Episode 4.02 - From Marinara To Malort: What We’re Posting And Why It’s Worth A Look

Craving flavor without the scroll fatigue? We’re packing our feed with 30-second kitchen wins that still honor slow-food soul: quick-start marinara with seared chicken thighs, weeknight pasta made in the food processor, and a stovetop espresso ritual that beats drip by a mile. It’s the best of Italian comfort distilled into bite-size clips, with full recipes and stories linked when you’re ready to go deeper.

Want your own cooking experience?  Learn how here:

https://giasitaliankitchen.biz

We take you behind the camera and into our wider world: a physics-teacher brother pulling off the tablecloth trick, a Tuscan friend named Susanna guiding cannelloni with silky béchamel, and the sweet shock of a golden Pandoro dusted in sugar like fresh snow. Between laughs about Chicago’s notorious Malört and the steady rhythm of sourdough that replaces store-bought loaves, the theme stays the same—good food is a daily practice, a shared language, and a reason to gather.

We also open a thoughtful lane for health and community. Hormone replacement therapy sits on many minds, and we’re asking for real experiences and resources as we weigh estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone choices. Add a big dinner-party spread—roasted vegetable lasagna and limoncello tiramisu for a crowd—and you’ve got a month of cooking that blends practical tips, heartfelt stories, and a few bold flavors you’ll want to try tonight.

Follow us across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, and Pinterest at Gia’s Italian Kitchen to catch every short, recipe, and Italy moment. Then visit https://GiasItalianKitchen.biz for more recipes, classes, and updates on 2026 cook-alongs. If you enjoy the show, tap follow, leave a review, and tell us what recipe you want to see next. Let’s get cooking.

Visit our YouTube channel to see dozens of our cooking episodes.

Check out our website for delicious recipes, upcoming events, and more!

Transcript

Why We’re Posting Short Videos

Where To Find Us Online

Marinara Kickoff And Kitchen Clips

Physics Brother Story And YouTube

HRT Thoughts And Community Input

Cooking In Italy With Susanna

Bears, Melort, And Kitchen Humor

Pasta, Espresso, And Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Good morning, this is Kelly with G is Italian Kitchen. I haven't posted anything in my podcast for a while, and I was thinking, what could I tell you guys that would be super fun and exciting? Well, what I've been doing on social media lately uh is posting short videos like under 30 seconds or trying to. It's really hard to do a video under 30 seconds. Um, but people's attention spans are just so short. My daughter's like, you need to make the video 10 seconds. Like, that's impossible. So um I just wanted to let you guys know if you're listening to the podcast, what is out there on social media that might um be worth a look. So I'm on all of them: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, um what's the other one? Pinterest, X, what did that used to be? Anyway, um, and I let's see, let's go through a list of some of the things. They're so good. Oh, yeah, TikTok, of course. Um, okay, so this morning I started making marinara. So step one is to pre-cook a chicken thigh, depending on how big your batch is. Um, so I've got some sizzling chicken thighs in my big saucepan, saucepot. Um, so that's a super short one. Um, but I've got, oh my gosh. So my brother, he did, uh, he's a high school physics teacher. He used to be uh, or he is, a mechanical engineer, and he switched careers midlife. Um, so he has the, you know, the tablecloth trick where you've got the table setting and then you pull the tablecloth out. So he he tells the story of doing this in a restaurant uh with his wife. Um, and I posted just a quick snip of it. Uh, so there's the short one and the long one in my YouTube. So Gia's Italian Kitchen, G-I-A-S, Gia's Italian Kitchen, um is the tag for all of the socials. Um, but that's actually a really fun one. And the the clip is only 30 seconds, so go check that out. Um then I talked about HRT. I didn't post this uh on the podcast, but it's probably worth a quick little uh watch of the video. Um just like what are your thoughts with hormone replacement therapy if you've had any experience with it? I'm going through that right now and trying to figure out what to take, what not to take, and why, and how that might impact other things. Um so you've got estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. So um if you're in that realm, take a take a gander at one of my posts and and leave a comment in there or leave it here. Um, okay, then I always want to go back to Italy, like all the time, but one of the videos that uh I love with my friend Susanna over there, she lives about 45 minutes west of Florence, and we were making cantaloni with a bechamel sauce, and so I've I've recorded her a lot because she's just like the big um, you know, short, fat Italian grandma, and I just love her, and she's so sweet, and you know, she lives over there, she speaks in pretty good English, um, but did a little clip on that, uh, a little more marinara stuff. Oh, Chicago Bears. So dang, they're not in the Super Bowl. But the last game that they won, um we did I didn't, the guys. If you've heard of Melort, it's so nasty. It's a liqueur that is out of Chicago, um, that I think started out as a gag. Um, almost like a punk your friends. It's so disgusting. It's like drinking cough syrup with gasoline. That's what it tastes like. It's so bad. But anyway, the guys think it's I don't know if they like it or they they like it because they think it's funny. I don't know. Anyway. Um, some home how to make homemade pasta in the Cuisinart in our food processor. Um, super easy. Um, let's see. Then I looked at one of my Christmas gifts. It's one of the uh Italian espresso makers that you do on the stovetop. So fun and so delicious. It's so much better than drip coffee. Holy cow. Um then there's a couple just on being thankful and grateful um for all the things that happened in 2025. Um, just amazing. I've posted some of that in these podcasts, but um, there's more out there on that. Uh, and what's coming in 2026? There's a lot coming in 2026, so I think I'll probably go through that in a different post um so that you guys know where to find me. If you're local or online and want to cook with me, uh there's lots coming in 2026, so I'm pretty excited. Um yeah, then there's some other little ones, some sourdough bread. Love making them still making that. I haven't bought a loaf of bread from the grocery store in a really long time. Um, sourdough is so much better for you because you've got the fermentation from the starter, and then you're making it homemade, so you know there's not preservatives and other crap in there. So it's just way better for you if you're able to eat eat that. Um, I made so I did a uh a dinner for some friends, and we made I made my roasted vegetable lasagna and lemon cello tirmasu. So I've got some quick pictures of those. Holy cow! Um, I made a lot of lemon cello tirmasu because there was like 24 people, I think. It was pretty big. Um oh this is fun. So another one that I did, we had a Pandoro, which is an Italian cake that it's kind of like in between a sponge cake and a pound cake with a little lemon undertone. But it's a very, very smooth yellow cake when you look at the inside of it. There's no, it's not like the panettone where there's nuts and berries or fruit, I mean, um, or a panforte where there's like a crap ton of nuts and fruit, and it's really, really dense. Um, those are both delicious, but this is not that. The Pandoro is just a yellow cake, I guess. But it's, I don't know, it's very unique also and very light. Uh and the way that they put their powdered sugar on it, it's hysterical. So there's some videos on that. Um, yeah, and that kind of got me through uh what I've been posting in January. So uh if you have not gone onto social media or you don't follow me on any of those, please do go look on all of the those modes, G S Italian Kitchen, and you will find me. And please like and comment and subscribe and follow and do all those things to help me grow. So, and if you haven't been to my website, GS Italian Kitchen.biz, B-I-Z, G S G I A S, and uh go take a look. There's lots more out there, recipes and just learning more about um what I have to offer and who I am and some of the other things like the Hope Lodge that uh that I do periodically. So uh thanks for listening, and I hope you have a great day and a great week. Talk to you soon. Let's get cooking.