Family Tree Food Stories

About Family Tree Food Stories

Family Tree, Food & Stories podcast will take you on a mouthwatering journey through generations of flavor! We're digging up and sharing the juiciest family secrets, hilarious dinner table disasters, and the heartwarming moments that make your favorite foods, meals, and relationships unforgettable. From Great-Grandma's legendary cheese crust apple pie to that questionable casserole your Uncle Bob swears by. With Family Tree, Food, and Stories, we're serving a feast of laughter, tears, and everything in between. So, are you ready to uncover and share those unforgettable stories behind every bite and create some new memories along the way? Join our growing family of food enthusiasts and storytellers as we Eat, laugh, relive the past, and learn how to create new memories together because. . . every recipe has a story, and every story is a feast.

Publisher

Nancy May & Sylvia France

Category

society & culture · society & culture · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Oct 2024

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

106 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   What Does Your Kitchen Say About You?

   Kitchen Design, History, Julia Child, and the Personal Stories Hiding in Plain Sight. What does your kitchen really say about you? From Julia Child’s famous pegboard walls and the kitchen work triangle to the woman behind the modern dishwasher, discover the history, design, family treasures, and stories hiding in your kitchen. In this episode of Family Food Stories (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/), (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) hosts Nancy May and Sylvia France look at how the kitchen evolved from a smoky room people wanted to keep far away from the house into the place where families now cook, gather, entertain, argue, celebrate, and call "the heart of the home." Nancy and Sylvia share and uncover the surprising history behind kitchen design, including Lillian Gilbreth’s early work on kitchen efficiency, Josephine Cochrane’s dishwasher, and Julia Child’s unmistakably practical Cambridge kitchen. They also turn the question back on themselves, from Nancy’s grandmother’s old kitchen bench and three junk drawers to Sylvia’s remodeled kitchens and the new family traditions she created. Because sometimes the most interesting thing in your kitchen isn’t what you cook. It’s what the room says about how you live. 5 Things You’ll Discover Why kitchens moved from outside the home to the center of family life, and what fire, servants, technology, and changing lifestyles had to do with it. Where the kitchen work triangle came from, why it was created around one cook, and why two people can still wind up bumping into each other even today in a kitchen. How Josephine Cochrane helped change kitchen history by inventing a dishwasher designed to protect her good china and eventually selling the machines commercially. Why Julia Child’s kitchen became famous, and what made hers so different. From her pegboard walls and outlined pots and pans to counters designed around the way she actually cooked and more. How your own kitchen tells a personal story, through inherited objects, family traditions, remodeling choices, junk drawers, favorite gathering places, and the things you would never throw away. It's Now Your Turn! Take a fresh look around your own kitchen. What is the one thing in that room that has a story nobody else would know? Tell us about it, then follow Family Food Stories, share this episode with someone whose kitchen has a story of its own, and leave a review so more curious listeners can find the show. Come hungry. Leave a little smarter.

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   You Had Me at Butter: Is Expensive Butter Worth It?

   Fancy butter, family enterprise, and accused witches: what are the real stories behind your favorite butter spread? Is expensive butter worth it, or are you paying for a delicious story? Cultured butter gets its tang from fermented cream. Compound butter adds flavor with ingredients like herbs or fruit. But a fancy label? That takes a little more tasting. In this episode of Family Tree Food Storie (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/)s, Nancy May and Sylvia France (https://www.linkedin.com/company/family-tree-food-stories-podcast/?viewAsMember=true) investigate what makes butter taste different, how butter molds helped women build kitchen businesses, and why a failed batch once put the neighbors under suspicion of witchcraft. The accusations were extra. You had us at butter. Nancy and Sylvia also explore what fermentation brings to cultured butter, compare familiar and specialty options, and question whether a higher price means more pleasure on your toast. They both try their hand at making fancy butter from scratch. It's a lot easier than you might think, even with a few mistakes that Nancy makes, because she roasted strawberry-balsamic compound butter just to prove that following directions is apparently sometimes negotiable. But long before fancy packaging, carved butter molds and stamps helped identify the maker. Behind those designs were women earning money from their kitchens, and reputations worth protecting. Sylvia shares her great-grandmother’s butter story, And what happened when someone's butter wouldn’t churn? Well, that's easy; you'd just blame a witch. Because convicting the neighbors was easier than taking responsibility for making a mistake. Key Takeaways: What is cultured butter? Lean, fermented cream; creates more complex flavors. Is expensive butter always better? Price alone doesn’t determine your favorite; compare flavor, texture, and the experience of how it's served and the environment you're in. What were butter molds used for? Were they really the first branding logo? Why were witches blamed for butter problems? Folklore attributed failed churning to stolen butterfat or luck—and inspired some startling supposed remedies. How do you make compound butter? Mix softened butter with herbs, garlic, honey, or roasted fruit for sweet or savory flavors to share. Listen now at Podcast.FamilyTreeFoodStories.com (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com), then gather your favorite people for a butter tasting of your own. Tell us which butter wins, share this episode with the friend who always asks for more bread, and follow Family Food Stories. We’ll bring the conversation. You bring the toast. Additional Links Shared:❤️ Book: My Family Tree, Food & Stories Journal (https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Food-Stories-Memorable/dp/1734841613/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ETT1Z6Q5J84F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9aDj51eTPwkVydIsxOUcm0psz2pwwjU2tA9464i0LYelVWMWkmc9-ft1v7W5bmJM1R9TCjrBIraYcmsIZ8wog4X4ogtbNhkG3EBH1R8jPV1zolTi0TmPdaAy0F7Jsp6SvGSwsUzfPqfaj0BfDOr2fZtOmQ4i1na0rqL3HXfBGiuIhKthz4OOetpp0nORqAyyNTZ_RR6xVoXiMRHTaYKNLZtcygneMGYBWpX9B0np3YU.S3u-1CFzDJusx_U7X3_txBApkxautt9G1C3qrLcNeTw&dib_tag=se&keywords=my+family+tree+food+%26+stories&qid=1730918662&sprefix=my+family+tree+food%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1) Awarded #1 New Release on Amazon Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/familytreefoodstories/) Story updates 📸 Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FamilyTreeFoodStories/) Family Tree Food Stories GROUP👍 TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@nancymay877): Family Tree Food Stories 👇Share Your Story With Nancy & Sylvia! (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/voicemail/): Leave us a voicemail You can send us a DM on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/FamilyTreeFoodStories) Next Thursday: we're jumping into the secrets behind the famous Ball canning jars and why people love them. We learned a ton here too. About Your Award-Winning Hosts: Nancy May (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyamay/) and Sylvia Franc (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviafrance/)e are the powerhouse team behind Family Tree, Food & Stories (https://familytree,food&stories/), a member of The Food Stories Media Network, which celebrates the rich traditions and connections everyone has around food, friends, and family meals. Nancy, an award-winning business leader, author, and podcaster, and Sylvia, a visionary author, foodie, and business leader, combine their expertise to bring captivating stories rooted in history, heritage, and food. Together, they weave stories that blend history, tradition, and the love of food, where generations connect and share intriguing mealtime stories and kitchen foibles. If you missed the first time around... now's your time to listen to Family Tree Food & Stories (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) and get inspired to make better use of what’s already in your kitchen. Then visit our page to share how you're using your leftovers this year. Waste less. Cook smarter. Tell the story behind your fridge. "Every Meal Has a Story, and Every Story is a Feast." (tm) is a trademark of the Family Tree Food & Stories podcast. ( (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/)c) Copyright 2026. All US and International Rights Reserved. @familytreefoodstories #familytreefoodandstories #foodie #foodpodcast #familyrecipe #butter #fancybutter #fermened butter #butterservice #tablesidebutterservice #frenchbutter #sheepbutter #homemade #homesteading #buttermolds #compoundbutter #steakbutter #sheepbutter #goatbutter #cowbutter #kerrygoldbutter #butterdish #buttercloshe #amishbutter #rolledbutter #amishcountryrolledbutter #hotbutteredrum #butterdrink

3. 

   24 Sept 2026

   When Family Recipes Go to Someone Else: What Do You Do?

   She Got the Cookbook. I Got Nothing. But I Found a Solution! Your sister gets Mom's or Grandma's cookbook, the one you wanted, and your best friend is lucky enough to have her mom's recipe box. The handwriting's faded, the cards are stained, and it says, among other things, "add butter the size of an egg, a tea cup of flour, and bake until done." That's it. No further instruction. What do you do when trying to make her cake just as you remember it? Well, if you have side notes like this or something similar, then you'll likely find the answer you've been looking for in this episode of Family Tree Food Stories (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) with Nancy May and Sylvia France This episode of Family Tree Food Stories (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) gives you the tools to fix the incomplete notes that grandma, mom, or another family relative left you in her recipe book or box. You'll learn how to translate confusing, old-fashioned measurements into something you can actually use to cook with today. How to track down a "lost" family recipe when nobody wrote it down, and a simple five-step method to make sure your own recipes survive for the next generation. Then, if the cookbook stuffed with notes, cards, and recipes goes to a sibling, Nancy shares an idea for solving that long-lost desire in her own way. That one isn't a cherished book on her kitchen shelf, and it's even stuffed with a few notes from her mom, as well. It's sort of a stand-in for a family heirloom. Key Things You'll Learn How to figure out vague old recipe instructions that aren't standard to today's cooking methods, so that you can actually cook them, or try to do so, for your own family and friends. We'll take the guesswork out for you. But you have to do the cooking! Why writing nothing down is normal. There really is a history lesson there that we all have to be thankful for today. Why trying a recipe yourself matters, and why you don't have to get it right. Every recipe always seems to turn out just a little different with each home cook. That's OK, and it's one way to bring an old tradition forward to today's tastes. Five ways to preserve any recipe today, no matter how you cook. You can use something as simple as a photo sent via text or email, or write the recipe on a standard 3x5 index card and share it. We also share other ideas for doing this today. Text-thread photo to a formal recipe card: you'll get concrete, low-effort ways to make sure a recipe doesn't die with the person who made it. How to find a family recipe nobody wrote down? It's easier than you might think. What to do next? If you've got a family recipe with weird instructions that you can't figure out, go to the Family Tree Food Stories Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/familytreefoodstories) page, and we'll help you test and get it right. If you figured out your own recipe mystery, post it there and tell us what you learned and how it tasted once you got it right. You might even help someone else discover their own family recipe challenge. Subscribe to Family Tree Food Stories (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/), (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) share this episode with your family’s molded-salad defender, and visit podcast.familytreefoodstories.com (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) for more deliciously strange stories hiding in plain sight. Additional Links Shared:❤️ Book: My Family Tree, Food & Stories Journal (https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Food-Stories-Memorable/dp/1734841613/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ETT1Z6Q5J84F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9aDj51eTPwkVydIsxOUcm0psz2pwwjU2tA9464i0LYelVWMWkmc9-ft1v7W5bmJM1R9TCjrBIraYcmsIZ8wog4X4ogtbNhkG3EBH1R8jPV1zolTi0TmPdaAy0F7Jsp6SvGSwsUzfPqfaj0BfDOr2fZtOmQ4i1na0rqL3HXfBGiuIhKthz4OOetpp0nORqAyyNTZ_RR6xVoXiMRHTaYKNLZtcygneMGYBWpX9B0np3YU.S3u-1CFzDJusx_U7X3_txBApkxautt9G1C3qrLcNeTw&dib_tag=se&keywords=my+family+tree+food+%26+stories&qid=1730918662&sprefix=my+family+tree+food%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1) Awarded #1 New Release on Amazon Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/familytreefoodstories/) Story updates 📸 Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FamilyTreeFoodStories/) Family Tree Food Stories GROUP👍 TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@nancymay877): Family Tree Food Stories 👇Share Your Story With Nancy & Sylvia! (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/voicemail/): Leave us a voicemail You can send us a DM on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/FamilyTreeFoodStories) Next Thursday: we're jumping into the secrets behind the famous Ball canning jars and why people love them. We learned a ton here too. About Your Award-Winning Hosts: Nancy May (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyamay/) and Sylvia Franc (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviafrance/)e are the powerhouse team behind Family Tree, Food & Stories (https://familytree,food&stories/), a member of The Food Stories Media Network, which celebrates the rich traditions and connections everyone has around food, friends, and family meals. Nancy, an award-winning business leader, author, and podcaster, and Sylvia, a visionary author, foodie, and business leader, combine their expertise to bring captivating stories rooted in history, heritage, and food. Together, they weave stories that blend history, tradition, and the love of food, where generations connect and share intriguing mealtime stories and kitchen foibles. If you missed the first time around... now's your time to listen to Family Tree Food & Stories (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/) and get inspired to make better use of what’s already in your kitchen. Then visit our page to share how you're using your leftovers this year. Waste less. Cook smarter. Tell the story behind your fridge. "Every Meal Has a Story, and Every Story is a Feast." (tm) is a trademark of the Family Tree Food & Stories podcast. ( (https://podcast.familytreefoodstories.com/)c) Copyright 2026. All US and International Rights Reserved. @familytreefoodstories #familytreefoodandstories #foodie #foodpodcast #familyrecipe #joyofcooking @joyofcooking #joyofcooking (https://www.facebook.com/joyofcooking) #cookbooks #grandmasRecipes #favoritefood #familymeals #FoodHistory #historypodcast #podcastrecommendations #bettycrocker #bettycrockercookbook #retrofood @thejoyofcooking

Who has been a guest on Family Tree Food Stories

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Sara Barton
• Meredith
• Frida
• Jim Sichko
• Chef Ouita Michael

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Contact Family Tree Food Stories

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Family Tree Food Stories