Foodie Fast Five Q&A with Gasia Mikaelian

Q: What’s your favorite go-to comfort food?

A: Popcorn with real butter and a decent amount of salt – because it’s crunchy and salty (my two favorite things) and "real food."  

Q: What’s your favorite dessert?

A: I’m not a huge dessert person… but a fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie is hard to beat! Crisp at the edges, gooey in the middle…plus cold milk, of course!

Q: Potato chips or Corn chips?

A: Potato chips without question… salt and vinegar, in particular.

Q: What person/chef inspires you?

A: Julia Child (when I want an "all day cooking project") and I love to search through SeriousEats.com – the recipes teach me the science behind making the best versions of my favorite foods and give me tons of new ideas.

Q: What’s your most memorable food-related experience?

A: Hard to pick just one – but I’d say having an all-family backyard BBQ in Livermore in which my Dad grills shish kebab, my Mom makes sarma (stuffed grape leaves) and tabbouleh, and my siblings and I fill in the rest with our favorite Armenian side dishes and salads while the grandchildren play together… it’s our favorite thing to do on the weekends!