The Nesting Newbies experience is a combination of a traditional magazine format in a digital version with the new social media trend of original online videos and blogs for those who are new to nesting and have no clue when it comes to cooking, entertaining, and decorating. Foodie and decorating enthusiasts will also enjoy the original ideas being presented by professional chefs, stylists and interior designers.
Nesting Newbies Magazine aims to inspire readers, making them feel comfortable about home-keeping their way. “Our goal is to celebrate home and show readers ways to cook, entertain, and decorate in affordable, fun and stylish ways,” says Jodi Murphy, Editor. In every issue, Chef Lea McIntosh shares her expertise and original recipes. Designers stage table settings and show readers how easy they are to recreate. Iconic nesters give their sage decorating advice and real home makeovers are covered in the Design Chronicles. Profiles of favorite foodie peeps, new products, resources and favorite bloggers round out the content. In the Fall 2009 premier issue, Barclay Butera is the Iconic Nester, Kathy Goodman, the foodie peep, and Shelly Amoroso's transformation of a San Francisco basement garage into five separate living spaces is featured in the design chronicles.
As a graduate of the California Culinary Academy of San Francisco, a former private chef, and owner of a catering company, Lea McIntosh was surprised at the number of couples and young people who don’t know cooking basics, let alone how to prepare food “from scratch.”
“Many were raised on fast food in always-on-the-go households, so they didn’t learn by cooking together as a family,” says McIntosh. “I was excited to discover how eager the ‘newbies’ were to get in the kitchen and start cooking.” McIntosh asks a newbie couple to give her a culinary challenge; then she invites them on set to work with her preparing her recipe solutions. “It’s unrehearsed and very interactive. I demonstrate basic skills, like cutting an onion or how to hold a knife, and we create the kinds of dishes they’re interested in the most. I never know what questions they’ll ask or what’s going to happen from one moment to the next. I think viewers will appreciate the authenticity.” Each episode also includes a brief segment on setting a table, newbie style, to show viewers creative ways that they can make meal times special.
Recipes, table top settings and behind-the-scenes images are posted in the blogs. Recipes can be downloaded in a PDF format and printed. Viewers can interact by making comments, sharing their ideas, and asking questions.
James Burkart of Burkart Video, directs, films and edits the cooking segments. Natalie Wi of Allure West Studios is the set photographer and the magazine’s Photography Editor. The site is currently sponsored by Calphalon, Dacor, Christopher Peacock Home and Bloomingdale's Stanford. Contests will be launched on the Nesting Newbies web site at www.nestingnewbies.com and the Nesting Newbies Facebook Fan Page.
