Angela Kinsey’s Grub Street Diet

Not long after The Office ended, Angela Kinsey somehow found herself producing — and starring in — a YouTube cooking show. She had originally pitched her husband, the baker Josh Snyder, on filming some of his recipes, but he insisted she be part of it, and together they created Baking With Josh & Ange. Now, the two have co-written a cookbook, filled with recipes they “make at home and eat often,” she says, and appropriately titled You Can Make This! By her own admission, Kinsey has always been more comfortable packing snacks, but she credits Snyder with making her more confident developing new recipes. “I’ve always liked hanging out in the kitchen,” she says, “but I am not a natural.” She has kept the spirit of Dunder Mifflin alive, though, with her weekly rewatch podcast, Office Ladies, which she hosts alongside her former co-star Jenna Fischer, a.k.a. Pam Beesly. “We were both historians of The Office,” she says. “We scrapbook, write in journals, take lots of pictures. We save everything.”

Tuesday, September 16 
Hello from our 7 a.m. flight to Burbank. My husband, Josh, did the early-bird check-in thing, so we board in Group A. He gets very excited about boarding in Group A. He says it’s all about getting that overhead space, and let me tell you: We did get a sweet spot for our carry-ons. We’re on our way back from a fun but short trip to Chicago to see my BFF, Jenna Fischer, in the play Ashland Avenue. It was fantastic! We did, however, stay out way too late, and I’m a little bit of a zombie this morning.

Josh had no problem having breakfast at six, but I’m never hungry until 10:30 a.m. Josh can’t wrap his brain around this. He wakes up hungry, and he loves breakfast; I told him I’d pack some snacks so I could eat at 10:30 a.m. You might be wondering, Why 10:30 a.m.? Here’s my theory …

My call time for nine years filming The Office was 5:30 a.m. It was barely daylight when I’d arrive for hair and makeup. Some of the cast would bring their breakfasts into the hair-and-makeup trailer and eat while they were “in the works.” That meant holding your food in your lap and trying to sneak in a bite of eggs while you were getting your hair curled or your eye makeup done. I am not that coordinated. I would inevitably spill something on myself. So my first real meal would be Hot Snack. To this day, I still dream about Hot Snack. Every day at exactly 10:30 a.m., our assistant director would announce “Hot Snack” to the set, and the cast and crew would beeline to the craft-services area. You never knew what it was going to be, but it was always a feast. Ramen, dumplings, tacos, hot dogs, chili, fried rice, shrimp skewers — you name it, we had it. Oh, and everyone’s favorite: albondigas soup. For nine years, I ate a full buffet meal at 10:30 a.m. After years of conditioning, my body is waiting for Hot Snack.

Finally, 10:30 a.m. arrives. I once had the nickname Snacks Kinsey. What can I say — I’m a big believer in packing snacks. Today in my backpack, I have a MadeGood mixed-berry granola bar, Trader Joe’s fruit wraps, a cheese-and-salami snack tray from the airport store, and a Ziploc of peanuts. It’s time for Room-Temperature Snack. I spread my mini-buffet onto my tray table. As the stewardess passes by me, she says dryly, “I’m guessing you don’t want any pretzels.”

On the drive home from the airport, we’re both hungry and tired, so we pick up Jersey Mike’s. I get a sub with turkey, provolone, lettuce, onions, and mayo with jalapeño chips. When I was in my 20s and working as an operator at 1-800-DENTIST, I once bit into a big jalapeño chip and the flavoring dust flew into my eye. It burned so bad! I rushed to the bathroom to wash my eye out, and as I frantically splashed water in my eye, I got my hair wet — my newly permed hair. My early-’90s people: Do you remember what wet day-two permed hair smelled like? Not good. I am now very careful when I eat jalapeño chips.

6-ish-p.m. dinner! (At my house, we eat on the early side.) Since we ate out a lot in Chicago, we’re both craving a home-cooked meal. Josh is a grill master and whips up the greatest rubs and marinades. Tonight’s chicken-breast marinade is a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. He also makes one of my favorites, honey-sriracha Brussels sprouts, and I roast some potatoes. Delicious.

Wednesday, September 17
Breakfast is quick this morning. I’m rushing to tennis and want to beat the 405 traffic. Not to sound like that SNL sketch about how much Californians talk about freeways, but … it’s a major topic of conversation here. If you have ever lived in Los Angeles, you know what a shitshow the 101-405 interchange is, and I have to cross both to get to my doubles clinic. So I grab a banana and a Tejava tea and rush out the door.

Afterward, I have lunch with my friend Charity. Our kids have gone to school together since kindergarten and are still great pals. They graduate from high school next year, and we are going to be a mess! We meet up at Joan’s on Third. It’s a great café and a Los Angeles staple. I’ve been going here for over 20 years. I usually get the Ficelle sandwich with ham and fromage d’Affinois on a baguette, but today I go rogue and order the Chinese Chicken Salad. Very yummy. Charity has a flower farm (doesn’t that sound dreamy?) and tells me about her summer-flower harvest. I hang on her every word.

This afternoon, I have a recording session with Jenna for our podcast. We have a great studio, but we’re recording this episode remotely, which means I’m sitting in my little closet that I converted into a podcast space. It’s tiny, but it works. I can’t get through a recording session without a snack. Today, it’s some of Josh’s homemade granola. He spent years perfecting his recipe, and I love it!

I have a fun night out planned with my friends Rebecca and Julie. Our evening starts at the Jeffrey Deitch gallery. I’m thrilled to meet one of my favorite artists, Bisa Butler. She’s giving a walk-through tour of her solo exhibit “Hold Me Close,” in which she re-creates photographs of Black life using different fabrics and textiles. Anything I write here won’t do it justice; her work is so incredibly beautiful. Afterward, we grab dinner at Osteria Mozza. I get the pan-seared sea scallops with summer-succotash chard and share some of Rebecca’s orecchiette with fennel sausage and chard. We also have a bottle of the Andrea Felici Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Vendemmia 2024. I would never remember that, so I take a picture of the bottle. Julie, who is gluten free, would also like everyone to know that Osteria Mozza has great gluten-free options.

Thursday, September 18
I have Zoom meetings all day today, but I schedule a break for Hot Snack — an egg sandwich — at 10:30 a.m. Nothing fancy. I scramble one egg in some olive oil, add a little salt and pepper, and throw it on a piece of toast.

My meetings finish around 2 p.m. I still have some work to do, but I need to get out of my office — I’m not great at being indoors for long periods of time. September can be miserably hot in Southern California, but this week has been lovely, so I grab my laptop and head to our back porch (my happy place).

I’m starving but need to finish prepping an episode of Office Ladies before the kids come home. Josh, being the sweetheart that he is, brings me a bowl of soup! This man loves soup. (People who love soup really want you to love soup too.) Josh makes a big pot about once a week and then we have it for dinner or lunch for a few days after; he is a big believer that soup is good year-round. This week, it’s lemon chicken with toasted orzo.

Friday, September 19
Josh’s mom, Lynne, is arriving from Colorado today, so I get up early to do the kind of cleaning you do when your mother-in-law is coming to town. She is very laid-back, but I still want my piles of clutter to at least look like tidy piles of clutter.

Josh is going to whip up a one-pot meal for dinner tonight, and I’m already looking forward to it! After my attempt to clean, I run out of time for breakfast, so I grab a Tupperware of granola and a banana and rush out the door to play tennis. My tennis gals love Josh’s granola, so we all nibble on that in between doubles drills. Our tennis coach, Claude, likes it too! He is French and difficult to impress, so trust me when I say this is fantastic granola. Claude calls me “La Machette” because he says I have a machetelike backhand. It’s not the greatest nickname, but knowing Claude, it could have been worse.

After tennis, I’m starving and craving a burger. So lunch is a cheeseburger from my favorite burger spot, Jack’s Classic Hamburgers. It’s a tiny stand with a few benches on the corner of Riverside Drive, and it’s been a Valley go-to since 1979. I get the combo with fries and a drink. They’ll ask you if you want their seasoning salt on the fries … say “yes.”

This afternoon, I have to record ads for my podcast, so I grab a Barebells Salty Peanut protein bar and a Tejava iced tea. I love these protein bars and stash them everywhere; right now, there is one in my car, tennis bag, purse, and my podcast closet. Snacks Kinsey is prepared.

Dinner hangout starts at 5 p.m. I make a little cheese plate and pour glasses of wine for everyone. A few weeks ago, we went away for the weekend to Paso Robles and did some wine-tasting. The wonderful folks at Justin Vineyards & Winery sent us home with a great mix of their whites and reds, so tonight we’re having a glass of their Russian River Pinot Noir and Viognier. This is my favorite time of the day. We make dinner together and catch up. The kids come in and out, and we hear stories about school, Cade’s volleyball practice, and Isabel’s tennis match; Jack plays us a song on his guitar; the cats and dogs run around. It’s what I call delightful chaos.

Tonight’s one-pot meal is spinach-and-prosciutto pasta. I love this recipe! I’m not great at recipes with lots of steps, so this type of dish is right up my alley. In a big pot, you sauté prosciutto in olive oil until it’s crispy and add linguine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes, and a little salt and pepper. Then pour in chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Add some spinach, grated Parmesan, and fresh basil leaves and voilà.

Saturday, September 20
Saturdays start early with Cade’s volleyball practice. I drop him off at 8 a.m. and then swing by a little doughnut shop on the way home. Is this where I share with you that doughnuts are my weakness? I’m always on the lookout for a great doughnut. When we travel, I love to find a local doughnut shop and see what they’re baking. (Side note: If you are ever in Boston, go to Blackbird Doughnuts, one of my favorites.) I have gone to the same doughnut shop for years; it’s a tiny mom-and-pop place in a classic San Fernando Valley strip mall. I get a mix of regular glazed and cake doughnuts.

Our end-of-the-week leftover lunch feels like a Las Vegas casino buffet minus the cigarette smoke. For the kids, we make chicken quesadillas with some leftover grilled chicken, Josh heats up some soup, and his mom and I make a big salad. I think salad was the first meal she and I bonded over. No one else in my house eats salad, so, years ago, when she asked me if I’d like one, I might have hugged her. Lynne likes to put strawberries in her salad, and I am here for it!

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching football, doing laundry, and baking. Josh’s mom loves to bake, so he comes by that trait honestly. They make pumpkin-oatmeal-chocolate-chip muffins. The kids love them for breakfast, and I love them anytime.

We talk about going out for dinner, but I am currently in my sweatpants era and really want to stay in. I have reached a place in life where having several social outings in one week means I want to power down on the weekends. Also, by Saturday I have given up on taming the cowlick at the back of my head. It looks pretty squirrel nest–esque, and I would have had to do something about that. No thanks.

Josh makes one of my favorite dinners: his sheet-pan gnocchi with sausage and tomatoes. When we were working on our cookbook, I told him he had to include this recipe. You put all the ingredients on one sheet pan, bake for about 50 minutes, and it tastes fantastic! The whole house smells amazing. It feels like a fancy dinner, but you can eat it while rocking squirrel hair and sweatpants.

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