JC Phelps is a professor by day and recipe creator by night.
Phelps, a recipe blogger and full-time business professor who teaches economics and finance at the college level, is a writer for JCP Eats from southern Kentucky. He started his blogging career around 2010 when he was in high school.
“I’m a dinosaur when it comes to the blogging world. I started with a website called ‘Buzz Net’ and then moved on to self-hosted websites. Back then, my blog was like a diary of sorts, where I talked about food in a way. ”
Phelps, who grew up on a farm that has been in his family for 226 years, said he turned his blog into cooking and recipes in 2012 when JCP Eats was founded.
All of his recipes are inspired by his family’s generations of recipes and the Southern way of life.
“My roots in Southern Kentucky are certainly deep,” Phelps said. “The South is a way of life and my county of origin, and I grew up surrounded by Southern cooks, Southern people, and Southern hospitality. My upbringing in Russell County has influenced the recipes I make. It is having an impact.”
“I have hundreds of handwritten recipes from my great-grandparents’ time,” Phelps says. “Sometimes we build it as is, and sometimes we bring it to 2024.”
Phelps said she specializes in party cooking and most of her recipes are related to family gatherings.
“Whether it’s Southern appetizers or entrees. We make food that’s approachable, casual and that you want to serve when you have people over,” he said.
The top recipe to watch is tomato pie. He said recipes dubbed “Southern summer on a plate” tend to return to the top every year.
“That’s definitely what I’m known for,” Phelps said. “We’ve had seven-figure traffic on the blog. He’s always on Pinterest in the summer. It’s a true Southern delicacy and something you want to make during tomato season.”
To make tomato pie, Phelps takes out the pie crust and sprinkles it with Dijon mustard. Next, add the salted tomatoes (to dry out the moisture) and top with the pimento cheese. Once cooked, bake, cool and sprinkle with fresh basil.
“All summer I just eat until I get sick of it,” Phelps said.
He said that even though blogging takes a lot of work, he continues because it is his passion.
“It’s my passion. The blog is my baby,” Phelps said. “I can hardly remember life without blogging. I almost have an identity crisis thinking about not blogging anymore, but it’s just a part of me.
“Even if there’s no money, I’ll keep doing it,” he added. “My readers, emails, and comments keep me going.”
Phelps said his family played an important role in inspiring his actions.
“My great-aunt JJ passed away about two and a half years ago,” he said. “I inherited her home and created recipes in her kitchen. I’ve watched her cook for years. When I developed JCP Eats and its persona, it was her I was inspired by her life, her kindness, and her talent, but I could never be a chef like her.
“Seeing all the great cooks in my family, like my grandmother, great-aunt, and great-grandfather, really made me realize that cooking was an innate part of my life,” Phelps said.
He said that over the years of blogging, numerous connections were established, some of which continue to this day.
“Being in the blogging world for so long has connected me with so many people. Some of these people have grown up with me. They may be much older than me. “But they’ve been with me for over 10 years and have seen me go through college and graduate school,” he said. special. “
Phelps said he’s reaching about 90,000 subscribers on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, which motivates him to focus more on publishing recipes that everyone can enjoy.
“The followers are one of the best parts,” he said.
While working online may feel isolating to some, Phelps painted a different story.
“I know that’s not the case, because as soon as I post it online, a few days later I see more people sending me pictures of the dishes they made, and pictures of my recipes on their Thanksgiving table.” Because you see them lined up, that means everything,” he said.
The only thing he could change would be to change the name due to confusion, but he said that wouldn’t help.
“If I could go back in time, I would have given it a different name, because a lot of people think my name is JC Peets,” he said with a laugh. “That’s been going on for years. The brand is there, but it’s not going anywhere.”
One of Phelps’ main goals is to encourage others to get involved. Phelps wants people to know that you don’t have to be a great cook to follow his recipes.
“The goal of my recipes is to say, ‘Hey! I can do this, and I’m sure you can too.'” Food is a connector. Sitting around the table and socializing. and parties,” he said. “That’s where memories are made.”
(606) 326-2657 |
ajohnson@dailyindependent.com
