Meet Shannon Smith

Each month enjoy her adventures in cooking, travel and more!

I’m Shannon Smith, creator of Beads And Basil, a website where I share my travel adventures, cooking experiences, jewelry creations, life stories, world travels, recipes, cooking classes, and jewelry art.

In the past ten years I’ve traveled to 44 countries, and I hope to add at least that many more over the next ten years. In every country,  I am blessed to meet interesting people, learn new cultures, and try all kinds of delicious food.  I take cooking classes, join food tours, meet with chefs, and often dine with people in their homes or restaurant kitchens. 

I’ve lived in Tulsa for 30 years, and I love teaching people how to cook, especially dishes learned while traveling around the world. Some of my favorite cuisines are Indian, Moroccan, Turkish, Israeli, and Italian, although Indian is the cuisine that makes me the happiest.  I’ve collected numerous recipes and methods for making delicious food, and I share those recipes on beadsandbasil.com. I teach classes several times a month when my travels allow. Those classes are advertised on the website, but are almost always filled within hours after posting, so I also occasionally teach cooking classes to private groups.

My readers and viewers get to learn about my cooking adventures, utensils and appliances. At last count, I have eight grills, two tagines, 22 knives, and ninety-four thousand serving dishes - at least according to my husband. My refrigerators are filled with nuts, cheese, and dried fruits I’ve brought from other countries.  And my spice cabinets contain a menagerie of exotic and odiferous seeds, pods, and dried herbs that I use so many ways.

Jewelry art is my other favorite activity. I create jewelry from beads and trinkets collected on my travels, including amber from Russia and Estonia, glass from Murano, Italy, paper beads from Rwanda, and old Yemen prayer capsules from Israel.  I have an Indian friend who has some of the most beautiful semi-precious stones that he cuts into beautiful shapes. Several times a year, I attend national bead and jewelry shows where I search for unusual items to complete my creations.

Many more adventures are planned for 2019, and I’m excited to share them with you in my monthly column in Values Magazine, including recipes, cooking tips, interviews with my favorite Tulsa area chefs, cookbook recommendations, travel stories, my favorite local food trucks, and ways we can give our time and talents to our fantastic community of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram at Beads and Basil.  And let’s all have a great 2019!