Hello, friends! I assume you’re already my friends because you’ve been connecting with me and my Good Food Stories persona over the past decade or so as I’ve shared my good times, good food, and good stories with the world.
But if you haven’t, hey, you’re a friend already because you’re here. And here’s the deal.
I’ve opened up this Substack space1 to serve the community and myself in a way that allows my work to be supported directly.
I’ve developed thousands of recipes throughout my professional career2 as a food writing and styling jack-of-all-trades. I’ve done this on behalf of oh-so-many esteemed publications, brands and corporations; I’ve written my own cookbooks as well as zhuzhed stuff up for others; and, duh, I’ve run Good Food Stories for 15 years (yes, 15 years! I fondly remember the dinosaur days of the internet.)
But obvs, things are changing. And I’m tired of feeling the pressure to write 1000 words of an introductory post to a recipe just to make it SEO-friendly and potentially rank higher on Google when all I really want to do is to tell you about the amazing one-pot pasta I’ve been making all summer long.
So here at Good Food Stories Premium, I’m cutting through the online blather and serving up exactly what I’m eating and putting my money where my mouth is. Well, not literally in the Chris Traeger sense, because I’m not eating money every night. Who is?
The recipes I’ll be sharing here are the meals I’m honestly making for myself time and time again — dishes that are simple enough but also inspiring enough to keep me out of the same old recipe rut.
These are recipes that I have locked down through multiple tests and trials, making sure that the ingredient quantities are right, the instructions make sense, and the end result comes out satisfying every single time.
This is my profession and my passion. I’m not here to give you pretty pictures but disappointing recipes. I’m here to serve it up straight and meet my own high standards.
I’ll also be sharing resources and tutorials gleaned from my years of toil in the kitchen. Stuff like my favorite Instant Pot ratios for foolproof rice and perfectly tender dried beans from scratch, my favorite methods and strategies for making the most of leftovers, and maybe even videos if you’re all interested.
Oh, and if you’re already a Notion freak or if you’re ready to be converted to the beautiful organizational system that is Notion, here’s a double welcome to you!
All recipes here on Good Food Stories Premium will be available to paid subscribers in both PDF and Notion formats for saving in your own databases.
Notion is how I store all my recipes these days and it’s the backbone of my Make Your Own Meal Plan system, where I’ve developed a flexible and customizable way to keep your meals in order even when your life is a mess.
To get started in Notion, you can read my tutorial or sign up for a one-on-one session (a free bonus perk for Founding Members! Ask me how).
Being financially frank
If you’re like, “why should I pay for recipes when I can get anything I need on the internet for free?”, yes, there are infinite recipes out there and that’s your preference.
But I do believe that you get what you pay for in many cases, and in this case, you’re supporting the work of testing and quality assurance, not something AI scraped together that may or may not turn out to be something you’ll want to eat tonight.
To be blunt, your financial support helps me bring you the recipes that you can trust. And that’s the kind of work I’ve been doing all these years and want to keep doing for you.
If you want free recipes, I have 15 years’ worth over on goodfoodstories.com that I love and stand behind just as strongly! Please enjoy them as well — they are also my beloved children.
Listen, Substack is problematic in the way that any online publishing or social platform is problematic, and the way that any capitalist system is problematic. I could rant about the inequities of cultural institutions all day long, but I still love going to museums and I’m not going to stop rewarding myself with art and beauty because of it.
I’m Casey Barber, a food writer / recipe developer / cookbook author / photographer and stylist / expert guide to those who want to build confidence and gain clarity in the kitchen—and in their lives. I help people cook better and live better through, well, good food. It’s that simple and obvious.
I’m the author of two cookbooks — Pierogi Love and Classic Snacks Made from Scratch — as well as founder and editor of the site Good Food Stories. I’ve contributed to numerous publications, including CNN, Better Homes & Gardens, The Kitchn, TODAY Food, Eating Well, and Epicurious, as well as brands such as Bertolli and Tonal. You can see it all at caseybarber.com.