Q&A with Jen Adams: Turning scrap wood into treasure at Kentucky Cutting Boards

By Erin Holaday Ziegler
Bourbon and Beans
 

Jen Adams wastes not and wants not. She and her husband of 24 years, Bill, established Kentucky Cutting Boards six years ago as a way to use leftover wood from flooring projects.
 

“We decided last October to really give this company a chance to flourish,” Adams said. “And we’re having a lot of fun coming up with new inlay designs.”
 

The Louisville couple recycle their roles around the house as well. “It keeps things interesting,” Jen said. “Currently he’s doing the grocery shopping. I take out trash and recycling. The kids think it’s funny. Each of us buys different kinds of food, so we have to adapt.”
 

B&B: Favorite bourbon?
JA: I’m a wine girl, but Bill loves Maker’s (Mark).
 

B&B: Favorite bean?
JA: That’s a tough one – so many! But I love Cannellini beans because they are so versatile — dips, soups and salad. Love them.
 

B&B: Were you born in Kentucky?
JA: Nope; I’m from Indiana, and Bill was born in New York.
 

B&B: Do you consider yourself to be sassy?
JA: Absolutely! Where else would our 12-year-old daughter get it?
 

B&B: What type of cuisine influences you most?
JA: We eat very Mediterranean.
 

B&B: What’s your all-time favorite food?
JA: Soups of all kinds.
 

B&B: What’s your current favorite food?
JA: Sushi.
 

B&B: What food do you dislike?
JA: Brussels sprouts and those little teeny corn cobs in Chinese food.
 

B&B: Do you have professional culinary training?
JA: No.
 

B&B: Who do you cook for?
My family.
 

B&B: What is/was your favorite cooking job?
JA: See above.
 

B&B: Can you share one of your cooking secrets with us?
JA: I start most soups with “The Trinity”: onion, carrots and celery. Sauté those, add chicken stock and blend and you have the base of a healthy, creamy soup.
 

B&B: Who’s your farmer?
JA: I love to shop various farmer’s markets on Bardstown Road (in Louisville).
 

B&B: Do you patronize local businesses? Who/what local products can you not live without?
JA: We pretty much only eat at the local restaurants (Seviche, Sapporo, Asiatique).
 

B&B: What’s your go-to cocktail party appetizer?
JA: I am known for a fresh, chopped salsa that I take to every party in the summer. It’s got black beans, corn, fresh cilantro and lime juice plus jalapeños and is delicious.
 

B&B: What’s your culinary guilty pleasure?
JA: CHEESE!!!!
 

B&B: If you were a food, what would you be?
JA: CHEESE!!!
 

B&B: Kitchen tool you can’t live without?
JA: Immersion blender (see soup comment above). My kids say I should have a show called “Souper Suppers,” We eat them all week long. The last one was a creamy soup with Salmon (and no cream). The kids licked their bowls.
 

Erin Holaday Ziegler writes weekly for BourbonandBeans.com. A Kentucky transplant from Charleston, S.C, Erin has developed a taste for bourbon, burgoo and Kentucky basketball. Send bourbon, blog guest ideas and questions to erin@BourbonAndBeans.com