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

A Break for the Summer / Winter and Lots of Recommendations!

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... 

#130 What We Can Learn From Germany about Food and Cooking - and Some Dishes to Try

 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. 

#129 - Dessert Is Not a Bad Thing - How the French and Belgians do Desserts and What to Make at Home

 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. 

#128 Cooking in Sauce - Basic Cooking Skills Series

 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. 

#127 Celebrating Life with Special Meals - No Big Occasion Needed!

 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.

#126 Part 2 of How to Cook Meat Well - Chicken, Fish, Bacon, etc. - Basic Cooking Skills Series

 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.

#125 Part 1 of How to Cook Meat Well - Flavoursome and Tender, Methods and Appliances - Basic Cooking Skills Series

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.

#124 Hospitality - Go To Meals that are easy to plan and make for your guests

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!

#123 Hospitality Tips - How to Make Having Guests Doable and Simple

 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. 

#122 How We Can Be Inspired by Meals in Enid Blyton Books from the 1940s

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.