Hot From The Kettle's Host Has Expansion On Her Mind

Today a steamy cooking blog called "Hot From The Kettle," tomorrow a foodie empire.

Montclair resident Melody Kettle, who began shooting short cooking video segments last summer, has expansion on the brain. She's already independently producing half-hour shows for broadcast on Montclair TV34, SOMA TV in South Orange and Maplewood, and Summit and Millburn's HomeTowne TV. "I'm reaching as many as 700,000 homes," Kettle said.

But on March 15 she plans to launch a monthly email newsletter featuring recipes from area cooks. "The newsletter is free and it will include recipes from chefs in the area such as the chefs from Market and Ah' Pizz," she said.

Perhaps more importantly she also plans to roll out a restaurant directory—full of videos. "I'm creating a video directory organized into categories such as wine shops, fine dining and casual dining," she said. "The directory will have videos. Restaurants can pay $250 for a listing for six months and then $250 for every four months thereafter."

Kettle said it will be "the most comprehensive place to go before you go out to eat as no other food blog goes into the kitchen and gets up close and personal with the chef."

Raised by her grandparents—her grandmother was Czech and her grandfather Italian—Kettle said she learned how to cook "through osmosis."

"I was always in the kitchen with my grandmother, who was Czech ... and Czechs can cook anything," she said. "I've always had an affinity for being around food."

Kettle originally aimed to be a lawyer, but wound up passing the New Jersey bar exam pregnant and marrying her law professor. After that, she simply enjoyed "being a mommy." Her children, ages 4 and 5, are 15 months apart.

Kettle shot her first cooking video last summer with a segment on how to make pizza dough followed by one on how to concoct purple pomegranate sangria. The effort snowballed and, to date, she's shot 47 videos.

Her Hot From The Kettle cookbook, available on her website, includes recipes for everything from sauces to desserts to libations. In addition, she's recently made arrangements with EatItalian.com to shoot features of Kettle at local Italian restaurants.

To sign up for her newsletter and to check out the video directory and cookbook go here.