Hi there! I’m Kyleigh, the writer, photographer, and recipe developer for Barley & Sage! Here you'll find delicious scratch-made recipes ranging from quick and easy peach panzanella, to time intensive labors of love like these sourdough cinnamon rolls.
Keep reading if you want to learn more about me and how I got started in food blogging! If you are curious about how we can work together, click here!
I've loved to cook for as long as I can remember but no one ever taught me to cook. We didn't have a TV at home but my grandparents did, so whenever I would go to their house, I would just spend hours watching the Food Network. Looking back, I’ve realized that the Food Network was my culinary school. My little 8 year old brain just absorbed hundreds of hours of recipes and techniques and everything just stuck (my degree is actually in neuroscience and the neuroplasticity of children’s brains is amazing so my theory checks out). My mom was a single mother for much of my childhood, so I started making dinner for the family by myself at about 10 years old. I loved creating things and putting random ingredients together (thanks Chopped) and I've been creating my own recipes ever since.
For the longest time I wanted to go to culinary school and become a chef, but then I realized what a brutal career that really is. I was afraid that if I made cooking my career, it would take the joy out of it. I know so many people that dread cooking dinner after a long day of work, but it's my relaxation. Spending hours cooking is how I unwind and refresh my mind. It's truly the only place I've ever felt creative and artistic.
For years friends and family have been asking me to share my recipes which is one of the highest compliments I've ever received. The problem is, I've never written them down before. So much of my cooking is just eyeballing amounts and tweaking things as I go. I've never been good at following recipes either. If there's something new I want to cook, I'll get lost in the internet for hours reading dozens of different recipes before deciding that I don't like any of them and I just want to create my own. So if you don't strictly follow my recipes, I promise I won't be offended.
I also love making things from scratch because it's often and healthier and just tastes better in my opinion, but sometimes doing everything from scratch is more expensive (although usually cheaper) and often takes a lot more time. So I try to always include cheaper/easier options in my recipe notes for people who might not find cooking for hours as relaxing as I do. As the iconic Ina Garten always says, "If you don't have _______, store bought is fine."
Just one more thing to keep in mind:
All of my recommendations are genuine. This blog does use affiliate links and curate sponsored content, but I only promote products that I actually buy and use in my kitchen (you can read more in my affiliate disclaimer). So if I talk about a brand or a tool that I love, it's because that's what I use and wholeheartedly recommend. If you're curious about my most beloved kitchen and photography items, you can check out my shop page!
About Barley
I had the name Barley picked out before I even had a dog. I thought it was the cutest name for a pup and decided on it about a year before I even started looking to adopt. In September 2018, I was scrolling shelter websites and stumbled across this precious little 4 month old stray and I knew I had to have her. She was all legs (still is), incredibly sweet, and most importantly, she looked like a Barley. I fell in love with her immediately.
Barley is a very good dog and a masterful beggar, which means she gets pretty much whatever she wants. She has claimed the guest bedroom as her own and lounges on the guest bed all day long (even though she has 4 dog beds). The only time she isn't hanging out in her room is when I'm in the kitchen. When I'm cooking, she's sitting at attention right at my feet giving me those sweet puppy eyes that she didn't grow out of. Needless to say, she tastes almost all of my food before Kyle or I do. When I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, I knew I wanted to use my last name (Sage) and combine it with something that was ever-present in my kitchen. Ingredients like garlic, olive oil, and adobo just didn't roll off the tongue quite right and then I realized that Barley is the most constant presence in my kitchen of all.
Contact Us
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns!! We'd love to hear from you! You can email us directly at [email protected].