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.
This is my first time to your site. I love the recipe!! If you have time I’d like to know if you are still in Spain and how you like it? Sounds amazing.
The best chicken enchiladas EVER! are seriously tasty.
I am going to make your choc chip cookie dough today and maybe bake tomorrow; will it hurt the recipe at all if I add chopped walnuts?
I love your recipes! Are you considering a cookbook in your future? I would love to own one.
Thank you.
Julie Rohr
Hi Ali,
I made your recipe for bourbon cherries. I’m curious:
1. Do they need to be refridgerated?
2. What is the shelf life/expiration date?
Looking forward to trying them out next week.
Thank you,
Don S.
Loved the Barbacoa! So delicious. Will definitely try other recipes of yours. Enjoy your time in Spain!
Ali – my daughter, Dara of Cookin’ Canuck, told me about Barclay and you. So I watched his concert – loved the mellow voice and his engaging personality. Then I sent a contribution to your Mali project. Then I visited your blog. Excellent all round. Talk about hooked!
My wife and I are long ago retired. We live in Victoria now but experienced what you are enjoying in Spain when we were your age. Except we did it in SE Asia back when the Vietnam War was raging. A life altering experience, living in a different culture, subjecting yourself to lessons you would never have been taught at home. You grow up fast!
Good luck with your expanding family (literally and figuratively!). And best wishes for your ongoing efforts in Mali. The planet could seriously benefit from more people like you two.
Ali,
I like the way you write about food. I’ll give this recipe a try (minus the egg yolks, unfortunately).
You wrote that you were a full-time musician. What kind of music did you play or sing?
Hello,
Thank you so much for the recipes that you share. Found easy dinner rolls for Thanksgiving and they were great! I am wondering if you include nutritional data of your recipes? I looked around quickly and did not come upon them. I scan the recipes and have an idea of ingredients’ nutritional value, and think that info summed up at the end of a recipe is a really great customer/reader tool when I am making decisions. Your blog is so easy to use and give thanks to you for all you do.
Thanks again and stay safe.
Glad I stumbled across these recipes. Such great and easy ideas thank you for sharing with us.