The Inventor
Ben Harris
Drop Kitchen Inc. | San Francisco, California
In baking, precision is key. With the interactive Drop Recipe App and Drop Kitchen Scale, Ben Harris and his team at Drop Kitchen Inc. leverage innovative technology to simplify cooking for home bakers and professionals alike. The free app offers hundreds of recipes and step-by-step instructions. The scale wirelessly connects to the app, and allows users to weigh ingredients as they work through a recipe. It can rescale quantities and substitute ingredients in any of Drop’s recipes.
“The most important thing, especially in a baking recipe, is the proportion of ingredients to each other, so we started with the scale itself,” says Ben, who founded Drop with three other tech-minded creatives and designers in his homeland of Dublin, Ireland, in 2012. “By using the smart scale, we actually remove the need for cups or measuring because we know exactly how much of an ingredient you’re adding.” The app and scale won the 2014 Best Consumer Hardware Award at San Francisco’s Launch Festival, and Ben was one of the youngest finalists nominated for Ireland’s 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. By bringing recipes to life with this scale of the future, Ben has facilitated foolproof baking. We’re thrilled to have a mind this resourceful on our side in the kitchen.
What he’s up to now: Ben is continuing to revolutionize the baking world by adding technology that simplifies and streamlines the baking process. He and his company, Drop Kitchen Inc. have just announced a partnership with GE Appliances.
The Blogger
Molly Yeh
Blogger | Grand Forks, North Dakota
Molly Yeh, the force behind the wildly popular blog My Name is Yeh, is like a millennial Pioneer Woman. She grew up and went to school around big cities—now she’s living the farm life with her husband in the Midwest. Her blog started as a journaling outlet during her years studying percussion at Julliard in New York, but while at school the once-persnickety eater, who at one time ate only orange foods and white bread, discovered a love of food through the restaurant scene.
The blog soon veered from an online journal into a bona fide food blog. Featuring recipes that run the gamut from Chocolate Cake with Halva Filling and Tahini Frosting to Bacon and Egg Shengjian Bao, Molly’s blog is a compilation of her exploration of and experimentation with the foods of her Jewish and Chinese heritage, Midwestern culture, and her travels. Paired with quirky stories about her chickens, an unapologetic lack of proper capitalization, and liberal use of text-speak, My Name is Yeh has captured the eyes and hearts of readers—and industry professionals. After snagging multiple blogging awards in 2015, Molly was able to launch her new book, Molly on the Range.
What she’s up to now: Molly is carrying on as an avid blogger while taking the food world by storm. Molly is promoting her recent book, Molly on the Range and also teaching a few cooking classes here and there.
The Artisans
Amy Stringer-Mowat and Bill Mowat
AHeirloom | Brooklyn, New York
When Amy Stringer-Mowat and Bill Mowat made their first set of cutting boards, they didn’t expect it to become a business. What started as a personal project for decorations at their wedding turned into a burgeoning company touted for its beautifully designed cutting boards, cocktail muddlers, and—our personal favorite—cake stands, with more product designs in the works. Just like the first cutting boards, each product is inspired by something the Mowats want for a family occasion.
The cake stands came from an unused idea for their wedding decor (Amy wanted one on each table), and the cupcake stands were dreamed up for their son’s birthday party. “Our projects are often inspired by family celebrations and doing things that are very personal to us, and they become these larger projects that resonate with other people as well,” Amy says. Featuring a signature celebratory vibe, sleek and modern designs, and responsibly sourced hardwood in every product, AHeirloom has become known for creating everyday kitchen serving ware and tools that are also pieces of art.
What they’re up to now: The artisan duo are currently going strong and coming out with new products like their Taper Candle Holders, and are hard at work on a secret Bake from Scratch collaboration project!
