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.
I love your dogs they are so cute.
Love your story Ali, and you husband and dogs are handsome too. I have visited your site several times to research recipes and my conclusion is that you are always “spot on”.
I’ve never supported a blogger before (not even my brother who does a pretty good job), but I’m willing to offer a gratuity to help you maintain this journey and share you with my friends. I know how to do the later of these, but not the former. So please, let me know.
In the meantime, I’ll keep cooking up your fabulous fare!!
Best Regards,
Marc
Charleston, SC USA
I recently found your website and saw a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Soup, which sounds sooo good! I am a Celiac and I’m wondering if using Gluten free flour would make the recipe the same or not. Any ideas?
Thank you!!
Wendy B.
Ali,
You probably get way too many emails to respond to, but I just wanted to say how much I LOVE your recipes. I made your baked feta pasta and gave some to my supervisor today for her lunch. To say her eyes rolled to the back of her head in happiness would not be an exaggeration (not to mention she’s new so brownie points were definitely scored!).
I had a 32 year fantasy trip planned to Italy last year, and then the pandemic hit :(, so cooking Italian food makes me feel a bit better. Your blog on homemade pasta was so simply layed out, and I am going to overcome my fear and try this weekend.
Best to you, hubby and those precious doggies!
Ciao from Folsom CA,
Debbie Van Blaricom
Love your recipes and glimpses of life in Barcelona. I am going to try the cheesecake recipe. My daughter studied abroad in Madrid in 2019 and my husband and I were lucky enough to go visit her while she was there. I have Spanish roots on my father’s side ( his ancestors were from the Andalucia region) and I was born in Chile. We loved Spain and realized how lucky we all were to have been able to travel and study before Covid hit. My daughter just found out she got admitted to grad school for the Fall and I wanted to try making the cheesecake to celebrate her achievment. Wish me luck. Thank you.
Dear Ali; I just discovered you! I am a huge falafel lover and yet, despite trying to make it a handful of times, they have been awful. I tried your recipe yesterday, bloody game changer! Thank you. I will be making more tomorrow, because my husband only got one, I ate the rest. I am from the US and living in the UK for the past few years. Also an expat! So how I found you, is absolute kismet! Thank you for sharing you. I am thoroughly enjoying your website, blog and recipes. Thanks and good luck with the baby xx (buena suerte-my spanish is lousy)
You know…i always go to google when I’m looking for a recipe. I always end up at your sight and every time I have made one of your recipes I have loved it and it became my go-to recipe for whatever it was. Thanks for being a great cook!
I made the baked chicken breast in a convection oven recipe that you posted. It was the best chicken I have ever tasted. I used mrs.dash and olive oil to flavor it. Thank you so much! I needed that!
Have been searching for a delicious pimento cheese recipe. Pretty sure yours is it! I too am a vegetarian and always happy to find more delicious revipes.Visited Barsolona a few years ago. Love Spain! If younger would would love to live there for awhile. Since lucky to have found you looking so much to more of your recipes.Leep them coming! God bless you both.
A high fan
Mary Lee Blakely???
!
1 wanted to save the chicken fried rice recipe but couldn’t find anywhere how to do it. What am I missing?