Hi, I'm Sula, the recipe developer, tester, and occasional lab scientist behind Ovenspiration.
I've been cooking for over 45 years, starting with the meals I grew up with on the farm and the recipes my mother handed down, often with vague directions I had to test my way through. These days most of what I make traces back to that same old-fashioned, comfort-food style: casseroles, appetizers, jello salads, and the kind of cocktails that show up at a party where nobody's in a hurry to leave.
Before Ovenspiration, I spent my career in a medical laboratory. And developing recipes is really quite similar to being a lab scientist. I treat a new recipe like an experiment: one variable at a time, several rounds of testing, notes on what changed and why. I don't publish a recipe until I'd make it again myself.
I also had built-in taste testers for years. The lab I worked in ran genuinely great potlucks, and plenty of my recipes got their first honest feedback from coworkers before they ever made it online.
These days my hubby is the main taste tester around here, and has been for years. Whatever sweets don't get finished at home head to my health club, where the guys there take care of the overflow. Between the two groups, nothing goes to waste and nothing gets published until it gets all positive reviews.
I'm the mother of two grown kids, both with families of their own now, and grandma to two grandkids who like to help in the kitchen whenever they come to visit. I retired from lab work in 2019 and started Ovenspiration that same year, mostly because I finally had time to write down all the things I'd been cooking for decades.
I'm in Wisconsin, which means from September through the Super Bowl, Sunday afternoons are non-negotiable Packers time, usually with a tray of something cheesy nearby.
What I write about:
- Old-fashioned comfort food and casseroles
- Appetizers built for game day or a holiday table
- Jello salads (yes, still a thing, and yes, I have opinions)
- Cocktails for two people or a crowd
- Air fryer shortcuts for old favorites
- Vintage recipes, updated for how people actually cook now
You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube, or browse Ovenspiration to see it all in one place.