Last week I got to hang out with The Casserole Queens – Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock – for the Statesman.
These best friends met while working in marketing and eventually came up with the idea to create, sell and deliver classic casserole dishes. And of course, the delivery wouldn’t be complete without 1950’s clothing, an apron and a string of pearls.
The Casserole Queens Cookbook is about to hit book shelves and Cook and Pollock just began a book tour, which included being featured on the Today Show. They are also well known for their appearance on the Food Network show Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.
I was assigned to go to the Austin home of Crystal Cook and capture them working together in the business and culinary sense. I couldn’t help but capture their silliness as they worked. They were fabulous and hilarious to watch.
Another aspect of the story was their large collection of vintage aprons. A few were collected from family members of Cook and Pollock, but a large portion of their collection was donated to them by a fan. Her mother had recently passed and she didn’t know what to do with the majority of her aprons. After seeing the Casserole Queens on television, she mailed them to Cook and Pollock with a note saying that they would put them to better use than she could.
Pollock had the idea to display them on a clothesline in the back yard while I was there. It made for a few nice moments and some even nicer portraits.
Their strong friendship and their love for food and family is very apparent. I wish them good luck with their book!
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