Family Food for Moms Podcast I Inspiration for Family Cooking and Dining I How to Enjoy Special Meals Together

Karyn here from the Family Food for Moms podcast. I just wanted to let you know that I've decided to take a break for three months from the podcast, not publishing any episodes for May, June, and July. Then I will be back the very beginning of August. I so love doing this podcast and talking about food and dining with you!. I love thinking about celebrating with your family, about date nights, about learning new cooking skills, and being inspired by different cultures and the way they do food. I'm excited to continue in August. I'm gonna mention a few episodes that you might be interested in listening to in the mean time. Some of our most downloaded... 

 Today we're going to talk about food from Germany - what we can be inspired by and what we can learn from German food and cooking. German food is hearty, it's comforting, and it's built around simple, high-quality ingredients. It's designed to keep you full, satisfied, and comforted in the colder climate. 

 Today I want to talk about desserts, and how it's not necessarily bad to have dessert, even if you have it quite regularly. I was recently talking to my mom-in-law who's visiting from Belgium, and she was telling us how in Belgium people often eat dessert every night.  Most nights they have a three-course dinner, usually starting with soup, then having the main, and then a dessert. It's expected that there's dessert every night. I think this is a good thing because it's a much healthier version of a dessert. It's not some highly processed, white flour thing - it's made using natural ingredients like fruit. The spices that are in it are good for the blood sugar, and it's seen as part of the meal. I wanted to talk about that a little bit, and tell you more about what they do, and about why having dessert is not a bad thing. 

 Today we're going to be talking about cooking in sauce. Instead of making a sauce separately and then adding it later - which can be delicious, cooking in sauces is really going to enhance the meat or vegetable that you're busy cooking. I wanted to talk about cooking in sources rather than adding them at the end. It’s one of the easiest ways to make your food deeply flavorful, juicy, and hard to mess up. It's how many of the world's best comfort food dishes are made. 

 Today we’re going to talk about celebrating life - the small things in life, and not having to wait for the occasions. Celebration meals are always special and fun for a family, and they don't need a calendar event to happen. We can make them meaningful by celebrating the small things, and just celebrating life - being together and enjoying each other. Some of the best celebrations come from ordinary days when you decide to do something special. So, let's talk about some solid reasons to celebrate, and reasons to have celebration meals at various times that aren’t linked to a specific occasion.

 This is part two of How to Cook Meat Well which is part of the series about basic cooking skills. Last time we talked about techniques that help you to make your lamb and beef tasty, tender, and juicy. Today we’re going to talk about cooking chicken, fish, and other items in a way that's convenient, easy, and ends up delicious.

Today we're going to be talking about cooking meat - knowing how to cook it, which kitchen appliances to use, how to make sure it's not dry, but nice and moist, how to not overcook your meat, how to prepare it for cooking, et cetera.  So, let's start with some techniques that make all the difference. They seem like small things that wouldn't actually matter, but they really do make a huge difference in making your meat tasty, and making it tender, not dry.

Today we're going to talk more about hospitality. Last time we talked about how it's important to be present, and not have it be stressful, but to enjoy the time with your guests. We said that you should have plans for what kind of meals you could make so that it's not stressful. You can plan a lot in advance. We talked about having laughter and warmth, helping people feel welcome, involving your children in the decorating and the cooking, focusing on your connection with people, prepping ahead, and making it fun for kids as well. We also looked at knowing how to welcome your kids, having some kind of treats in the freezer, micro-hospitality, and et cetera. Today we're going to talk about what you can do for food when you have guests over. You can do a tea or a dessert evening, but if you're doing a full meal, here are some ideas of what's easy, what works, and what you can do without stress!

 I'm going to do two shorter episodes this week about hospitality. The first one will be tips about hospitality - what can make it easier for you, and the second one will be ideas that you can use for your meals when you have guests over. It’s always a good idea to have meals planned in advance, and we'll talk more about that in the next episode. So, let’s talk about hospitality. It always works out a lot better than we expect, doesn't it - most of the time, at least. I think the important thing is to remember that it's about the people, the connection, and the fellowship. It’s not about being perfect, or having everything just right. You really want to make hospitality be low-stress for yourself, otherwise you're not going to do it. Sometimes I've fallen into the trap, even with extended family, of trying to make everything perfect because I feel like they're judging me. Actually, what they remember is the special things, the connection, and the memories. 

Today I want to talk about an unusual topic - how we can be inspired by meals in the Enid Blyton Adventure Books from the 1940s. She's the author of Famous Five. I’ve mentioned this briefly before in the episode on children's literature - how we can be inspired by what they ate. I've always been particularly fascinated by the food in the Enid Blyton books - the way they have the meals and what they eat, and I wanted to talk a bit more about that. The Context Behind the Food in These Books  These books were published starting from about 1946, after the Second World War. Around then food would've been quite scarce, and before that there would've been rationing. Later on it would've improved a bit though, especially on the farms. Farms seemed to be the places that these children loved to go and eat, and they always had lots of amazing farm food. I thought it was interesting to look at what they ate and what they considered healthy, in the context of kids who got a lot of exercise and sunshine. They were always outside in the fresh air - they were going on picnics, cycling, and swimming in rivers and oceans. They ate a lot of good stuff, but they were really active. It was the same with the farmer, the farmer's wife, and the shepherds - they were all very active. It’s wonderful to see what they ate, what they enjoyed, and what was available. I find it inspiring, but I think it also helps us see what's healthy and what's good for us. 

 Last week, we spoke about how to season your food amazingly, using spices and herbs, acid and citrus, and other flavors that you can add to make it delicious. Today, we’re going to do a spices and herbs guide - a guide to which herbs and spices are good, which ones are best to have in your kitchen, and what to do with them. We’ll also talk about which spices to use on which proteins, vegetables, or whatever else you're cooking. It's obviously a big subject, and I'm just going to touch on it briefly, but hopefully this will be a basic guide for you as a learning cook that can help you know what kind of herbs you can use. 

 Lately we've been thinking about the best ways to help our health. Some of our family have had a little bit of eczema, and some other less obvious symptoms. I was looking at an Instagram reel about the healthiest food on the planet for people. It said it was human breast milk - obviously for when people are babies. Then the things that mirror that the most in terms of their benefits and nutrients, et cetera, are fermented foods. We've always had yogurt, sometimes raw yogurt. We have raw milk, we love aged cheese, and we also get lacto-fermented pickles and sauerkraut at the whole food store.  However, I wanted to look into making those things at home, as then they’d be cheaper, and I want to finally get over my fear of making them. I decided to finally take the plunge!

Today we're going to talk about seasoning. This is part of our series about skills that we should all learn in order to become better cooks. We’ll be talking about how to season different kinds of food, how to understand seasoning, and how to get the best results.  Understanding seasoning means knowing how to effectively use salt, spices, herbs, etc in your cooking; understanding the role of saltiness, fat, and acidity like citrus; using herbs; using spices; and knowing how to layer your seasoning throughout your cooking time. We’ll look at how to season your proteins, vegetables, starches, soup, and sauces correctly. You need to develop the skill of being able to taste food and then adjust it, knowing what needs to be added. We’ll also look at how to avoid some common seasoning mistakes.  So, what enhances flavor? The top five things are salt - that enhances your flavor, fat, which carries your flavor with it, acidity, which brightens and balances your flavor, heat or spiciness, which adds something exciting to the taste, and then aromatics, which build depth.  Let's chat more about seasoning!

 Last time we talked about the new series that we're starting - cooking skills we should master for home cooking. When we've mastered these basic skills, it’ll make our general cooking much easier, more effective, and tastier. Last time was the introduction, and I went through all the things we're going to cover, though not necessarily in that order. Today, we’re going to talk about heat control. I think that's one of the most valuable things to learn, especially when you're cooking on the stove top. We’ll learn what the differences are between things like a gentle simmer versus a rolling boil. What’s medium heat, and when do you use it? What’s high heat and when do you use it? A lot of common mistakes in cooking are heat mistakes.

 Today we're going to be starting a series on basic cooking skills that we should all master. We’re going to do a number of episodes on this, and today I'm going to give you a bit of an introduction to what kind of things we’re going to talk about. It's easy to feel nervous when attempting new things in the kitchen - new proteins or vegetables you haven't cooked before, new cooking methods, or using kitchen tools for the first time, like a slow cooker or air fryer. Actually, though, a lot of these things are not as scary or intimidating as they seem.  It's a good idea to have a bit of extra time on your hands when you’re practicing new cooking skills. Then you're not learning a new skill in the rushed stress of the day's cooking, but rather doing it at a time where it doesn't matter if it goes wrong. That way, there's less pressure on you, but the skills will help you when you do want to cook with them.

Note: Only one episode this week as we have a CRAZY amount of stuff going on - I'll be back next Monday.  I appreciate all my loyal listeners! Today I want to talk about what we've lost from food cooking and nutrition since the 1900s. Back then, food was a lot more nutritious, home cooked meals were much more common, and there was much less refinement and processing. My middle daughter has been doing some homemaking reading and studying as part of her course this year. One of the books she’s reading is Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management by Isabella Beaton, first published in 1861. It contains a lot of recipes, but also a lot of text about homemaking and cooking, how to plan it and execute it.  I was just thinking about how differently we cook and eat these days. We’re really afraid of food that's what I would call decadent. We want to just do chicken breasts or lean meat, and we do the same things over and over again. I don’t know about you, but in our family, probably because it's cheapest, we repeatedly use chicken breasts and ground beef, and most of our meals are made up of those. Yes, it's good because it's cheaper, but existing on muscle meat is really not good for us. So, I wanted to talk about some things that I feel like we've lost. I love looking at old menus from the 1900s from various countries, and just seeing how they ate - It's quite amazing. If you factor in that they didn't have snacks, and that they had all their meals really full and nutritious, then it makes a bit more sense. I'm going to talk about what things we've lost since those times from cooking, food, and nutrition. 

In Episode 113, we talked about a meal planning method that our family's been using, which is based on who's cooking each night and what dishes they know how to cook. We discuss what our older children enjoy cooking, and then we plan together based on that.  Today, I want to talk about a meal planning method based on themes. You set a theme for each evening; each day of the week, and then you do your planning based on that. For example, you could do French or Greek themed food, or a baked potato bar, or a takeout evening. You can vary this as much as you like.  What's very helpful when you’re planning like this is a master list. I have a printable for you for this.  You can download and print your blank Meal Planning With Themes sheets to fill in at familyfoodformoms.com/meals.   

(Somehow this didn't get published yesterday.. but here it is :) Hope you enjoy!  Today we're going to talk about how we break our meals into courses without making extra work for ourselves. I find that eating meals in courses helps all of us to slow down and give our full attention to the dinner meal - to be fully present and to enjoy chatting with each other. It also helps the cooking to not be too hectic because things can be prepared or finished off a little bit at a time for each course. I'm going to talk about different ways that our family do meals with courses. Sometimes it's relaxed with an activity, and sometimes it's formal. We’ll also talk about how we break down the meals.

 Today I want to talk about what we've been eating lately, a bit about our current menu planning method and how we decide what meals to have each week. We've been trying to involve the kids in cooking, and to be more organized and orderly in the way we plan our meals.  At the beginning of the year, I made a master plan for our meals, and now each week we take that and set up our weekly meal plan from it. Let's chat about it!

Today we're going to be talking about food from the Caribbean. What’s Caribbean comfort food? What can we learn from Caribbean cuisine? I find it quite fascinating what they eat out there. They have some things that are quite unusual, and some things that are perhaps familiar, but it’s definitely different to living on the mainland.

Just one episode this week - I'll be back next Monday! Today we're going to be talking about chef Rachel Ray. You may have seen her on the Food Network. She loves to do all her cooking from home. You can look her up on YouTube - she's lots of fun. She's very much about taking things like fast food, or anything that you enjoy, like Chinese food takeout, and then recreating it at home using simple techniques. She makes a lot of comfort food. We’re going to mention some things that we can learn from her as a chef, and then we’ll talk about some particular meals she makes, and what she does to make them her signature food. Let's get started. 

Today we’re going to be continuing our theme on meaningful dinners with some practical ideas for things you can do. So, we’re thinking about how to make dinner time meaningful, how to create meaningful memories, and to make it special. Here are some ideas to focus on connection, not perfection - making the evening meaningful.  There are so many ways to make dinners meaningful, whether family nights or date nights. I find that as soon as I start to make an effort, the ideas come. When I'm feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, I don’t have many ideas, but somehow putting on some soft music, dimming the lights, and setting the table beautifully helps already to bring that family closeness and connection.

 Today we're going to be talking about dinnertime in your family - what makes memories, what makes it meaningful, and what makes it special. I've been feeling that lately I've been leaping up a lot in the middle of meals, both at lunch and dinnertime.  What I really want is connected family mealtimes where we feel close, where the conversation is good and deep, and where it's a meaningful experience. Now, this can't happen at every single meal, obviously, but I do want to make sure that every week or two we have an extra special meal so that we can feel connected as a family and make some memories. 

 Today we’re going to continue with our chef series - what we can learn from and be inspired by from famous chefs. Today, we’ll talk about Guy Fieri. Guy is the host of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives from Food Network. He has a great love for American comfort food. He loves roadside diners and dive bars, and he travels around the country to find unique places that make local-inspired food. He just loves to make ordinary dishes that are easy to cook, and to elevate them. He has many of what he calls “Guy-ifie” dishes. So, there's a lot we can learn from this inspiring chef. Let's get started. 

 Today we’re going to continue the series about comfort food. We've done French, Swiss and Italian comfort foods, and today we're going to talk about British comfort foods - all the yummy things that they eat that are easy to make.  If you order a meal at a pub on the street, you'll probably order one of these things. They're easy to cook at home, and they're hearty, they help in the winter. In Britain there are a lot of rainy days. So, here we go with some British comfort foods that you can try at home.

Note: This is the last episode for 2025 - I'll see you again in January. Thanks for being part of my community - you are awesome! Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed Christmas to you and your family. Today, let's talk about crockpots - slow cookers. A crockpot is one of the most time-saving things, and I'm always surprised at how many people either don't have a crockpot, or they don’t know how to use theirs; they don’t know what to cook in it. Hopefully, after this episode, you'll know a lot more, and you'll feel confident in using a crockpot. One of the great things about a crockpot is that they're so cheap to buy. They're one of the cheapest kitchen appliances there is. https://familyfoodformoms.com/ https://familyfoodformoms.com/product/elegant-easy-appetizers-5-ingredient-recipes-physical-book/  

Today we’re going to talk about what we can learn from Ireland, the green Emerald Isle, about food and nutrition, cooking and dining. Hopefully you can become inspired and get some good ideas from this episode. Ireland's food and dining culture has changed a lot over the last few decades. It used to be very simple, hearty fare, and that's the sort of food we’re going to be looking at. There'll be no Wednesday episode this week - I'll be back next Monday. Don't forget about our recipe book Elegant Easy Appetisers available here.

 Today we're going to be talking about some of my favorite side dishes to cook with a meal. We’ll look at some examples of side dishes, mainly from a few English countries, and maybe a couple of others. Generally they’ll be ones that are familiar, and you just need to be reminded of.  My favorite kind of side dish is steamed vegetables. These are very simple to make. There are green beans, chopped butternut squash or sweet potato, long stem broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. All of those work so well simply being steamed. The cheapest way to do this is to use a steamer tray that’s like an insert. It’s made from stainless steel, and it has holes in it.  Steaming vegetables is one of the healthiest ways to eat them. That way, they retain the most nutrients, and they retain the most flavor because it's not boiled away. 

Today we're going to talk about what we can learn from India about cooking; dining and good nutrition - from the grandmothers and from the culture. It's really fascinating to see how they go about cooking and the relationship they have with food.  Indian cuisine is very interesting. It's fresh and spicy, made with whole foods as well as medicinal ingredients. Indian cooks cook slowly, paying attention to the order and the process of cooking. I hope you're feeling inspired to try some Indian recipes!

Today we’re going to be talking about Swiss comfort food. Swiss comfort food is like no other, and Switzerland is so well known for its cheese and its chocolate. In a book by Weston Price, that famous dentist who toured the world, he talks about Swiss people many generations ago who lived on healthy, thick bread and cheese in the mountains, and how healthy their teeth were. There’s so much about Swiss cheese and European cheese that’s so good for us, and they have amazing comfort foods made from cheese, like Swiss fondue, etc. We're going to talk about some of those. Then chocolate, of course, is a wonderful snack, especially Swiss chocolate. It just tastes the best - it's so good! I love the cute little chocolates that they decorate with Swiss chalets and Swiss snowy mountain scenes. You don't have to cook chocolate, and it's definitely a Swiss comfort food. 

 I want to give you some ideas for lunches and snacks on the go. These are great for if you're a mom that's fetching and carrying your kids to and from school, extra-mural activities, or sports games, or for anytime you want to take food with; sometimes for your kids as well, and sometimes just for you. Sometimes you need something to eat in the car while you wait, or maybe you're just going to be away from home and you'll need to eat. Even if you're just at home working, sometimes it's better to prepare food the night before, or in the morning, so that when you're hungry and you want to grab something, it's there ready for you to eat. Somehow, if food is prepared in advance, and if we've put a little thought into it, we’re less likely to grab something unhealthy, or something that doesn’t have enough nutrients.  We need to plan carefully to get the right nutrients when we're always busy - like most moms are - or often on the run. 

Today we're going to be talking about Italian comfort foods, easy meals that you can make when you need something comforting. So, let's talk about Italian comfort food. Of course, there’s pizza and pasta. What could be more comforting? Let's talk about some deas for a quick, easy Italian dish or a comfort food on a cozy full evening, or even on a summer's day, or if you want some good snacks. 

Today we’re going to be talking about French comfort foods, which are one of my favorite kinds of easy comfort foods. I'm going to do a series with a different cuisine each time. We'll cover Italian comfort food, Mexican comfort food, et cetera, but this one is definitely my favorite because the French just have a way with food. We'll be talking about Croque Monsieur, French toast, and a few other things that you can make easily, and that'll fill that hungry gap in the winter or anytime you need some comfort food. French comfort foods are things that don’t really need the fancy chef techniques; things that you can make easily. They don't have fancy ingredients, and they don't take a lot of time. They're indulgent, homey, and yummy. The first one, of course, is croc monsieur or croc madam. There’s a slight difference between the two. Croque monsieur is a warm ham and cheese sandwich that's baked or pan fried with bechamel sauce on top. Croque Madame is the same, just with a fried egg on the top. Often these sandwiches have an authentic cheese like Gruyère or Emmentale to give them that extra edge of flavor. You can add interesting things to the bechamel as well, but the basic croc monsieur is a fabulous comfort food. 

Today we are gonna be continuing our Chef series, talking about Matty Matheson, what we can learn from him and his cooking style, ways that he can inspire us in our own cooking. I relate well to this one because it's all about being a little bit unorthodox and going with your passion and not necessarily doing things by the book - I like that.

Today we're going to be talking about six easy dinner ideas that you can make for dinner in less than an hour when you're stuck, and you're not quite sure what to make. I'm also going to mention five three-course meal ideas that are easy, but a little fancier. These are good for those days when you want to do something special, but it's still got to be economical and easy. So, here we go. Let's start with the six ideas for when you're stuck for dinner. 

 Today we are gonna be talking about having a fun date night with a dice theme. Previously I did a black and white ball date night, and you can tell I like black and white. So dice are obviously also black and white, but we're gonna focus more on the dice shape and the number and using the dice and dice games. So if you feel like a fun date night at home with your hubby, just some inspiration. So we're talking about a dice theme..

Recently, I've realized that I don't eat enough fruit. We’re always being told that we've got to eat more protein, or eat all these other things, but we’re not often told we need enough fiber. I really believe that natural fiber - fruit - is the best way to get it. There are so many other good benefits of fruit. So, here's our first myth - fruit is too high in sugar. Some people say all sugar is equal, or the calories are the same, or whatever. However, I really believe, and I've seen in my own life, that fruit is good, and too much refined sugar is bad. Separating fruit from other forms of sugar is a good idea, and so is having fruit every day, especially having fruits with vitamin C when you're sick. Any kind of fruit that you feel like eating is excellent for your health. 

 Today we'll be continuing our Chef series by talking about Nigella Lawson and some tips from her. She's an English food writer who cooks on tv. She's got bestselling cookbooks and cooking shows, but she has a very approachable, relatable style of home cooking. She’s not on another planet like a really gourmet chef, but somebody who's very good at what she does, and she teaches you in a way that helps you feel like you can cook better. So, let's talk about some things that she’s spoken of and that reflect her cooking philosophy.

Today we are gonna talk about some ideas for an elegant high tea for friends or for your family. My mom just turned 80 and she came to visit for a week. We had a party for her with some of her friends from many years ago who live close to us and we did a fun high tea for her birthday. I'm gonna tell you what we baked, and served, and some ideas for what you could do in terms of decor to make an elegant High Tea special.

The next chef we’re going to be talking about is Christina Tosi, the well-known pastry chef. I'm sure you've seen her on MasterChef or MasterChef Junior. She's amazing! She's known for starting Momofuku Milk Bar, and she’s so creative when it comes to baking. We love her compost cookies and her birthday cake recipe - it's the one we use all the time. The way she layers flavors and adds so much interest to food is inspiring. So, let's talk about what we can learn from Christina Tosi about baking and delicious food.  I won't have an episode out this Wednesday as we're hosting my Mom's 80th party, but I'll be back to two episodes again next week.

 Today we're going to be continuing our series on what we can learn from famous chefs, present or past. This time, we're going to be talking about Julia Child. She was a famous chef, a cookbook author, and a television personality. I'm sure you've seen those funny old video clips of her on the little TV screen with the round center from the sixties. She was one of the first women to host her own cooking show on television.  She gave people lots of tips, and she did lessons on how to prepare French food very simply and easily. Have you seen the movie Julie and Julia? It's about a young girl learning to cook from Julia's recipe. Julia Child left a legacy of more than just recipes. She's taught people how to approach cooking and eating with a huge amount of joy, confidence, and curiosity. She loved food, she loved to eat, and she was so enthusiastic about it. She was very good at teaching you how to make things simple, and how to just go for it with your cooking.

We’re doing a series on what we can learn from chefs about cooking. We’ll learn some tips and things they teach that will really help us to build and improve our own cooking. Today, we're going to be talking about Jamie Oliver, a British chef. He's a good one for helping a normal mom at home. He doesn’t do so much restaurant cooking; more home cooking, and he does it so well. He and his family, his kids, are all very approachable. He makes lots of comfort food. There might be some things in this episode that are similar to what Gordon Ramsey teaches or does, but that's good, right? Enforce the best habits. So, here we go. 

Today, I thought it'd be fun to talk about some tips from Gordon Ramsey about cooking. These are things that he advises, some of which I've tried, and others not yet. I find it really interesting to look at professional chefs, or at chefs like Jamie Oliver who aim to help ordinary people like you and I to be able to cook better, to make things easier and healthier, and et cetera. I'm going to do a brief series, and talk about tips from some other chefs as well, but for today it'll be Gordon Ramsey. We’ll talk about the important things that he says or that he teaches online in various places, whether it be on Masterchef, in his home cooking videos, et cetera. 

Today we're gonna be talking about food on vacation - if you go away on a holiday. We recently went to the beach for a few days and it was amazing. I'm gonna talk a little bit about what meals we did and general ideas of what to cook and eat on a vacation!

(There won't be an episode on Wednesday this week, but I'll be back next Monday!!) I'm soo excited about the Downton Abbey movie coming up on the 12th of September!! ..so I thought this would be a good time to make this episode. We're going to talk about what we can learn from Downton Abbey again - from the show itself, and things that are significant when it comes to food, dining, and even cooking. There are so many things that inspire me when I look at the way they ate and what they ate, although it required having a full-time cook or two. We can't really replicate that part, but there are a lot of principles that are inspiring, and that we can apply to our daily lives and our families.   

 Today we’re going to talk about some fun ideas for a food-themed evening with family or friends. Food-related fun that you can have with your kids. We'll chat about evenings involving food in a fun way for your younger kids, for your older teens; or for your family to do together. So, let's dive right in. 

Today we're going to talk about more simple meals for if you're learning to cook, just starting to cook, or if you just need something quick for dinner. Last time, we talked about using potatoes and pasta as the base of meals.  In this episode, we’re going to talk about rice and a few other ways to start your cooking with some easy meals!

Today I’m going to talk about two easy meal options that have variety for when you're just starting out cooking, or for when life is crazy and you want something very easy to do. I’ll talk about a way to plan things around potatoes and pasta so that you've got a good variety, and different ways to enhance the toppings, to add sauces, et cetera, to go with those. Start off with easy meals when you're learning to cook. If your son or daughter is going to leave home soon, this is a good way for them to learn to cook. So, let's get started. 

Let's talk about pesto. Is your favorite green pesto or red pesto, and what do you like to have it on? Pizza, caprese salad - what are your favorite ways to use it? I'm going to talk about the origins of pesto, and then about some of the ways you can use it, and how to make it. I often buy pesto from the grocery store, and sometimes I make it. Both ways can be delicious, and there's so many different ways you can use it.  Pesto is traditionally Italian, and its roots are in ancient Rome. It’s best known today in the form pesto alla Genovese, which is made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. The concept of pesto can be traced back to ancient Roman times. Back then, there was a sauce called moretum, which was made by crushing herbs with garlic, some kind of cheese, salt, olive oil, and vinegar. In a similar way to modern pesto, it was prepared with a pestle and mortar. The word pesto comes from the Italian verb pestare, meaning “to pound” or “to crush” with the pestle and mortar. The classic form of pesto, Genovese, comes from Genoa in Northwestern Italy. It’s from around the 19th century. The key ingredient, of course, is the Genovese basil that grows abundantly in that region. It loves the Mediterranean climate. The traditional recipe includes fresh basil leaves with garlic, traditionally pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and lots of olive oil.

Today we're going to talk about eggs, or rather about if you don't like eggs, and what's a good thing to have for breakfast in that case - what's a good way to use eggs, so that they don't taste too “eggy”? Here are creative ways of using them so that you still get the protein and the benefits like choline from eggs, but you don't have to just have scrambled or fried eggs. Maybe those are things that you don't enjoy. I seem to go through phases. Sometimes I don't mind eggs for breakfast, and other times I really can't stomach them, though I still enjoy the sides like grilled tomato, mushrooms, zucchini, and avocado. All those things are great, but it's hard for me to have eggs with them. So, let's talk about some ways to use eggs in your breakfast even if you don't like them. We want to try to incorporate them into dishes where their flavor is a little masked, or complimented by other ingredients.