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Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

By: Food Friends
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Do you love home cooking but hunger for better recipes that help you deliver quick and delicious meals to your dinner table? Two former personal chefs turned best friends share their expertise with each other and you! Kari and Sonya have been inspiring each other in the kitchen for over 15 years by swapping recipes, tips, and trade secrets in the pursuit of better home cooking. FOOD FRIENDS is a bi-weekly podcast inspiring home cooks to try new dishes in the kitchen by sharing trusted recipes, tips, and friendship. Every Tuesday, each host delivers 3 unique solutions to seasonal home cooking, like: how to make craveable soups with your farmers market haul, the easiest one-pot meals for busy nights, or what to do with leftover rotisserie chicken. On Thursdays, we serve up a pint-sized chat about our “Best Bite” of the week, pantry essentials we can’t live without, and more. Previous guests include Seth & Lauren Rogen, actor Randall Park & writer/director Evan Goldberg, recipe developer Justine Doiron, #1 Food & Beverage Substacker Caroline Chambers, and more. If you’re looking for a boost of fun in the kitchen by discovering recipes that will make mealtime easier and more delicious with a healthy dose of laughter, then you’ll want to dig in with FOOD FRIENDS! First-time listener? Tune into Episode 2: Don’t send flowers, send soup! and Episode 4: What do you bring to a potluck?Food Friends Podcast 2022 Art Cooking Food & Wine
Episodes
  • The New York Times' Most Popular Recipe + Fried Zucchini Blossoms | Our Best Home Cooking Bites of the Week

    The New York Times' Most Popular Recipe + Fried Zucchini Blossoms | Our Best Home Cooking Bites of the Week
    Jul 2 2026

    What makes one recipe become the most popular in the New York Times Cooking’s history?

    In this bite-sized episode, we share the best things we ate this week to inspire each other—and you.

    By the end of this episode, you'll want to make crisp, stuffed zucchini blossoms that are restaurant-quality but come together in under 30 minutes. You'll also discover why the legendary Marian Burros plum torte has become one of the most beloved dessert recipes of all time – it's endlessly adaptable, freezer-friendly, and approachable for even beginner bakers.

    Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!

    ***

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here. And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!

    ***

    Links:

    Stuffed zucchini blossoms from Carolyn’s Cooking – this recipe calls for parsley and chive, but Sonya likes to add basil to the filling instead.

    Original plum torte by Marian Burros for NYT Cooking, plus suggestions for adapting the recipe. Kari used plums with butter, whole wheat flour and cardamom in addition to cinnamon (¼ tsp each) mixed with turbinado sugar on top, then apricots with non-dairy butter, GF flour with almond meal, and the same cardamom and cinnamon mixed with turbinado sugar on top.

    Other mentions:

    Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

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    Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.

    Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
  • A Food Person’s Summer: Cookbooks, Hosting, and What to Cook Right Now, with Adam Roberts (Re-Release)

    A Food Person’s Summer: Cookbooks, Hosting, and What to Cook Right Now, with Adam Roberts (Re-Release)
    Jun 30 2026
    Ever wonder what food people actually cook when guest come over — and why those recipes always work?This week, we're re-releasing our fan-favorite episode with Adam Roberts — aka The Amateur Gourmet. He takes us inside his kitchen, shares his favorite cookbooks and go-to recipes, and tells us all about his fantastic debut novel, Food Person (now out in paperback!). We talk summer cooking, dinner party philosophy, and why even a slightly undercooked salmon can still lead to a great night.By the end of this episode, you’ll:Get a sneak peek at Food Person, Adam’s twisty, funny debut novel and a page-turning, insider look at food media (think The Devil Wears Prada, but for cookbook publishing).Discover the dessert that never fails a dinner party.Find out the #1 mistake home cooks make when hosting, and the mindset shift that turns chaos into calm.Press play for Adam’s best dinner party advice, his all-time favorite cookbooks, and the recipes he relies on most to make hosting feel like a breeze.***Links:Food Person, Adam’s debut novel is out now!Subscribe to Adam’s Amateur Gourmet Newsletter on SubstackFollow Adam on InstagramAdam’s cookbook recs from today’s episode: The Barefoot Contessa books (especially for beginners)Or level up your home cooking with Mozza at Home, by Nancy Silverton and Carolyn CarrenoFor the best homemade ice cream recipes and techniques, check out David Leibovitz’s The Perfect ScoopAnything by Melissa Clark is dependably excellentSome of the cookbook’s highlighted in Food Person: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, The Chez Panisse Cookbook, and The Auberge of the Flowering HearthThe food writing Adam most admires: Calvin Trillin Amanda Hesser’s Cooking for Mr.LatteNora Ephron’s HeartburnWho Adam channels in his kitchen: Lidia Bastianich, and one of her recipes is his go-to pasta dish for dinner parties.He might follow that with warm freshly baked chocolate chip cookies***Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here. You can also now find us on YouTube. We love hearing from you — follow us on Instagram @foodfriendspod, or drop us a line at foodfriendspod@gmail.com!Order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • A 30-Minute Korean Short Rib Dinner + A Citrusy Summer Salad | Our Best Home Cooking Bites of the Week

    A 30-Minute Korean Short Rib Dinner + A Citrusy Summer Salad | Our Best Home Cooking Bites of the Week
    Jun 25 2026

    What if you could make a short rib dinner that tastes better than takeout, in less than 20 minutes?

    In this bite-sized episode, we share delicious moments about the best things we ate this week to inspire each other – and you!

    By the end of this episode, you’ll discover how to make Korean Galbi using beef short ribs – with a little planning, you can have dinner on the table in minutes.

    You’ll also discover a healthy summer chopped salad with an unexpected flavor combination of sweet summer peppers, juicy mango, and tangy kumquats.

    Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!

    ***

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here. And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!

    ***

    Links:

    Sonya made a version of Galbi similar to this one from Onolicious. To learn more about Galbi (also known as Korean short ribs, or “LA Galbi”) check out this post by Maangchi

    Summer kumquat and mango salad by Melissa Mayo

    ****

    Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.

    Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
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