What Baba Cooked

About

Meet Baba: hormonal, a little tipsy, and always thinking about the next meal

Once upon a time there was a girl named Ana who loved blogging so much that she had a whole bunch of different blogs for all the different seasons of her life: parenting and Mum life, books music and gig life, vegan life, shopping fashion and OOTD life, faith life, and even perimenopause life. Then there was the blog she loved most of all: the food, recipes, and all things cooking life.

Then life itself got really busy and Ana decided that she needed to let some air out of the proverbial tires and get herself off social media, so the food blog, the last man standing of all those many many blogs, was quietly (and a little regretfully) retired.

But the thing is, she never really managed to get off social media, and eventually she realised that she truly loved sharing her family recipes, new recipes, and the simple midweek meals she came up with. She had also cracked the perfect French macaron as well as mixing a spectacular margarita, which seemed almost mean not to be able to share. So one day while she was home sick and forced to stop for a minute, Ana finally decided to relaunch the recipe and food blog she loved.

🥂

And while the original site went through a few name changes, it eventually settled in as What Ana Cooked. And since the hat I most proudly wear these days is that of Grandmother, or Baba, here we are: a place where I’m weaving together the traditional recipes made with love by my Croatian mum and grandmothers (shout out to the OG Baba’s and Baka’s ♥️), as well as the food from all corners of the globe that I’ve enjoyed cooking for over three decades for my ever-growing family.

Healthy, simple, and made to share. Old recipes and new in one happy place, with some of my original 2013 blog posts brought back to life.

Welcome. And bon apetit.

An elegant terrazzo tabletop featuring a single vintage-style coupe glass filled with a pale lime margarita, rim dipped in flaky sea salt and garnished with a thin wheel of fresh fig balanced on the rim. Beside it lies a small ceramic dish holding sliced figs dusted with lime zest and a pinch of chili salt. The background includes an out-of-focus carafe of infused water with fig and lime segments floating inside. Golden hour light streams from the right, casting long, refined shadows and catching the glass’s delicate stem. Photographed at eye level with a centered, minimalist composition and clean, photographic realism, the mood is sophisticated, leisurely, and subtly indulgent, perfect for a modern food lifestyle feature.
A sunlit outdoor stone table overlooking a blurred suggestion of a coastal garden, set with a single shallow bowl of grilled fish topped with preserved lemon, roasted figs, and herbs, finished with a dramatic sprinkle of flaky sea salt. A cut lime rests on a folded natural linen napkin nearby, with a small, nearly empty margarita glass leaving a faint ring on the stone. Late-afternoon Mediterranean sunlight creates a warm, golden wash over the scene, with crisp highlights on the salt crystals and gentle shadows from the herbs. Captured from a slightly elevated, three-quarter angle with moderate depth of field, the composition feels airy, refined, and quietly celebratory, in a realistic, editorial food photography style.
A close-up of a cast-iron skillet resting on a matte black induction cooktop, filled with blistered cherry tomatoes, sliced garlic, figs, and ribbons of fresh basil sizzling in golden olive oil. Coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper are visibly scattered across the surface. The surrounding counter shows a halved lime, a small bowl of smoked salt, and an open jar of preserved lemons on a soft linen towel. Warm under-cabinet lighting and a bit of cool window light blend to create a balanced, cinematic glow, with gentle steam rising. Captured at a low, three-quarter angle with shallow depth of field, the mood is intimate, refined, and sensorial, emphasizing photographic realism and sophisticated Mediterranean home cooking.
A rustic wooden farmhouse table styled for a Mediterranean feast, featuring a large ceramic platter of glistening roasted figs, charred lime halves, and flaky sea salt sprinkled over golden olive oil. Surrounding the platter are small stoneware bowls filled with marcona almonds, briny green olives, and coarse pink salt. Soft late-afternoon natural light pours in from the left, catching the gloss of the figs and the translucent lime segments, while the background fades into a gentle bokeh of neutral linen and pale stone. Photographed at a slightly elevated angle with a shallow depth of field, the composition is elegant yet relaxed, evoking a sophisticated, sun-soaked coastal lifestyle in clean, photographic realism.