Get to know Lauren
Sunday Dinners started over a year ago. After years of cooking for myself and occasionally having others over for dinner, I found that hosting on a Sunday night meal helped with any feelings of anxiety I felt over starting a new work week. It has become a weekly tradition for whoever happens to be free. Anyone is welcome, just as you are. It’s about the meal, but also about coming together for a time to reconnect, solve the world’s problems, and laugh a lot.
Welcome to my table for Sunday Dinner and thanks for giving me a place to capture and organize one of my favorite parts of every week.
My love of cooking started early while watching dad and mom cook their way around the kitchen. We ate dinner together almost every night as a family. Beyond the usual family dinner, my parents often hosted dinner parties with friends and family. The excitement of having a special dinner or recipe, watching my parents engage in good conversation, and get to stay up a little bit later always felt a little thrilling as a kid. Now, as an adult, I love how a good meal can bring people together to connect for just a little while beyond screens and busy schedules. My favorite moment of a meal is sitting back, after all the food has been served or plated, and watching my loved ones talk and eat and laugh. The food is good, too.
My love of food started early. Here is my sister and I participating in the annual ravioli making. This is my favorite family food tradition. We make our ravioli around thanksgiving so that we can enjoy them for our family Christmas Eve dinner.
Earliest memory of cooking a meal?
Aside from the annual ravioli gathering, the earliest memory of cooking is learning to make pasta from our family friend from Bologna. We made enough pasta to feed one hundred people; it covered a queen sized bed. My favorite recipes have a family tie, story, or tradition
Favorite tips or tricks?
Add water to the pan when browning onions. There’s a great video on America’s Test Kitchen about the science behind this. The water helps the onions brown more evenly.
When making a dough that calls for water as needed, use a spray bottle to spritz your dough instead of pouring water. This helps control the level of moisture.
One thing that is really important to me: You’ll find that my recipes are structured where the story is last. No one likes scrolling through the story to get to the recipe. Some of them will have a story underneath, but if you’re like me, you’re more interested in the actual instructions.
The recipes I will share have come from my family, some research, and my own improvisation in the kitchen.
