feel a bit more fun.
So whether you’re throwing together a quick weeknight dinner, hosting a cozy brunch with friends, or just craving a warm batch of cookies, I hope you’ll find recipes here that feel doable and delicious.
Cheers!
About Ali
About Me
When I began Gimme Some Oven back in 2009, I was working full-time as a musician by day and spending my evenings cooking, photographing, and sharing recipes just for fun. Over time, that creative outlet grew into a full-time career — and for more than a decade now, I’ve had the absolute joy of writing and developing recipes here on Gimme Some Oven.
Even after all these years, it still feels like magic to create a recipe in my kitchen and see it come to life on tables all around the world! Your trust in my recipes means the world to me, and I work hard to make sure each one is thoughtfully developed, thoroughly tested, and truly worth making — the kind of recipe you’ll want to return to again and again.
Beyond the blog, my husband and I are now settling back into life in Kansas City with our two young boys after spending six wonderful years living in Barcelona. My favorite things include sunny days, an excellent plate of nachos, lingering around tables with good friends, and always dreaming up our next adventure. I occasionally share more about life behind the scenes here if you’d like to follow along.
About Gimme Some Oven
So what kinds of recipes will you find here?
Short answer: a bit of everything.
The recipes I share here are the ones we’re actually making and eating in our home. My husband is pescetarian, our boys are still a bit veggie-suspicious, and I enjoy a wide range of foods — so our meals reflect that mix. We do our best to cook seasonally, and most weeknights are all about quick, flavorful recipes that come together in 30 minutes or less. But I also love slowing down on the weekends with a cozy cup of coffee and baking our favorite 1-Hour Cinnamon Rolls, or inviting friends over for a big pot of chili with homemade guac and margaritas.
You’ll notice here that we’ve got a soft spot for Mexican food, big bowls of soup, noodles in all forms, and cookies of just about every variety. While most of my recipes lean fresh and lighter, you’ll also find your fair share of fun treats and comfort food favorites — we’re all about balance!
My hope is that you’ll find recipes here that work well for real life, whatever that looks like for you right now. And if there’s ever a recipe you’re craving, I’d love to hear from you!
My Favorite Recipes
FAQs
I can’t take the credit. 😉 The name actually came from my former bandmate, Jay, who tossed it out during a rehearsal years ago when I mentioned I was thinking about starting a food blog. It made us all laugh — and it stuck! Now it feels like a fun little reminder of my past life as a full-time musician.
You bet! Every single one of the 2000+ recipes on this site has been developed and tested in my own kitchen. I now have a team of recipe testers who join me each week to test old and new recipes to help ensure they are as clear, reliable, and delicious as possible. We want each recipe to be the best it can be when it reaches your table!
The best way to ask about substitutions is to leave a comment on that specific recipe post. That way, we’ll be sure to see it, and other readers can benefit from the answer too.
Yes! We’re constantly retesting, updating and rephotographing older recipes to make sure they’re as reliable and delicious as possible. Whenever we make a significant change, we do our best to note it clearly in the recipe notes so that you know what’s been updated.
No. We made the decision back in 2018 to stop publishing sponsored content on Gimme Some Oven. While we were grateful to partner with brands we genuinely loved in the past, it’s important to us that readers know all product mentions are now completely unpaid — just things we personally use and recommend.
This is probably the most-asked question we receive. Sorry, not yet! I keep putting it off, but someday I look forward to finally writing one. 💛
Giving Back
While we love creating and sharing recipes here, we also recognize what a profound privilege it is to have consistent access to fresh food, clean water, and a safe place to gather around the table. Not everyone has that — the statistics are sobering, and they remind us how important it is to keep working toward change.
That’s why we donate a portion of our profits to support three organizations working to fight food insecurity and expand access to nutritious food and clean water around the world. Every time you visit this site, your pageviews directly help support that work too, and we’re so grateful. We’d love for you to learn more about these incredible organizations and consider supporting them in whatever ways you can too.
It’s our hope that this space not only inspires delicious meals, but also plays a small part in supporting communities far beyond our own kitchens.
TWP is a community-led initiative in Mali focused on developing economic opportunities for women through organic food production, access to clean water, and a commitment to environmental stewardship.
Cultivate Kansas City is a locally-grown nonprofit working to grow food, farms, and community in support of an equitable, sustainable and healthy local food system for all.
World Central Kitchen is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.
Great job, Ali – and an impressive amount of work! I found you by searing for a recipe about making Vietnamese Pho. Your approach is fantastic and I totally connect with your food philosophy. I also love to cook a bit of everything and don’t have a specific niche. I had a food-related website for about ten years and have had articles about food and cooking published. I am very impressed by your photos, the ease of the recipes, and fun writing. Keep up the good work! Can’t wait to test out the pho this week.
Thank you for helping me cook the best boneless skinless chicken breast I have ever cooked! My family loved it! I love to cook for my large family and always need new ideas. I need things that can stay warm and are easy to prepare early and don’t require tons of ingredients. We love to cook! Thanks for a great blog. Trying something else tomorrow!!
Columbus, GA
BEAUTIFUL WEB SITE..love your ways of explaining and you are a inspiration..all the best!
What a pleasure to read a heartfelt blog. I just found your site while looking for an enchilada recipe. Haven’t even tried it yet. I usually take a look at what I have in the refrig and then go from there. Going to try your Best Chicken Enchiladas Ever.
Actually I am a retired music teacher in the public schools and now playing my violin/fiddle for fun mostly. I never really learned to cook but now having fun downloading recipes. BTW: What is Paella and how do you pronounce it?
Dear Ali
Glad to have found you from “the little red dot- Singapore”. Across the globe say 10,000 miles away.
We were expats residing in USA Chicago from 1987- autumn 1994 and have since returned home to continue our careers, Paul in shipping and myself with the National Parks Board developing / creating regional & city Parks for the public.
It was such a coincidence our food styles from food presentation to colours, sunbeam personality and lifestyle are somewhat similar.
My family made mixed frozen mixed berries with coconut water this morning and had wanted to find out the number of calories but we found your blog instead.
Congratulations you are in a happy place and wishing you much happiness.
As life brings us to different pathways we each endeavour, wishing you many friends and trouble few.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Hey. I live in Barcelona too. I’m glad you’re liking it!!!! It’s a real foodie place to be ?
I love reading your blog and recipes. I became interested because my husband and I will be visiting Barcelona in June. I’ve heard so much about the food/wine tasting tours and wonder if you have any suggestions. Thanks for sharing your dream life with us, Beth
Hola Ali!
My boyfriend marinated chicken to BBQ, but the wind advisory was so strong and a fire hazard here in San Diego, CA USA I texted him on his lunch break, “How about you text me when you are on your way home from work and I will bake the chicken?”
So that led me to Googling, “Baked chicken”. ”
“Gimme some oven” was about the 7th on the list, but I clicked on it first because I loved the fun title play on gimme some luvin.
Family members never taught me how to cook and I was Vegan when single so it was really helpful to have the short video and explanation of a meat thermometer! Thank you for sharing your love of cooking in a blog.
Holly Ann, SAG AFTRA
Hi Ali,
I am an ex-pat (Brit) living in Wisconsin, had the good luck to stay in Barcelona two years ago for two weeks, we rented an Air B n B apartment, owned by a French Guy in the El Born district, my most favorite place on our whole trip. Loved walking around the alleyways and we had the balconies that opened up with huge french doors.. We were quite close to La Musica Theatre.. We will go back someday. So glad I stumbled across your blog. thank you x Mary.
I found your blog by searching up photography set ups. I really can’t thank you enough for sharing that. It’s nice to see someone using very inexpensive things and basic equipment and still achieving good shots. Being that I am an amateur photographer and on a very tight budget this was very inspiring.
Thank you
Heather