The Transcript

Karthika: Welcome Becky. Thank you so much for joining me on culturally ours. I cannot tell you how excited I have to have you on the podcast, and that can all wait to chat with you and get to know you a little bit better.

Becky: Well, thank you for having me. I have a big, big smile on my face. Just hearing your voice. I’m really honored to be haircut the cut. Thank you so much.

Karthika: Absolutely. So before we begin, could you tell us a little bit about sort of who you are, where you’re from, just help set the stage for this chat?

Becky: I think that’s always such a hard question to answer. Right? So many things about us are so indefinable, you know? Right. So I guess I can kind of tell you who I am right now, right? Like what are the, what are the big parts of my life right now that my time and mental and emotional energy go to. And so,  I guess, I guess first, if we’re really looking at where those things go, I probably just that I’m a mother of four boys and,  my oldest is 16, so 16, 14, just we’ll be just shy of 11, 11 next Friday and seven. And  so my oldest will be going to we’re in a crazy busy phase. That’s a lot of different stages of life to try to nurture right now. Absolutely. Yes yeah. Like the needs of a 16 year old and the needs of a seven year old are so different and you’re trying to meet all of those.  but I’m also trying to maximize,  all of those. And I know that my oldest will be out of the house in two years and my second we’ll be right behind in four years. And like, as you know, that’s, that’s kind of a blink, you know? Yeah.

Karthika: I have a 15 year old that just turned 12 and my 15 year old is actually currently in  a summer camp for five weeks.  we don’t get to see her. We get to speak to her only once on the weekend.  so it is such a,  such a different feeling and a scary feeling. So I completely understand when you said the, you know, the, the needs, the emotional, physical, mental needs of that age group is so different.

Becky: Yes. And yeah. Getting them through COVID. I mean, what a difference for you to having her by, was it your daughter or your son who’s 15, your daughter like having her in your home, not even leaving for school for so many months and then completely away for five weeks. That’s

Karthika: I think she was so ready for it. Her personality isn’t someone who would be doing this, but I think she was just so frustrated being home for a year, more than a year, she was like, let’s do this. I want to try.

Becky: let’s take the polar bear plunge, just go right in.

Karthika: Yeah. So Becky with such a beautiful and different family,  with, you know, boys and, and just everything around. Talk to me a little bit about sort of your food journey. How does food sort of fit into your life, your lifestyle? Do you love to cook or is it something you just kind of have to do to survive?

Becky: I was raised by a, a great mum and dad who,  my brother and I were just talking about this the other day, how we would define it. We were by no means poor,  in large part because we had a familial safety net, you know, around us, like extended family that,  you know, just gave, gave my parents the option to live somewhat frugally. So my dad was a teacher,  which is, you know, not among the highest paid jobs out there. He was great at it. He liked it, it fit our family’s lifestyle. Well, and my mom stayed home. So we lived very frugally,  compared to the area that we lived in.  and so because of that, my mom had a really strict grocery budget. I know that when we were teenagers running cross country, she fed our family for like a hundred dollars a week, which is, I know even with inflation, it’s quite remarkable.

Becky: So she really planned her meals. And she, I remember going through the grocery store with her, she had this yellow Manila pad and she would write down like everything she put in her cart and what it was going to cost. And she added it up. So she kind of knew she would put things back. I mean, she really, they really lived according to a budget. And,  the reason that, which was a great lesson for me and,  the reason they were able to do that is because my mom is a phenomenal cook. And, you know, I think what I appreciate about my mom’s cooking is like, as you can tell from that story, my mom wasn’t leaning on the most expensive choice ingredients to maximize her cooking. She was leaning on knowledge and skill and,  just seasoning proper seasoning. And so,  I, we always ate, well, we ate very well.

Becky: We ate very nutritiously, you know, there wasn’t, if you’re living on a tight budget, like there wasn’t money for chips and ice cream, like ice cream from the store, it was a big tree, you know?  and so I just appreciate that so much about my mom. I mean, I think she bought, she would buy whole chickens because, you know, boneless, skinless chicken breasts were more expensive. I think she cut up two whole chickens every week for honestly, decades, you know, thousands and thousands of chickens that she cut up. And,  you know, she would try all sorts of different types of grains and starches to keep us full and,  you know, vegetables. Like, I, we definitely had some frozen and things like that because all of that fresh produce, I think would have filled up her entire middle of pat, you know, had fresh produce as well.

Becky: Don’t get me wrong. So I think my mom just was,  really a master of,  basic cooking done very, very well. And she was a student of cooking, you know, she didn’t go to culinary school or anything like that, but,  she would, she would, she would read and she knew the techniques and the sciences behind it. So I’ve always appreciated that, that about my mom. And I’ve just one of those people. Like, I feel like those of us who like to cook by nature, I mean, I think I was four or five and I kind of just wanted to make dinner myself. I’m not saying I did, but I just wanted to, I always liked it. And I just feel like we are the luckiest people because everyone has to eat three times a day, every day, no matter what. And so if we like it, we’re lucky.

Becky: So I think that just kind of grew and developed as I grew up, I kind of learned from her. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her. And then I definitely know that when gosh, so when I, when my kids were young, we went to the library every single week. That was a sacred routine. And I love the public library system. I am such a believer and supporter of the public library system. And every week I would get a new cookbook and,  try to experiment from it. And so, and then as you know, now I host a podcast where I make a brand new recipe every week that are a lot of times completely foreign to me. Like I may not very frequently have never heard of it. I often have to go to specialty stores, whether it’s a Korean market or a Caribbean market or,  an Indian market.

Becky: There’s a lot of diversity in supermarkets around me to get the ingredients, you know,  last week I made something with a beef kidney, which was wow. Okay. Yes. That was the biggest stretch for me though.  so Yes I think that I’m just a very curious person and I recognize the significance of food to nurture us, but also to bring us together. And now, you know, through my podcast also to teach us about the culture and the history and the environment of so many people across the world. Like I always say food is the, one of the few things in this world that is both completely unique, right? Like every culture, and then even drill it down to every family takes pride in their particular approach to it’s completely unique, but it’s also completely universal. Like a good meal always brings us together. It always makes us feel connected to our past, to our heritage, to other people we have to strangers, you know, and it just, I love food because I love to eat and I love it. It’s flavor, but I love it because I’m curious and I love what it teaches me and I love it for again, it, it both celebrates the uniqueness of people, but also it brings us together. It’s a total universal thing. We all have to eat and we all, we all like it.

Karthika: Absolutely. Oh my God, I have goosebumps. I love what you said. I mean, it’s, it is, it is one of those things that is completely utterly universal, but also has those subtle nuances. That makes a difference. Yeah. That, that difference is actually extremely beautiful. I I’m Indian and I have my, you know, I have my child, but my child is so different from the child that my mother-in-law makes. So my mom even made, or even my friends make, but it’s chai. It’s, you know, you, you have a cup of chai. You just, I just get immediately transported back home. And then when I have a child from somebody else I can have, you know,  put into the deal place. So they are sort of experiences in their lives. Right,

Becky: Right. It’s a very intimate offering. When you share someone, your food, you really are like inviting them into the entire story of your life and your culture. And you’re being very vulnerable in a way also, because it’s something that you like and appreciate so much, and it means so much to you and you’re inviting them to partake in that.

Karthika: Yes absolutely. Now, given your kind of experiences with mom and then how you have kind of, you know, more of that morphed into your own version of,  a cook who likes to experiment, who’s creative, curious, like you said, who loves cookbooks, right. So your, so your cooking style, is it a mix of,  like family recipes or completely new and different things every week? I mean, is it something like you guys sit on the table and it’s like, okay, what is, what are we having today?

Becky: This is such a good question because I’m not by nature, a very organized person.  that’s something I’m constantly fighting against. It’s one of my least favorite things about myself is that I’m not. So, yeah. I mean, it’s like, yes, it’s, like you said, it’s a combination of something that’s just quick and easy. I mean, I’ll probably pull some pork chops out of the freezer defrost, and this afternoon we’ll have that on the grill because it’s hot outside and who wants to turn anything else on? And some honestly, maybe we won’t even cook any vegetables. Maybe we’ll just have raw vegetables. Maybe I’ll throw some potatoes on the sheet pan. I mean, we’re talking super basic, but again, if it’s well seasoned and cooked properly, then that’s, that’s the best meal. But then, you know, yeah. Last week I made steak and kidney puddings and we had those for leftovers.

Becky: My oldest ate one for lunch every day. You know, when we actually still have some of the chai mix that,  I think we’ve gone through a second round that you gave us when you were a guest. We just loved it. And so, Yes it’s just this company. I hesitate to say it’s a combination because I feel like it makes me sound like we’re this very eclectic and sophisticated and metropolitan eating family and we’re really not.  and so I don’t really know how to express this. We do a massive variety, but I don’t know how to express that without making it sound like we are like the ideal eating family. We’re definitely, we’ll just like eat, you know, raw carrots and chicken nuggets or something sometimes too.

Karthika: And you know, it’s just, that just makes you, I don’t know, human we’re busy. Yeah. And sometimes it’s, it’s we’ve I think ever since my kids were young and read, I discovered this whole dessert for breakfast and breakfast for dinner concept. It’s been such a lifesaver. We’ve had cereal for dinner sometimes when it’s just, you know, nothing else, this, I just don’t have the energy or nobody has the energy to even sit down and cook and socialize. It’s just like, just have a bowl of cereal and be done with it. Yep, totally.

Becky: Right. Because you have to factor in, this is the thing you have to factor in, not just the cooking time, cause I’m almost always up for cooking, but you have to factor in the dishes and the cleaning up and all of that. And I’m not always up for that.

Karthika: Oh, I agree. A hundred percent. So what are some of your like favorite dishes to make, or to eat if they’re not the same thing?

Becky: This is where you really have asked an impossible question.

Karthika: I know it’s like asking you, which among your four boys you like the most.

Becky: But I have a thousand children in this circumstance. And so I do think we go through again, because I’m not naturally a very organized person. We do go through ruts, you know? So it’s kind of like when you were like, well, who are you? I’m like, oh, I can tell you what we, what we like now. So,  I do in the summertime, I do love the grill. I just think it’s, it’s just quick and easy. And again, you just see some something. Well, and that’s great. And I like ingredients,  more in their kind of natural state generally then like casseroles and heavy things like that, you know? But,  we do, we have added, you know, a lot of things to our repertoire from podcast guests. So we really like,  beans. Like I think they’re super healthy. They’re high in fiber.

Becky: Like I like doing some non meat dishes when I can. And so there’s a couple of,  there’s a couple of,  recipes we’ve gotten that really maximize those. And one I’m thinking of in particular that I just love. It’s a, it’s a Trinidadian dish. Okay. The cut, but it’s actually Indian inspired. Like, I didn’t know,  that Trinidad had such a high, very strong Indian population, very strong Indian population. It does. And so,  it’s called doubles and it’s these, like, it’s basically fried bread, but there’s this,  you can help me with my pronunciation, but it’s like a channa. So in Trinidad they do cucumber and super hot peppers, you know, but I’ll do my Caucasian palette appropriate. I’ll do cucumbers and tomatoes and put that on top with like a creamy yogurt, like garlicky kind of, and I don’t know, something like that just that’s just exploding with flavors and it does have them all layered and mashed together. I like, I like that too. I like to eat every, I really love to eat.

Karthika: Hey, that works. There are definitely different kinds of people, like I’m not one of those people who is like, I don’t consider myself a foodie at all.

Becky: I’m glad you said that because I think that’s what I was trying to say earlier when I’m like, we do try a big variety, but I’m really uncomfortable with the term foodie and I’m very uncomfortable applying that to myself because I’m, how can I say this? There’s almost like an air to it. It’s it’s  I think it’s like an elitist term and for me, I just like to eat. It’s just, it’s very, almost primal. I just like to eat. I, and, and, and it’s just, it’s just as simple as that, you know?

Karthika: Yeah. Now is there a, so that turns out additional sounds amazing. Oh yeah. So going along those lines, is that a dish that you are maybe dying to try out to master or to learn how to make, since you will have so much more experience with the story recipe podcast?

Becky: Oh, well, I can tell you a technique that I’ve not taken too, so I’ll answer the opposite first. The opposite is it seems like whenever I have a guest on from the UK, they give me a dish that’s cooked by steaming. Okay. This is like a very, very foreign technique to me. And it is one that I have never taken to. So I’ve had to steam a cake, you know, they call it a pudding, two different ones of those I’ve steamed. Now this staking kidney pudding. And there was something else. And just like immersing something in hot boiling water for hours and hours to cook, and then it never crisps up. I’m such a crispy person. This whole steaming technique is one that I feel like I’ve experimented with and I could be done with, I could be okay.

Becky: I could be okay with that in terms of learning. If I was going to be totally honest, I would love to go to culinary school someday because I think that there’s techniques that I would like to learn, but I would kind of like to, this would be hard for me, which is why I think I should do it. I would actually like to take a class on,  butchery on, on,  Yes butchery, butchering animals for several reasons. One, I do feel that my, my ethics and my practices are not completely aligned when it comes to my meat eating. So,  I have a lot of vegan guests on and I deeply, deeply, deeply respect the choice that they’ve made. And while I’m not sure that I yet feel compelled to do that ethically,  I feel like I don’t know enough about the process of raising and,  killing animals to like justify the choices that I make in terms of how much I eat them. Does that make sense?

Karthika: It makes absolute sense. And I’ll tell you why, because a couple of weeks ago I was in Wisconsin and it was,  it was,  it was hosted by travel Wisconsin and it was all about their,  agriculture, their small farms and the food and how it students, the field to farm field to table, I guess that’s what it’s called field to table concept. And so we got to meet a lot of the farmers, we got to talk to them and part of the experience also included indigenous cuisine. And so we had this incredible chef come on and talk to us and she she’s actually a butcher. Oh. And she talked about how she, you know, how in indigenous culture,  the food, the, the animal, how they harvest the animal, what the talk process is, and you know, how it is take what you need and take only what you need and what you will eat.

Karthika: And it’s just the whole practice of harvesting the animal the way she explained it was, it has such a beautiful meaning and connotation and just the whole cultural aspect of it was it just got to me and meet,  that, you know, I’m completely vegetarian. So for me, I was like, wow, that’s an incredible way of looking at it. And so when you say the ethics behind doing this, the ethics behind eating meat and trying to understand the process, I think when you go through this experience, you probably will figure out that you will be definitely more educated in the whole process. And then you can make a decision on how you want to move forward. Right. As opposed to just making it emotionally

Becky: Exactly. And then I think also I would be more equipped to,  utilize, you know to honor the life of this, this animal. Right. Like it, it did one way or another, it gave its life so we could eat. Right. And so I feel like part of that is exactly what you’re saying to use it,  to use as much of it as possible and to not let it go to waste. And again, I go back to like my mom cutting up those whole chickens that, I mean, she used every single part of them because she knew how to do that. Well, and I don’t feel like I know how to use a lot of parts of a lot of animals. I really, I really don’t. And,  I mean, you kind of know, like in America you kind of eat chicken and you eat some beef.

Becky: You don’t really know what to do with other types of poultry. You don’t really know what to do with lamb. You don’t know what to do with most parts of the animals that you eat. And so, again, like I said, I don’t know that I feel compelled ethically to be vegetarian, but I do feel compelled to know more about,  the choices that I’m making. And so, yeah. I mean, that’s just something that I would like to do. That is something that I would like to do that if I could expand my skills in any way.

Karthika: That’s a very interesting. And it’s so funny. It’s like, this is probably the first time in this span of less than a month. I’ve heard like a photo of somebody who is a butcher who was looking to learn about this thing. So it’s like, okay, well, what’s the, what’s the sign here,

Karthika: But you know, this concept goes even beyond just meat, right? And it’s like, even the vegetables, it’s so many vegetables, they have the roots and then they have the vegetable. Can you do something with the root Instead of just throwing it, can you utilize us in some way? And it goes back to like, what’s the story you talked about with your mom? I know growing up, it was similar. I mean, my mom didn’t have manila folders. She had little baggies of money that she would budget in. So her grocery bill for the week was in this pink first. And that’s what you took to the, to go grocery shopping. It was gone when the money ran out. And we had to make, do with whatever was there. So she, for her, she used every part of the vegetable, the root and the, the actual vegetable in different dishes and the rice. And, you know, like we strain off the starch from the rice and that’s that’s water. We would actually use it as a conditioner for the hair.

Becky: It’s from the rice you used as conditioner for your hair.

Karthika: Yep. Because when I was growing up, there was no, I mean, it was not like you could buy a bottle of shampoo and conditioner separately, you just got shampoo or you got like the Indian version of shampoo. And so conditioner was like, okay, this will just often your hair will just kind of, you know, get again, the nourishment of the rice goes into your head. So everything was used

Becky: Well, and yes, even, I mean if like soap used to be lie, which was mixed, which is it, was it mixed with animal fat or it was animal fat, I think it was mixed with it. Right. So again like you were using everything, right?

Karthika: So coming back to food,  I know your, your table is so diverse and your kitchen is so diverse, but do you guys have,  any sort of, or do you have a comfort food or something that you find yourself gravitating towards maybe food that you grew up, you know, just make it that special?

Becky: I think, well, I honestly, anything potatoes, potatoes are my comfort food and I guess potatoes and plenty of salt and some fat. And then whether it’s from some heavy yogurt or from some butter or anything. Yeah. I just, I really like anything, potato that’s what is comforting to me.  it really is. I, you know, leftover potatoes, like if we have leftover potatoes, I always eat them for breakfast the next morning.  I don’t know what it is about those. I think,  I know my husband,  he’s always found success if he just needs to like trim up a little bit with a low carb diet. And I tried once when we were married and,  it was a disaster for me and everybody has all their reasons why your body just has to get used to it. I call foul. Now. I think somebodies just need carbs. I think female bodies in general tend to need carbs. And mine, mine is definitely one of those.  so Yes I just, I like potatoes. They, they do. They’re very comforting for me. That’s awesome.

Karthika: Yeah. I know for me, I mean, I liked potatoes. I like a lot of my cousins. My one cousin in particular is such a potato fanatic. He has to have potatoes the certain way that his grandmother started. And so now his, his mom learned and now his wife has learned as well. And so he has to have those potatoes it every day, every day, every day, even if he has just a cup, it’s like, you know, diced up really small and fried in like oil, not like fried fried, but like sauteed with a whole bunch of chili and salt. And that’s it, that’s, that’s, that’s his potato dish.

Becky: That sounds amazing.

Karthika: Now on the flip side,  are you kind of, would you consider yourself sort of adventurous in your eating habits or are there things that, you know, you will never eat?

Becky: I am adventurous in my eating habits. I think there’s this kind of dichotomy here that for the podcast I’ll try anything, but when I’m walking through the grocery store, like I always think about my salads, right. I mean, there’s probably four dozen different types of greens or vegetables that you can put in your salads, but I kind of always end up with the same six or seven in my cart, which again, I don’t think that’s to my credit. I think that’s something I should work on, you know? So I think it’s one of those things I’m probably, I’m probably not as adventurous as I appear, you know?  so I will try anything.  I eat chicken feet, a friend of mine that was exciting, but I tend to gravitate towards what’s familiar. Okay. More than I like wish about myself, you know?

Karthika: Yeah. So taking that familiar concept, if you could cook one dish for the rest of your life, So you do have your staples, but you’re also quite adventurous in,

Becky: Oh yeah. going back to my mom, my mom always said she would say it about everything, not just cooked variety is the spice of life, which is really actually ironic because my parents are very regimented people. So it’s a little bit tongue in cheek, maybe even, but,  no, definitely. I do like variety. I do. I do like variety. Yeah.

Karthika: Okay. Now this is going to be a little bit of a shift from like the kitchen and the food conversation. So in terms of like restaurants and eating out,  do you have a favorite restaurant? And if so, why is it your favorite? It could be for a variety of reasons.

Becky: So usually when we go to eat, it’s all six of us and,  or my husband and I are leaving so late for a date we’re just super hungry and we just want to get somewhere and eat really fast. I think that’s another reason I don’t consider myself a foodie is that we don’t, I we’ve realized this about when we travel. So,  the last time my husband and I got to go somewhere together,  just the two of us, we went to London and Ireland.  yeah. And as we were planning the trip,  and people would give us recommendations people.  of course, because this is very popular would give us recommendations for restaurants and places to eat and things like that. And what we realized is we do not travel to eat at all. The only recommendations I was looking to follow up on were like solitary hikes and things like that.

Becky: Like I, when I travel, I went to go see things,  especially landscapes that I’ve never seen before. And I just went to be in them by myself or just with my family. Like we, we,  organize our trips around getting to these beautiful places and experiencing them at times where not as many people are there and food is totally secondary to us. So I think that’s another reason I don’t call myself a foodie is that a lot of people will plan trips or like if my husband and I are going on a date, it’ll be like,  we’ll Mujer say, well, where do you want to go? Do you want to go to DC to walk around? You wanna go on a hike at great falls? Do you want to go to Baltimore? And the food will almost be an afterthought. Like, believe me, we eat, we do eat, but it’s not,  it’s not what we plan things around so that, like I could tell you kind of amazing meals I’ve had out, but they would almost be as much because of the experience as for the meal.

Becky: And because I do like to cook and I get, I get a massive diversity of books from the cookbooks, from the library. And I try a lot of things. I, okay, this is going to sound terrible Karthik. And I don’t think I’m a master chef by any reason, but I often am like about the food that I get at restaurants. I know that’s because I’m not going to the right ones, but I just, I don’t know, eating out is not, it’s not, again, it’s not Timmy. What people probably think it is to me since I have a whole podcast and Instagram account based on food.

Karthika: That’s completely fair. And my mother-in-law’s the same way. She’s an incredible cook. She can pretty much cook anything from a book or if somebody talks to her about a recipe, she’s so enthusiastic about coming back and trying it immediately. So for her food is just so good at it that it’s almost like it’s her, it’s her calling. It’s her vocation. That’s like something she really loves to do. So when we tell her like when she comes and visits me with, oh, let’s go out to eat. She’s like, why I can make the same thing at home. Why do you want to go to a restaurant? Why do you want to waste all that money? We can have, we can have the exact same meal in like, almost like half the price. And we tried to help her to understand that, you know, it’s the experience it’s going. She’s like, but we can do all of that at home. So what’s the big deal.

Becky: Right? And that’s where I’m like right in between you guys. And that’s where I go back to my statement about, I’m always up to cook, but I’m not always up for dishes. So that’s where I go out to eat, to not do dishes.

Karthika: Fair enough. Hey, I’m right there with you. I just, the days when I don’t want to cook, I don’t want to make, you know, I don’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to step foot in the kitchen

Becky: For one more time, you know, wiped down the counters or even low. Yeah. And it’s funny because my kids are very,  I mean the way we do it, we don’t really necessarily have chore charts or anything, but after dinner we all get up from the table and like nobody goes off and does their thing until the kitchen and kind of the adjoining rooms are put back together and neat and clean, you know? So it’s not like I’m a martyr and I do this all by myself, but it still feels like I do it all day every day. And I just sometimes don’t want to do it.

Karthika: Fair enough. So this is a very, I think it’s a fun question. Say you have you invite some people that you admire the most to a dinner party at home. Who are they and what would you serve?

Becky: Yes. So this is, this is a really good question. And this actually gets to a,  like kind of a fundamental struggle that I actually also do have with the podcast, especially as it grows and I’m getting more,  I’m getting more publicists reaching out to me,  like pitching their clients to come on the podcast. And as I look for guests and I handle, I just handle this because,  I think that at a very fundamental level, you know, I might be misquoting this. Okay. So if somebody is listening that I have this wrong, feel free to connect, correct me. But I think that it was mother Teresa, someone once asked her who is the greatest Christian in the world because of course, you know, mother Teresa was a Christian and she said, it’s someone we don’t know. It’s someone who suffering alone,  perhaps in a hospital bed somewhere.

Becky: And I think that what I love about doing the podcast that I do and what motivated me to do it is that I fundamentally believe that the people I most admire and most want to learn from and most went to be like our almost by definition, not celebrities,  and are not successful necessary. No, no, I don’t want to say that I’m going to retract that statement, but,  good. And right. And virtue and morality have been. So,  they’ve become so branded that I am like, I’m a little bit of a skeptic or a cynic by nature, and I’m almost, I’m not drawn to those people, if that makes any sense to you.  they’re not the people that I necessarily for instance, want to have on the podcast. I am interested in people who have found success and have managed to do it in a way that is very,  well, I’m interested in anyone who has found success because I know that hard work and sacrifice have gone along with that.

Becky: And those are three things that I really admire.  passion, work ethic, curiosity, those types of things. So I almost want to say an answer to your question that it would be. Yeah. I mean, literally right before I came into the call, I had to be like, I’m sorry, I got to run in, I was talking, we have a new neighbor. And I was just learning things about this person, this man who lives next door to me at Karthik did not walk from the ages of six to 13. He was in a hospital bed almost all of those years. Like I think I’d rather have that purse. I would rather have my neighbor come over and learn about that. I know what he does for a living. Like I know that he now depends on the strength of his body. It’s like, how did you go from that person to this person? You know what I mean? So I know this is basically a long-winded way of saying that I really believe that every, I love having new people to dinner. We love having,  friends and family, but also new people to dinner because I genuinely do believe everyone has a story, has something to teach. And it’s the people that are unsung that we often have the most to learn from. So again, I feel a little defensive. I feel like I’m [inaudible] answers.

Karthika: No, I love that. I love what you said. The unsung is the other people that are most interesting.

Becky: And I’m not necessarily interested in talking to someone who has carefully polished a persona or who came into some sort of,  viral success. Like I don’t actually have that much to learn from that person. I have something to learn from that person that has also struggled with maybe some of the same internal issues that our family struggles with or,  you know, the things that we’re not going to talk about or, you know what I mean? Like that’s, that’s the life that I’m living and that’s, it’s like, again, you, you, everybody always says this, but it’s true. Like I ask myself all the time, who’s going to be in the room with me when I’m dying and what will I want to have done for those people? Like what will I want to have seen in their life? You know? And,  it’s the everyday people that can teach me the most about that.

Karthika: That’s absolutely fair. This answer is so varied, right? I mean, If somebody says, oh my knee, like you said, your neighbor, I would, if I had to invite people, I would invite my parents. Even though I’ve lived with them, you know, I’ve, I’ve my entire life with them, but not at this stage of my life. They’re not there and I would love to have them. So it’s just, the answers are so different.  it just it’s, it’s just, I think it’s a fun question

Becky: Yes. Because it does, it reveals so much about the values right. Of the person who’s answering it. Yeah. What would I serve?

Karthika: What would you pick to?

Becky: Oh gosh. I mean, again, it depends on the season. It depends. The first thing I would do is ask them if they have any allergies or aversions. Okay. That’s the first thing. And then there’s a good chance. I’d ask my family like, oh, what are you guys in the mood for? And then, I mean, it could be anything. It could be super, super simple hamburgers on the grill to, oh, we just tried this brand new recipe in this cookbook and we’re going to go for it. So I just, gosh, I’m the worst guest Ikea.

Karthika: No, I love it. I love it because it goes with everything that you’ve already said, right? I mean, you’ve talked about how you’ve gone from, you know, life with mom too, to your kitchen now, to how the podcast, your podcast influences the way you guys eat and the way you guys experience food and the way you, you talked about the way you travel. So it’s all consistent. I don’t worry.

Karthika: This has been such a wonderful experience for me to get to know sort of you and your thought process. Thank you so much, Becky. This was amazing. And I’m so glad we connect

Becky: It has been my pleasure and my honor. And just going back to what I was saying we were both a little burnt out and this has been really great for me to just reconnect and remember I do love food and I love new things. And so, you know, I’m doing exactly what I want to do and I just it’s helped me kind of go back and delight in that, that I get to try so many new things all the time. So thank you for re-igniting my enthusiasm today.