Creating Rosy Moments

Secrets from Sara

On Parties

I like to host parties with different friend groups because people look for an excuse to dress up and get out. The PJs, Prosecco and Disco party was a favorite; we had pizza and Prosecco and I draped silver streamers from the dining room rafters and we had like 100 disco balls. I recently did a Peter Rabbit-themed tea party for Rosy’s friends and their moms, inspired by the cover of an antique Peter Rabbit book. Free State Flora did a gorgeous greenery installation over the table and I served a spiked sweet tea to the moms.

On Servewear

Go for basic, white dinnerware for at least 12 guests. You can dress it up by layering in colorful disposable napkins. My go-to wine glass for parties is the Camille from Crate and Barrel; a medium-size white wine glass is a good all-purpose starter. Stemless wine glasses are more dishwasher safe, but I prefer a stemmed wine glass because it feels fancy! For the table, I love a white table runner and tons of candles. Make sure they’re dripless to keep from ruining your furniture or table runner.

On Dinner

My go-to meal is anything with seafood, which is crazy because we’re in the middle of the United States without access to great seafood. But salmon is a fish Rosie will eat, my husband will eat, and you can make it lots of different ways. My husband is Lebanese and I fell in love with Mediterranean cuisine and learned from the ladies at the church. So now I’m the official cook of the family. My go-to seasonings are garlic powder and crushed red pepper. You can use them on veggies, meats anything.

To be neighbors with Sara Ayesh is to get unexpected deliveries of desserts, appetizers, breads and other yummy things. Those are the perks of living next to a food blogger. “I always have leftover food and I’m dropping things off saying, ‘Let me know what you think,’ ” said Ayesh of Wichita, who runs the successful blog White Kitchen Red Wine (WKRW).

Ayesh has cultivated a local and national following for her simple but elegant recipes, party ideas and hosting tips — all beautifully produced and shot at her east-side home. Daughter Rosie, 4, is a frequent WKRW guest, helping her mom with kid-friendly dishes. “She’s vying for my job,” Ayesh said with a laugh. “She’s good at it. She’s out here making recipes in her little kitchen and taking orders: ‘What do you want in your salad? What do you want in your smoothie?’ That makes me happy.”

Motherhood was one of the reasons Ayesh started her blog. She had shuttered a successful online clothing boutique when Rosie was born, but with a degree in apparel marketing and business, she had an itch for a creative outlet. She started documenting the healthy recipes she was making to slim down postpartum, and in 2019 the food blog was born. It was an endeavor that allowed her to be home with Rosie and to use her skills in photography, social media, marketing and business.

It wasn’t long before national companies wanted to partner with Ayesh for branded content. Today, companies often seek out Ayesh for the added mom-and-daughter factor. “Rosie getting to work with me on sponsored content with brands — and brands specifically coming to me saying, ‘Hey, we want you and we want Rosie’ — is exactly why I started the blog. It’s something we can do together and it doesn’t feel like work. It doesn’t feel like it’s taking me away from her. If anything it’s given us ways to bond.”

Ayesh’s attractive blog is full of tried-and-true recipes as well as new ones she has created, all photographed in an airy and beautiful aesthetic. From doling out recipes to ebooks to party ideas, Ayesh said she is proud to offer her content for free to her online community thanks to partnerships with national brands that help fund the blog. It’s her way of engaging with and appreciating the tight-knit community of followers. 

“Every day you’re trying to reach the right people,” she said. “But the people who are following me now and in my little community are the people who are supposed to be there. They’re loyal, they love what I do and I feel a real connection with them. They support the rosy moments.”

The “rosy moments,” as Ayesh’s followers well know, are the occasions to enjoy life with a little something extra, whether that’s a weeknight dinner or an elegant dinner party. “Big moments, little moments, significant milestones, or just something you’re thankful for … that’s a rosy moment!” Ayesh explains on her blog. 

A Recipe Comes Together

Ayesh was born in Mississippi and lived in Georgia and Arkansas before moving to Wichita at age 12. After graduating from Kansas State University, the apparel marketing major planned to move to Dallas and become a buyer. “And then I met my husband and I’m like, I love this man so I’m going where he’s going,” she said. The “where” was back to Wichita. 

She landed a job as a buyer for a boutique in west Wichita before starting her own online boutique, Shop Mondays, with her college bestie. They closed the shop when they both had babies, and not long after Ayesh’s blog was born. The name White Kitchen Red Wine was an easy fit. “Those are my two essentials that I need when I’m hosting,” she said. “That to me married the two sides of the blog: I loved cooking and getting people together in our white kitchen in College Hill and I loved red wine. It was just who I was then and I feel like it’s going to stick with me for the rest of forever.”

Ayesh didn’t grow up cooking; instead, that task was left to her father. “He loves to host people and he has this big personality and he’s very, very good at it,” she said. “So I grew up with him hosting and I loved just watching him do that. It was very inspiring.”

Cooking wasn’t on Ayesh’s radar until she got married, “I thought, either we’re going to starve to death or I learn to cook. So I did.” She loved the fact that she could zone out and forget about the day’s troubles while cooking a meal, or stir over a problem while stirring a big pot of soup. “I like the recipes that take a long time and I get to stand over the stove forever, but that’s not feasible for everyone. I’m a mom; I know you need dinner and you need it fast,” she said. Hence she has incorporated both types of cooking on her blog.

One-Stop Shop

Photographing her food creations was another natural fit for Ayesh. She had learned to style and shoot clothing for her online boutique, and by trial and error developed her own style of food photography. Her aesthetic helped set her apart and catch the attention of brands seeking her skills in food photography, recipe development, branded content creation, food styling, and sponsored content. Past and current clients include such familiar names as Boulevard Brewing Co., Honeysuckle White, National Pork Board, FitVine and Quaker.

On recipe shoot days, she usually tries to make and photograph three to five recipes, which requires lots of advanced planning. “The day of the shoot it’s chaos and there’s a ton of dirty dishes; the whole kitchen looks like there’s been an explosion and a tornado,” she said with a laugh. “It is tricky to plan the shoots, cook the food, be the photographer and editor — but that’s where I feel I bring a lot of value to brands that work with me. It’s a one-stop shop. You’re not having to go out and have someone source models, source photographers, source props, find a studio. They come to me and I’m doing all of it at home.”

Next up, she’d love to use her skills to photograph and produce a coffee table book of her own recipes and hosting hacks. “I want it to be pretty and one that people want to leave out,” she said. “It would be a legacy I can leave for Rosie.” She also is looking for more opportunities to connect with her online followers who live in the Wichita community — perhaps a supper club that would bring her digital content into real life.

“I think the huge takeaway I have from doing all of this is that I would have never come out of college saying, ‘I’m going to be a food photographer and recipe developer.’ But the journey I had to take to get here — there was a purpose in all of it,” she said. “There’s so much you can learn if you’re interested, just by asking and not getting discouraged if you’re stuck. Being a stay-at-home mom, you’re thinking, what am I ever going to do that could make money, be fulfilling and incorporate my kid? There’s always something, and I feel like I hit the jackpot in seeing that all come together, and I feel so lucky.”