Simplifying the Food Side of Hosting with Karen from Loop and Dash

Join Michelle Mize, founder of Sun Cookery, and special guest Karen from Loop & Dash for an inspiring conversation about taking the stress out of hosting and entertaining at home. In this episode, they dive deep into practical solutions for one of the biggest hosting hurdles - food preparation. Karen shares her journey from cooking novice to meal planning expert, offering valuable insights on hosting gatherings of all sizes, from intimate family dinners to large group celebrations.

Discover simple yet effective hosting tips, including make-ahead meal strategies, cost-effective menu planning for groups, and how to balance perfection with connection when entertaining. Learn about Karen's "P's and C's" approach to hosting, from table settings to entertainment, and get expert advice on handling hosting mishaps with grace. Whether you're an experienced host or hesitant to entertain due to food preparation concerns, this episode offers actionable tips and encouragement for creating memorable gatherings.

Key topics include:

• Strategies for stress-free meal planning
• Budget-friendly entertaining ideas
• Tips for hosting large groups
• Make-ahead meal solutions
• Building connection through food and hospitality
• Modern approaches to Southern hospitality

Tune in for a warm, authentic conversation about bringing people together through food and hospitality.

Transcript

Hi everyone. Welcome to Suppers and Soirees. I'm Michelle Mize, your host  and founder of Sun Cookery. Here we are again for, I don't know what number episode this is, but I am always excited to have someone on as a guest. And this week I have a very good friend, a colleague in the industry of hosting and entertainment and food, and we are just ready to dive in and have a great conversation.

And I'm just so, I actually, before I get Introduce Karen officially. I want to tell you how I met her because I think it's really important to talk about connection and how people, how just random stuff can change your entire life, which is what we talk about at sun cookery. It's what we talk about at suppers and soirees, and that is connecting with others.

Opening your front doors. And in this case, it wasn't about a front door, but it was about a, an email and a phone call. And then a regular phone call that brought me together with Karen and, um, the parallels that her and I have are insane. And, um, uh, that's, so that's what I want to tell you about. So I was in a business, a women's business group and Karen had joined.

And after one of our meetings, she reached out to me And said, would you like to just have like a side conversation outside of our group? And we did, and that turned into a weekly call and we started supporting each other and each other's goals and our businesses. And then the real connection started to happen when I found out that we were kind of born and raised and have Southern roots and our paths have crossed in so many crazy ways.

And now she has found herself in the Midwest. Just like I found myself in the Midwest and we have blended families and it was just, just crazy. So that is why today I'm really excited to have this great friend of mine on to share with you, um, her business. I'm going to introduce her hosting, um, repertoire, we're going to have such a fun discussion.

I think you're going to love hearing a different perspective on everything. And I really just want to give you a full overview of Karen, um, through a huge set of questions I have ready for her. And I can't wait to hear all her answers. So with all that said, let me introduce Karen and her company is Loop & Dash.

So Karen, tell us. Just give us your own little intro and overview. Well, um, first of all, hello. I am so happy to be here. Um, I think that this Suppers and soirees podcast is such an exciting thing that you're doing and the conversations are great and I am just excited to be a part of it.  Um, so I'm Karen.

Um, I'm the founder of Loop and Dash and we help busy families take the stress out of dinner time so that they can focus more on connecting with the people that they love.  Um, it's through a membership and we have easy to follow recipes, menus, grocery list, a whole slew of, uh, resources that, that just help simplify dinnertime for, for busy families.

Um, it, it all came about through my own experience of being a full time working mom, um, with a full time working husband, blended family with four kids, and we really, Decided early on that we wanted to make, um, dinnertime really an intentional part of our day. We wanted to make sure that we were connecting, spending time with our kids, um, and that is not an easy thing to do. 

So, um, through some trial and error, I came up with a system that worked for us, um, and now I'm happy to share that with other families.  We'll dig in a little bit more about your blended family. I mean, let's, let's get to the root of this, which is the number of people you are feeding. Okay.  So we're a blended family of, um, six.

So we have four kids and two dogs and partridge in a pear tree.  I mean, it's. It's a little crazy right now. They're all teenagers, but when we first merged our families, they were young. I mean, I think our youngest was three at that time, and, um, they were all preschool, elementary school age, and, you know, we really just wanted to make sure that the time that we were all together, um, We were able to really be intentional about connection. 

I love that. And I can, I can, this is again, one of our parallels, right? Is I have a blended family, which is what brought me to the Midwest from the South, um, 15 years ago and that. Um, you know, especially as a mom. I mean, let's just be real, right? I think emotionally we carry  a completely different  set of emotions,  right?

And guilt and, you know, you know, you there, there is a lot of guilt there where you, you know, you're not with your kids all the time. So, um, yeah, it's just always been really important to me to make sure that when we are all together, that  that we're using that time  and the best way possible. Right. And I think, obviously, given your passion for food, um, and being around the table, right, that's, it, it's, it just became so important to you to, to say, all right, I'm going to make the best of every one of these moments at the table.

I'm going to create something that is simple, but beautiful and whole, you know, and gives me the time to show my family. The love that I feel and I think so many people do that. I mean, especially those of us, those of us who enjoy cooking and enjoy being in the kitchen, it is our love language. It is how we show our love and our appreciation for others.

And, um, I mean, I, this is one of the, probably one of the primary reasons I just fell in love with Karen and Loop & Dash was. Because I could, I really could relate. And I'm, I know there's tons of people out there listening and tons of people out there in the world that women, especially in men that just feel that way, you know, um, some of my favorite memories from growing up are, you know, dinnertime memories, sitting around the table, goofing off talking, and it wasn't always a culinary masterpiece.

I mean, a lot of times it was simple, um, Simple, good food. And it was, I mean, my mom just was like feeding her family, you know, so I just want to be able to give that to my kids too. And I think in today's age, we're so busy and so scheduled and kids have so many activities and there's just so much going on that people miss the simplicity of just sitting down around the table together. 

Well, I know that it.  I know that you're, you have your, I mean, I feel like both of us have lived many lives, right?  We, we both have great worldly experiences. We're not going to talk about age. We're going to talk about the experiences we've had in life, right?  But I think one of the things without having to dig into your career necessarily, or your previous career, or, you know, your, your life path, I would like you to share.

You know,  obviously you shared kind of why you decided to start this. However, do you have, like, do you have a cooking background? Do you like, what is it that.  You know, what inspired you to start in this industry and say, I'm going to do this, you know, um, is there a person or a moment in time that you're just like, I'm going to, I'm going in this direction.

Let's see. Because I think that's important for people to hear just in general, because, um. There's so much, there's so many people in, let's just say in the hospital, the at home hospitality space. Right. And we all have a point of view, but I think I would really like to hear or for you to share just like, what made you go?

I'm doing this. This is, this is critical. I have to do it. I'm going to, I'm going to start sharing my menus and taking beautiful pictures. By the way, everyone needs to get on Loop and dash. com. You need to see her website. You need to download the app. You need to see the gorgeous food because. I'm a foodie.

I'm a trained culinary chef, but I love looking at Karen's feed. I love looking at everything she's doing because it's pretty and it's clean and it's bright and it's crisp. So, I mean, did you have a food background? Did you have a photography background? Like, you know what I mean? Like, let's get to the nitty gritty on that.

Quickly enough, um, I Did never cooked growing up. My mom cooked, but grandma grandmother was a great cook. Um, I was just like, no, I'm busy. I have my own thing going on. My sister used to cook with my mom all the time. I was just never really into it. Um, I've always loved food, but I was never into cooking.

And then when I got out on my own. That's when the Food Network became so big and I was like, huh, I think I can do this.  So I basically taught myself how to cook through watching the Food Network and trial and error. And I have a  thing for cookbooks. I have a huge cookbook collection. And I just love, I just loved trying out different recipes.

And I think I built off of that. And then, um, then I had the confidence to create my own recipes. Not to say that they've always gone, but that always goes well, because my kids will tell you that some of them are horrible.  They gave me a hard time, about one time in particular, that I was on sort of a, I'm a vegetarian kick.

And so I tried to make these like chickpea patties. It was, I mean, it was horrible. Like, when I tell you it was a disaster, it was a disaster and they're all sitting at the table eat, you know, trying to eat and be polite and not say anything. And I sat down last, of course, because that's what always happens.

And. Um, I said, well, how, you know, how is it guys? And they were like, why don't you try it?  Tell us what you think. And I think about it and I was like, we're, we're ordering pizza. Like, this is just not going to happen tonight.  So, you know, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. Um,  but you know, it's, it's getting in there and trying and I, and mostly, yeah, I've taught myself, but I love food.

I love trying different foods. I love for my kids to try different foods. That's something we've always  valued is. you know, not just feeding kids chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, but really trying to expand, but, you know, expand their horizons and what they What they are exposed to well, I think what's important or what I want to highlight from what you said is so that because this is what I feel like makes loop and dash.

So, like,  available accessible to anybody listen to listen to this. Everyone Karen did not cook.  She taught herself through the, I mean, that's the era. That's the era we grew up in was Food Network. Heck, I remember Emeril Lagasse before he was on Food Network and he had his own show. Like that was, we lived that when all of a sudden, I mean, I know we had Julia Childs, but it was definitely Food Network that you had all these different personalities that you could connect with different styles of cooking.

That's when you really started to  understand, Oh, there's different ingredients and all this. So, I want everyone to understand that like clearly that that is what makes loop and dash so accessible. It's she's done the things. Karen's done the things. She's bombed the recipes. She's found the ones that keep it simple and beautiful and delicious so that you can get around the table quicker.

And I think that is like, I, I'm so glad you shared that with us because that is to me is what just differentiate you in this space of menu planning for your family. You know, it's so awesome. Yeah. And you know what? I probably don't do everything perfectly like,  Hey, I don't think that there's one way to do things.

I think that you find what works for you and it's trial and error, you know? And I think the more you do it and the more you cook and the more you experience things and the more you mess up, the more confidence you have in the kitchen. So, Karen, this, I want to  kind of loop back, ha ha, no pun intended,  loop back to the why of this episode.

Every episode, we have a very clear, like, storyline or objective and why I wanted to have Karen from Loop and Dash on is that I believe Karen's business fills a gap for Loop. A lot of people who I mean who like to host and that gap is the food part. So that is the why for today. We're going to be talking about, um, specifically for those of you who would say, I love to host, but I am outsourcing the food, or I would rather just order the pizza or whatever.

I think Karen's, um, business and what she offers is can fill that gap, whether you're hosting a small group or a large group. And we'll talk about that later. I mean, she's got plenty of recipes that are out there that can be, you know, more casserole style, more family style that a. That can work in a hosted environment.

So that is the why of our episode is really how we're feeling, filling the food gap of hosting. Um, and so, but before we dive into all that good stuff, I have to start off with my P's and C's. It's a segment where we like to kind of put our guests in the hot seat. And, you know, we say hosting for connection, not perfection, but we all have our own talents and our own, um, uh, focus.

So sometimes we can be more perfectionist about things and hosting and sometimes we're just like, oh, heck, it's just to get together. And that's the connection part. So, Karen, we want to know where you are on the spectrum. Okay. I have a feeling. I know where she's at.  I'm just going to say I'm visualizing a straight line. 

Well, I tell you, my mantra for 2025 is.  Less perfection, more connection. So  this is perfect. This is so perfect.  Okay. So P is for perfectionist. C is for connection, meaning you're going to let it go and just let the, the hosted event happen. So talk to us about invitations. How, where are you on the invitation scale?

Okay. I love a good invitation. Like I love, love, love a good invitation. I.  And maybe a little bit of a stationary addict,  but like, when it comes to real life, I rarely send out  a, you know, perfect invitation. A lot of times, um, especially with close friends, it's a text or if we're having a larger party, it'll be an or something digital.

Um.  But I mean, I do love a good invitation, but I don't always do it. Okay, you're right. You just want to get the message out there. We're getting together and you'll use you'll use whatever channel. Okay. I love that. I'm also a stationary addict. Yeah, it's  nothing like. Walking into paper stores. There's nothing like I  know, I know there's this beautiful paper store in Chicago that I used to go to when I lived there and I would, I think I spent hours.

It would not buy anything. That's the worst part. I was like, what do I really need this for?  Okay. So what about, um, let's talk about, well, talk about menu. How about, how do you tackle the menu and the food? Are you more perfectionist  or connection?  Um, I would say, gosh, you're right. I probably am right down the middle.

And I think it depends too on the audience or the, who you're inviting. Um, if it's. A group of really close friends. Maybe it'll be like a chilly night where you have different kinds of chilies or, you know,  tacos and tequila. I mean, you know, something, something fun and festive, but, um, but easy. I really like things that you can make ahead of time.

Um,  so that's 1 of my favorite hosting tips. I would say, I don't know if that's, this is the section for that, but go ahead.  But if it's a larger group or something more formal,  and yeah, the food, the food becomes a really big focus. Okay. And no, I love that tip. I mean, that's a highlight. That'll be. On our blog.

We'll talk about it. We'll talk about it some more, but I, I think it's so easy. I, I, I mean, I'm just sort of an anxious person, so anything that I can do to eliminate the anxiety before hosting, um, I try to do and one of those things is. Making sure I'm as prepared as possible. So anything that I can make ahead of time where I'm not welcoming people into my home and trying to finish cooking and trying to, you know, set that to anything that I can do ahead of time.

I'm going to do.  And, you know, Karen, that is probably where I am on my end. And this is really about you. And I just want to say this because you're making me I think it's a good thing to share that I have evolved as a hostess because over the years, I feel like in a. Less perfectionist way because I went to cooking school.

I always have grand visions of a menu. I mean, I have it out to a tea. Every, every part tells a story. I used to build menus where the welcome cocktail flavor, they wrapped up at the end of the night in the dessert. I mean, I was very distinct, but it got me in trouble so many times where I was. It's too many elements.

It's for a certain size group, unless you have assistance and I don't have assistance,  you know, and, um, and then you're right. It's so stressful because you, you know, when you're too much of a perfectionist around the food and you've got people coming in, you lose the entire purpose of hosting, which is to greet your guests, hang out with your guests.

So I think that's a great hosting tip that you just shared, which is anything that you can create in advance, have in the fridge, pop in the oven. It allows all of that. Okay, so relax and then you  are, you're a better host because then you, you can enjoy the party or the dinner or the whatever too. Right. A hundred percent.

Okay. So what about entertainment? Let's talk about like entertainment or games or conversation starters. To me, they kind of all, that's one bucket. Like that's the, that's the vibe, right? How are you when it comes to setting the vibe?  I am really relaxed with setting the vibe. I feel like if you have a good environment where people feel comfortable and relaxed, like the vibe kind of takes care of itself.

I'm all about a good playlist. So. Okay, that is that's my that's my vibe setting. I would guess I guess she would say, but no, I we don't really do a lot of. Games or  anything like that. It's just sort of let the night flow as it will. Okay. Okay. I like that. Is that for C or I guess that's more C then, right?

I think that's more connection. Um, and, um, but that also, I just wanted to share knowing you as well as I know you now, that is your style and see, that's one of the things that, you know, I try to push with SunCookery and with hosting is that. Really when you're hosting, your whole point is to be you, you do you, you know, and so that doesn't surprise me at all with you because you are really laid back.

You're so welcoming. Um, I don't ever feel any stress or tension around you. So, um, I know what a great host you are. So yeah, I think that, I think that's all about connection. Um, okay. So any, anything else with regards to perfection or connection when it comes to hosting that.  That comes to your mind about your style. 

Um, I do love to set a pretty table. Oh, okay. I forgot about the table. I forgot about decor. I'm glad that's why I threw it over to you. I'm like, wait, there's one more element. Decor! No, I do love to set a pretty table. And I think,  I think it shows, sort of, I guess that's more on the P side for decor. Um, but I think that it shows. 

That I don't know if respect is the right word, or it shows that you're valuing the time that you're spending with the people that you're hosting, like, you put the extra effort in. It's like, when you get dressed to go get dressed up to go out to dinner, it shows that you are putting your best foot forward, you know, yeah, you care.

You care. Yeah. Yeah, I may be a pee on that side for sure. Yeah. But what's what's interesting about your answer, though, is that that's what's important to you because you want to show that you care and you've put a lot of thought into it, but that is ultimately to try to show that part of you that's bringing people together.

And so, um, yeah, it all it all. I think what what, um,  I think what so many people do is they wrap themselves up in that and it doesn't show who they are. Are right. Like you can, you can be inspired by magazines or Pinterest board or something you saw or whatever, but it's the, it's the stressing out over.

It doesn't look like this. I love to see people's inspiration and how they put it together. One of my favorite tabletops that a friend did, she invited us over for a birthday party for her daughter. And it was in Wisconsin in spring, which is, as you know, in Midwest spring is really still the winter. And she had these, she had these.

Cute snowflake like, um, decor pieces. I almost think they were like, um, pot holders, you know, I don't know. They were beautiful. They were kind of like these thick felt cutouts of snowflakes, but then she, I had some also of spring flowers and she intermixed them and she goes, well, that's because that's, what's happening right now. 

It's so true.  It's winter slash spring. And this is how I feel today. And I love that. I mean, it, it made perfect sense. But I think you hit on something though. And, you know, part of hosting is being who you are. So like, to me, I love pretty things. So setting a pretty tablescape is sort of my thing, but if that's not your thing and.

Playing games or doing something more fun and active and that's who you are then go for that Yeah,  I mean all of this hosting dinner on the table It's it's all just a vehicle for connection right even even the food the food is  It's delicious. We all love food, but it's really so that you can make people feel loved and taken care of and,  um, yeah, it's just all about connecting.

Yep. Yep. Well, good. Well, thanks for letting me put you in the hot seat. I like that. Well, I also think for people who are listening, if they're not watching on YouTube, if they're listening, just knowing where our guests. Stand on that. It gives you, it lets you know where you know it. It is showing, it's showing us more about your personality and your style.

So I appreciate you doing that. Yeah. Okay. So, all right, so we're jumping into our why and we, I wanted to talk about, and really dive into Karen's hosting style and so that.  Listeners that are hung up on food, you know, we usually have a section called wine about it. Like, what do, what would you want about?

Well, the wine about it is our why it's I want our, our podcast or our podcast today to be our discussion today to be all about the people that want about the food element of hosting because I think that is a major. Like non starter for people, I have had plenty of people say, I am not hosting because I don't want to deal with the food and I just, it's not my thing.

And that is the part that stops them from hosting at all. And I, um, so that's, that's our entire purpose behind this conversation today. And so let's talk about just to you directly, Karen. What is your favorite type of gathering to host your favorite type? Because I know you host a lot. I know you do your family get togethers.

You know, you're bringing your blended family together on the days when everybody's together and the days when they're not. I know that you host a lot for, Um, in for business purposes, I know you host a lot in your community, um, in your kids network of friends. So I know that you're always hosting at your home, but what is your specific type of gathering your favorite to host? 

Well, right now, um, the, uh, season of life that we're in is teenagers. So we have, um, our four kids right now are 13, 14, 15, and 17. So  it's, it's fun.  Wait, can we pause 13, 14, 15, and 17? You are in it to the neck. We are. Yeah, we're in it. We're in it right now for sure.  So right now I would say my favorite.  Type of gathering to host is our really good friends and all of their kids who are all the same ages.

And, you know, there's 20, 25 people running around and everybody's having fun. It's casual. Like I said, a lot of times we'll do tacos. We'll do like a taco bar or we'll do make your own pizzas or, you know, stuff that can be a crowd pleaser that  isn't super specific. Um, everybody can put. Whatever toppings they want on tacos, everyone can put whatever toppings they want on pizza.

So, um, that's, that's sort of the  season that we're in right now. Um, we just, We're recording this towards the end of 2024, beginning of 2025. And we just had a ton of holiday hosting. Um, so for holiday hosting, I love to do just like heavy apps. And again, a lot of the stuff that you can make ahead of time, but people are, you know, more like a cocktail party vibe where  good food, but stuff that people can pick up with their fingers or. 

I don't know, carry around on a plate, not a, not a big sit down shebang. So, yeah, those are, those are kind of my favorites right now. And I like that too, because I love like a chili. I like, I think tacos are so fun and easy and every, you know what? I don't think in tacos. My daughter will go or we really don't talk about this again.

I'm like, everybody likes them. It's everybody likes and you can mix it too. You can, like, we just did. We just hosted a big party and we did. Shredded salsa Verde shredded beef tacos, which is one of the most popular recipes and the Loop and dash. Okay. Um, and it is so easy and it's so delicious. You can make it for dinner.

You can double it and make it for, you know, a huge crowd. Um, so that's really good. You can do chicken tacos. You can do ground beef tacos. You can, I mean, they're just, it's, it's endless and you can mix up the toppings. So, and don't you think, don't you think also for, um,  For people and I brought this up, I think a couple episodes ago, or it got brought up in 1 of my conversations about the financial, um, components of hosting, right?

When you're hosting, you know, and you're if you're providing all the food, I would say tacos is 1 of those that lands in a very cost effective spot of hosting. when it comes to food, right? Because you can, it's not a, it's not as much meat as you think per taco and you're filling up people's bellies with a starch from the shell, some fat or cream from sour cream or cheeses or whatever, you know, so it's, it's a little bit of everything.

All bundled up and all of that. I would say tacos is one of the more cost effective menus. You could put for a larger gathering. Don't you agree? I would agree. Um, another thing that we like to do in the summers as we'll do different kinds of salads, like an entree salad and.  Grill, you know, so then you have your protein that you're grilling and your salad.

You can make completely ahead of time and it's filling. It's good, cost effective, like you said. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's my favorite things to do on the summer. Okay. Love it. Okay. So you talked earlier about your chickpea disaster.  Well, let's just make it broader. Tell us about one of your most memorable hosting disasters, like  Have you had one?

First of all, have you even had one? Oh yeah, um, so One time we were having a very fancy dinner party around Christmas and I wanted to make a beef tenderloin,  , you know where this is going. I do. So  I am, I, I would not recommend this, but I'm notorious for trying a recipe like for the first time for, I know it's horrible.

I shouldn't never do it, but I, I'm ambitious, so  , I just do this sometimes and I had never. done this particular recipe for beef tenderloin and beef tenderloin is not inexpensive, right? So I followed this recipe and it, my whole kitchen was like smoky because I used butter and it's a high temperature and then the butter You know, splatters on the oven and then it's smoke.

It was, it was horrible, but we figured it out and it was fine. And it actually was delicious,  but we just thought we're going to have to call it the fire department before everybody got there. It's fine. Now, did you keep your cooler? Did you just open another bottle of wine?  The second option,  it  will be fine.

It was a little stressful, but  you know, I, and I think too,  I mean,  I don't know what's the worst that can happen. You have to order pizza or something. And most of the people, most of the time, if you're inviting people into your home, they know you, they like you, your friends, your at least acquaintances or colleagues, like, nobody's going to. 

Hate you because you burned the beef tenderloin. Right. Right. No, exactly. And I think that's another like kind of skipping around, but it's kind of like another whine about it for the people who say they avoid the food thing. Right. It's like at the end of the day, I mean, there's a couple of tips there.

Just don't do it. I've said this one a hundred times. Do not test out a recipe the night you're hosting. Do not do not do not do it. Don't do it. Um, and secondly, um, don't, uh, don't worry about. The end result, just put your all into it. People are going to be fine. You can always adjust. I mean, I've dumped entire entrees before and said, I hope you guys like side dishes because this is what we're doing.

Yeah, it happens. Exactly. So don't let that hold you back. I mean, and you just prove that you, you didn't let it hold you back. You did what you could. You got through the smoke. It was fine.  And I would even say for people who really don't like to cook, but want to host.  Buy the food at the grocery store.

That's pre made. Yep. I mean, seriously, we just hosted a dinner party and things switched. We were supposed to go out to dinner and last minute, everyone's like, let's just  not go out to dinner, let's eat at home. And we had a million things going on. And I was like, you know what, we're getting lasagna and we're getting salad and that's what we're having.

And it was delicious. And no one, we had the best time. Nobody. Oh, this would have been better if you would have made the lasagna from scratch.  Well, speaking of that, can you talk about, because I want to tie in, you know,  I like the, I mean, I like the idea of like, yes, just outsource at the grocery store or find your favorite deli, get a couple of platters and you're good to go.

However, when I go through all of the loop and dash recipes that are in there, I feel like there are so many that you could freeze in advance and have, you could almost have a little. And so I think that's a really good question. And I think that there's a stock pile of some  of those type of items that you can say, oh, I've got this covered.

I mean, can you.  Talk about some of that, that you offer in Loop and dash. Um, or some of that top of mind that are like, yeah, this is a great one. Cause I know that I. Is it the beef enchiladas? There's something that you have. And I saw, I came across it the other day when I was going through the app. And I was like, oh, that's a great one to freeze.

Like you could do, you could do aluminum platters of like a dozen of those. Um, I mean, I feel like loop and dash has those kind of recipes in there that you just might want to double or triple.  So, Karen, you just mentioned, which I think is a great idea, right? Is like, hey, when you're on the fly, or if something goes awry.

You've always got your grocery store that probably does some kind of platters in advance or your favorite deli. However, I know just digging through Loop and Dash's repertoire of recipes, there are plenty of recipes that you have in place that could be doubled or tripled. And could also serve as like, you know, if you have the freezer space or if you're rolling into a certain season of hosting, whether it's the spring, the winter, the fall, the summer, the whatever, that you could use loop and dashes recipes to kind of bulk up and have some freezer meals in there for stuff like this.

Correct?  There's a ton of stuff like that. I mean, there's stuff that you could freeze that we, um, have a lot of, um, slow cooker recipes, which I think are great for entertaining, um, your, your house smells good, the food's ready when you're ready, you don't have to stress over it. Um, yeah, there's a lot of stuff like that that you can do ahead of time, or, you know, do some cooking and add some pre made components.

They're, they're just a lot of options that.  When you're hosting that can make things easier and make it a little less stressful. Yeah. I mean, y'all really need to dig into loop and dash. And I, I think that's the 1, 1 of my favorite components of that is when I'm just brain dead and I'm trying to actually what I would say is a benefit to me for loop and dash when it comes to food is you simplify it for me and, and, um, I need that.

And I'm someone who loves the food component, but I get way wrapped up in my own foodie chef y self. And I love that about Loop and dash that it's beautiful, um, ingredients, fresh ingredients, just pretty and simple. And I can batch them out. I think that's like a huge, like bonus, bonus, bonus. So I need, I want to say that I want to share that with everyone listening.

Well, do you know what the, um, main.  Pieces of positive feedback that we get from our members is I'm so glad I just don't have to decide what's for dinner.  Because I think we all make a million decisions every single day, and then you're like, great. Now I want to cook dinner, but what do I even cook and you look on Pinterest or you look on some of these other apps and there are thousands and thousands of recipes and, you know, loop and dash really does simplify that we're like, here's your menu.

You don't like your menu, switch it out with something, you know, switch out one of the recipes with something different. Yeah. And just. Just cook this. Like, don't, don't think about it. Don't worry about deciding. Um, we try to,  you know, a lot of the point of loop and dash is to try to take some of these.

Speed bumps or barriers away from getting dinner on the table. And I mean, researching recipes, you can go down a rabbit hole. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. So it's just one of the ways it makes it easier. Yep. I agree. Agreed. And that's coming from a. I'm a foodie trained cook person. Don't do, I mean, I only will start digging out.

I mean, I have all my recipe books have flags around them and sticky notes for days because different things inspire me. Some of them are organized by an ingredient. Um, but for the day to day. I kind of get, I get in my own way. That is what I whine about. I get in my own darn way. And the kids are like, mom, you're a cook, you know?

And I'm like, oh, you're right. This is a little too much. And it's the simple, fresh, beautiful, get it on the table. That's, that's, that's what gets you through your week, you know? So, um, love that. Okay. So Karen, tell us about your hosting style or your hosting philosophy. Do you have one?  That's a good question.

Gosh, put me on the spot.  Um, I, I just like to keep it relaxed. I like for everybody to have a good time.  And like I said, I think that if you set up the environment. For people to be relaxed and people to have a good time, then they will, um, always have, you know, a little appetizer for them to munch on when they first get there, have the food mostly kind of done. 

Some good cocktails never heard good music.  Well, okay. So here's what you're not saying. So I'm going to say it for you. Okay.  Karen's talking like this is just my hosting philosophy, which is a very, like you're covering all the bases, but I think what's important, or at least that I want to share is you were.

Either experience a lot of hosting in your lifestyle or in your lifetime, you were around a lot of great hosts. Um, I also know that you're from the South where that is kind of a thing. So, you know, we know we were taught at an early age, you know, the front doors open, come on in and all the things you're listing off is like kind of the stuff that is learned.

I feel like, don't you think? I mean, or it's just in your DNA. My mom was a great host and she wasn't a. Fancy. We're gonna pull out all the staff's house. She was just very warm and welcoming. I mean, I remember for, um, Christmas parties for my dad's work. It was, you know, everybody show up Thanksgiving. If you don't have anywhere to go come here.

So, you know, our Thanksgivings would be family, friends, neighbors. Yeah, well, who didn't have anywhere else to go so I think I think just that  warm welcoming philosophy. Um, I was exposed to a lot growing up and that's what I try to try to bring to the table. Now. Yeah, you're very good at it. Very good at it. 

Um, there's 1 thing that we talk about here too. So, you know, when suburbs and stories, because we believe you can host as simple as a supper, right? Just like, you do dinner around the table every day. Um, we can host something is amazing and over the top as a story. And then, of course, there's all the stuff in between, um, and. 

One of the things that I like to hear from each one of our guests is Sunday's supper. And so you and I both have that southern connection. First, I want to know, did you call it dinner or supper growing up?  We called it both. Um, yeah, I think, I think.  It was supper or dinner or like dinner seemed more formal.

So, like, we'd have Sunday dinner and then like supper during the week. If that makes sense. Okay. Okay. Well, it's, it's interesting to me because so many people say it, it interchange it differently. It's just a fun question. Um,  I always felt like supper was,  I was going to say you were, your family's from close to where my family's from.

So, yeah, regionally, I think probably it was pretty similar. Well, stuff, but yeah, I think so. Supper the way I remember it growing up was supper was where after church on Sundays, we went over to my grandmother and grandfather's house and had supper, but it wasn't at night. It was like midday supper. I mean, We'd probably get over there around noon or one, but sometimes we didn't really eat.

So it was weird, like two or three. It was just whenever everything came together. So we called that supper. And then my grandma would just leave all the leftovers out. And then you would kind of pick  for as long as you were there. Like if we were there all night, you know, shooting the breeze, the people are, you know, the business we're still laying out.

No one worried about food, foodborne illnesses back then.  It was just laying on the counter.  But anyway, so do you have, whether it's a Sunday supper or a certain day of the week, I'm assuming it may be changes in your household because of the blended family and all the scheduling, but do you have a regular, you know, Sunday supper or get together, um, that you guys do?

And if you do, what is, what does it look like?  We don't necessarily have like a Sunday supper, but we have, I mean, there are. Times during the week where we're like, all right, tonight's like the  night. Yeah. Yes. Get more more scheduled. Yeah. Okay,  it, it looks, I mean, it looks different. A lot of times our kids love food.

Um, thank goodness. It's really inconvenient if they didn't. Um, but a lot of times I'll just ask them what, you know, what do you, what, what sounds good? What do you, you know, what do you want? And then if it's a more complicated recipe or something like that, then, um, That's when we have like the special, the special Sunday supper dinner together. 

I love it a little bit more time because a lot of, you know, during the week or  most, most nights we're just trying to feed the masses and they, it is the masses right now because they all eat. Yeah.  I love that. I just love Sunday. I love the idea of Sunday supper and a regular occurrence, no matter what day of the week it's on, or, or even, you know, once a month.

You know, let's have our, our regular gathering. Um, no, I say we do like a breakfast more like that's sort of the special on the weekend. Okay. Cook a big breakfast. That's a, that's a big winner in our house right now. Okay. You know, what's funny about that? You saying that just now is actually the only day I like to go out to breakfast is on Sundays. 

My favorite thing is if my family will say, let's go to breakfast on Sundays. Cause I don't, for some reason I get to Sunday and I don't want to start the day cooking. And I always like, I like the idea of on Sunday, someone brings me a big breakfast.  I like it when anyone cooks, right? Anytime.  All right. So we're about to wrap up, but is there anything, Karen, anything else that people need to know? 

Let's just wrap up with all about Loop and Dash, your subscription offerings, the app, how to get connected to you, your website, all the stuff.  I'm going to give you the floor. All right. Um, so. Loop and dash our website is loop and dash dot com. Um, you can find us on Instagram at loop underscore dash.  Let's see the app.

The app is new this year. So that was a really exciting 2024 rollout. So our membership now is all housed within an app. So each week our members get a new menu with four easy to make recipes. The recipes you can customize them by serving size. So  they're normally four to six servings. Um, and then you, you can, you can do two servings, you can do eight servings, 10, whatever, whatever you do, um, whatever you need to do to customize it, uh, and the, and the app calculates that for you.

Yes, so however you customize your menu, you can add more recipes if you know that you are super, super busy and you can only cook two nights, you can. Delete some recipes, you can create whatever menu, um, works for you for that week and you can even create your own menu. So, if you have, like, your, you know, five favorite recipes, create your own menu in there and then, you know, use that whenever whenever you want.

Um, and then based on your menu. You get a customizable grocery list as well. So it takes everything that you need to make all of those recipes and puts it into a grocery list that you can check off. You can look for your pantry. See what you have. If you need to add milk or you need to add eggs or whatever, you can add to it  and then it also gives you a list of prep ahead instructions or ideas.

So if you have lots of time on Sunday and you want to get ahead for the week, um, there are plenty of ideas for things that you can make ahead of time. Either components of the recipes, um, you can, some recipes you can make completely ahead of time where that way on the weeknight, you're just warming things up. 

Love it. There's also a resource section that has, you know, lots of resources on  printable, um, menu planners. There are ideas on how to just meal prep, meal plan, um, all sorts of stuff and it's growing every time we, we create something new, we put it in there. So, yeah, I love it. Love it. Love it. There is absolutely. 

Everyone listening who whines about food. There is no excuse. You need to just hook up with loop and dash, get your subscription. You're set. You are absolutely set. Well, I love it. We're going to have in the liner notes. It's for those of you who find us on, um, any of our podcast channels. So whether it's Buzzsprout, Apple, Spotify, I know I'm missing one.

We're on YouTube. I will put all the links in there. Also go to Loop and Dash, get on her email news, uh, newsletter. Same with suncookery com. If you're not. Uh, connected with us on email. You need to be because that's where we send out freebies and things. Um, Karen, I love you. I hope that, um,  I hope that you'll come back on again.

I think Karen and I have some pretty big ideas that we've been toying around, um, this past year as we've gotten to know each other and know each other's businesses. And I just want to share that our brands are so aligned in the fact that we just love to host at home. We know that it's. It's a great way to connect with people.

Um, it's a tough world out there. It's a, it's a different world. And we both agree that food and hosting at home is just such a, a very authentic and organic way to bring people together from all parts of your life. And, um, this is one of the reasons why I, I'm looking forward to having Karen on. More often.

And, um, please send us feedback. Also, this is really important as we're getting this suppers and stories podcast out there. We need to know what you like to listen to, what you like to hear are the tips. Great. Um, you know, anything at all. We love feedback. So, um, shoot it my way. I'm michelle@suncookery.com M I C H E L L E. And, um, Karen. Oh my gosh. Thank you, . Thank you. This was, this was really fun. You much, it really is. Um, I think that's all we've got. Uh, love you to death. I, I am ha I don't know, I think we're, we're rolling this one out at the beginning of January, so we'll be fresh into 2025.  So I hope you have a great rest of the year as you wrap up these last couple of days.

And I can't wait to see what you're doing. I hope you were taking a little pause on all your hosting. All right. Thank you, Karen. Y'all have a great one. Thanks for joining us. Thanks. I'm Michelle, your host and founder of Sun Cookery. Um, we'll see you next time on Suppers and Soirées.